Planning on purchasing a BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera? Or maybe you decided to go with a Panasonic GH3, or the new Panasonic GX7. These cameras (especially the Pocket Cinema Camera) have quite a crop so I suggest looking into some wide lenses.
Here's a deal on a lens that I highly recommend for such cameras with a crop - The Rokinon 7.5mm Fisheye. Typically this lens will run for $299 dollars and you can see that here (via Amazon) and also here (via B&H).
Right now for the next few days the Bower branded (same exact lens) 7.5mm Fisheye Lens is just $199 + 4% Rewards saving you more than a cool hundred bucks. Deal ends in a few days.
Bower 7.5mm Fisheye Lens for Micro Four Thirds BlackMagic Pocket Cinema / GH3
Emm
Post author@Paul - Also check After Effects as they have the same basic effects. Maybe you can save something there.
Paul
Thanks Emm, this is great. I hadn't discovered that plug-in before within Premiere CC (Windows 8). Sadly it is not a plug-in eligible for GPU acceleration via the Mercury Playback Engine, but it seems to perform reasonably fast. I'll try and make a note to post my settings once I've calibrated it to the fisheye. (Unfortunately, the plug-in lacks the ability to save presets.)
Emm
Post author@Paul - Most editors have this built in, but it just corrects the perspective by adding an opposite warp of a fisheye. You can adjust the settings more or less, but too much and you will have to crop parts of the video and scale in (zoom) and lose resolution. Here's a screengrab from FCPX which has a built in Fisheye tool and you basically slide it the opposite direction.
You see how it reshapes the entire frame. So you will then use the Radius slider to 'zoom' or scale the image upwards. If you don't abuse it, you can get away with it and still retain decent video.
For Adobe Premiere it's under "Lens Distortion". Here's the weird thing, it may only show up with Premiere on a Windows Machine. Not when it's installed on a MAC. (BTW, don't take my screenshots seriously. That's just us having fun with a random LED Ring Light)
Paul
Thanks, Emm, for pointing me there - I see it's the poster frame for your entire video. Last question, what's the de-fishing tool? I use Premiere, believing there are no out-of-the-box lens correction plug-ins. If it's complex (and processor-intensive), it won't be worth it to me. I may have to live with the widest end of my 12-35mm f/2.8,
Emm
Post author@Paul - I used this lens several times in my video. The last shot of the sunset in my BMPCC video was done on this 7.5mm Fisheye. I de-fished it slightly https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10988#p69228
Other shots of the Kite Shop (wide) were from the same 7.5mm Fisheye also.
Emm
Post author@Mitchell - It will still have some distortion, but not as much as on a GH3. You can also slightly 'de-fish' the video and still maintain a decent amount of sharpness. The last scene towards the end of my BMPCC Video with the sunset is from this exact same 7.5mm lens in this article: httpss://cheesycam.com/blackmagic-pocket-cinema-camera-rode-videomic-pro-captured-on-atomos-ninja-2/
Paul
P.S.: Of possible relevance:
https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10988#p69228
Paul
Seems risky. I might go for it -- my BMPC is arriving on Friday -- but it would be rare luck if the BMPC crops right into the edges of that circle. Have you actually tried? Thanks for the tip, anyway (if it works).
Mitchell
If you use this with the BMPCC, will it make the video have the fisheye effect? Or because of the Super 16 size sensor, will that cancel that effect out and just produce a nice wide angle?