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Anamorphics

M

Michael Frymus

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I love the look of anamorphics.

I would really love to add some character to my lenses.
If I could, I would buy some nice cine lenses that give off a certain look.

But, I'm not rich.
Best I can do is probably the set of Zeiss ZE lenses.

At the moment I have Contax Zeiss lenses and a 17-55 - possibly 70-200 too, but looking for something faster than f/2.8
But, they dont have any character. They just look like DSLR glass on my C300.

I would like to add this to my lens(es).
Any thoughts on the CineMorth adapter or the SLR Magic Anamorphot?

Or perhaps there are alternatives?
 
If you really love the look of anamorphic then why not wait until a project when you can rent the lenses. The C300 wouldn't be sufficient for anamorphic lenses anyway, you'd want to rent an Alexa or even shoot on film for it to be authentic.
 
I personally think Contax glass can have a lot of character, esp the old AE's.

Maybe consider some Russian stills glass if you are on a budget?

The Helios 44-2 has some of the most knee-bending, swirly bokeh ever. And you can easily score one on ebay for about $100+

best
 
Anamorphic adapters are very viable. I own three Iscorama's and you can do quite a lot with other brands. The thing you want is single lens focus, rather than having to do both lenses.
The Letus 1.33x is a bit of a fail for reasons I won't go into, but I would suggest you look at the anamorphic forum at eoshd.com if you are interested in taking this forward. And no, you don't need to be shooting on an Alexa in order to achieve good results with anamorphic. Why on earth would a C300 not be sufficient? Sometimes the attitudes of some members here just amaze me.
 
I have CineMorph. It has some limitations, like you need to shoot wide open (f2.0 or f1.4) otherwise bokeh won't be oval and you start seeing vignette. Also you cannot put it on lenses wider than 50 or so mm, cause of vignette.
 
Clayton Burkhart said:
And no, you don't need to be shooting on an Alexa in order to achieve good results with anamorphic. Why on earth would a C300 not be sufficient? Sometimes the attitudes of some members here just amaze me.
Click to expand...

The Alexa is the only camera which has the correct sensor size for an Anamorphic lens, C300 has a super 35 sensor which means you'll need to crop to get it to the correct aspect ratio, you end up losing FOV as well as resolution, it's not an "Attitude" it's about authenticity which is important if you want an authentic Anamorphic feel.
 
Craig W. Bickerstaff said:
The Alexa is the only camera which has the correct sensor size for an Anamorphic lens, C300 has a super 35 sensor which means you'll need to crop to get it to the correct aspect ratio, you end up losing FOV as well as resolution, it's not an "Attitude" it's about authenticity which is important if you want an authentic Anamorphic feel.
Click to expand...

Most Alexas out there have a 16/9 sensor (close to 3-perf Super 35mm) as well, it's just the Alexa 4:3 which maximizes the sensor for anamorphic shooting.
 
I'm getting rid of my Contax soon because I need lenses with faster speeds for the stuff I shoot.
I don't care if it actually squeezes my image like an actual anamorphic or just mimics the look with the filter.

For the productions that I do want to use them on, I will not have any budget to rent them. All the gear I want to use, I will have to get it out of my own pocket.
And with the budget we get, its no where near sufficient enough to do so.


That's why I've been looking at the SLR Magic Anamorphot.
Its a bit costly, at just over a grand for it, but maybe it will be what Im looking for?

I was hoping on getting one on each of my lenses so its easy to swap lenses and still have the effect going.
Which is why I considered CineMorph too.
 
If your C300 is EF mount (which it sounds like it is), the only options available to you are adapters. SLRmagic Anamorpht and Letus' 1.33x will both turn your 16:9 image into a 2.35/2.4 stretch (using as much of the 16:9 sensor as possible). While the authentic/2x anamorphic lenses will offer more "anamorphicness", for maximizing resolution I'd use was one of the 1.33x adapters.

On the flip side, both have limitations and neither are throw-away/experiment cheap (about $1k+)... You should definitely try before you buy.
 
Craig W. Bickerstaff said:
The Alexa is the only camera which has the correct sensor size for an Anamorphic lens, C300 has a super 35 sensor which means you'll need to crop to get it to the correct aspect ratio, you end up losing FOV as well as resolution, it's not an "Attitude" it's about authenticity which is important if you want an authentic Anamorphic feel.
Click to expand...


Not really true, most anamorphics are built not for s35 but 35 academy. So alexa would not be so autentic in that regard. But yes big sensor is to me pretty much always nicer. Even though a lot of ana wide glas get rather soft on the edges with full sensor alexa. So to me shooting dragon with 12% less sensor height higher resolution and a huge look around if wanted and also possible to record is actually a nicer option. The Arri master anamorphics cover alexa FF no problem but those are quite few and far in between and also to me they lack a lot of the features that I like about anamorphic's.
 
Alexa 4:3 for anamorphics looks great. Contax speeds have tons of character, so it's weird hearing you say that. I think you would get good use out of an anamprphic adapter, there's really no other option and your clients will most likely enjoy the look. I shot 4:3 alexa anamorphic recently and the director had a blackmagic 4k with the cinemorph. We were on a city rooftop at night shooting with the building lights in the background. I'd say the adapter got about 1/2 the look. Which isn't bad really for the price.
 
If you need faster lenses, then anamorphic are not the answer. Unless you find a old JDC anamorphic set which are the only super speed anamorphics you could buy. Each one weights between 8-10lbs each expect the 50mm which is 5lbs. Very low contrast with a lot of CA wide open, but always great on skin tones. Decent price to rent in NYC. Kowas are the best in my opinion for size/speed/sharpness/flaring. But widest is 40mm, not a deal breaker but it is what it is. I would kill for a set of Kowas myself, cause I'm always renting them. I would consider a different camera if your using a C300. A 4:3 Alexa classic or Alexa XT or just shooting 4 perf is better. Next would be a Epic Dragon. Unless you can find a 1.3x squeezed set, which is hard to find, and I know there are no 1.3x sets in NYC. There's the Panasonic and Letus anamorphic adaptors in 1.3X but it throws off all your marks and so hard to get used to when shooting. Not very usable for on the go shooting, and prefers lenses smaller then 77mm in diameter. I would think about other things that make the image more pleasing, like filtration, lighting, etc. Anamorphics are awesome but not for everyday shooting.
 
I don't have the budget for a new camera or to rent. Same goes for the lenses. Already posing it by getting the Zeiss ZE lenses.

I'm on my phone and it's a bit messed up... So I can't really trek if I mentioned this yet or not, but, there isn't much of a budget for renting things like lenses or cameras. Everything would have to be my own, or else it would come out of my pocket...

I love the anamorphic look, and for certain shoots (these ate more rib n gun shots), I would love to have done filters or that attachment to the front of my lenses.
 
A good set of Anamorphics cost a lot more then a good set of Spherical lenses. Your also running a EF mount which isn't a good idea to use a PL mount adaptor for Anamorphics, let alone Spherical. I would ask myself, what about Anamorphics, draws me to them so much, the flaring, bokeh, depth of field, skin tones, etc... There's a lot of very interesting old Spherical lenses like Cooke s2/s3, and Canon k35's and a lot more. They give a great look to rival anamorphics, but like anamorphics not for every job. How much are you planning on spending on lenses?
 
If I was doing a bigger production and had the budget, I would use better glass, no doubt. But not with my budget... Which would be only a couple thousand four the set.
So, I won't have a budget for actual anamorphic lenses
 
Here is some pre-shot scrap footage My first AC did recently witha converted Iscorama/Runco projector.The lens was a built out with a mount in front and back. The 1st AC was mucking about preparing the shot and the alignment, but no matter, you can see how sharp it is, with almost no distortion on the sides and good corner to corner resolution. It's a 1,33x with a Contax 50/1.4 taking lens. This explains the six bladed stars and the flare on the cars headlights. What's interesting is that you can pull focus on the taking lens rather than the anamorphic, meaning quicker pulls if necessary. It is also sharper than traditional Isco's. I will try to shoot something when I have a chance as most of my footage is in the US right now (currently in Paris,France)

http://vimeo.com/110096447
 
I too find it odd that you are unable to get the needed character out of your Contax lenses, and are thinking of replacing them with ZE lenses, as the T* lens coatings have changed drastically from the Contax era to the ZE lenses.
 
In not saying there is NO character in them at all. I do like these lenses a lot, but the bigger problem is speed. I'm constantly shooting in low light environments, and just need something faster than f/2.8
 
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