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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

FS: Iscorama 50mm f/2.8 1.5X Anamorphic Lens

Hey Phil,

Hope you are doing well man... I sent you a pm, let's button this up!!

Cheers!

Andrew
 
Phil Holland said:
Yes. I've used it with the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D to see if I could get a "faster lens" back there.
Click to expand...

I know this lens is already sold but I own three of them. Two isco 36's and one isco 54. I also have all of the mostly talked about taking lenses for them. When I bought the isco's my first though was to get an old set of nikon prime lenses (E-Series) I bought two Zeiss photo lenses (35/50) Planar and I can't remember what the other is called and I have an older Helios 44M-4.

My question is in your expert opinion when it comes to wanting more flares and sharpness do you think just using the taking lens that was made with the isco 36 works better or have you found a combination of isco and taking lens that you prefer the most? I originally though a zeiss lens would work great but I've heard the patented zeiss coating will kill the flares. But the same coating makes the image more saturated. Also the nikon primes (e-series) with no coating are washed out but supposedly have better flaring.

But in all honesty when I tested the nikon primes I didn't see anything that blew me away. Also add to the mix that I'm testing with a circular nd filter. Not sure if that is killing my flares or not. All of my iscos are NOT multicoated by the way.

Lastly, what taking lens did you use with the samples that you posted for this thread? I'm assuming you used the isco with the stock taking lens correct?

Thanks!
 
I should imagine using an uncoated taking lens would increase your flares - or at least a lens the has less coatings.
Did you try an old Olympus 50mm? The silver nosed version.
 
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  • #25
Patrick Desmarattes said:
My question is in your expert opinion when it comes to wanting more flares and sharpness do you think just using the taking lens that was made with the isco 36 works better or have you found a combination of isco and taking lens that you prefer the most?
Click to expand...

Anamorphic glass seems to be a real balancing act overall between optical performance and the desire for flare. Uncoated elements do in fact produce more "bodacious" flare, but also rapidly start decreasing the overall contrast within the lens. Personally for the Isco 36 I prefer the stock Isco 50mm which is a fixed focus lens designed to be used with the anamorphic front element. It comes down to: do you want more flare or do you want higher image quality? My biggest reason to experiment with different primes behind the anamorphic lens was to acquire better low light performance and more control over the DOF.

The samples in this thread are from the stock lens, minus the ones in this post, which were taken with the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 D. I would describe the Isco/Nikon combo as flaring a lot.

However, the reality I have discovered after shooting for a while, is that flare is also largely dependent on your light source. The punchier and "source-ier" the better.

When it comes to sharpness, that's a different beast. I was shooting with this lens a lot at f/4-f/8 when sharpness was the focus:
_MG_0870.jpg


and at f/2.8 when I was looking to maximize the flare and DOF. One of the uses of this lens was to capture flare for VFX purposes.
 
Phil Holland said:
Personally for the Isco 36 I prefer the stock Isco 50mm which is a fixed focus lens designed to be used with the anamorphic front element. It comes down to: do you want more flare or do you want higher image quality? My biggest reason to experiment with different primes behind the anamorphic lens was to acquire better low light performance and more control over the DOF.
Click to expand...

Understood but you prefer the stock Isco 50mm but what would you say is your priority when choosing the stock 50mm. Are you looking for more flaring? I guess if we chose to compare the two taking lenses. The stock 50mm and the nikon 50mm 1/8. Which would you say is your prority when picking one verses the other? Stock 50 for flare and nikon 50mm 1.8 for sharpness? I'm asking because I have both lenses.

That is if this is the Nikon 50mm f1.8 D your talking about. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=NI5018DAF*&N=0
 
Wait nevermind. I re-read your post. Your choosing the Nikon for better low light. But If you had to pick one for flare and pick one for sharpness which would you choose? I dunno why that reads in a confusing way when I type it out. lol.
 
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  • #28
Yep. That's the Nikon. All it needs to be adapted to the anamorphic lens is a simple 52-49mm step down ring.

You can get sharp results out of both lenses. Perhaps a hair more at f/2.8 with the Nikon, but the distortion is effected as well and you might find an overall sharper image with the stock lens. Like if you were shooting a wall or architecture. That distortion effects the sharpness of the "field" of focus.

For flare, it just depends on the type of flare you want. The Nikon produces blobs and some strange rectangles occasionally whereas the stock Isco looks more like a traditional anamorphic lens.

If you want a ton of flare, grab a Nikon 50mm f/1.8D and take a razor to the front element of the lens. Also, coating it with reflective chrome paint makes things fun. It's only $100 and the part of the anamorphic "array" that's worth screwing around with.
 
Phil Holland said:
Yep. That's the Nikon. All it needs to be adapted to the anamorphic lens is a simple 52-49mm step down ring.

If you want a ton of flare, grab a Nikon 50mm f/1.8D and take a razor to the front element of the lens. Also, coating it with reflective chrome paint makes things fun. It's only $100 and the part of the anamorphic "array" that's worth screwing around with.
Click to expand...

Whoa!!! lol. A razor!?!?!? Ok I do own that lens so now I am EXTREMELY intrigued. Please tell me more about this razor business. Can you explain in detail what needs to be done?
 
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  • #31
Patrick Desmarattes said:
Whoa!!! lol. A razor!?!?!? Ok I do own that lens so now I am EXTREMELY intrigued. Please tell me more about this razor business. Can you explain in detail what needs to be done?
Click to expand...

Well, first make sure you don't care about the 50mm. Start "scoring" the front of the lens until under light you can visibly see the scratches. When I did this I kept them somewhat directional and didn't use a cross hatch pattern. Chrome paint is a good way to go. If you want to try something goofy first, grab some aluminum foil and use some electrical tape to secure it to the lens.

Make sure you don't have anything touching the anamorphic element. Keep that thing clean.

** I just "googled myself" on the internet and found some images from the Nikon and Isco 50mm lenses because I honestly forgot where I posted those images. It was nice to find an old thread from 2009 at cinematography.com with posts from Tom Lowe and David Mullen. It was a bit before I was super active over here at Reduser. You'll find these useful:

iscoAnaDioptTest.jpg


This was pretty flare-tastic with the +4 diopter:
iscoAnaDioptTest2.jpg


This one was shot at f/2.8 with the stock lens:
_MG_6728.jpg
 
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  • #32
Patrick Desmarattes said:
BTW, has anyone ever told you that in your profile pic you look just ike a European version of Ryan Connolly from film riot? https://www.youtube.com/filmriot :)
Click to expand...

Somebody sent me a very random facebook friend request from China and thought that was me. It was a pretty hilarious back and forth for a minute there. Time for a mohawk or something.
 
Phil Holland said:
Well, first make sure you don't care about the 50mm. Start "scoring" the front of the lens until under light you can visibly see the scratches. When I did this I kept them somewhat directional and didn't use a cross hatch pattern. Chrome paint is a good way to go. If you want to try something goofy first, grab some aluminum foil and use some electrical tape to secure it to the lens.
Click to expand...

Ok I know I'm going to bug the crap out of you. I promise once I fully get what you mean I'll stop bothering you. Its a pretty cheap lens so I don't mind doing an experiment on it.

First razor I'm assuming any standard razor works like this one. - http://www.amazon.com/OEM-25181-Raz...F8&qid=1362781131&sr=8-1&keywords=razor+blade

If so then how many of these scratches should I make? One vertically? One Horizontally? Or multiple scratches? If so how many and where?

Sorry any details are appreciated.

Phil Holland said:
Chrome paint is a good way to go. If you want to try something goofy first, grab some aluminum foil and use some electrical tape to secure it to the lens.
Click to expand...

I'm completely lost when you mentioned this. Is the chrome paint a completely different effect then the flares? And grab aluminum foil and secure it to the lens where? Sorry. I know I sould like a fool. lol.
 
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  • #35
The shot of my noggin is the stock lens and I'm flaring hard intentionally obviously.

As for the scratches. I used a utility knife. Something you can pick up from any hardware store for a few bucks. Safer than using a bare razor blade. I made maybe a dozen or so horizontal streaks on one and it made some fun things happen.

As for the chrome/aluminum. Any place that light can hit on a lens is a place that there's likely a black matte finish or flocking. If you remove or replace that with something reflective you'll see a very big difference in contrast as well as light bouncing around. Primarily, when it comes to the Nkon 50mm, the area around the front element where you would attach the anamorphic element.

Another thing you can do is just get a 72mm clear filter and place it in front of the anamorphic element. Just adding that alone can enhance the bouncing flares.
 
Thank you Phil for an insane purchase! Great package with all the diopters and great job packing this baby up, can't wait to test, test, test... I am sure I will be burning your email up later in the week!

Thank you again Phil! Looking forward to seeing you next time I am in LA.

Cheers!
 
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