Anamorphic 7D

[lxjordanxl]

Hey everyone,
I own a Canon 7D and I have recently fallen in love with the anamorphic look. I saw this video on YouTube and was wondering if anyone knows what the cheapest way would be to get this look and what I would need to purchase (lens, adapters, etc.)




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKAVa...e_gdata_player


Any ideas?

[jax_rox]

The description of the video details exactly what gear was used. Maybe try there as a starting point.

[Egg Born Son]

Option 1: (free) mask off the top and bottom of your regular footage to your desired aspect ratio.

Option 2: (<$120) buy or make your own anamorphic filter. an oval mask on the front of your lens will give you stretched bokeh similar to anamorphic. a piece of fishing line vertically in front of the lens will give you flares. i have a cinemorph on the way but i haven't received it yet. anamorphics are a pain to work with so i thought i'd give this a go to see if it can give me even half the look. i actually like the softness of the anamorphics (many don't) so this may not quite give me what i want.

Option 3: (<$500) buy a cheaper anamorphic lens (from a projector) off ebay. very hit and miss, will probably be huge and unworkable. may not focus very closely even with a diopter and likely have no means to mount. you may need to DIY your own lens clamp and may not be able to find a suitably sized diopter. Or just plain get a lemon. In this price range you're just playing.

Option 4: ($800-5000) buy an anamorphic that isn't a complete waste of time. the expensive ones are way overpriced but the name brand ones sell for a reason. they will be lightweight, focus to 5ft, in the higher price range may be focus through or 1.5x squeeze factor and generally look nicer. still a pain to use and probably does not pass the bang for buck test. You will still need a lens clamp, front filter clamp, a diopter or two (nearly impossible to find) and a lens support to be effective. In the higher range of $2000-20000 you can buy an integrated anamorphic and cine lens but you will need a Lomo-OCT or Arri-PL mount.

I've been playing with anamorphics recently. There is little information to be found so you are pretty much going to have to learn everything by doing so you will need to waste some money along the way. Their usefulness is questionable, I don't know if I will use them in an actual project. I haven't forked out on an expensive one yet although I scored a good deal on a slide projector lens similar to a Sankor. It is fun to play around with and they do look nice. That said, if the cinemorph works out I doubt I'll use them in a project anytime soon.

[lxjordanxl]

Thank you so much for the reply! What is your opinion on this filter if you dont mind me asking?

http://www.vid-atlantic.com/cinemorphic.html

[Egg Born Son]

I can't comment beyond pointing you to their videos. I've just bought one but haven't received it yet. If you want to wait a week or two for it to arrive I'll let you know what I think. From what I've seen it is not perfect but nothing in the anamorphic world is. The main issue I've seen are that the flare element becomes visible as a line in the bokeh of out of focus point light sources when you are really out of focus It isn't pretty but it should be largely avoidable. The second thing is that it doesn't seem to soften the image much which most people would call a good thing. The final issue is light loss but that shouldn't bother you with the 7D (I'm using HVX with 35mm adapter so it is an issue for me).

One thing I can say for certain is that it will be easier to use than anamorphic lenses. Anamorphic lenses are difficult to set up, tricky to keep from going out of alignment in use and a pain to operate (you need to focus two lenses in most cases). So if you just want a look that's closer than just masking off the top and bottom then this adapter will probably keep you happy for a while (you still have to mask off to get the aspect ratio - this filter doesn't stretch anything, it just simulates some of the optical characteristics of anamorphics). $120 is small potatoes in the camera world so I figured it was worth the risk.

[David W. Jones]

Wow, that video was soft.

[LiamR]

If you're using FCP just use the Widescreen effect, I would say that is most likely what 90% of internet videos with a aspect ratio like that are using, also, that aspect ratio in that video is off....

[David W. Jones]

Yep, 2x anamorphics on a 16x9 sensor tend to look a little silly.

[lxjordanxl]

Ok, I'll check back with you in a couple of weeks! Thanks a lot for the help!

I can't comment beyond pointing you to their videos. I've just bought one but haven't received it yet. If you want to wait a week or two for it to arrive I'll let you know what I think. From what I've seen it is not perfect but nothing in the anamorphic world is. The main issue I've seen are that the flare element becomes visible as a line in the bokeh of out of focus point light sources when you are really out of focus It isn't pretty but it should be largely avoidable. The second thing is that it doesn't seem to soften the image much which most people would call a good thing. The final issue is light loss but that shouldn't bother you with the 7D (I'm using HVX with 35mm adapter so it is an issue for me).

One thing I can say for certain is that it will be easier to use than anamorphic lenses. Anamorphic lenses are difficult to set up, tricky to keep from going out of alignment in use and a pain to operate (you need to focus two lenses in most cases). So if you just want a look that's closer than just masking off the top and bottom then this adapter will probably keep you happy for a while (you still have to mask off to get the aspect ratio - this filter doesn't stretch anything, it just simulates some of the optical characteristics of anamorphics). $120 is small potatoes in the camera world so I figured it was worth the risk.

[kostas]

The anamorphic filters are a cheap way to "cheat" yourself, rather than shooting true anamorphic.
Anamorphic lenses shooting is not very straightforward, it has drawbacks, and limitations, and lenses and accessories are scarse and expensive. However, when you manage to do it correctly the resulting organic look is unique.
Start by checking which anamorphic ratio you would like to go with:
1) 1.33x gives you 2.39:1 from 16:9
2) 1.5x gives you 2.65:1
3) 2x gives you 3.56:1
In most cases you would need to focus both the anamorphic lens and the taking slr lens, you'll need diopters to focus closer and you need to have longer focal length lenses in order to avoid vignetting.
As with everything, you get what you pay for eventually, and the "better" anamorphics are currently quite pricey.

If you decide to go the "difficult" route, I have some lenses, diopters and accessories up for sale. If you are interested drop me a pm.