So it's usually customary to keep this membership section seperate from any sort of TECH WANKERY (spending time idling over technology) rather than focusing on content but here are the latest efforts of customizing our anamorphic documentary camera rigs which we have been doing, amongst other things which involve being away from screens and the internet, during corporatized government imposed lockdown.
Anamorphic ăn″ə-môr′fĭk - adj: Of or relating to a widescreen film or video that has been converted to a storage format with a lower aspect ratio by shrinking the image only along the horizontal axis in order to minimize loss of resolution.
These rigs consist of a DSLR camera, which shoot incredible video and are 80% as good as high end film cameras that cost as much as a luxury German automobile. Alone with a series of components which combine a "taking lens" mounted up against the back of an "anamorphic projection lens". Real anamorphic film lenses can cost as much as a down payment on a house. Since that's too expensive, there is an indie film subculture, which I'm very much a part of, which consist in combining a lens with an anamorphic projection lens (a lens from the past used in movie theatre projection), then a focus ring, in order to act together as one to create a system of components which all act as a single lens to basically get the same look as a real anamorphic self contained lens, yet for a fraction of the cost. Building a new rig requires tons of research and micro tweaking. One of these rigs is over two years old re-tooled and the other is new. Doing so constituted bout two months of side work/study and required multiple trips to the hardware store for screws and bolts. There are an extensive series of components required to put this type of lens combination together and have them be reliable for professional use. Here are the exact components for these two rigs. Which consist of an A cam (primary camera) and a B cam (secondary camera):
A cam = Panasonic S1H + S1H Smallrig Cage + SmallRig Mini Top Handle + 8" tripod plate + Sigma MC-21 Canon to Leia L mount + Helios 44-2 54mm lens + 49mm-77mm step up ring + Rapido V3 Full Clamp + Kowa 16H inside Rapido Front Full Metal Jacket + Rapido FVD-35A + 115mm to 105mm step down ring + Aurora-Aperture 105mm Power XND Mark II Variable Neutral Density Filter 0.3 to 2.1 Filter (1 to 7-Stop)
B cam = Panasonic GH5 + 6" tripod plate + Metabones Speedbooster 0.71x M43 Mount + Helios 44-2 54mm lens + 49mm-77mm step up ring + Rapido V3 Lite Clamp + Kowa For Bell & Howell + Rectilux Hardcore DNA + 86mm to 95mm step up ring + NiSi 95mm Enhanced Varible Neutral Density Filter 1.5-5 Stops. With an extra feature of a Zcam S6/F6 cage custom mounted around the Kowa to protect it and also mount the SmallRig Mini Top Handle. (Had the extra cage, long story, but it totally worked custom mounted this way and does a really nice job of helping contain the HDMI cable so it's not hanging out in the way all the time) + Small HD 501 External Viewfinder.
So why go through all this effort you ask? Seems like a massive amount of work to make a custom setup like this. Well... it is. Yet, the final result of what you get IS WORTH IT. Think of this as a bit of an exercise in perseverance and will engagement.