The Nikon Z 6 and Z 7 have been around for quite some time but now it’s getting a new life. Something that will greatly elevate its performance thanks to the collaboration with Atomos. While Nikon is bringing to the table a full frame sensor camera, 12 bit RAW output via HDMI and a flat picture profile recording option (N Log), Atomos is contributing to this duo its external monitor/recorder expertise together with the built-in Apple’s ProRes RAW 12 bit recording option. There are many “industry firsts” in this exciting combination, including transferring the information between the camera and monitor/recorder on a consumer HDMI protocol interface. Now, openly speaking, is offering full frame, up to 4K, 12 bit ProRes RAW external recording option, enough to bring Nikon back to the center of attention of the aspiring filmmakers and content creators? Please read on. Nikon Z 6 and Atomos Ninja V combo – Image credit: cinema5D The answer might hide in the above footage or at least in the article below…Please bear in mind that my current findings and opinion are based on working with a beta version firmware of the Nikon Z 6 and Atomos monitor/recorder. It can be that some functions or operational modes will be different when the final firmware version is introduced. Nikon Z 6 and Atomos Ninja V – Grabbing the Opportunity to Film It’s Friday afternoon. Dan from Atomos is on the line. The first Nikon Z 6 equipped with Atomos ’s Ninja V running on a beta firmware is ready to be tested and he is kind enough to offer us the opportunity of having a short test ride. We have decided on London as a meeting location  and agreed on who is bringing what. Dan the Nikon Z 6 camera, lenses, Ninja V monitor/recorder, and accessories, (namely batteries and SSD). And me? Well, whatever is needed for a small “run&gun” production. Small tripod, basic light and sound equipment but most important, patience. Since both camera and monitor/recorder are running on a beta firmware, nothing guarantees a smooth ride. And even farther, as it is London, there is absolutely ZERO guaranty to have a stable weather during December – and indeed, right after meeting each other for a short camera/monitor/recorder introduction and a much-needed coffee, we ran out just to enjoy the last sunshine rays before the dark skies took over and made us change our plans (more on that later). While listening to Dan highlighting the benefits of running with this combination, I already assumed that it is not going to be easy, because of the single reason of being “forced” to work in a way that I’m not used to on a normal basis. I’m an old school documentary operator. I need my viewfinder stuck to my eye in order to help me judge exposure and as a bonus, act as an additional secure grip point to my body. On top, normally I don’t carry an external monitor/recorder with me as it translates into additional weight when traveling. (Of course, the plus sides of using such an external device can not be ignored as the flexibility to record in various robust codec(s) can serve many very well depending on the production they do). But anyway, to cut a long story short, from what I can see in the field, an external monitor became a must for many and I salute Atomos for doing a great marketing job in this respect. Wait, my rambling is not over yet, but the story does take a twist… Getting used to work with a monitor – Image credit: cinema5D Nikon Z 6 & Atomos Ninja V – In the Field Turning the camera on and spending a few minutes with it on the streets of London made it very clear to me. This combination is NOT a camera with an external monitor recorder but rather a monitor/recorder with a camera attached to it… I hope it makes any sense as I’m trying to translate a “feeling” to a thing that can be understood. Here is a summary of what’s happening when connecting the Z 6 to the Atomos recorder: The Nikon Z 6 EVF is disabled while using the Ninja V in ProRes RAW mode (this fact alone forced me to use the monitor only while shooting) Proper accurate exposure can be judged on the Ninja V only! As we are talking about recording moving images in RAW, the signal is being taken directly from the sensor. Now, remember that with true RAW, de-noising is not applied, so the video output tends to be noisy and an elegant way to overcome this is by exposing to the right, meaning, overexpose your images in around 2 stops (And make sure  your highlights are OK). Alternatively, one might decide on using the built in denoiser found in FCP X, or Neat Image.  As a starting point, I needed to know the base ISO for recording video with this camera. As Nikon did not supply this information, I decided  to concentrate on filming in ISO 100 and 400 as to my eyes, those values obtained the cleanest images throughout initial tests. Just too be clear here, one can surely choose higher ISO values and still get perfectly fine images! I tried shooting in up to ISO 2000 and had no issues what so ever.  So far so good? So how should one judge the correct exposure when recording with the Nikon Z 6 together with the Ninja V in N-Log picture profile and ProRes RAW codec mode? For the actual visual monitoring, tune your Ninja  V monitor to HLG mode. In this mode, the “overexposed” images will look correct. (Remember, we are filming in 1.5 to 2 stops over in order to combat noise especially in the darker parts of our images). Use the monitor’s waveform and keep peaks around the 400 IRE (In HLG). Bright sky and other highlights should not go above the 800 IRE. Expose over this value and you are risking losing your image beyond recovery. Now I hope that my comment regarding a monitor that has a camera attached to it is clearer, as monitoring the image and exposing it correctly is ALL done on the Ninja side. In fact, the camera exhibits additional limitations while filming in the highest quality possible recording mode. (N-Log/ProRes RAW). High frame 4K recording is not available (Above 30p) No 4K DCI mode Autofocus functionality becomes very sluggish. Did I use the wrong autofocus settings? It can be as I’m not a dedicated Nikon user, but it seems as if the autofocus system can leave a lot to be desired. On the positive side, the camera IBIS worked rather well and the HDMI lock (comes together with the camera), is doing a good job keeping that consumer-grade cable intact and securely connected to the camera. On top, the camera LCD is functional and has a pretty good simulation of correct exposure on the back that looks almost like the Ninja’s native HLG settings. Remember its’ started raining a few paragraphs above? Call it luck, call it destiny, but that made Dan call Joy his friend who immediately volunteered together with Ellen, her Jiu-Jitsu “sense” to be in front of the camera and help me execute a short story that helped me to feel, work and test the camera/monitor/recorder combination. Thank you, ladies. Spending three hours together with you guys was indeed a pleasure! Can I say the same about working with that camera combo? And what about editing, is ProRes RAW ready for primetime? Nikon Z 6 and Atomos Ninja V – Image credit: cinema5D Editing ProRes RAW In all honesty, I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to work with the Ninja V. The monitor is bright enough to be used outdoor (at least in London). And for a moment I did not feel that it slowed me down during my short filming day. I wish I could say the same about the Nikon Z 6. I truly hope that Nikon’s engineers will try and somehow support the Atomos Ninja V in the most absolute way by allowing working with their camera with the EVF as if the monitor is not connected. When it comes to editing, well, your best  bet is Final Cut X (Mac) and EDIUS (Windows). Despite having earlier announcements, currently, this recording format is not widely supported (yet) and to put salt on the wound, no other third-part plug-in or software allows conversion to other high quality editing codecs. Apple ProRes RAW Log Conversion/LUT workflow Luciano, our dedicated talented editor needed to move away from his comfort zone (Adobe Premiere/ DaVinci Resolve), and with Dan’s suggestions, took the footage into FCP X and edited a nice short piece. Here is Luciano’s workflow in case you will find yourself in the same exact position soon… “Before importing any footage, you must open a new Library and change the Color Processing setting. To do this, select the Library, and then click “Modify” in the Inspector window. In the Color Processing Setting dialogue box, click the “Wide Gamut HDR” setting. After importing, the footage will still look as if it is overexposed, with blown-out highlights. So, to convert the footage to a log profile, you must select a clip — either in the browser window or on the timeline — and, in the Inspector window, click on the Information tab, go to the “RAW to Log Conversion” drop-down menu and select “Sony S-Log3/S-Gamut3.Cine”. This will make the footage look flat, just like a regular Log footage. (When we edited this Apple had yet to put the Nikon RAW conversions into Final Cut Pro X, but this is expected shortly),  but until then, we had to come up with our own method and as we are assuming that Nikon is using a Sony sensor, we choose the Sony preset). We could’ve graded the footage from here, but we decided to add a LUT to it to get it to the Rec.709 color space and grade it from there. For this we used the Sony Venice Looks LUTs created by Alister Chapman (you can check them out by clicking here). These LUTs are specifically designed to be used with S-Log3 and SGamut3.cine. To apply these LUTs, go to the “Camera LUT” menu in the Inspector window of your clip and select the Venice Look LUT of your choice. Different lighting conditions in the footage require different LUT settings, so in this step, I used the one that best represented the exposure values of each clip. You can then copy/paste the LUT settings to clips with similar lighting conditions to streamline the process. After this, we just made additional adjustments to the footage using the FCPX color correction tools”. At the Gym – Image credit:  cinema5D Conclusion I have to divide my observation and thoughts to sections as we are dealing here with some different “components”: Atomos Ninja V: Nice and easy to work with. Maybe it will not “convert” me personally to start using external monitor/recorders, but who am I to stop others from investing in high-quality monitor recorders that can serve them well in different working scenarios. Needless to say that the ability to record ProRes over HDMI is alone a unique selling point. Nikon Z 6: Well, with so many full frame cameras around, I find that the only uniqueness of this particular camera is its ability to output a high-quality 12 bit RAW signal out of it. Now the question is what will happen when more manufacturers jump on this wagon. Will the Nikon Z 6 still be able to keep its place as a desirable filming tool? Actually, if this ever happens, Nikon will have to move on and find a way to record some sort of high-quality RAW internally and maybe by being equipped with future proof internal media slots, it will accept the challenge.  The combination of Nikon Z 6 and Ninja V: If i’m not mistaken, this is the smallest stabilised full frame camera that can output 12 bit RAW over HDMI to the Atomos Ninja V. The combination is affordable and can become even more attractive during the end of the year special sales. ProRes RAW: Personally, I’m in favor of compressed RAW (over an uncompressed RAW), as it offers a sensible balance between quality, storage space, and workflow. In this regard, the current Achilles Hill of the codec is the fact that it is not widely spread and supported. Promises and announcements aside, it is already one and a half years since this high-quality robust codec was announced and for whatever reason, its acceptance is rather slow. (AVID and Adobe Premiere support is supposed to come in 2020, let’s see)…. Music courtesy of MusicVine.com – Get 25% off any Pay-Per-Use license with code C5D25 (valid for one use per customer). Grade with Alister Chapmans’ LUT. Useful Links  Update your Ninja V with the free AtomOS 10.2 to enable RAW recording from HDMI by clicking here. Watch Z6 and Ninja V setup for RAW shooting here. Please note that Customers who wish to have the RAW video output capability installed on their Nikon Z 6 or Z 7 can bring or send their camera to a Nikon service center. The Nikon RAW video output capability upgrade will incur a fee, but will be included free of charge as part of Nikon Z 6 filmmakers kit and Z 6 essential movie kit bundles. Those customers in the Americas and Europe who have already purchased a Nikon Z 6 filmmakers kit and Z 6 essential movie kit will be eligible to have the fee waived (proof of purchase required). What do you think, can your see yourself working with this camera external monitor/recorder combination? Are you a Nikon user? if yes, are you looking forward for the opportunity to update your kit? Please share with us your thoughts in the comment section below

The new SIRUI 50mm anamorphic lens is promising to revolutionize a territory that, up until now, was out of reach for many. For $700 this lens sounds too good to be true, so I took it for a short spin and I’m happy to share my thoughts with you guys.  SIRUI 50mm anamorphic lens on a FUJIFILM X-T3. Image credit: cinema5D   Earlier this year during IBC, we had the chance to talk to Sonny from SIRUI who was kind enough to share with us some details about their upcoming 50mm f/1.8 1.33x anamorphic lens, and while the idea of developing such lens was great, I was a bit skeptical in what the end product would look like or better said, how well it would perform optically-wise. Fast forward to the present time, and I have this lens on my desk. Now, before proceeding to talk about the lens, let me take a quick step back. Filming With Anamorphic Lenses Project-related, I’m a bit tired of filming and delivering in 16×9, but all in all, this standard aspect ratio is great for many TV productions. Now, if you are like me and many others who are looking for a more “cinematic picture aesthetic” in their productions, then obviously the way to go is to imitate what we see on the big silver screen. An aspect ratio that is a bit narrower and wider at the same time and on top, it aims to create a picture that has different characteristics, one that can distinguish it from what we get when filming with spherical lenses – I’m talking about signature looks like bokeh, lens flairs, and such. Up until now, as independent filmmakers, our options were a bit limited or costly: True anamorphic lenses cost a fortune and while renting is always a valid option, for some popular camera mounts those were not available. Anamorphic lens adapters are fine but have their own limitations like alignment, sharpness and minimum recommended f stop to work with. “Cropping the top and bottom of the image”. While this option will retain a certain desired look, it is not the preferred one for the following reasons: By cropping the image or adding black bars, we simply throw away some picture information. On top of that, most of the associated anamorphic lens characteristics won’t be presented. SIRUI 50mm anamorphic lens. Image credit: cinema5D SIRUI 50mm f/1.8 1.33x Anamorphic Lens Here comes SIRUI doing the undoable (up until now). Offering us, the filmmakers community, a true fast anamorphic lens that costs a fraction of what we had to pay until now ($700 to be exact), and to even “sweeten the deal”, managing to offer that lens in 3 popular mounts: FUJIFILM X, Sony E and Micro 4/3. Here is some additional information about the new lens:  Lens structure: 11 elements in 8 groups Aperture blades: 10 Suitable for: APS-C format camera Minimum distance 0.85m No electronic contacts (Manual focus only) Rotating angle of  focus ring: 143.6 degrees Front filter: 67mm Weight: Approximately 580g /1.23lbs This is a 1.33x anamorphic lens suitable to work best with 16×9 image sensors giving a 2.40:1 aspect ratio picture SIRUI 50mm anamorphic lens – f1.8 SIRUI 50mm anamorphic lens – f2.8 SIRUI 50mm anamorphic lens – f4.0 In the Field I’ve been running with the new lens for a few hours and I have to admit that all in all, I LOVE what I see! For the above video, I used my trusted FUJIFILM X-T3, (4K, 25p,  F-Log, 400 Mbps, All Intra, ISO 640 up to 6400). If you don’t recall, the FUJIFILM X-T3 was our camera of the year 2018 and it’s still doing (Very) well against the more recent competition. If I have to summarise, it is a very capable and flexible camera, especial for the price! In regards to the above footage, I chose to keep it simple by running to a few of the Viennese Christmas markets without triggering too much attention. SIRUI 50mm – Flares on settled way (Image taken from the timeline) Strengths: The lens feels robust and well constructed! Focus breathing is kept to a minimum and when it comes to image,  it is very sharp (maybe even too sharp at times, but this can be dealt with putting the right filter in front of the lens). If you take a closer look at the above resolution chart stills extracted from the timeline, you will see how little sharpness the lens loses when completely open at f1.8 agains being on f2.8 and f4.0. Another thing to note is flares, as those are very much associated with anamorphic lenses. To my taste, flares in this lens are very well maintained. Nothing shouts “anamorphic”, but on the other hand, it is absolutely there in a settled way. Last but not least, this is an f1.8 lens, meaning, use it on a modern camera and you will never feel restricted when filming in lowlight situations. SIRUI 50mm anamorphic Wide open aperture and still sharp (Image taken from the timeline) Weaknesses:  This is not really a weakness, but personally I would have preferred having a lens with a wider field of view. I hope that SIRUI will consider not waiting too much and jump on manufacturing one. What’s should be taken into consideration, is the minimum focus distance (0.85m). This might be proved to be a limitation in some shooting scenarios. Final thoughts I’m extremely cautious when it comes to using the word “game-changing”, but somehow, I do feel very comfortable using this term in connection to this lens. Never before such a quality anamorphic lens in such price point was ever offered (but please, correct me if I’m wrong). SIRUI demonstrated “out of the box” thinking and I can only hope that this lens is the first in a family of anamorphic lenses to come, with different focal lengths and additional mounts – I would love to see an L-Mount option to accommodate our Panasonic S1, SIGMA fp and Leica SL2. Good job SIRUI. Keep inventing! SIURI is currently running a successful Indiegogo campaign for their new lens where early bird customers can get it for $599 (€538). We are saying this at the end of every crowdfunding-related article: please be aware of the risks when baking a project on a crowdfunding platform. Please read Indiegogo’s terms of use. Keep in mind that there can be significant delays when delivering the product. Some products even don’t get delivered at all. Music courtesy of MusicVine.com – Get 25% off any Pay-Per-Use license with code C5D25 (valid for one use per customer). Grade with Lutify.me.  What do you think about the new anamorphic lens? Does it ignite your imagination? Share with us your thoughts in the comment section below. 

Our friend Ollie Kenchington used to be a regular cinema5D writer until recently, but since his day job at his production company KORRO is keeping him extremely busy, he is now an irregular contributor to the site. In this post, he tells us about his first experiences with the new Canon C500 Mark II in low light. Full disclosure: Ollie is not a Canon Ambassador, though he does occasionally do paid work for them as a trainer/speaker. Back in September, at IBC, I had the opportunity to have a play with some 6K raw footage captured with the C500 Mark II. It occurred to me then that it would be great if more people could have the same opportunity to experiment with this powerful codec. I therefore proposed to Canon that they send me a unit prior to release, with the intention of capturing content that could be made freely available for interested users to download and play with at home. I finally got the chance to do just that last week. 6K Raw Demo You can see the short sequence I cut together from the 6K raw footage here: I only intended to capture the sunrise and the tree, so the rest was just me killing time between the sun coming up, and when it eventually hit the tree. You can download the raw shot of the tree (pictured below) from here. FOR EVALUATION PURPOSES ONLY. © KORRO LIMITED 2019 This is the camera original file. Please note, all cameras apply noise reduction internally when not shooting raw. If you haven’t seen raw footage before, you may be surprised with the amount of noise you see in low light areas. This is normal and a consequence of capturing a completely unadulterated image. Noise reduction can (and should) be applied in post when processing raw footage. Filmed at Shearwater Lake, Longleat Estate, Wiltshire, England Dec. 2019 with a pre-production* model Canon EOS C500 Mark II. Technical Details: Codec – Canon Cinema Raw Light (CRM) Frame Rate – 25fps Resolution – 5952 x 3140 Bit Depth – 12bit Chroma Subsampling – 4:4:4 White Balance – 5600k Daylight Preset Colour Matrix – Neutral Gamma – Canon C-Log2 Gamut – Canon Cinema Gamut ISO – 800 Lens used – Canon 16mm-35mm f2.8L Low-Light Demo You can see the short sequence I cut together from the low-light footage here: This was completely unplanned; just me wandering around the Christmas market for around 40 minutes. There were some shots I assumed would be unusable when I got back to my computer, like the shot of Pulteney Weir, at the start, and the wide shot of the city at the very end. Both of these were captured at ISO 12,800! The point isn’t that they are noise free, they are obviously noisy, the point is that the amount of noise is similar to what I get on my C200 at much lower ISOs. Understanding the limits of a camera is crucial, and now I know that, with the C500 Mark II, I can shoot in very low light situations without having to worry if a shot will be salvageable or not. You can download the ungraded sequence from here. FOR EVALUATION PURPOSES ONLY. © KORRO LIMITED 2019 Filmed in Bath, Somerset, England Dec. 2019 with a pre-production* model Canon EOS C500 Mark II. Technical Details: Codec – Canon XFAVC (MXF) Frame Rate – 50fps Resolution – 4096 x 2160 Bit Depth – 10bit Chroma Subsampling – 4:2:2 White Balance – 5600k Daylight Preset Colour Matrix – Neutral Gamma – Canon C-Log3 Gamut – Canon Cinema Gamut Lenses used – Canon 24mm-70mm f2.8L & Canon 85mm f1.4L IS One of the unexpected pleasures during this test, was the new in-camera digital stabilisation. All shots were handheld, with the camera stripped right back to the bare essentials. The vast majority of it was shot on the Canon 24mm-70mm f2.8L which isn’t even an I.S. lens! There are shots that, if I hadn’t captured them myself, I’d have sworn must have been acquired using a tripod. The close up shot of the briefcase on the floor, with the CDs for sale, looks like it was shot with a gimbal. As someone who loves to shoot handheld, I was blown away by this aspect of the camera. Make sure you download these demo files using the links above, then let us know your thoughts in the comments below. *Hardware and/or firmware may be different to shipping models. Purchase decisions for camera equipment should never be made based on demo footage alone. Canon did of course not pay me or cinema5D to shoot this content, or have any input in the writing of this article. How do you feel about the Canon C500 Mark II? Has Canon finally gotten it right again? Let us know in the comments below!

Zacuto previously announced the Kameleon EVF back in March of 2019.  The new electronic viewfinder dropped the Gratical name and shares features from both the Gratical Eye and Gratical HD but had a few notable improvements including an improved pixel density screen. Now Zacuto has a new “Pro” version of the Kameleon and a new upgrade or credit path for owners of the first version. What does “Pro” mean for the Kameleon EVF? Let’s dive in. Image Credit: Zacuto   The Zacuto Kameleon fits a niche in the Zacuto EVF lineup with a full 1920×1080 display and a screen resolution of 3103 PPI/ 6.5 million pixels versus 2687/5.4 for the other Gratical types. It doesn’t have the battery solution of the larger Gratical HD or an extra HDMI and SDI port, but it gains an additional USB-C connector and stays at a price point that is over $500 under the Gratical HD. For me, keeping a uniform and compact design means less of a risk of snagging the Kameleon on something and keeps the whole camera build small. Having both HDMI and SDI input options also opens this up for use with every camera on the market not using a proprietary EVF connector. Image Credit: Zacuto Upgrade Path to the Kameleon Pro The main difference in the Kameleon Pro is the addition of a Waveform tool and improved interface design (see below image). I tend to use Waveform almost exclusively for judging exposure and being able to toggle that tool within the EVF without going back to the video village or AC monitor is very helpful. Unfortunately, this update can’t be delivered through a firmware update and requires swapping out the unit, so Zacuto has a new upgrade path at a cost of $250 and a two-week turnaround for the user. For those not interested in the upgrade, Zacuto is offering a $350 store credit “as a thanks for being a Kameleon customer”. You must fill out a short form to apply for the credit on the upgrade page here and toggle the “I’ll take the credit!” button. Before you ask — no you can’t take the credit and do the upgrade too. New interface design. Image Credit: Zacuto Personally, you’ll never find me complaining about having too many EVF types on the market. This is one product category where the options can be limited, so having a new EVF or even an incremental improvement is always welcome. The addition of the new credit or upgrade path should also be very welcome by existing Kameleon owners.  What do you think? Are you a current Kameleon EVF owner? We want to hear from you! Comment below.

A few weeks ago I wrote up my first impressions of the Ulanzi DOF Adapter. Now you can learn exactly how to use it. First of all, it’s important for me to state that from the perspective of any professional who is used to a “proper” camera, the thought of using a depth of field adapter for a smartphone comes with a lot of skepticism. Rightly so, because this adapter is not going to give you perfect images no matter how great a lens you have on it. However, if you are willing to work for it, it is capable of better results than I expected in the right conditions. I want to give you a few practical tips on how to shoot around the limitations and get the best images possible. Shooting video with a smartphone is all about shooting around limitations. The beautiful and impressive “shot on iPhone” videos that Tim Cook shows off on stage are very carefully put together (watch the recent “Snowbrawl” iPhone short film we reported about). They are indeed shot on iPhone, that much is not a lie, but they are shot extremely carefully, in a similar way that you might carefully and selectively show off only specific features of an unfinished beta software on stage. You purposely avoid things that are broken. Carefully stepping around pitfalls requires knowing where they are. That’s the secret of great looking smartphone video. Learning what to avoid and actively avoiding it. Ulanzi DOF Adapter Review With that idea firmly in mind, read on for my thoughts and tips about getting the best possible images out of the Ulanzi DOF Adapter. Build Quality (DOF Adapter and Cage) Compared to the Beastgrip DOF MkII, the cheaper Ulanzi DOF Adapter might be expected to suffer in terms of materials and construction. It’s actually well constructed and is a high-quality all-metal design. While not included with the DOF Adapter (must be bought separately) the metal Ulanzi cage is also very well made, and once the Ulanzi DOF Adapter is threaded onto the cage, it feels solid and reliable. However, you do need to be very careful threading the DOF Adapter onto the cage, as it’s easy to damage the threads. You will also need to buy an additional lens mount adapter for whatever lens you intend to use. I’m using an M42 to Sony E adapter pictured below along with the cages for both iPhone 11 Pro Max and iPhone XS Max. Both the DOF Adapter and cage are made from aluminium alloy and are black anodized for a durable and attractive finish. The quality of machining and all finishes can’t really be faulted, although, on my iPhone XS Max cage, one of the many magnets that holds the lid in place came unglued. It didn’t affect the lid being held strongly enough by the rest of the magnets, but it was disappointing. The magnetic system works quite well, it’s more than enough to keep the phone in place. The phone fits into a flexible clear plastic cover first which gives it a snug fit and protects the phone surfaces from direct contact with the metal cage. Ergonomics and Usability Any DOF Adapter providing a full frame focusing screen is going to be pretty bulky. The Ulanzi isn’t small, but it’s also no bigger than it has to be. In this sense, its bulk is minimal, but once you add a Sony E-mount to (whatever your chosen lens mount) adapter, plus the lens, of course, things get a lot bigger. With the Ulanzi DOF Adapter threaded to the cage, my Sony E to M42 adapter and Helios 44-2 mounted, the whole setup takes on the size and weight of a larger dedicated camera. This raises the obvious question, why not just shoot with a full frame mirrorless camera and not have any of the optical compromises involved with a DOF Adapter and a smartphone? It’s a good question, and one I don’t have a good answer to, except that I enjoy the experience of shooting with my iPhone. I like the intuitive on-screen controls for everything at my fingertips. I like the sense I am looking through the camera directly at my scene as if the camera is hardly there. I like the entirely new operational paradigm that has been created with a camera as an app, defined by software and a touchscreen rather than physical buttons, knobs, switches, menus, and hardware. I like the smartphone camera because it’s evolving and being developed entirely outside of the professional camera industry. I often find myself walking around the big cine and broadcast shows every year thinking that all of it is nothing more than a massive anchor to real innovation. The smartphone camera is free of traditional legacy baggage and expectations of what a camera should be, or how it should operate to be accepted. However, the DOF Adapter is a bit of an anchor back to the traditional, it forces the use of manual lenses only, so it does get in the way of this new fluid experience, not just ergonomically or physically but functionally as well. That said, it is currently the only way to achieve real, optical, shallow depth of field with a smartphone camera. No clever computational portrait mode effects can touch a DOF Adapter for video, and I prefer it for photos as well despite a bit of spherical aberration. Functionality As a non-native add on for a smartphone, you can expect the combination of bulky DOF Adapter, all manual lens, and your favorite video recording app to take some knocks when it comes to overall functionality. The Ulanzi DOF Adapter does function, as intended and as advertised, but the shooting experience takes a hit. Stabilization (or lack thereof) The main two things you lose when using this (or any) DOF Adapter is image stabilization and auto focus. This means you need to be aware that the slightest vibrations, even when on a tripod, may ruin your shot. It is one of the reasons neither the Beastgrip or Ulanzi feature a vibrating or rotating ground glass design like the old camcorder DOF Adapters of the 2000s. Smartphone cameras are very sensitive to micro-vibrations when they are conducted directly to the phone body. I wasn’t happy with any handheld video I shot with the adapter, and to be honest a lot of the example videos you can see from this adapter online are terrible because shots are handheld. Manual Lenses You also need to be prepared for manual focus and aperture. Smartphones don’t have any way to interface with external electronic lenses, so any modern lens with fly-by-wire aperture control or focus will be useless with the DOF Adapter. So you’ll need to use manual lenses. There are plenty of vintage SLR lenses that are completely mechanical and will work very nicely with the adapter. The advantage of the Sony E mount on the Ulanzi DOF Adapter is that you can then adapt it to almost any lens mount you want, including PL. Expect Workarounds The old saying that you can’t get something for nothing definitely applies to shooting video with a smartphone and a DOF Adapter. If you’re looking for an easy plug and play solution that you just snap on, open your video recording app, and magically gives you perfect bokeh, you’ll be disappointed, and I can’t recommend you commit to buying any DOF Adapter if this is your expectation. You can capture very nice looking videos and photos using the Ulanzi DOF Adapter, but you will have to work for it. Expect to make mistakes, expect to solve problems and find workarounds to using, mounting, stabilizing, and actually capturing your images. This is a tool that requires you to be very proactive if you want to get the best out of it. Image Quality The image quality you can expect from the Ulanzi DOF Adapter depends on many variables. If we set aside the variables such as the lens you are using, and if you have managed to focus the smartphone camera properly on the focusing screen, you are left with one limiting factor, that is the focusing screen itself. Resolution The focusing screen inside the adapter is a standard Canon focusing screen. It uses very fine concentric rings like a micro prism to diffuse the light focused on it by the lens into a visible image on the screen. If you shoot a photo using the adapter and zoom in, you can actually make out these rings in the image. I haven’t been able to see the ring pattern when shooting video, even at 4K resolution but I have found that the resolving power of this focusing screen is much less than 4K. There is no visible difference in image detail recorded at 4K compared to 1080p. The frame below shows the leaves in focus as sharp as they will get using this adapter. You will find that fine detail is often lost completely also. This doesn’t necessarily make it bad. I actually like the slightly softer feel of the image compared to the razor-sharp 4K we’ve come to expect from smartphones. Texture The focusing screen gives the image a definite texture, not entirely unlike film, but not moving of course. This is one of the things I quite like about the adapter. If you add some real scanned film grain in post, you can get a very organic analog feel. Spherical Aberration Spherical aberration is caused when the entire image cannot be focused evenly on the focus plane. Light at the edges is focused slightly in front or behind the focusing screen when the center is sharp. This causes an unnatural fall off in focus away from the center of the frame. In the frame below most of the ferry should be sharp. You can see I focused at the center of the ferry, but the detail at the bow and stern, as well as the roofline of the terminal building,  falls off. An object at that distance from the camera should remain in focus in this frame edge to edge especially because I was stopped down a fair bit. The ferry is angled away, but still the edges of the frame show this aberration clearly. I believe this is an optical issue on the smartphone side of the adapter and is caused by the short distance between the smartphone camera lens and the focusing screen. There is a macro lens element inside the adapter, and this is required to focus the smartphone camera on the focusing screen at this short distance but it seems to be either very difficult or impossible to optically correct this issue. Instead, you have to accept it, and work around it, which I will talk about more in the tips and below. Ulanzi DOF Adapter Tips If you play by a few rules, you can capture a surprisingly good video with the Ulanzi DOF Adapter. Use a Tripod The first thing that you need to do is bring a solid video tripod and fluid head. This will give you the rock steady static shots that will look best, and allow you to pan and tilt smoothly. By all means, experiment handheld, see what works and what doesn’t but I couldn’t capture a single usable shot using the adapter that wasn’t on legs. Maybe you can. Fast Glass The Ulanzi DOF Adapter works best with a lot of light. The best way to compose your shots, and hide the spherical aberration is to have good separation of your subject from foreground and background. The whole reason to use the DOF Adapter in the first place is that shallow depth of field, so use wide apertures. This isn’t to say you have to be all the way open all the time. I stopped down as far as f/5.6 and even f/8 in bright direct sun with great results but this also depends on the focal length of your lens and distance to your subject. The goal is good separation, which I’ll come to next. It’s best to use fast glass, anything at f/1.2 or f/1.4 to f/2 is perfect. In very bright daylight, you may want to use an ND to keep the shutter speed low. I use the PolarPro VND filters and they work very well to control exposure and shutter speed since that’s your only mode of exposure control in bright light with a smartphone camera. Careful Composition The most important tip I can give you is to think carefully about how you compose your shots. Be constantly aware that if you focus on something centrally in your frame, focus won’t be even across the whole image. Don’t shoot subjects flat across your whole frame, instead shoot at an angle that places something close to the camera and something far away. Build depth in your shot so that objects at the edges of the frame are thrown entirely out of focus on purpose. Play with perspective and layer your shots to get the best looking results. In the frame below I was focused on the chalk board sign. Towards the center of the frame, it’s sharp but falls off unnaturally toward the right side of the frame. This is the effect of spherical aberration, however, the effect is far less obvious on the left half of the frame because there are layers of other objects in front of, and behind the focal plane that are naturally out of focus. Shallow depth of field is the whole point, so use that selective focus to bring attention to your subject while making sure anything towards the edges of the frame is either much further in front or behind the focal plane and out of focus. In the frame above, you can’t notice spherical aberration at all because there are plenty of objects layered into the shot to hide it completely. Conclusions The Ulanzi DOF Adapter is a capable tool for anyone willing to put in the work. It requires a proactive, thoughtful approach to creating images, and won’t passively give you great looking full frame results by itself. I recommend it to anyone wanting to experiment with methods and tools beyond point and shoot smartphone videography. However, be ready to problem solve and shoot around the limitations I’ve outlined. It is capable of producing some nice looking video that denies its smartphone origins in the right hands but isn’t for everyone. If you’re not interested in putting in the hard work, it’s probably not for you. What do you think about using a DOF Adapter on a smartphone? Is this a tool that sparks your interest? Let us know in the comments.