Sankor/Kowa Anamorphic Lens Discussion and Footage

[Pirata]

Guys you know flare is nice and all but there is more to films than flares!

On another note, I found a new anamorphic adapter. A generic one, made in Japan. Just got it today. It compresses by approx. 30% so you'll get 2.35:1 when shooting in 16:9 which is nice.
I just did a very quick test as I don't have much time now, but looks quite good so far.

What? Story? Characters? pshh who needs that when you've got teh sexy flares? rogar-Love(DBG): http://vimeo.com/6542148

Looking forward to seeing how your generic adapter works out. I've seen those on ebay and have wondered how they look. Was afraid they'd be pretty blurry like the DVX A-adapter.

 

[HHL]

yeah I tried a new lens to use with it and I am able to go down to 80mm with hardly any vignetting now(just a tad). 100mm is zero. Must have been something wrong with the other old lens I was using.

Thanks for posting pics Akira. Very cool! ...so what's your take on these Sankor lenses. I'm not sure yet. I like the overall look....but I'm still trying to decide whether I'm going to keep it or not...

 

[Pirata]

Thanks for posting pics Akira. Very cool! ...so what's your take on these Sankor lenses. I'm not sure yet. I like the overall look....but I'm still trying to decide whether I'm going to keep it or not...

It's a challenge for sure. Personally I feel like it will be worth the effort to use for specific narrative projects where I have the time to deal with the problems that come along with it. Alignment+focusing issues aside I really like the way it looks with certain lights. I still wish I could get my hands on an Iscorama though but I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out of Hot Rod Cameras from their zoom-through 1.34x A-adapter.

 

[Pirata]

Figured out the flare problem. Was shooting with the wrong kind of light. Star Trek look is now in full effect and it's friggin awesome!

After looking at the footage on a bigger screen, the Kowa is not as easy to focus as I initially thought. Stopping down does help but I noticed you have to have a minimum distance of at least 7-10 feet before the image gets sharp.

No vignetting whatsoever on both Sankor or Kowa for me either.

Yeah you will need a diopter to get closer and get the sharpness you seek if you haven't already. I need a larger one myself to fit over the sankor (the one I have is only 52mm) but just holding it up over the A-Lens yields good results for up-close focusing.

 

[HHL]

I still wish I could get my hands on an Iscorama though but I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out of Hot Rod Cameras from their zoom-through 1.34x A-adapter.

I feel so SPOILED by the Universe. Mine should be here in 4 days! (EOS mount 50mm Iscorama) It BROKE THE BANK though... I look forward to comparing footage with the Sankor. (we know who will win that one, but by how much?) I forgot about "Hot Rod's" efforts. We'll see how that turns out. Happy Days!

 

[Contact_Therapy]

How are you all mounting diopters to these A-lenses? I will need more hands if I have to hold it in front.

You guys are having great success with the Sankors and the stills/footage looks great. Tried everything I could think of to get the Sankor 16-D to focus but no joy. The bokeh doesn't even change when I pull focus on the A-lens.

 

[HHL]

Mine was simple: 52mm-42mm step down ring. (It doesn't fit the threads and is to big by about 1.5mm.) The Sankor 16C, has threads, but they are the wrong/different pitch than your standard step down rings. So I superglued along the rim/edge/slot and it has worked nicely. Someone suggested using something different than superglue....I will likely do that.

 

[Pirata]

How are you all mounting diopters to these A-lenses? I will need more hands if I have to hold it in front.

You guys are having great success with the Sankor 16-C's and the stills/footage looks great. Tried everything I could think of to get the Sankor 16-D to focus but no joy. The bokeh doesn't even change when I pull focus on the A-lens. If anyone gets one working, please post up some stills/footage.

All my stuff is from the 16-D, same as yours. You need to have the exact same focal distance on your A-lens as well as your main lens for it to work, so if the A-lens is set to 4-feet, the primary lens must also be at 4-feet, it's not like the Iscoramas that just work at infinity. Other than that it's just eyeballing it as best you can. But to pull focus both lenses would have to be focused at the same time, which is almost impossible to do smoothly.

here's a few more shots just upped from yesterday on Mt. Shasta, using the old lens though with broken f-stops. Note that none of my shots so far have used a diopter so I haven't been able to focus anything up close, most are at least 5-7 feet away. There are a few ways we might be able to figure out diopters for the 16-D but it'll be a bit more testing since there are no threads on the front >.<

 

[Pirata]

I feel so SPOILED by the Universe. Mine should be here in 4 days! (EOS mount 50mm Iscorama) It BROKE THE BANK though... I look forward to comparing footage with the Sankor. (we know who will win that one, but by how much?) I forgot about "Hot Rod's" efforts. We'll see how that turns out. Happy Days!

haha yeah, lucky you. I'm still kicking myself for not getting that Iscorama 2001 prime on ebay I saw for $700 BIN last month. Had the chance and blew it. At the time it seemed expensive... not so much anymore. Here's hoping the Hot Rod one kicks ass. Nice little short btw. Cool atmosphere. Love that extreme wide look for locations like that too.

 

[HHL]

Nice little short btw. Cool atmosphere. Love that extreme wide look for locations like that too.

Thanks Akira! We were in a rush and I had no idea what I was going to shoot. We just stopped at this cemetery that's by our house and this is what came out of the lens. (I was wanting to post so footage for you guys that wasn't with me shaking...)

So sorry about your loss...(700.00 would have been a STEAL!) I paid much more than that. Like I said, I hope it's really a thousand dollars better than the Sankor) Thanks for posting those pics above. It's nice to see the "familiar" look of the Sankor (even though yours is "wider" at the back...more light gets through theoretically). Like I say...I like the look.

 

[Contact_Therapy]

Thanks Akira. Those stills are pretty slick. For some reason I thought you were pimpin a Sankor 16-C. Duh.

I tried my Sankor 16-D on a 50mm 1.4 and an 85 2.0 so I'll play with it on some zooms I got laying around and see if it works any better. The fact that the bokeh doesn't change makes me think it might be a bunk lens where the optics are out of alignment or something. Then again maybe it just needs to be mounted properly.

The Kowa 16-H in comparison works like a champ and I'll post something up this weekend.

 

[Contact_Therapy]

Great job HHL! Some of your shots looked really cinematic. Yay for Superglue!

Here is some footage with my adapter, (superglue rig job)....it's working great though! I had a concern about this Sankor 16C. I wasn't sure if I could get it to focus properly. Now that I have it attached it works just fine. You must focus on BOTH lenses though. (focal length only)

Here's some sample footage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P27ctB8lc60

 

[youngindiefilms]

Hey HHL, superglue?? Ouch. On what lens again? And I don't wanna throw salt in the wound but it seems you have glued it on a bit off. Although your footage looks good, looks like it's a bit crooked.

Akira, I just tested the generic adapter and quickly viewed the footage on a big screen. It gets quite blurry with close focusing, seems like everything beyond 2m or so is more sharp though. Will do more detailed tests later this weekend.
Btw... where are you again? The locations from your pics look amazing. If I was at your place I would so make a western feature.

 

[HHL]

Hey HHL, superglue?? Ouch. On what lens again? And I don't wanna throw salt in the wound but it seems you have glued it on a bit off. Although your footage looks good, looks like it's a bit crooked.

...you know what...I'm messing around with some stuff in post, to be honest I'm aware that my settings are off. I know you are saying that my LEN ALIGNMENT is off...but here's the weird part, prior to my export for youtube, my alignment is NOT OFF. Weird huh? I know some of it is that I am actually using an "anamorphic" CS4 preset, then I am compressing 50% (2x adapter), then filling the anamorphic frame by "upsizing" 200%. So far, no problem. I exported to qtime so that I could make some adjustments in AE. I used an Avid codec...still no problem. (the first part where the child is holding on to the bars)....when I export to qtime for youtube....now it JACKS IT UP! ...now...the alignment of the lens is not superglued. Only the step down ring (to the lens). I can rotate it to align it as needed. This is a must because when you change focal length (which you must in order to be able to focus)...it rotates it out of alignment. There is a mark that you can line up...easy no big deal, but I'll have to experiment with the export settings to see if I can get it fixed. I didn't have time tonight though...

 

[HHL]

Great job HHL! Some of your shots looked really cinematic. Yay for Superglue!

Thanks! I'm happy considering we just saw the time, left our house, stopped at the cemetery and this is what we came up with. I will say that this lens and usage is NOT good for "run and gun". I compounds the "jello" problems.

Would you say that it does that on the 5D also Akira? (With your anamorphic lens...)

 

[HHL]

Hey HHL, superglue?? Ouch. On what lens again? And I don't wanna throw salt in the wound but it seems you have glued it on a bit off. Although your footage looks good, looks like it's a bit crooked.

...you know what...I'm messing around with some stuff in post, to be honest I'm aware that my settings are off. I know you are saying that my LEN ALIGNMENT is off...but here's the weird part, prior to my export for youtube, my alignment is NOT OFF. Weird huh? I know some of it is that I am actually using an "anamorphic" CS4 preset, then I am compressing 50% (2x adapter), then filling the anamorphic frame by "upsizing" 200%.

Hey youngindiefilms: I was so weirded out by this I went and checked out my export(s) to confirm....I ended up back with my original footage. It seems that I was in such a hurry to get it done when I was editing that I didn't notice. I only NOTICED after it was exported, because it was only then that I viewed it full screen...and NOTICED it was off:

CONCLUSION: You are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. My lens WAS out of alignment. (luckily it's not glued that way...) I'm actually glad because I don't have to figure anything out. JUST REMEMBER TO CHECK THE ALIGNMENT AFTER EACH ADJUSTMENT!!!! Thanks for the observation and input.

 

[Contact_Therapy]

I am compressing 50% (2x adapter), then filling the anamorphic frame by "upsizing" 200%.

Using CS4, what I do is select all my clips in the project window, right-click and select Interpret Footage then conform the footage to Anamorphic 2:1 under Pixel Aspect Ratio.

Not sure but that might give better results than stretching.

 

[youngindiefilms]

Hey youngindiefilms: I was so weirded out by this I went and checked out my export(s) to confirm....I ended up back with my original footage. It seems that I was in such a hurry to get it done when I was editing that I didn't notice. I only NOTICED after it was exported, because it was only then that I viewed it full screen...and NOTICED it was off:

CONCLUSION: You are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. My lens WAS out of alignment. (luckily it's not glued that way...) I'm actually glad because I don't have to figure anything out. JUST REMEMBER TO CHECK THE ALIGNMENT AFTER EACH ADJUSTMENT!!!! Thanks for the observation and input.

Oh and I thought you had glued the adapter to the lens, I was a bit shocked to be honest Smart thing gluing to the step down ring, good solution. btw.. call me Marc, way shorter

I've just done some more tests. Turns out the generic adapter blurrs more when used with my Nikon 105/1.8, looks much clearer with the Nikon 35/2.8 (I compared at same f stops). Good thing with this one is I only have to focus the Nikon lens, no need to focus the adapter.
Build quality seems a bit shaky, the front is rotatable without any clickstops, so you basically align it and secure it with gaffer tape and you're good to go. I'd even say it's good for guerilla style shooting.
Hopefully I have time to go out tonight or tomorrow night and take some night shots of the city.
And I did a quick flare test also, flares like a motherfxxxxx. :thumbup:

 

[HHL]

Using CS4, what I do is select all my clips in the project window, right-click and select Interpret Footage then conform the footage to Anamorphic 2:1 under Pixel Aspect Ratio.

Not sure but that might give better results than stretching.

Thanks so much Projx v2.0! I'll try that and see if it's better!

Oh and I thought you had glued the adapter to the lens, I was a bit shocked to be honest Smart thing gluing to the step down ring, good solution.

Thanks again Marc! You're in Hong Kong!!! Good for you!!

 

[hyalinejim]

Regarding conforming to 2.0 PAR in Premiere, i found I get jerky playback of my Cineform transcodes when doing that.

So instead I tried adding the Distort filter, changing the vertical scale to 50% and leaving the horizontal as is.

Now I get smooth playback.

By the way guys, it was great to see the footage that you've all gone to the trouble of uploading. I want to add more Kowa stuff, but I'd like to wait until I get step rings.