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EOSHD YouTube: A lot of Oscar 2022 nominated films using vintage lenses


Andrew Reid
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Cinematographers have long been using vintage lenses with digital on Oscar-nominated films.  Only relatively recently have shooters on smaller projects commenced utilizing the beautiful character of vintage glass.

Certainly, a lot of beautiful and powerful cinematography has been created in the square format, but it is perplexing why anyone would shoot an entire project with anamorphic glass only to crop it square in post.  To make such square imagery impactful, one usually must compose for that for that format while shooting.  If they did so using framing guides, then one wonders how they could reconcile all that wasted image space (and wasted sensor resolution).  Are linear flares and oval highlights worth the sacrifice?

In regards to Oscar-nominated films only using Alexas and mostly vintage glass, here is an interview with the DP of "Ex Machina" (2014), in which he explains why he used the combination of old Xtal Express glass with a Sony F65.

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15 hours ago, tupp said:

Cinematographers have long been using vintage lenses with digital on Oscar-nominated films.  Only relatively recently have shooters on smaller projects commenced utilizing the beautiful character of vintage glass.

Certainly, a lot of beautiful and powerful cinematography has been created in the square format, but it is perplexing why anyone would shoot an entire project with anamorphic glass only to crop it square in post.  To make such square imagery impactful, one usually must compose for that for that format while shooting.  If they did so using framing guides, then one wonders how they could reconcile all that wasted image space (and wasted sensor resolution).  Are linear flares and oval highlights worth the sacrifice?

In regards to Oscar-nominated films only using Alexas and mostly vintage glass, here is an interview with the DP of "Ex Machina" (2014), in which he explains why he used the combination of old Xtal Express glass with a Sony F65.

I suspect that low budget productions haven't been using vintage glass for long due to not having access to such high-spec cameras for long.  

Back in the 8mm 16mm SD digital days there wasn't enough resolution or bitrate to be able to tell the subtle difference between various lenses and to counter the softer renderings having as sharp a lens as you could get was a good strategy.  At that time large productions were using 35mm which could render lens differences.  

Then came the HD days, but once again, the codecs on affordable cameras were pretty low until the OG BMPCC came along and we got access to RAW 1080p and 4K compressed, but most were still obsessed by sharpness and hadn't snapped out of their infatuation yet and come to their senses.  

Now we have RAW 4K or more and compressed 6K or more almost in our pockets and some are starting to snap out of resolution mania and remember we're trying to evoke emotions, not showcase our equipment.

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3 hours ago, MrSMW said:

Love the background silent thumbnail commentary to the vid 😂

I like the idea of vintage lenses but my camera reality is I can’t use them because I need AF half the time.

Vintage lenses are really for films/cinema, rather than commercial videography work.  It's a different product for different audiences who have different preferences, thus the use of different equipment and techniques.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/17/2022 at 12:40 PM, Andrew Reid said:

Interesting web page format and content.  Movie posters pair with the camera and lenses used as well as a brief description. It reminds me of a "quad chart" where an expected format makes information easy to consume by an audience with little time to waste.  I love looking at information presented in this way.  

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  • 1 month later...

Depressing Academy Awards' yesterday, not only for the winners (Spielberg and Kenneth Branagh being beaten by Jane Campion is a joke) but above all, people act like nothing is going on in the East.

Let alone the egocentric/selfish and poor overacting little performance carried out by someone (Will Smith) who, despite his craft, still doesn't understand what to be an actor means or yet to be a man either.

 

Coppola, Al Pacino e De Niro saved them all with the only mention to Ukraine suffering made all over the show...

 

 

 

 

 

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On 3/28/2022 at 4:49 PM, Emanuel said:

It was sponsored by a massive Crypto dot com ad as well....

Which is ironic considering crypto's deep involvement in money laundering, illegal activity, mafia states and governments, they are basically Putin's best friend.

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