Anamorphic question.

Okay, so if BDM decides to allow 4:3 support cropped from the 16:9 image.
Does it make a difference if you shoot in 16:9 with a 2x anamorphic lens, stretch it out to 3.5 then crop the edges to make it 2.35? As opposed to shooting 4:3 then stretching out to 2.35?
the only difference I can think of is framing. But besides that I'm not sure.

If BDM decides to increase the vertical resolution to achieve 4:3 then this concept is moot.

Right now I think an anamorphic lens needs to be 1.33x to hold the most information. Slrmagic I think is making one. And there is the hawk (v-lite?)...

The sensor in the camera is closer to 4x3. So it would not need to crop left and right if they did a 4x3 option.

Actual Sensor Resolution: 2592 x 2192
Active Sensor Resolution: 2432 x 1366

Actual Sensor Size: 16.64 x 14.04 mm
Active Sensor Size: 15.6 x 8.8 mm

The sensor in the camera is closer to 4x3. So it would not need to crop left and right if they did a 4x3 option.

Actual Sensor Resolution: 2592 x 2192
Active Sensor Resolution: 2432 x 1366

Actual Sensor Size: 16.64 x 14.04 mm
Active Sensor Size: 15.6 x 8.8 mm

I am aware of the size. The reason a crop is easier than adding the vertical resolution though is the extra information being processed may be too much somewhere in the pipeline.
Full sensor 4:3 mode is ideal. but it is understandable if it is infeasible.
More to the point, I was asking because there's no information on firmware for 4:3 ATM. If recording to a 16:9 image stretching to 3.55 then cropping that 3.55 image down to 2.35 was equivalent to recording at a cropped 4:3 frame of the current sensor frame (of roughly 16:9) then stretching it out to 2.35.

Yup. Cropping on the current 16x9 aspect ratio would give you similar results and it what many will do.

Most are asking for a tru 4x3 mode so they can get more res and so that it's simpler in post and while shooting.