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Scarlet-W x SLR Magic Anamorphic Lenses

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Randy Panado

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Hi all,

SLR MAGIC debuted their new Anamorphot-CINE series anamorphic lenses this year. I got my hands on their current line up : 35mm T2.4, 50mm T2.8, and 70mm T4. This was shot on the new RED Scarlet-W at 10:1 compression at 39 FPS varispeed and outputted at 24p. I had the camera shooting both R3D and ProRes, which is why the compression is so high.

link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0iSr0aFJDM

All lenses are PL mount though SLR MAGIC has an exclusive PL to EF mount adapter for their lenses. Very, very excited about their new line of APO Primes so the fact that this one adapter makes it viable for me to use these lenses with all of my EF mount cameras as well as anything PL mount is great. Footage was shot in 5k 1.33 anamorphic mode so it was recorded desqueezed. This was so convenient with the Scarlet-W and makes the bump up from Raven that much more sweeter.

Some other notes, slight bump in contrast with NO sharpening. The 35 was giving me a bit more punch and warmer color due to the sun peeking in and out of the clouds so I gave it a slight balance to bring it closer to the other clips. Shot using a monopod so please excuse some of the shake. Aperture varies from wide open to F8.

Disclaimer : Nothing scientific about this, I just wanted to get a feel for how these lenses operated and what their strengths and weaknesses were bringing them on a commercial job. The more indepth comparisons and tests are soon to come. Let me know if there's something specific you're looking for. I'll do my best to answer any questions. I'm not an "anamorphic guy" so very new to anamorphics, however after using this set, pretty confident bringing them onto a set / job...as long as the producer understands the limitations :).

Thanks,
Randy
 
Distortion seems pretty high for 1.3x lenses.
 
That 35mm it's what I would consider unusable. I don't mind the 50mm but that 70mm is quite nice. (Watched this on an iPhone so if this looks awful on a desktop, oops)
 
Why so much barrel distortion on the 35???
 
I love the 50 and 70. I was told to shoot the 35 at 4k in order to crop into the lens, however, I shot at 5k and just cropped a bit in post to see what it looked like. Not enough for it to be a 4k crop though. It's definitely got a good amount of distortion on the 35. I've been watching and researching lots of anamorphic properties. One music video I saw had a ton of distortion in the wides as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLcfAnN2QgY check at 1:51 Not as pronounced as the SLR Magics but I'm guessing those lenses used at 2-3 times the cost.

Is there any anamorphics wider than 40 that have low distortion?

Pricing wise, $6000 for the 35mm and $6500 for the 50/70mm. At that price, it's really a great value for the 50/70 and as far as the distortion on the 35, maybe that's the $500 difference showing up. Overall, I'm loving these lenses for the ease of use!

I'll be doing some tests regarding bokeh and flare in a bit. Any requests?
 
Kenneth C Merrill said:
35mm is pretty wide for an anamorphic, even a 1.33x. I would rarely use that lens, if ever.
Click to expand...

No way is it too wide especially for 1.33x... I shoot entire projects on the Kowa 40mm 2x anamorphic all the time and it doesn't have much distortion. These are all 6K 6:5 as well.

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I never said it was "too wide." That's all subjective. Wide or not, that 35mm has way too much distortion for my tastes, and I would probably never use it.

I love Kowa's! Those are some gorgeous shots you have there. Still, I'm not a huge fan of the 40mm. The breathing and the edge distortion are too much for me in most situations. But it's all taste.
 
Thank you very much Randy. I'm looking forward to see more.
I think those lenses have a unique character, which in general is a good thing. But honestly, i don't like it that much so far. I don't know what exactly is the problem here, it just doesn't feel that great nor does it show the anamorphic magic in a really convincing way. There is still something about that 50 and 75. ;) The 35mm looks unusable for most scenarios but that has been discussed already, not my thing.

Looking forward to see more footage and maybe a few more scientific tests, especially with bookeh-rendering and flaring in mind, contrasty edges too. Would be great if you find the time and muse for such a thing, because infos and samples on those lenses (in combination wth RED) are still pretty rare.
 
Very cool, thanks for posting Randy. The 50/70 is indeed nice, I'm liking the flares as well.


Matt Ryan said:
No way is it too wide especially for 1.33x... I shoot entire projects on the Kowa 40mm 2x anamorphic all the time and it doesn't have much distortion. These are all 6K 6:5 as well.
Click to expand...
Those Kowa's are so beautiful, I definitely want to try them out next. Matt do you have that video up somewhere? I'd love to watch it
 
Maik, my pleasure. I'm planning on doing a "scientific" test in a bit. Slammed with projects though I definitely want to do some bokeh tests along with how the lens breathes. I'm personally not a fan of the 35 and LOVE the 50 and 70. For the price of a full set, it's pretty incredible.

Jason, thank you. Hoping to have more to show in a bit. Just got an M10 so looking to balance the S-W with the SLR Magic anamorphot-cines on it.

If anyone has any specific test requests, feel free to post and I'll do what I can to get that going. I'm hoping to shoot them this coming week.

Cheers!
 
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