anamorphic confusion

[Mike Dominic]

I'm looking to experiment with anamorphic for the first time (specifically on a GH4 in 4:3 mode), so I'm interested in a relatively inexpensive 2x adapter that will work nicely with fully manual ZF.2 or Contax/Zeiss lenses. I don't mind the dual focus issue -- this would only be for shots where I have ample set-up time and no focus pulls.

I have read a lot of articles and sifted through MANY forums (including this one), and I must admit I am a bit overwhelmed/confused about all of the different anamorphic options out there... all-in-one lenses vs. adapters, proper focal lengths to pair with an adapter, minimum focus distance, f-stop change, the necessity of diopters, etc.

Some people mention Lomo/Kowa lenses as if they are expensive stand-alone lenses you attach directly to the camera, and other people talk about attaching them to the front of another lens for much cheaper. Are some people just detaching the anamorphic part of Lomos/Kowas and retrofitting them to be used with whatever spherical lens they have?

If anyone has been down the entry-level anamorphic path before and can help me make sense of it all, that would be exceedingly helpful and I will be your friend forever. The 2x Kowa B&H seems to get mentioned a lot, but I'm not sure how that differs from other Kowas (16H, 16D, 16S) , or from other brands like Sankor for that matter.


Sorry for my ignorance. I really did try to understand it all on my own, but my brain started smoking about an hour ago. Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

Mike

 

[Matthew Quinn]

Hi Mike.

So there are many people on this forum who know A LOT more than i do. If you are shooting with a GH4 primarily that's a Micro four thirds mount system. there are adapters that can get you the ability to attach vintage anamorphic lenses like the kowa you mentioned. However those lenses are extremely expensive and to be honest should prob stay on bigger camera systems with a bigger crew paying attention to detail. I also use a gh4 sometimes to shoot with and i have had my eye on these for a while, i think they could be what your looking for

http://nofilmschool.com/2015/04/vey...ni-prime-3-sub-5000-true-2x-anamorphic-lenses

there are also these: https://vimeo.com/138921794

I know it can be confusing, I'm just starting to get more experience with anamorphic lenses myself, thank god i have friends i work with who know more than me. Long live camera nerds!

 

[Nick Gardner]

Howdy,

First of all, go read this -

http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=4690

To answer a few of your questions -

A proper cine style anamorphic lens is a one piece unit with one focus gear. There was a style of lomo lens that had a front anamorphic group which could be shared between the 50 and 8mm lenses. Although you could stuff this front anamorphic onto a different lens, it was best used with the lens it was designed for, as they both focus together and have an integrated system for doing so.

All proper Kowa anamorphics are a one unit lens like all the other normal ones. Where the confusion comes in, is that they also made projector lenses, and adapters for still lenses, and these can be stuffed on the front of some lenses with a combination of adapter rings, bailing wire, and hope. Most of the time this requires focusing both the taking lens and the anamorphic adapter and is impractical for any serious film making, but you seem to be aware of that.

Diopters are often used with anamorphics as the close focus is simply not that close. No great mystery there. On the adapter cobbled together front, for obvious reasons projector lenses dn't focus very close, so again, diopters.

As Matthew said, there are new adapters that are out from several people that deal with some of these issues, and are probably a good place to start. However, most of them are 1.33x squeeze for 16x9 sensors, so they are not quite what you want.

Cheers,

Nick

 

[Andy White]

As Nick has mentioned, in terms of Lomo there was a fixed lens version in Squarefront (with an BAS/OCT-19 mount) and a two piece version (spherical lens with a Squarefront attachment - NAS/OCT-18). These were two different types of lens nount (OCT-18 being the cheaper) and it's this NAS/OCT-18 that was/is used a lot by the DSLR crowd.

Here are some recent links.

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?117665-Tips-when-buying-Lomo-Square-Front-Anamorphics
http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?135178-LOMO-35mm-NAS-how-do-i-connect-the-front-and-back

 

[Mike Dominic]

thanks guys, this is very helpful. as a first timer just looking to dabble, I think I will start with a cheap Kowa projector lens and attach it to my existing ZF.2 or C/Z lenses. found a company called vid atlantic that makes a bunch of adapter rings for this purpose. i think proper anamorphic lenses will be more of a rental item for me, if I have the chance and the necessary budget to work with. but to start with i just want to get a feel for the look and shooting style dictated by anamorphic.

i did notice there are some more expensive "in between" options that sort of bridge the gap between the projector lens route and the proper cine lens route. the iscoramas, which let you set your taking lens to infinity and only focus the anamorphic lens, and a product made by SLR magic called a rangefinder, which apparently turns a dual focus setup into a single focus setup. if anyone has used these, I would be curious to hear your thoughts.

thanks again for all the info! looking forward to trying this out.

 

[John Brennick]

thanks guys, this is very helpful. as a first timer just looking to dabble, I think I will start with a cheap Kowa projector lens and attach it to my existing ZF.2 or C/Z lenses. found a company called vid atlantic that makes a bunch of adapter rings for this purpose. i think proper anamorphic lenses will be more of a rental item for me, if I have the chance and the necessary budget to work with. but to start with i just want to get a feel for the look and shooting style dictated by anamorphic.

i did notice there are some more expensive "in between" options that sort of bridge the gap between the projector lens route and the proper cine lens route. the iscoramas, which let you set your taking lens to infinity and only focus the anamorphic lens, and a product made by SLR magic called a rangefinder, which apparently turns a dual focus setup into a single focus setup. if anyone has used these, I would be curious to hear your thoughts.

thanks again for all the info! looking forward to trying this out.

Hey Mike,

Here's a good thread going on this disucssion.

http://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?136897-Anamorphic-adaptors&p=1552664#post1552664

I'll just post my response from that thread in here for you.

"I purchased a FM module which converts dual focus anamorphics like that to single focus which is a necessity!
This is a link to some footage I shot on the Dragon with the FM lens to do rack focus using the cinelux anamorphic pojector lens. The cinelux is a bit too clean and doesnt flare very easily.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKzOwjw7rRc

This is the anamorphic lens inside the FM lens

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Schneider-ES...item567b87ab15

Heres a link to the lens adapter that I use. It doesnt fit all projection lenses but it does for quite a few.
http://anamorphicshop.com/product/fm-lens/


Theres also the Rectilux which I dont have but it's another one on the market that does the same thing. Here's the brochure for it to show you which projector lenses it can be paired with in which model.


http://www.transferconvert.co.uk/cin...ureAug2015.pdf

Best of luck!"

I hope this helps!

-John

 

[Brandon Esten]

Mike, our website has a lot of Lomo anamorphic info:

http://www.et-ent.com/sa.html