3:1 super wide Anamorphic with DRAGON

[Tim Sessler]

I was testing some Master Anamorphics yesterday on my RED Dragon and as I had an Alexa Mini sitting in front of me, I was curious to see the difference in the crop factor when it comes to 2x Anamorphic. Unfortunately I dont have the footage from the Mini - but here is a shot of the display with the 35mm 2x anamorphic:

As the Dragon doesnt have a 4:3 sensor the same lens obviously is a lot tighter if shooting in 6K ana 2x desqueez. Its a significant difference - probably at least a 15mm difference. The 35mm on the Alexa Mini felt like a 50mm on the Dragon. But after seeing the Mini, I was curious if there is any way to get more information out of the Dragon Sensor. The anamorphic resolution at 6K is 3792x3160 or 7584x3160 if desqueezed (2.4:1 aspect ratio) but if set to 6K 3:2 (no desqueeze) the resolution becomes 4752x3160 or 9504x3160 if desqueezed in post (3:1 aspect ratio). Even more extreme would be shooting at 6K HD, which results in a 5568x3132 or 11136x3132 desqueezed resolution (3.5:1 aspect ratio). But at this point even the Master Anamorphics start to vignette. Of course this isn't anything that most of us would shoot in all the time - but I thought it was interesting to see that this is even an option. And depending on the project the wider aspect ratio could certainly be beneficial. Monitoring on the RED touch would obviously not work anymore - but that should be easily fixable through an external monitor that can desqueeze the image. Here are the examples:

6K 6:5 ANA2:

6K 3:2 (post desqueezed):

6K HD (post desqueezed):

 

[Andy White]

Interesting

I was thinking of experimenting in a similar way on something I have in the pipeline next year... obviously loss of Dragon ana desqueeze is a bit of a pin (as I like to shot with EVF)... but the wider aspect ratio/horizontal FOV makes it very tempting!

Shame there's no way to add an Ana monitoring flag to non ana modes... whilst it would look silly for non-ana lenses, it would enable an easy workflow/monitoring path to use wider aspect ratios.

 

[Tom Gleeson]

I shot the Action Unit on a movie mid year and we chose to shoot 6KHD with Cooke Anamorphics. Many of our shots were on either drones or rigs and VFX plates of explosions etc. The ability to have extra horizontal image if it was required was seens as an advantage especially in shots that were difficult to control

 

[Tim Sessler]

I shot the Action Unit on a movie mid year and we chose to shoot 6KHD with Cooke Anamorphics. Many of our shots were on either drones or rigs and VFX plates of explosions etc. The ability to have extra horizontal image if it was required was seens as an advantage especially in shots that were difficult to control

Nice! Cooke Anamorphics on drones? What kind of stabilizer can balance/handle that weight? My rig could lift it no problem - but I'd be surprises if the MoVI M15 could be balanced with it.