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What Focal lengths Would you choose for Anamorphic?

Jason beaumont

Jason beaumont

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Hoping to get a little feedback from other DP's. I'm buying some anamorphic lenses. there is no wrong or right answer just curious what are your preferred, or commonly used focal lengths when shooting anamorphic.
I guess its also important to put what type of content you shoot as well, as your preferences might vary based on the content your creating. Thanks in advance.

The ones im looking at offer 25, 32, 40, 50, 65 macro, 75, 100 , 135 - im trying to pick 4
 
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I find I rarely use wider than a 50, but when I do, I love it, a wide shot on a 35mm anamorphic can look great. If I had to pick 4, I would get a 32, a 50, 75, and 135.

Nick
 
Jason beaumont said:
I looked at this comparison, but im confused. the Atlas 40mm ive used, definitely does not seem anywhere as wide as a 20 mm lens.
Click to expand...

What camera are you using it on and what aspect ratio are you targeting in your deliverable? It's important to remember that without a tall aspect ratio sensor, you're most likely not going to see the entirety of the "2X wider" feeling of an anamorphic. That is, unless you plan on keeping an insanely wide final aspect ratio.

IIRC, on Helium, a 2X anamorphic ends up being about only 1.26x wider than a spherical of the same focal length when targeting 2.39:1, due to having to crop in so far left/right. With a taller sensor like Gemini, it's about 1.4x wider than what's possible on spherical for that sensor. With Alexa Open gate, it's about 1.54x wider than spherical open gate. And with S35 4 perf, you get about 1.8x wider than spherical S35 3 Perf.

This is what happens when targeting 2.39:1 deliverable. So of course your results may vary greatly depending on the end goal. Monstro has the beauty of being so damn large you can just extract whatever you need out of the middle. But I suppose as we move into FF coverage anamorphics, this sort of thing will crop up again (pun intended).

Edit: I wanted to make a note that any of the comparisons above are only considering options within the same system. So don't compare numbers as proof that any one is better or worse than the other. For example, S35 4-Perf film being able to get 1.8X FoV out of a 2X anamorphic vs spherical (delivered for 2.39:1) doesn't mean it's better than Alexa or Gemini, because all of them are in that ~18mm film plane height ballpark. It's just that the Gemini and Alexa both have a wider capture area and can get more out of spherical options when your final delivery is also a wide aspect ratio.
 
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Ill be using them on my Gemini or Alexa mini. Im looking at the Cooke Anamorphics, but not the full frame ones. They are on 2 month delivery with s35, 12-14 months on Full frame.
 
I tend to find that a 40mm looks closest to human vision in terms of it's spatial relationships. Combine this with a wide format yields very satisfying results. So I would probably anchor my projects around that lens. Thus a 25mm, 40mm, 65 Macro and 135mm for long/tight shots.
Undoubtedly I would be using the two central lenses (40 and 65 Macro) most often.
 
All depends what sensor you are using and what the Ana's in question covers as that dictates the fov you get. Most does not cover move than 6k dragon / monstro ana. Just a few wide anas covers 8k monstro ana.

When we had hawks C´s 35,50,75,100 and dragon 50mm was the workhorse, 35mm looked really cool but is possibly wider than most would like.

Now having monstro I opted for the 45,65,100mm when buying the orions, the 35 would be cool to have but don't think I would use it much it gets extremely wide on monstro. Like a 12mm spherical.

a 25mm ana is extremely wide, I would leave it out.
 
40mm is the classic moderate wide-angle anamorphic lens if shooting a sensor area similar to 4-perf 35mm anamorphic (about 21mm x 17.5mm). A lot of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was shot on this focal length as well as Wes Anderson’s anamorphic movies. If you want something more like an 18mm spherical then you’d have to get a 35mm anamorphic.
 
David Mullen ASC said:
40mm is the classic moderate wide-angle anamorphic lens if shooting a sensor area similar to 4-perf 35mm anamorphic (about 21mm x 17.5mm). A lot of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was shot on this focal length as well as Wes Anderson’s anamorphic movies. If you want something more like an 18mm spherical then you’d have to get a 35mm anamorphic.
Click to expand...

I don't suppose you'd have some examples of shots done with a 40mm anamorphic.
 
Best advice I could give is to rent them all before you buy :)

Or go to a rental house where they will let you test them on the prep floor for free.

Gemini and an Alexa mini both have a very similar FOV if you’re delivering 2:40:1 from a 6:5 cut of the sensor.

Please forgive the format disparity here, open gate on the Arri sensor is 1.5:1, and we are working on a 1.2:1 origin target for both...

http://phfx.com/tools/formatCompare...&modelB=Alexa&formatB=Open+Gate&focalLengths=

Anyway, 40/50/75/135 as others have mentioned is great.

I would almost always take a 40 or 65 if I could only take one! Although a 50 is undeniably cool too.
 
Well the 4th may be to deep for my pockets right away so im going with 3. when I used the atlas A set with my mini I felt like the images weren't very wide at all.
 
I went with 25, 65 (macro) and 100 . down the line ill probably get a 40 and maybe 135. but for music videos, I definitely need that wide, and 65 can be my workhorse.
 
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