Stumbled on this...
Elswit quoted at the ASC award reception speech..
"I just think it's impossible to pick these five films apart from one another. I'm really lucky that Janusz (Kaminki) did extraordinary work a year after he resigned from the ASC, and that Roger (Deakins) is competing with himself. To avoid this (from happening again) there should probably be a category called 'best cinematography in a movie by Roger Deakins."
so apparently this is not recent..
If any one has had a chance to ask him and/or could shed some light.. I'd be interested to learn his reasonings... like when Robert Rodriguez left the DGA.. He must have had a good reason..