GH4 SLR Magic 2x Anamorphot

Nice shots, Zak! How wide can you go with this adapter? Would the SLR Magic 25mm f/0.95 lens work? How about their 12mm f/1.6?
 
Nice shots, Zak! How wide can you go with this adapter? Would the SLR Magic 25mm f/0.95 lens work? How about their 12mm f/1.6?

The 25mm vignettes slightly but does provide a wide perspective with a little barrel distortion in certain scenes. The 12mm will not work. The proscribed focal length for the taking lens is 35mm and at that focal length you can still get a nice and wide perspective.

This is all predicated on recording to the 4x3 setting in the photo/video mode on the GH4.

I will post some footage very soon using the SLR 25mm, an old Soviet 35mm, and the Panasonic Leica Nocticron 42.5mm.
 
the anamorphic process when done right delivers a much "deeper" image. A wide angle lens does it by "distorting" the spatial relationship between foreground and background. The anamorphic lens does the same thing without the distortion.

Could you go deeper on this part? Photo examples would be great, but if not, just try to explain in words. Not sure I really understand the visual difference noted there. Thanks!
 
Could you go deeper on this part? Photo examples would be great, but if not, just try to explain in words. Not sure I really understand the visual difference noted there. Thanks!

Perhaps distortion is the wrong word here. My apologies. If you've ever used a fisheye lens on a persons face, at some point the nose for instance will suddenly stand out as you get closer to the face. So in effect the lens has changed the normal perspective we are used to by making the nose seem closer than the rest of the face. So the perspective has been distorted.

As an example, here is a series of clips I shot using a 10mm lens on the GH4.



If you were familiar with the area, you might notice that for example the water tower at 1.11 looks further away from the foreground compared to the way it looks in real life. Also at 2.04, the street in real life doesn't look quite that deep but the effect give a greater sense of looking down the street. The lens has effectively stretch the foreground to background relationship, adding a greater depth to the image. And an anamorphic adapter is in a way a sophisticated wide angle lens, drawing in more of the surrounding information and in the process separating the foreground from the background.

Hope that makes the point clearer.
 
hmmmm... not clearer for me. My wide angle (non-fish eye) pushes things back as well. I understand anamorphic lens is shaped completely different but am not grasping how it LOOKS different than any other wider angled lens? I understand how it pulls in the sides making things thin until the compress it back down in post to proper ratio, but I have not seen any pics from footage that I could not get from a wide.

I guess that is the one thing holding me back. flares and bokeh are fun in Anamoprhic, of course, but is it really doing anything more than that and using more pixels for more potential detail - which often seems negated by the extra glass anyway LOSING some resolution....

I WANT TO BELIEVE!!! :D
 
Some footage using the new 2x Anamorphot using four taking lenses. Full details on the Vimeo page.

I like the look it delivers and the new alignment mechanism. Needs more shot preparation than the 1.33x but I find it more rewarding.

Comments welcome.

 
I found the pans most interesting... like at :44 the red vehicle on the left was kind of rolling up during the pan.
 
am I right, that is what Anamorphic does on the left and right edges? I remember seeing a LOT of that in scenes from 2001 Space Odyssey
 
am I right, that is what Anamorphic does on the left and right edges? I remember seeing a LOT of that in scenes from 2001 Space Odyssey

Not sure if it is what you are seeing, or if this is something that happens in general with anamorphic adapter/lenses, but there is a certain "bowing" of the horizontal axis that gets accentuated with wider taking lenses when shots are taken from a particular perspective. For the 2x it appears to me that about 40mm has a straight look, but anything below that starts to exhibit the issue (if it is an issue). Personally it doesn't bother me but I have yet to see my footage projected on a large screen.

Perhaps people with experience of other lenses can chime in.
 
I don't think it is an issue as much as a desired trait of anamorphic. Like oval boken, horizonal lens flair... those could be called issues as well since they are distortions of our visual reality. ( I HOPE no one sees oval bokeh or horizontal lens flairs with their eyes in real life... if so, seek optical attention immediately! :)

My wide angles seem to stretch things a bit to fit it in, but not bowing - "6 of one..." - just a different distortion of view. But I think fish eye does the bowing through the entire image. I dont have a fish eye to test... I have one that comes close, so I might try and do some comparisons later.
 
A few videos I've done with the 2x anamorphot, as the bands involved were volunteering their time, I had to fit in with what they wanted, so that's why one video is in black and white.

Note: this video contains some swearing:
This was recorded in 16:9 with a Revuenon 50mm 1.4, on a Roxsen focal reducer.

This was recorded in 4:3, I used the SLR Magic 35mm Cine II and the Revuenon 50mm.
 
This is absolutely awesome. How will this change and be easier/etc with the new anamorphic option on the latest firmware. I'm looking to pick up one and I hadn't seen the 2.0. Right now, I have a few things to buy...

If it were a single choice between the 1.33 and the 2.0 which would people get? Are the diopters a good additional option? I really like the magnified look to some of the 1. somethings...


Thanks
 
I find the 1.33x more practical, it's better for run and gun, the 2x suits being fixed on a tripod and having more time to setup and get the focus spot on.
 
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