Custom Anamorphic Lens

[Anton Shavlik]

On a whim I bought a Kowa 2x for Bell&Howell and I absolutely love the look of the lens. Sharp, bright, and with a nice big exit pupil I have no trouble using it at 5k ana with my Zeiss ZE 35, 50, and 85 1.4.

I've fallen in love with the look of anamorphic at f1.4, simply dreamlike. But, in order to focus I need to adjust two focus rings in opposite directions, which has led me to instead use different power diopters to change focal points. This is severely limiting and slows down production.

I've been toying with the idea of designing a custom cam system for each lens and rehousing the glass into this new body, but it's not something I've done before. I wonder if any posters here can give me tips / talk me out of it. I also have no idea how to sneak an aperture back into the lens.

Here's some examples of the 50mm wide open

 

[Maik Müller]

Beautiful anamorphic look.

About your idea, re-housing two lenses into one body wouldn't change a thing about the need to work with two focus-rings.

 

[Anton Shavlik]

Both the anamorphic and the zeiss lenses focus by moving one set of glass elements forward and backward. The complication comes from now having 2 groups of glass to move at different ratios, which is what "floating elements" lenses doe. This will make the breathing and mumps pretty bad but since that's more normal for anamorphic lenses I've accepted that. The other option would be to create a variable diopter on the front of the lenses but that means tracking down more glass, and while this eliminates mumps there's a chance the breathing will be much worse.

My plan was to mark the distances at which the lenses focus without astigmatism at 16 different points between between the closest possible focus and infinity, and then build one cam system that adjusts both these distances at the same time. If it looks like the points follow a linear relationship I only need to worry about the moving elements traveling smoothly between infinity and close focus. You can check out this animation for a design similar to my own: http://www.pierretoscani.com/images/echo_shortpres/Figure-18-anim-UK.swf

My biggest concerns from lack of knowledge and experience doing this are, how hard is it to create a cam system that can focus two lens elements reliably? Will having a shorter focus throw help?

How careful do you need to be about keeping the damping grease out of the optical path? Once it's applied does it pretty much stay put or do I need to make sure the optical path is fairly sealed?

How careful do I have to be about the flange distance? what's the room for error here.

How can I put a cinema style aperture into the lens?

I know several users have experience with lens tech, and if you search there are several old threads where users attempted something similar. But the internet is pretty devoid of information about a project like this.

 

[Jack Smith]

Basically you are trying to make a focus module for those anamorphic projection lens. You can purchase FM Lens from AnamorphicShop which I believe will be compatible with Kowa 2x project lens. Check their shop at anamorphicshop.com/product/fm-lens/

 

[Clayton Burkhart]

The level of expertise needed to create such a piece is beyond your experience or mastery of the fabrication methods which are needed.
If you want to go there it's admirable and maybe eventually even possible, but the reality is that you may become a custom lens manufacturer rather than a cinematographer.


Sometimes the shortcut takes us further away from the destination.

 

[Karim D. Ghantous]

Would it be worth suggesting a modern anamorphic adapter instead? SLR Magic and Letus make them. I don't know if they allow super-wide apertures, though. Perhaps they are only 90% as nice as a Kowa, but they are 100% easier to use.

 

[Clayton Burkhart]

Or just get an Iscorama.
It's not 2x, but it is single focusing.

 

[Matt W.]

Would it be worth suggesting a modern anamorphic adapter instead? SLR Magic and Letus make them. I don't know if they allow super-wide apertures, though. Perhaps they are only 90% as nice as a Kowa, but they are 100% easier to use.

Forgive my ignorance, but what makes them easier to use? I was under the impression that they were also dual focus designs, or they had near/far modes that sacrificed resolution in exchange for a bit of flexibility in simulating single focus.

Making me feel like I over-spent.

I do think the Kowa adapters have amazing looks and are super sharp. There are single focus modules coming for them (let's see how good they are, but they are adapting the Iscorama design, which works quite nicely). Though if the Letus and SLR Magic anamorphic lenses are single focus that does seem very preferable.

 

[Zack Birlew]

SLRMagic is currently taking preorders for their new 2X anamorphic which is very interesting since it has a 62mm thread mount versus the Kowa's usual and much smaller 52mm (with adapter). That should open it up a bit for interesting SLR lens combinations that may be beyond SLRMagic's recommended focal lengths. As far as custom anamorphic lenses go, that's going to be pretty difficult and expensive, no doubt, and is going to require some optical expertise to get it done, especially if you need to add an element to the design. I also recommend just using one of the single focus adapters as that's the best looking solution for projection anamorphic video production.

 

[Maik Müller]

SLRMagic is currently taking preorders for their new 2X anamorphic which is very interesting since it has a 62mm thread mount versus the Kowa's usual and much smaller 52mm (with adapter). That should open it up a bit for interesting SLR lens combinations that may be beyond SLRMagic's recommended focal lengths.

I am tempted to test this one out, but SLRmagic is a bit cautious with informations about this baby and they're doing all to tell you clearly the 2x is more difficult to use than the 1.33x.

 

[Ingo Schmoll]

I love your shots Anton. What is the setup you are using on the Zeiss lenses. I have a Kowa Bell Howell coming my way too. Do you use Redstan clamps with Step-down adapters since the Zeiss have a pretty big front diameter and the Kowa B&H has a 52 thread on the back. Have you tried the SLR Magic Rangefinder. Appartently it lets you set both the taking lense and the Kowa to infinity and focus both with the rangefinder only

 

[Zack Birlew]

I just got an SLR Magic rangefinder and a Kowa 8Z and it's proven to be a really nice combination! I also got a Hypergonar Hifi 2 (kinda by accident since I bid on it at the same time as the Kowa but whatever) and it's quite a beast of a lens that is nicely sharp but can't use the rangefinder or focusing module due to its size. The Kowa is nice because it seems to be sharp right away regardless of F stop (if a little strange at higher values due to being an anamorphic) and it is perfectly complemented by the rangefinder and doesn't seem to lose any sharpness at all with the adapter. The only pain is using double sets of Vidatlantic clamps for the setup as you need to be doubly sure to get them on securely and I certainly wouldn't handhold this configuration with the exception of rails support with added lens support blocks. As compared to the Hifi 2, the lens setup is about the same in terms of weight and heft but the Kowa and Rangefinder setup is much easier to work with and can be used at smaller F stops whereas the Hifi 2, even on a Sony A7S, needs a good deal of extra light due to needing to be at F11 to even get sharp. At the end of the day, I like the rangefinder setup with the Kowa and all, it is a dream setup that I've wanted for a long while now and especially the Kowa 8Z, but I can't help but feel I'd rather have a simple screw on adapter like the Panasonic Anamorphic adapter for the DVX100 but in 2X. The closest and only thing like that is the SLR Magic 2X adapter which I want to get at some point but can't anytime soon as I've already spent a bit on the Kowa, rangefinder, and Hifi 2 for now. I know Letus has their adapters which can come in rod supported configurations but their max is 1.8x and that's simply just not 2X. As to the question of making custom anamorphics, I've seen people do stuff and even taken apart projector lenses like the Hifi 2 to modify but the thing about that is that they don't seem to do anything with them outside of their little project article/blog/website and whether that's because they just wanted to do a science project or found the project lens to be impractical or whatever the case may be, I think that it all mostly comes back to the main issue with anamorphics today. We don't really need anamorphics for everything because there's no longer any resolution or aspect ratio limitations to overcome and modern lenses are so good that we can add digital anamorphic flares and not even notice the difference. Of course, we cinematographers know and appreciate anamorphics so we go after them but even though I've joked that I'd film everything in anamorphic when I got a Kowa 8Z, now with a single focus 2X anamorphic setup at my disposal, I'd honestly only use it for certain projects and if I wanted a little bit of the anamorphic look or flares, I'd go digital or use a Cinemorph thread filter. Only for the biggest projects would I go full anamorphic.

 

[Mathias Erichsen]

I did a quick test with Mir 37mm with and without my Kowa B&H. (5K ANA vs 6K WS mode)
It is a pain to focus this combo so I guess I´ll have to get the SLR Rangefinder if I´m gonna use it...

 

[Lee Kelly]

I too have a Kowa BH on the way and had done some research on a focus technique.
Its kind of hard for me to explain before trying it myself but it basically allows you to set the kowa at an optimal focus point and then control focus via your taking lens. I am sure there are limitations as far as the range of focus in said setting, like you might set the kowa to an optimal position but it only allows your taking lens to focus between 6-10ft or someting. I dont know.
I have seen pretty decent results, hand held run and gun style in a film with that kowa and I was shocked at how good it held up, focus wise. That lead me to believe this technique works as long as you accept there will be limitations. I am pretty sure you cant go from MF to INF but maybe MF to half way and then adjust for your next shot to have half way to INF.

It is interesting that I am even bothering as I have shot countless stuff where A camera was using anamorphics (Kowas or Panavision etc) and I had to use spherical in my water housing and just shoot WS or FF and frame guide for 2.39 and have them add bars in post. You would have to be pretty anal to pick it and for many the flare thing is overdone and avoided (not me I love them) so yeah hard to tell the difference in many cases. Look at what Mathias just posted...