Anamorphic Shootout

Implicit said:
This is a picture taken from the anamorphic projector lens i just got. As you can see its soft as s***! I'm thinking it might be a focus problem?
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The lens appear to be in a so so condition.
If there is no internal haze when you look through the anamorphic, then it is a focus issue.
What is the minimum focus distance on the anamorphic?
If you try to focus closer than that without diopters it won't focus.
You need to focus both your lens and the anamorphic, and most times until you nail it the image will be blurry.
In your case I also see some vignetting.
 
kostas said:
The lens appear to be in a so so condition.
If there is no internal haze when you look through the anamorphic, then it is a focus issue.
What is the minimum focus distance on the anamorphic?
If you try to focus closer than that without diopters it won't focus.
You need to focus both your lens and the anamorphic, and most times until you nail it the image will be blurry.
In your case I also see some vignetting.
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As Far as I can see you can't focus it. I've rotated all I can rotate but doesn't change the focus distance. There aren't any focus markings either so Im not sure of the focus distance.
Yeah it has heavy vignetting at even 50mm!!

Now I know why the other lenses are more popular!
 
Most probably this is a fixed focus projection lens then. My guess is that it will focus at about 4m or 8m. Try to use a longer lens (maybe 85mm) and try to focus at about these distances 4m, 8m or 12m. If there is no haze in the lens you should get a sharp image. To focus closer you will need diopters.
But as you said there are more popular lenses.
 
I've got myself a new anamorphic lens. Now I need some sort of diopter. What is the difference between an achromat and a diopter? I've heard about doublets and singlets, and know to stay away from singlets. I know redstan has one of the tokina +0.4 achromats for £200. I'm looking for something more powerful though, and not as expensive. Is there such a thing?
 
Cool, what did you get? The Tokina +0.4 is the rolls royce and priced accordingly. If you want something more powerful you can get a full set of Tiffen or other name brand +1/+2/+4 diopters second hand on ebay for under $100 from time to time. Otherwise get a generic full set for around $40. The rare and expensive ones are the +0.5 or less diopters. Doublets are good (provide more correction) but if you're not a pixel peeper singlets are fine and a third of the price. Brand new Tokina or Kenko +0.5 singlets go up on ebay from time to time for well under $150 delivered. I believe Kostas has some he might be willing to part with. Hit him up with a PM.
 
I've got a pair of Kowa Prominar's, but they are the 35mm version. They are silver, big and heavy. The shots i've done with it so far show its nice and sharp edge to edge and flares really nicely. The only real problem is the minimum focus distance of 50ft (15m)!!

Here are a couple shots from across the street and in my room. These shots weren't mounted on properly so show heavy vignetting. I think that a 60mm(crop sensor) would be safer though.

http://imgur.com/a/Wkw4f#0.

As you can see the picture of in my room is slightly blurry due to not being in the minimum focus distance

I was thinking about the Opteka 10x achromatic, but is it too good to be true? (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Opteka-72...29110747?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item3f08b664db)
 
That's too strong. Get a cheap +1/+2/+4 kit. It will be a few bucks less and you can stack them to make strengths from +1 to +10. The +0.5 strength is desirable too but you're looking at over $100 for that one alone. +0.5, +1 and +2 are going to be the most useful.
 
I've ordered a cheap set of diopters, as I will need to use it on sunday, but I have my eye on some tiffin and B+W diopters on ebay. I will post my experience/tests with them.
 
Implicit said:
the minimum focus distance of 50ft (15m)!!
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Unless you want to film landscape in cinemascope, these lenses aren't appropriate for filming under "usual" conditions and will give you trouble even if you buy strong diopters.
These lenses where designed for projection. Not filming.
Cheap, strong diopters will limit your dof and focusing range significantly, generating chromatic aberrations and blurry sides.
If you consider that most of the "usual" anamorphic lenses have a 5ft minimum focusing distance and that you pair them with a +0.5 diopter to go to 3-4ft, and with a second +0.5 (+1 in total) to go to 2-3ft, you understand that 50ft minimum focusing distance is a no go...
Give it a try with your diopter set, but if you want to film anamorphic with less restrictions you will then look into other more appropriate lenses.
By the way, I only have a couple of good quality +0.5 diopters (72mm thread) left, should you be interested. But then again, these will serve you better on a more appropriate anamorphic lens...
Good luck.
 
kostas said:
Unless you want to film landscape in cinemascope, these lenses aren't appropriate for filming under "usual" conditions and will give you trouble even if you buy strong diopters.
These lenses where designed for projection. Not filming.
Cheap, strong diopters will limit your dof and focusing range significantly, generating chromatic aberrations and blurry sides.
If you consider that most of the "usual" anamorphic lenses have a 5ft minimum focusing distance and that you pair them with a +0.5 diopter to go to 3-4ft, and with a second +0.5 (+1 in total) to go to 2-3ft, you understand that 50ft minimum focusing distance is a no go...
Give it a try with your diopter set, but if you want to film anamorphic with less restrictions you will then look into other more appropriate lenses.
By the way, I only have a couple of good quality +0.5 diopters (72mm thread) left, should you be interested. But then again, these will serve you better on a more appropriate anamorphic lens...
Good luck.
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Aren't all the anamorphic add on lenses made for projection, and not filming? Hence why you can't mount it directly to a camera, and why they have such work arounds as diopters etc. I understand that the focusing distance is a major disadvantage, and if I can find a way to reduce it, then it will most probably come at a quality loss. I'm not going to use this for paid work if thats the case, just to satisfy my hobby!
 
Some (35mm in particular) are for huge cinema projectors. The drive-in anamorphics are even bigger, weigh a ton but interestingly often have an adjustable squeeze factor 0x-2x stretch. Wish I could shrink my Ultra Panatar to pocket size. Hilux is another brand but they're even worse because they lose a lot of light. The good ones are usually for 16mm projectors often used in the school classroom and so focus closer typically 5-6ft. These are best because the rear lens is still quite large. There are also 8mm projector lenses, most focus to 5ft but some focus even closer! The down side is that they are too small for some applications although a crop sensor camera can get the best out of them. My best one (my Mosty) is from a consumer slide projector which I've subsequently discovered is similar to one sold under the Sun brand name.

Several of the highly desirable ones are airline spec, for projecting 16mm or 35mm film on passenger planes before VHS and then digital. These by necessity tend to focus very close, have as little as 1.25x and no more than 1.75x stretch factor, a compromise they made as 2x was impractical. The other advantages is they tend to be short and stubby (allows wider taking lenses) and have larger openings. The other ones at the expensive end come from home cinema projectors and are made more recently. This is the market that has kept Isco making anamorphics. As far as I'm aware the only anamorphics currently made are for home cinema projection and cost upwards of $3000. Isco also briefly made a number of lenses specifically for the DSLR market, there was a craze on some years back. This is where some of the rarest and expensive ones came into being. They have integrated taking lenses, focus just one lens and come with mounts for Nikon, Pentax, Canon and a couple of others.

This is a summary of everything I know after more than 6 months research and experimentation. Maybe someone else can add to it or dispute it. Figuring it out is half the fun, there is no site where you can find this information and you will learn more by buying and trying than any other method (which keeps these lenses changing hands). The useless lenses I've bought have taught me as much as the good ones. Have a good play with that lens because right now it is giving you a better lesson than I ever could in what to look for in your next one. The limitations of anamorphics and what makes the popular ones good. Hands on is always best.
 
Thanks you for the very informative post. Couple of questions from your post:

Where are all the airline spec anamorphics now? All 'sold out'?

Also, where are the anamorphic lenses that they were using back in the 80s? All I know of are the Iscos and Lomos, but there must have been more?
 
They're rare but they pop up from time to time. They are usually designated 'IN FLIGHT', eg Kowa Prominar IN FLIGHT 35mm. Never seen one cheaper than $500 and that was in terrible condition. The good ones are usually over $1000.

As for the 80s, I think there might of been a couple of runs by smaller players but the anamorphic industry has never been an industry. Almost all early anamorphics are bespoke and later manufacturing were in short runs. As I understand it there has never been a big enough market for proper industrialisation of these lenses and production has been intermittent in fits and starts since their invention. The 1.33x adapters made during the early days of HD have been the only real resurrection since the 80s, as a method of prolonging the functionality of SD cameras. They are difficult to make and I don't think anyone made any money out of it (despite the prices they now command). The truth is that with 1080p resolution and digital post production it is so much easier to get the look in post. Anamorphics were a solution to a problem we no longer have and are only of any value to enthusiasts now.
 
Implicit said:
Aren't all the anamorphic add on lenses made for projection, and not filming?
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The Iscorama lenses where both made for filming and projecting. They were usually sold with one rear taking lens for filming and photography and a rear projection part for projecting unsqueezed anamorphic footage.
Even if most lenses were made for projection, the ones with minimum focusing distance around 5ft. or less are the more desirable and will make your life easier for filming. Large projection lenses are heavy and will not give you a workable focusing range.
Try the most common/already tested solutions.
 
Sorry to slightly derail the thread. Anyone interested in a 50mm Lomo squarefront? I've had it serviced recently and the glass is impeccable, not a spec of dust in there. Oct 19 native mount. Not sure what the going rate is, but when I was on the fence to sell it I was offered $3300 for it. I could also part with a 35mm squarefront that is in good condition as well, for the right price.


***Updated, sold that squarefront and now have a 75mm roundfront in Oct 19 for sale***
 
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I did my first ever anamorphic video with a Kowa on a GH2 with the Olympus 45mm f1.8, I did mix in some cropped Voigtlander footage mainly because I wasn't initially confident focusing, but to be honest I soon got the hang of it so I think I could confidently use the Kowa footage alone in future.

I filmed and edited this within 3 hours, my concern was getting it out fast, otherwise I'd have done it a little differently. There's no colour correction as I was happy enough with the look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EifXJGeBccI
 
Can anyone tell me how easy it is to focus an iscorama 50? I have heard that many anamorphic attachments are very hard to get sharp focus with.
 
I have an Isco 54 in mint condition for sale. Have recently shot pictures on my HPX250 that look really good, will get them up on Vimeo over the next few days.
 
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