I am glad to hear that the Elites have less breathing problems than the Hawks, because that was one aspect I didn't like about the Hawks. Since Arri Munich will probably start to rent out the Elites soon, so I'm hoping to use them on my next project.
I used the Hawks V-Series recently and it was very hard on the steadicam operator, since we were shooting with a Moviecam SL, so the whole camera setup was very front-heavy. Handheld also was very uncomortable to operate, so I guess with such heavy lenses one best uses a heavier camera as well, for better weight distribution. Which camera do you plan to use on the your feature?
I was told by someone who visited the Elite Manufacturers in St. Petersburg recently that they are developping a new set of lenses, which is lighter, but optically just as good as the current version of the Elites. He said that they look to reduce the breathing even further. If I'm not mistaken, the anamorhic element will be at the back of the lenses as well.
I hope they develop a zoom lens as well, something similar to the Hawk 46-230mm lens, with a decent t-stop. Which zoom lens do you plan to use with the Elites?
Max