Anamorphic Misconceptions - A Response to Potato Jet's Sirui Lenses Review

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@PotatoJet reviewed Sirui's lenses and some of his points could be clearer. So I made a response addressing variable squeeze ratio, streak filters, professional use, and other subjects.

Potato Jet - Sirui's Budget Anamorphic Lenses are.... ALMOST Great!

*GEAR I USE*

[MikeMatsuiJr]

This is the nerdiest diss track ever and I love it!

[patrickvandervalk]

Let this be a warning to other youtubers that are looking for a new topic for a vlog; don’t mess with anamorphics unless you are Obi Wan Kenobi or Tito Ferradans!

[cinesagaltd]

Thanks for the shoutout Tito! I wholeheartedly agree. Once you've seen footage shot on an anamorphic projection lens looking incredible on the biggest ad screen in Europe... It really ends the quality question!

[chrismhp]

Thanks for video Tito! Glad to see your production quality always keeps improving even after all these years. As affordable anamorphic becomes more widespread, we'll keep seeing these kinds of questions that us scope addicts know all too well. Your channel is still the go-to when it comes to anamorphic know-how, and I think that's something to be proud of. :)

[joyoffilming]

This is one of the best videos I've seen from you for a long as you deal with P.J.'s comments on this lens in a very (!) professional and nice way - congratulations!
And you know what? Just the combination of your introductory video, P.J.'s great footage, and now your great comments make this lense even more attractive than ever before.
Thanks to you and P.J.!

[FreshSqueezedLightning]

A well-spoken response, I commend you on that. I'm a 1st AC and it's nice to see someone informing people the truth with varying anamorphics

[kubrick]

It's not so much that potato jet was incorrect on alot of points, it's that he always talks like he is absolutely correct on everything he says. For me, PJ has a slight troll quality in his reviews. The way he man handles expensive gear is highly irritating. The most amazing camera can come out and PJ will most likely throw up a video saying why he will never buy it. It was so satisfying to see a calm, educated clap back video. SUBBED!

[StefanCzech]

Hi, I followed you a year now and also Potato J. But when I saw his „review“ I was laughing out loud because of the exact points you talk about.
Very great form you to send out this correction in such a nice way. Love it.
I will become a member of you Chanel and spend „a coffee“ a month to support you.
Keep going with your content. Love it.
Stefan

[artistjoh]

I had already seen Potato Jet’s video and in reviewing it you produced a really useful resource for us all. My impression of Potato Jet is that he is a really lovely guy and I am sure he will appreciate your input. More reviews please :)

[joyoffilming]

Hi Tito & Potato Jet,
just a quick update: in the meanwhile I purchased the lens, experimenting with it on my Lumix S1H since a few weeks.
This lens exceeded my expectations by far: built like a tank, perfect smoothness of both focus and apperture, razor sharp from edge to edge, nice flares when light hits the lens directly from the front, on the other side quite robust against unwanted flaring (I did not expect this!).
Yes, there is some little squeeze-breathing when focusing - but not too wild and a result of the selected construction and not Sirui's fault.
Only challenge I still have with this lens is finding the perfect focus w/o using the internal EVF of my S1H, i.e. in run & gun mode. So, I am practicing and practicing and getting better every day.

Another thing I was totally unaware of is that when using the 5.4 K mode on my S1H, this lens with its 1.6 squeeze factor turns my S1H into an 8, 64 K monster!
Yes, the additional resolution gets created by the NLE (in my case Davinci Resolve Studio) when interpolating additional pixels during horizontal desqueeze - but it all looks so great and immersive.
When I recently used my spherical lens and reviewed the footage on my screen I felt like watching an 'amputated' piece of video.

Guess what, this is my 'always on lens' for the time being.

Thanks to Tito for bringing 'The Anamorphic' to so many of us!

[WEHAVETHISDREAM]

Man, thanks so much!

I actually watched his video yesterday (again) and said to myself: ditch the idea of buying the 50mm from Sirui.

Today, YouTube recommended your video :)

[DovydasMiliauskas]

So glad you pointed this out! Great response!

[Ben-rzcf]

I'm glad you guys can have this civilized dialogue and add corrections to educate people rather than arguing :D no youtube drama here just film nerds who want to get the best results

[florubenberger]

Great Video. Thanks a lot for pointing these out!

[reddjinn]

my 2 cents: potato jet is a legit content creator, really funny dude, and has become super knowledgeable on general industry tech. his following completely warrants this kind of response so good on you for defending the lenses.
THAT SAID, any real story teller with a true affinity for cinematic story telling would never complain about any of what potato jet had a problem with. youtubers in general tend to over analyze out of a need to make extensive content. and while their opinions absolutely matter, they should NEVER solely guide a true filmmakers decision. I.e. dismissing the adapters over extra time in post... when working on a budget you will always have to work extra in post on one thing or another. its a trade off so if you like the look of those anamorphic adapters, maybe the 5 seconds per clip in post is worth it.
We live in such an amazing time for story tellers right now where we can buy everything we need to make a career defining feature film for under 10k but you'd never guess it if you only paid attention to youtubers who's entire jobs are to push the limits of tech designed to compete with equipment 10x more expensive. (bmpcc vs alexa videos crack me up)
sorry this was so long winded but for me, the creators of affordable groundbreaking tech do far more for the creative space than any one person's opinion of their products. creators like Potato Jet are fantastic but let's not give them more power than they deserve.

[avo]

Thanks for the video and the hard work you and your team put in. I've been a follower for ages and did my first lens mod after watching you do it, been quite a journey there.

Love that attitude of appreciating things for what they are and whether they are suitable for the project, instead of judging by the labels that have been slapped on top of them. It's a huge topic, but honestly these days it feels like marketing and consumerism distract people from understanding why they use certain tools, and many people buy things without understanding why or understanding if there's a need for it.

[dangoldbach]

I don't think potato was dissing anamorphic so much as expressing his personal preference. He's allowed to have his opinions. Tito does a great job on the deep-dive in this response, I didn't think he was dunking on potato so much as explaining why anamorphic lenses are just... different!

[williamcurwen]

I am a highly experienced photographer and have yet to meet a lens - any lens at all, that I did not like. But I do like choosing the right lens for the job. That is where the experience comes in. Mister Potato needs to apply himself more succinctly in terms of critical review of technical attributes he does not yet quite understand.

[tom_nuyts]

very competent and comprehensive argumentation against a rather emotional and not so profound "criticism"; the other guy not even knows about differing squeeze factors in relation to focussing... a simple beginners knowledge.. the same with the criticism about IBIS etc. thank you very much for your efforts to make that clear

[erelando]

Thanks for the encouragement Tito! I feel more confident now to bring the DIY 2X Elmoscope onto my next professional project 👍🤓