Century Optics 1.33x Anamorphic adapter

R

rwcpv

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I've got a line on one of these for a good price, but I have a few concerns. The owner says it's very soft any faster than 5.6, and that the minimum effective focal length requirement is 50mm I have ze's 21/28/35/50/85, as well as a 5d and 7d, so I can use my 35 and 50 for sure (my 85 has a 72mm filter thread, the rear filter on the century is 58, so I'm not sure if that'll cause vignetting or not just yet).

In order to use faster apertures, I assume I need a diopter then, correct?

If so... ? I don't really know where to start there. What kind to get? What size? What price am I looking at? How will I mount it? etc. I'll keep researching on my own, but I'd love some guidance, if anybody has any. Thanks!
 
I thought they could also sharpen already soft images, no? What would you suggest instead? I know these things can be used with fast aperture, I could've sworn that was how it was done.
 
^ How what was done?

I'm confused. They said it was soft unless you stop down at a 5.6 or more. I interpret that as you can open the lens to a wide aperture... but it will be soft. That is my understanding according to the details you have given. There isn't anything, like a filter, that sharpens an image or increases DoF.
 
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I've just read virtually everywhere that you need a diopter in order to use faster apertures and get shallower dof. EOSHD Ana. Shooter's Guide, countless sample shots and videos, etc. They pretty much all say that they use a diopter specifically to sharpen images. Maybe I'm misreading it, but that's precisely why I'm asking.
 
Diopters simply allow you to get really close focus, something that is often a issue in anamorphic world, since old anamorphic lenses typically have garbage CF.

However, you are talking about an adapter, which makes things a bit different from the normal anamorphic lenses which is the base of my experience.

To my knowledge, the only way a diopter would make a lens sharper, is if the anamorphic adapter was not properly aligned to begin with, and the diopter serves to correct the adapter to it's expected working condition.

For example, if you have a diopter on your lens, and you can focus from relatively close distances to infinity... there was something wrong with your set-up before. The diopter didn't improve your image, really than fix it. That may seem like semantics, but it would be giving the diopter too much credit otherwise.

For instance, read the first post in this:

http://vimeo.com/groups/anamorphic/forumthread:232783

I was just fiddling with this Century Optics adapter (DS-1609-58) and had real trouble with focusing etc.. Tried diopters on it and got it working a bit better.

BUT just now I screwed out the rear glass element and reversed it and put it back in. And to my surprise it's working like a charm now. I can focus on objects close as few inches without diopters, have infinity focus and the picture is way much sharper than before. Even the 105mm 2.8 Takumar which previously only showed just totally blurred and out of focus image is now crisp and clear all the way. And now with NEX E Zoom lens I can go with 28mm without any sign of vignetting...
Click to expand...

You see the diopter improving the image like that is the job of a diopter filter.

I see an anamorphic adapter set-up that clearly isn't working properly, and a diopter being used as a make-shift optical element to get it to work.

So, I apologize, you were right. I wasn't clear that these adapters don't seem to be aligned properly to work, thus the diopter isn't really improving as it is fixing.

Typically, a diopter is used on working optical systems, and when that occurs, it is not used to improve sharpness, but rather to simply change the close focus ability of a lens. I suppose, like these people are doing, you could use a diopter to fix what is otherwise a broken optical system, but using it as a make-shift element.
 
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It's a clever work around, and one I didn't know about. I guess you would be best getting your adapter, setting it up, and testing which strength of diopter you need to get the lens to work as close to proper as possible.
 
I've had that adapter and only really liked the focus at f11 and that was with a zeiss 50 1.4 and 85 1.4. Even at 5.6 it was pretty useless. Diopter or not its super soft and made for SD Video.
 
The optical quality of the Century Optics is very similar to the Soligor 1.33x anamorphic lens that I have tested. It is indeed quite soft at wide apertures, as well as with longer focal length lenses. Its best use is with a crop sensor camera and a relatively wide angle lens where everything is in focus.
However, diopters are a great workaround for making this lens sharper and useable in the above conditions, but this is only for focusing close, you cannot focus further than 1m-1.5m when you put a diopter on.
You can check my extensive test here http://vimeo.com/28327869
I think you will find answers to your questions.
Cheers
 
I received it, and first off, this thing is incredible. When wide open, minimum focus is around 4-5 feet for it to really be sharp, but honestly, even at around 5.6, the depth of field is surreal (in a good way). But at 3.5 it sharpens up enough to use for closer distances (around 1.5 feet or so), so I don't think I'll even need to look into diopters for it. I've not tried it on my 85mm zeiss yet because I lost my step down ring, but I've hand mounted it and there doesn't seem to be the worst vignette ever, so I'll likely have about 5 different focal lengths between my 5d and 7d to use it on.

I'm a little bit disappointed in the flare because any light source that is good enough to produce a good one also has a reflection of itself elsewhere in the picture, but it's not too big a deal, because that reflection often also has it's own flare.
 
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