Anamorphic Shootout

HHL

Veteran
Hey Guys! ...so I've been having fun with anamorphic lenses. I have shot with various and I own WAY MORE than I should, but I thought that I'd share some vids, pics, info, other junk about my experiences. This is is an image of SOME of the lenses that I will be comparing over the upcoming weeks/months.

Lenses.jpg


(In order: Hypergonar (Hi-fi), Bell & Howell, Iscorama (Isco 36), Panavision Superama, Sankor 16c, Gino-SC, Proskar 16B, Generic Adapter)...I have many others....this is just a taste.

So here's my question for you all: What would you like to know about these lenses? I know that I have in mind an approach that I think would be helpful...(things I with I knew before I purchased each of them)

Another question that I have that should be answered merely by the number of responses: How much interest is there here on DVXUser for legacy anamorphics? (In other words, I'm not going to put a "boat load" of effort if no one is interested.)

Obviously...part of the comparison includes: Choose several lenses, choose a specific shoot and see what the results look like!

....so what do you say?

ps....It going to take some time to get step-up rings, and other accessories to be able to shoot with each of these lenses, so it will require some patience on all of our part(s). :)
 
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HHL, I would LOVE to see that! I have to admit though that I'd be most interested in how good the generic adapter can keep up with the real guys as I know barely anything about it.
 
HHL, I would LOVE to see that! I have to admit though that I'd be most interested in how good the generic adapter can keep up with the real guys as I know barely anything about it.

I'll be shooting with it this weekend. :) I'll post some footy. I'll do some comparisons. They won't be exhaustive....(they will be later) :) I hope it helps.
 
How about bringing along a sharp lens (e.g Zeiss ZF, EF 50 1.4), and try your best to match the perspective, and distancing yourself to get the roughly the same FOV of the anamorphic lenses. And in post crop the shot to match the aspect ratio, and resize it to match the size of the anamorphic footage. If you can, that would be great as I always wanted to know how big of a difference it is. Of course you won't get the same flares, and squeezed bokeh, but that should be OK. I would definitely appreciate that--thanks in advance.
 
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I was wondering how they work. Are they attached at the end of a 'normal' lens? Or do they stand by themselves? Do you need to focus both?
 
i am super interested in the esthetic of anamorphic lenses.

id like to know the most effective way to shoot anamorphic with the 7D on an actual project (opposed to vimeo test footage)

what are the strenths and weaknesses of each of these adapters? how much room for error? simplifying work flows?

i wish there were anamorphic lenses or zoom that worked with the 7D with out having to remove the mirror. like an m42 or some other non PL or oct-19 mount.

panavision lens tests were exciting till they stopped it and i only saw an anamorphic picture and super speed video (non anamorphic)
 
i am super interested in the esthetic of anamorphic lenses.

id like to know the most effective way to shoot anamorphic with the 7D on an actual project (opposed to vimeo test footage)

what are the strenths and weaknesses of each of these adapters? how much room for error? simplifying work flows?

i wish there were anamorphic lenses or zoom that worked with the 7D with out having to remove the mirror. like an m42 or some other non PL or oct-19 mount.

panavision lens tests were exciting till they stopped it and i only saw an anamorphic picture and super speed video (non anamorphic)

All great questions. I will do my best to address these questions and more. I look forward to sharing. Tonight, I was testing lens flares from each. (Some people are CRAZY for flares....I'm not so much so, but I respect that other people are...)

I was pleasantly SURPRISED by the flares from the Panavision Superama. I've seen flares like this in the movies....VERY different from the others. I'll post pics later, but.....bottom line: I'm just having fun...and I'm glad to share as long as others are interested.

I'll be posting a more "linear" educational group of articles on a website when I get some time. I'm pretty busy, but I'll try to get it up and going so that we can address the basics of anamorphics for the newbs. :) There's nothing there right now, but I'll get on that! :) http://www.AnamorphicShootout.com
 
Here you go! Crazy rainbow colors along with the circular white shapes....not good, not bad....just interesting. Panavision Superama with a Nikon DX 50-200.

SuperRamaFlare2.jpg


SuperRamaFlare1.jpg
 
I would love to see a shoot out, see how the lenses are priced compared to their quality and to see some of the footage you shoot. As other people mentioned an idea of your workflow would be very good to hear about too.

Good Luck and thanks for your hard work!

Pete
 
I would love to see a shoot out, see how the lenses are priced compared to their quality and to see some of the footage you shoot. As other people mentioned an idea of your workflow would be very good to hear about too.

There is a major problem with this. (Not that I don't agree....) The only adapter that has a PREDICTABLE price is the Generic Adapter. (115 USD) The other lenses have such a huge range of price. I have seen HUGE variations on the Sankor 16c. It's price has TRIPLED since I first bought mine. Others are just so unknown, everyone is scared invest in one....who knows if it will even focus? I do agree though...so we'll have to see what we can do about identifying cost? Any ideas anyone?
 
I have the first one, the Hypergonar sitting in my room, how did it fair? I haven't found a step up ring for it, not can i use less than a 60-70mm length on the lens I'm using behind it
 
Hi Guys! Here is a quick screen grab from a shot that I took yesterday. It is a comparison between the Sankor 16c and the Generic Adapter. It's not a great shot or anything, but it does reveal some differences. I have taken some shots again this morning to support the finding. It appears that the Generic Adapter does NOT focus nearly as sharp at the Sankor 16c. I will do more exhaustive testing over the upcoming weeks/months, but for now, I feel comfortable reporting this fact. Here are some grabs to support these findings. Also, this has been reported here: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=195584&page=4

Generic Adapter: Notice the license plate?
Generic.jpg


Sankor 16c: Notice the improvement on the license plate?

Sankor-16c.jpg


...I have encountered something that I'll need to test. It MAY have an impact on the Generic Adapter to use a Prime lens instead of a zoom lens. I KNOW for a fact that you CANNOT ZOOM...then focus ANYTHING on the generic adapter. This is noteable, because I CAN do this on all of my other lenses tested so far. I also noticed that when using a 50mm prime lens, the Generic adapter SEEMED to focus better. I need to test this to confirm.
 
...I have encountered something that I'll need to test. It MAY have an impact on the Generic Adapter to use a Prime lens instead of a zoom lens. I KNOW for a fact that you CANNOT ZOOM...then focus ANYTHING on the generic adapter. This is noteable, because I CAN do this on all of my other lenses tested so far. I also noticed that when using a 50mm prime lens, the Generic adapter SEEMED to focus better. I need to test this to confirm.

This is already getting interesting, thanks again for your efforts!!
 
I have the first one, the Hypergonar sitting in my room, how did it fair? I haven't found a step up ring for it, not can i use less than a 60-70mm length on the lens I'm using behind it

This one is interesting. I have ordered some accessories to mount it. I have done some preliminary testing...(hand held w/out step up rings)....it has an interesting quality. It's image, (at first glance), reminds me of the Iscorama. I look forward to shooting footage side by side with these two lenses. This also has the interesting function of working LIKE a focus through lens. I need to see how good it is at this, but I shot some "follow focus" like shots...(usually not possible with these lenses...the Sankor 16c cannot do this)
 
This one is interesting. I have ordered some accessories to mount it. I have done some preliminary testing...(hand held w/out step up rings)....it has an interesting quality. It's image, (at first glance), reminds me of the Iscorama. I look forward to shooting footage side by side with these two lenses. This also has the interesting function of working LIKE a focus through lens. I need to see how good it is at this, but I shot some "follow focus" like shots...(usually not possible with these lenses...the Sankor 16c cannot do this)

Yeah, heavy beast..

what focal length have you found you can work with?
 
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