Is the Iscorama worth it? Dispelling the myth... or "Let's Shoot it out!"

hermmermferm said:
Just got a Kowa 16-D for $30, hopefully the 7D 1.6 crop will avoid vignette issues (43mm rear thread) and I can join these tests too. Question for focus though.. Perhaps a DIY follow focus for the double lens? Zip Ties marked for infinity focus on each lens? Connect via some sort of wire or thin metal pipe? Would this work if you could offset the two focal ranges properly?
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There is a high possibility you will get vignetting. I even get vignetting when using my Singer on 4/3ds 2x crop sensor where the Singer has a rear thread of approx. 50mm and the used 35mm lens (effectively 70mm) has a 52mm front diameter.

So you see, 43mm rear thread is not really helping, it is a very small diameter, you will have to use a "slow" lens, fast lenses have bigger glass, hence more vignetting, and you'll have to use a really long focal length too, I reckon something like 100mm.

Connecting the lenses so you can focus both at the same time, I don't think that this will work. Different lenses = not the same amount you have to turn the focus ring to focus on the same distance.

To make it more understandably, AF lenses for example have a very short focus way on the ring so they can operate faster. MF lenses have a quite long focusing way (most rings on good MF lenses turn at least 120 degrees) so you can focus more precise.
 
Different lenses = not the same amount you have to turn the focus ring to focus on the same distance.
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I understand this, which would be the reason for 'offsetting' the zip tie. My idea would be to permanently marry a 55mm lens to the Kowa 16D and essentially offset the zip ties to match focal length, which may very well not be perfect but would at least save some time in searching for the correct focus. This would of course prevent me from changing lenses out of the Kowa, but I'm ok with that. All this may be moot considering the vignette issue though.
 
The joystick idea to focus two lenses has some merit, but joining them together doesn't seem likely to work. A half turn on one lens may net you ten foot to 50 foot, and on the other it might be ten foot to infinity or even past infinity... no bueno. Offsetting this wont compensate for the differing ratios, it seems like but go ahead and try it by all means.

A dedicated careful focus puller might be able to fake some rack focus effects - an actor leaves the frame and then you thrrow the focus to the background, for example but following an actor who walks from a full shot into a close up.... that's going to be tough with a sankor type lens. BUt if you want to test that, I'd love to see the results. Try it with one camera assistant and also with two crowded in there.
 
fates said:
oh, i have lot's planned for this little thread...
img_0991upload.jpg
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a gold mine of lovely anamorphics!!!
 
Jean Dodge said:
The joystick idea to focus two lenses has some merit, but joining them together doesn't seem likely to work. A half turn on one lens may net you ten foot to 50 foot, and on the other it might be ten foot to infinity or even past infinity... no bueno. Offsetting this wont compensate for the differing ratios, it seems like but go ahead and try it by all means.

A dedicated careful focus puller might be able to fake some rack focus effects - an actor leaves the frame and then you thrrow the focus to the background, for example but following an actor who walks from a full shot into a close up.... that's going to be tough with a sankor type lens. BUt if you want to test that, I'd love to see the results. Try it with one camera assistant and also with two crowded in there.
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Exactly, no two different lenses are the same when it comes to focusing. You would have to find a lens that has very similar focusing conditions as your anamorphic lens, that being another limiting factor in your lens purchase I'd say these are so many headaches already, just get rid of the anamorphic lens and get another one with a bigger rear thread. You will have more options. Better still, get one where you can focus through, meaning one you don't have to focus. There are a lot but not easy to find and also not very cheap.

Dedicated focus puller on that setup? I think he would say.. "are you serious?" :grin:
 
I gathered in reference to this:

"Better still, get one where you can focus through, meaning one you don't have to focus. There are a lot but not easy to find and also not very cheap."
 
Going to try the Kowa 16-D with a Helios 44-2 (58mm) which has a 49mm filter thread. Figure 49mm to 43mm isn't such a bad stretch and a 58mm with a 1.6x crop might stand a fighting chance against vignetting. I don't think any of these anamorphic projector lenses will do the job properly, so I'm not too eager to spend more than $30 on an experiment. Still will have to wait for the 7D before I can post any footage..
 
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I think the Panasonic LA7200 is ok... but just ok. Especially paired up with the Canon 50/1.4. It's just not as interesting in it's bokeh or OOF rendering as the Isco. I shot around the same laundromat where the lighting is even and boring, so it's obvious how the Isco adds a uniqueness to the boring. See for yourself: http://www.vimeo.com/6724237

frame grab from above video:
LA7200test1.jpg
 
hermmermferm said:
Going to try the Kowa 16-D with a Helios 44-2 (58mm) which has a 49mm filter thread. Figure 49mm to 43mm isn't such a bad stretch and a 58mm with a 1.6x crop might stand a fighting chance against vignetting. I don't think any of these anamorphic projector lenses will do the job properly, so I'm not too eager to spend more than $30 on an experiment. Still will have to wait for the 7D before I can post any footage..
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I'm convinced that the only two suitable attachments without massive vignetting on the 5D are the Isco (which you cannot rack focus on really, but damn it's sharp) and the Panny (which you can't get great sharpness from... but you can rack).

One interesting development could be coming from Zeiss. It's a long shot, but you can voice your opinion over here: http://www.cinema5d.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5443
 
hyalinejim said:
I gathered in reference to this:

"Better still, get one where you can focus through, meaning one you don't have to focus. There are a lot but not easy to find and also not very cheap."
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Ah ok. As you see above and probably heard from others the Panny adapter for the DVX is not that great and it costs quite much.

Here is a very nice list of different anamorphic attachments/lenses, I refer to that list (second table from top, the 1.33x ones), there are quite some attachments where you can focus through. Most of them have been discontinued though and they were expensive already when still in production.

http://super8wiki.com/index.php/Anamorphic_Lenses
 
my iscrorama 42 is arriving tomorrow, I read your post about it not being able to rack focus.
But can't quiet grasp the problem. Sounds like a ding dong dance between having to focus 2 lens which don't behave to each other in a linear manner. What if we made focus stoppers to the 2 lenses, which are adjustatble?

I guess I will get it when the lens arrives
 
the trouble with the focus on the isco's is that they have a really long focus throw and a really stiff focus ring although one of mine is quite loose compared to the other two.
 
hyalinejim said:
The Kowa 16H does not vignette massively. If you crop to 2.39:1 you can use it on a 50mm full frame. You might even get away with 2.66:1. I've posted this already but here it is again:

http://www.vimeo.com/6489768
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But the whole idea to film anamorphic is so you can get a wider format without cropping and losing resolution. I'd rather look for a anamorphic adapter with 1.5 factor or below, optimal is to get 1.3x so you almost exactly get cinemascope using 16:9 sensors.
 
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