Anamorphic Lens Alignment

[direktor]

I am not sure about other users, but I've had some trouble aligning my anamorphic lens. This usually happens because I don't attach the lens until I get on location, which I would not recommend for several reasons, one of which is feeling rushed and not making sure you take your time to do something important like "squaring your lens"!

After having difficulty like three times in a row in the field, I decided I was going to spend an early morning over a cup of Joe and figure this one out. Below is a pic of what I did:



I placed three thin and hopefully very sticky white strips cut from a piece of white sticky labels I had laying around and attached them to the anamorphic lens, focus ring, and lens barrel of the camera. The idea is when I install the lens and "square" it using the methods learned here and in Barry Green's User's Guide, I can also align these three strips to sort of make sure I have somewhat precise alignment. Needless to say I made sure to align the lens properly and as "precise" as possible before attaching the strips.

:o The word "precise" and "installing the anamorphic lens" are two phrases I do not feel comfortable using together, but I believe I did a pretty darn good job. One other thing that I did to make sure I have a decent alignment is I colored the square groove on the lens cap in black permanent marker. That sucker sure is a heck of a lot easier to see in low light now!

Oh! One other thing for people out there needing a "quick" reference. Notice how the thumb screw on the lens aligns with the raised area between the "Auto, User 1 and User 3 - User 2" buttons? That might help some out there...

Hope these ideas help others....

Cheers!

-Declan

[HansK]

Hey, thanks for the tips. Very useful!

[Barry_Green]

Excellent post! I tried doing something similar (marking the camera and the lens for perfect alignment) but I tried using a sharpie marker, and it didn't show up at all. Your white-tape solution is much better and makes alignment instantaneous (once you do it right the first time, as you said).

[direktor]

Thanks!
YES - I must stress (and only makes sense) that you HAVE TO make certain you take your time and square the lens FIRST, then mark your lens, and camera with the appropriate white strips.

After I did the first ones, I realized that the label maker paper you use in those handy label makers - that white adhesive paper is awesome! It is really sticky and has not wanted to move around on me like the first label paper has wanted to do. Because the label maker paper is made for adhering to a lot of different surfaces, it does indeed stick better. You can also use yellow if you need something brighter. I found white looked more uniform (for those concerned about looks).

I am glad this post has helped other DVX users...

-Declan

[matthewd5]

i am planning on doing this to my setup, i was thinking of using white out.

one thing i came up with that REALLY helped me a lot was i took the white lens cover and on the inside where there is the raised rectangle.

i used a black sharpy and drew a black box inside of that rectangle because on my dvx-100a even with it zoomed all the way out the white box was just at the edge of the viewable area and i couldn't really see it unless i hooked up my sony monitor and put it in underscan mode.

the black box made it so much easier.

matthew

[HansK]

[quote author=matthewd5 link=board=news;num=1099319179;start=0#4 date=11/05/04 at 12:07:49]i used a black sharpy and drew a black box inside of that rectangle[/quote]

Um, direktor describes doing just that in his post. Great minds think alike? ;)

[matthewd5]

i went back and re-read it and your right i missed that part the first time.

i blackened mine in the day after i got the anamorphic guide because no matter how carefully i followed barry's directions (and even his emails to me about my problem) i couldn't even see the rectangle.

i wonder if the dvx-100a has a difference that causes this?

i keep meaning to put my anamorphic lens on a friends dvx-100 and see if the rectangle is viewable.

matthew

[Guest]

I have noticed a wierd phenomenon when using the anamorphic adaptor. I can only zoom through to about 80 before it loses focus. Sometimes though it seems to zoom through ok.........Maybe its not alligned properly..hmmmm. Anyone else experienced this?

[matthewd5]

i don't do many shots with it zoomed in that much, but i have experienced something similar at the other end of the zoom spectrum, i have found that i should never even bother trying to use the camera unless i am at zoom 10 or greater, other wise things get distorted in a fish-eye sort of way, objects on the sides that should be straight up and down get bowed.

matthew

[Barry_Green]

[quote author=G_ManTiS link=board=news;num=1099319179;start=0#7 date=11/09/04 at 20:58:34]I have noticed a wierd phenomenon when using the anamorphic adaptor. I can only zoom through to about 80 before it loses focus. Sometimes though it seems to zoom through ok.........Maybe its not alligned properly..hmmmm. Anyone else experienced this?[/quote]
It has nothing to do with alignment, it has to do with the aperture you're at. Understanding this focus issue is what caused me to write the Anamorphic Adapter Guide. There are very specific limitations on how you can use the adapter and under what circumstances you can get proper focus.