VERY rare Kowa Anamorphic attachment ("Prominar 35J"...NOT like Kowa projector lens)

[Jim Rogers]

VERY rare Kowa Anamorphic attachment ("Prominar 35J"...NOT like Kowa projector lens)

Does anybody know ANYTHING about this thing?! I just got one.

A Kowa Prominar Anamorphic 35-J...NOT to be confused with the Sankor 35-J, or any other Kowa for that matter. This thing is unlike the ubiquitous Kowa projector variants out there...seems more like an on-camera attachment.

It reminds me very much of the early Bausch & Lomb Cinemascope adapter-style anamorphics, the Totalvision/Franscope anamorphic attachments, etc...I've attached pictures of all along with the Kowa.

The totalvision/franscope setup was designed for, and often used with, those early angenieux zooms (35-140mm i think?)...believe that setup was used by Fellini on La Dolce Vita.

I wonder if this Kowa was intended for use in a similar setup? If so...I wonder which Zoom was recommended as the taking lens for the system? The Angenieux would of course be a good fit, as would Lomo Foton, probably...but I wonder if there was a Japanese counterpart that would have been used here?

In any case....ANY information would be appreciated, and as soon as I receive the lens I will of course post up some tests!

 

[Dan Kanes]

Looks Dope. Can't wait to see the outcome of your tests and findings.

 

[Jim Rogers]

Ah thanks Mr. Kanes! You have some pretty cool lenses yourself (hahahaha)

I have another insanely rare lens currently being modernized and cleaned up by @Jacek Zacowicz at optitek...

Will be doing a thread with tests on that too as soon as I get it back!

Edit: Jacek just messaged me...it's done.

 

[Jim Rogers]

Ah...and may as well post this.

another uber-rare Kowa anamorphic (it's tiny, tucked inside the Rapido FVD8 single-focus setup...

The 2x "Baby Kowa" Anamorphic-8, made for Super8 film...absolutely blows the highly-praised baby-hypergonar straight out of the water.

I have 2 of the baby Kowas, and one baby hypergonar (all near-new condition).