Understanding Anamorphic Video Better

Today’s Post by Mark Toal

I recently wrote a blog post about trying to understand anamorphic video. Panasonic just released their firmware update for their GH4 camera that includes an anamorphic setting. Anamorphic allows you to use a dedicated anamorphic lens to shoot a video that is a wider aspect ratio that the standard 16:9 HD TV shape.

Anamorphic lenses are usually expensive but a Chinese lens manufacturer Veydra has promised a somewhat affordable (under $5000) lens by the end of the year. Shooting anamorphic still won’t be easy but it will be a lot more affordable. Expect to see a lot more cinematic looking films on YouTube and Vimeo.

My good friends at Pro Photo Supply here in Portland, Oregon produced a short video for Panasonic explaining the new anamorphic feature in a humorous way. This explains it much better than I ever could.