anamorphic recommendations etc

[francisco santos]

Hey superusers!
So I have my epic and I want to explore anamorphic lenses my favorite films/videos typically always are shot with anamorphic glass. I bought eoshd guide and frankly its cool but I want to know your thoughts are. So heres a few questions

1. whats a good brand to try? I know theres a few but your favorite and why
2. do all anamorphics need a taking lens or do some come in a pl mount if so which?
3. wheres a good rental house or place to purchase

Just another dork trying to chase a look appreciate your time.

 

[Andy White]

Some quick answers that'll help.

First, Eoshd's guide is more about getting stuff on the low end & DSLR's. You've got an Epic, so you have a specific ANA mode, whilst it's not full frame/4:3 as in the Alexa (or film), you don't have to jump as many hurdles.

1 - Lomo & Kowa are the lowest end cinema Ana primes, a set of 3 Roundfront Lomos (35/50/75) or Squarefront Lomos (35/50/80) or Kowas are the cheapest - prices will range from $20K-$35K for Lomos and prpbably $35K+ for Kowas (probably higher). Hawks and modern ana's are a lot more expensive.
2 - Professional Ana cinema lenses are one piece, the taking and ana parts are all in the same body - otherwise you can't pull focus properly (you need to be able to repeat a focus rack on a set), plus better mechanics etc.
3 - Panavision will have lenses to rent, but they'll be in PV mount. Google for anamorphic cinema lenses for rent and you'll soon find out what else is out there.

Hope this helps and gets you started.

 

[Brandon Esten]

Definitely do your homework. If you made the investment in a camera body like the Epic, you're obviously investigating the in-and-out's of image capture. Anamorphic is not going to be cheap; solutions that claim to get you an anamorphic look for a budget are not solutions really. Like Andy said, primes, and even rarer zooms, require some knowledge and insight to produce worthwhile footage and they don't come cheap. There was a time you could get a set of Lomo anamorphics for under 10k but those days are long gone I'm afraid. On the other hand, attachments for the front of spherical lenses should be approached with extreme caution. Again, if you have made the investment in a camera body like the Epic, don't sell yourself short by putting junk glass in front of it. Given this situation, there is absolutely nothing wrong with renting. There are several people on this site who offer their lenses for rent. If you have any questions go ahead and send me a PM and I'll give you .25 worth of free advice on the things I've learned along the way. You can also root around my website for info on Russian glass. We're not renting out at this time.

Best of luck out there hunting for glass! That's where the image really gets made!
~B

 

[Marcus Struzina]

Hey Francisco while you're hunting around for the real anamorphic glass you can have a little widescreen Ana lens flare fun on an iPhone with my app Scope Flare http://itunes.com/apps/scopeflare
It shoots 1920 x 810 video with real time realistically simulated lens flares and has a selection of colour grades derived from film stock luts.

 

[Brian Merlen]

the Kowa have a lovely flare..the master anamorphics are fast as heck, optically unmatched. the lomo, mixed bag depending if you score a decent set id say in general. cooke have the cooke look to them.. I'm considering Kowa myself, for flare and also price...a whole set of Lomos or Kowas is like 1 lens of cost if you get Master Ana or Cooke Ana... Its so much damn money for those sets..

 

[Martin Ubilluz]

Lomos are the worst if you want a nice picture I would not say Kowas are at the low end theres a couple anamorphic brands in PL mount way below. Kowas are going for about 50k now. I would say that no matter where you get them its all about who serviced them and gave them and overhaul because of how old most anamorphics are . Unless your using arri, cooke, or panavision. All anamorphics are vintage and you want to get the right one with the best glass regardless of brand. I have a set of kowas that are available to rent that have amazing glass are super sharp and in no way the low end of anamorphics completely serviced and overhauled by panavision in LA.

Everything in the EOS book is for low end not actually anamorphic shooting. I would rather shoot with a nice spherical lens then have to do anything in that book just to get an anamorphic image.

 

[Brandon Esten]

There is definitely some junk Lomo glass, not denying that AT ALL. The 2-part lenses are pretty much unusable, don't think I'd get much argument there. Every time you swap the front out you're going to have to do collimation... IF you can get it all aligned anyhow. So, yeah.

Anyhow, if you do find a good set of 1-piece squares/rounds, it gets to the point of comparing opinions as far as what will deliver a "better" image when pitting the Russian primes against Kowas... or at least from what I've seen on various video posting sites. Kowas have the problem (if you want to call it that) with breathing due to the design of the focus mechanism. Later Lomos minimize this effect, and I'm still trying to find definitive evidence that the Hawk design borrowed from Lomo and not the other way around. I've heard a lot of authorities talk about it, but I'm really curious to know once and for all who came up with the front diopter pair style of focus... I heard one of the Lomo designers actually went to work on the Hawks... Looking at the nifty x-ray of the two side by side one is hard pressed to say there is much difference.

I don't remember off hand how much barrel distortion the 40mm Kowa has, but the various 35mm Lomos have different degrees of this effect. One thing Kowas do have over Lomos is weight and size for the most part. Some of the Lomos are damned heavy. But there again, if you have a camera like the Epic behind one of these you're still going to be able to get it on a steadicam with weight to spare for a mattebox and FF unit. One other thing Kowas have in terms of advantage is the front diameter which, correct me if I'm wrong, does not need the 6.6x6.6 filters some of the oddball Russian glass needs. On the other hand, Lomo boasts a wider selection of focal lengths than Kowa, and 2 honest-to-god anamorphic zooms. I've seen an 800mm kowa that is a rear-adapted 400, so you don't get the anamorphic look a front element prime would give you... but Lomo ranges from 22mm through 500mm with front element lenses (again, your opinion as to what is good and what is sh!t; I think the 300 and 500 are plenty sharp but that's my opinion). There is a 1000mm prime, rear adapted though. There are 2 front element zooms which are super rare these days, the 37-120 Foton and 40-120 OPF19 which I thiiiiink can have a 1.5 or 2.1 telextender added to the tail.

Anyhow, vintage glass is an acquired taste I guess, and anamorphic is peculiar once again. I like the look of both Lomo and Kowa. The new primes I've seen in action are crummy: they're so sterile and sharp, you might just as well go use a spherical master prime and cover the sensor for 16:9 and crop as necessary rather than spend the mulah on renting the new anamorphic. The Cookes... are rear adapted. Sad they wussed out on incorporating the anamorphic element up front or in the middle. Maybe there are too many patents? Dunno...

My .02
~B

 

[Mike Simpson]

the hawk V-lites look very nice and are as the name suggests: very light. nice for handheld work. personal favorites are probably the G series Pana's.

 

[Nick Gardner]

I pretty much echo what Brandon said, with the addition that I really, really like look of square front lomos. If you get a good set they are gorgeous lenses.

Nick

 

[Brian Merlen]

Lomos are the worst if you want a nice picture I would not say Kowas are at the low end theres a couple anamorphic brands in PL mount way below. Kowas are going for about 50k now. I would say that no matter where you get them its all about who serviced them and gave them and overhaul because of how old most anamorphics are . Unless your using arri, cooke, or panavision. All anamorphics are vintage and you want to get the right one with the best glass regardless of brand. I have a set of kowas that are available to rent that have amazing glass are super sharp and in no way the low end of anamorphics completely serviced and overhauled by panavision in LA.

Everything in the EOS book is for low end not actually anamorphic shooting. I would rather shoot with a nice spherical lens then have to do anything in that book just to get an anamorphic image.

I love Kowas, and didn't mean low end...meant to emphasize you can get an entire set of Kowas for the price of a single Master Ana or Cooke Ana... I love the Kowas and want my own set, its probably gonna be what I buy first Ana wise, mostly cuz i can't afford a set of contemporary and i like that they are a classical kind of a feel, and that over time sets are harder to find and buy, so it can only become more niche over time if i can score a decent set...i love their flares, i probably think Kowa flares the coolest outta them all but open to debate and analysis of that opinion...below an interesting read i just googled on Ana history

https://www.schneideroptics.com/projection/homecinema/History.pdf


and an even better one by red!

http://www.red.com/learn/red-101/anamorphic-lenses


Luke has a good one too apparently

http://nofilmschool.com/2013/10/get-started-shooting-anamorphic