AG-LA7200 or Century Optics

K

klausbrandenburg

Member
Hi : )

I'm about to buy a 16:9 anamorphic adapter from Panansonic (AG-LA7200) but since I allways read good things here about the quality of the Century Optics adapter and nothing about the Panasonic I'm a little affraid this might be for a good reason.

Has anyone of you made experience with both adapters or can tell me that the AG-LA7200 is a good buy?

Thanks in advance

Klaus
 
Do you have the DVX Book? Basically the Panasonic adapter is soft most of the time and difficult to use. It only works properly at specific aperture and focal length combinations. It's a real hassle.

The 0.6X is an adapter, which is basic terminology for, "you can't zoom" Most people prefer the 0.7X converter by Century Optics. It's full zoom through and works at all apertures.

Hope this helps and welcome aboard,
brian wells
 
Thank you Brian,

I didn't mean the wideangle adapter but the 16:9 anamorphic converter. I got the DVX book and read that the Panasonic is fine but fairly complicated to use. That's why I wanted to know if the Century Optics anamorphic adapter is more comfortable in focusing and creating shallower depth of field.

But thanky for your quick reply : )

btw. great place here : D

Klaus
 
Century Optics does not have an anamorphic adapter. You heard right they were working on one
with full zoom-through capability but with the new cameras coming out, it just doesn't make
any sense to make it anymore. I confirmed this at the National Association of Broadcaster's
convention in Las Vegas last week. There will definitely NOT be a Century anamorphic product.

Depth of field is a function of focal length and aperture. An anamorphic adapter is like a wide
angle lens but only in the horizontal plane. You could think of it like a .67 wide adapter. So,
basically it creates a deeper depth of field (hence more in-focus, not the shallower look).

Zoom in if you want your background out of focus. A wide angle lens limits your telephoto
capability. Many people buy the 1.6 converter for the DVX since it extends the telephoto
reach of the lens, hence more out of focus options. There is a much better, technical way
to explain this, but I'm trying to keep it simple. Hope this helps.

brian wells
 
Yah--I thought the same thing. Those are really nice converters though.. and they're much easier to make and less expensive because of the smaller lens diameter on the Sonys.

Basically Century Optics made two anamorphic products, the first one was an adapter. It worked
pretty good but you lost the complete zoom range. It was about 600$ The next version was
bigger, heavier, and 1400$ but it had a complete zoom capability and was still very sharp and
had none of the tradeoffs like the Panasonic adapter... I figured if Century ever did make a
knock-your-socks-off anamorphic converter for the DVX with its much larger 72mm thread
(vs. Sony's 52 or 58mm) then it would probably cost around 3K. My guess it that's why it will
never be available. I bet they have a ton of R&D invested into those three prototypes.

Too expensive, too late in the game. Bummer. If anyone from Schneider/Century reads this,
please give me a call.. I would love to, you know, put that third prototype through its paces for you. Thanks.

brian wells
 
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