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SLR Magic 2x ANAMORPHIC lens
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  • I've been reading this forum for awhile, and this specific thread for a few days. I've created a login just now to comment...

    The idea of some kind of combination unit that provides a 1.33X expansion but with the "look" of a 1.5X-to-2X in terms of artifacts (bokeh, flare) is very appealing to me.

    My own personal preference for my own work is to be able to achieve a standard widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 while utilizing as much of the image sensor (preferably every pixel!) as possible. This would mean a 1.33X expansion for currently-available modes on the GH2.

    I realize that simply by using standard lenses and cropping/expanding appropriately in post, I can achieve the same aspect ratio, and depending on the optical quality of an anamorphic adapter, the end result of cropping/expanding without special lenses/adapters may actually be superior. However, I do believe that with a 1.33X anamorphic lens of sufficient quality, I can achieve a wide aspect and great resolution.

    But I fully understand and respect those who are searching for the "look" of anamorphic, and therefore require a 1.5X or larger expansion, and that issues of not using all of the image sensor (because of cropping/expansion in post) are less important than the artistic considerations.

    But if we can have a single lens product that does it all, or at least simulates the effect with a degree of quality which is superior to used/aftermarket/adapters found on eBay, such a product would serve everyone well.

    I would realistically pay in the ballpark of $1200 for an anamorphic lens like that, preferably in the 25mm (50mm full frame equivalent) or a bit wider. Someone else mentioned 17mm.

    Others have also suggested offering multiple lenses with different lengths but otherwise identical looks, such as 25mm, 50mm, etc. There was the suggestion of producing a modular system with matched lenses, so that the anamorphic portion only needed to be purchased once. I have no idea if this can be realistically accomplished, but if a complete base package (with one lens) started at $1200, I could see eventually spending $600/each on companion lenses in the additional sizes.

    That being said, for me personally my priority is a good, sharp, complete anamorphic lens with a 1.33X expansion in the 17mm-25mm ballpark. Anamorphic artifacts are secondary (especially lens flare which tends to be overdone.)

    I am currently an owner of the SLRMagic 12mm, so I have put my money out there to try lenses from smaller vendors before. I have mixed feelings about that lens (a topic for another day) but it's always in my camera bag and gets used where appropriate every few weeks.

    Thanks for soliciting comments... this has all been very interesting reading and quite educational. (There was a lot about anamorphics I didn't realize before reading all this.)

  • an interesting fact about 35mm film cinema era is all ISSUES became aesthetic artistic cinematic look. 24p is strobing and anoying in camera movements and its the most important issue turned into cine look. and what about film grain? the digital era with compression artifacts, banding, mosquito noise, plastic digital look, are issues we want to avoid, will people someday try to recreate it to get the digital look? anamorphic was created to allow a large screen with more resolution without changing film size and its ISSUES like oval bokeh and horizontal flares became aesthetic and artistic film look. anamorphic is one of the biggest GAMBIARRA from the 35mm film era as 35mm adapters are the biggest GAMBIARRA from digital age.

  • I did some tests now with the camcorder simulating the field of view and the focus behavior of a 50mm prime lens. i could get it to focus through the anamorphic adapter using a two single lens design. this reminds that previous design i talked about, one cilindrical achromat double doing the squeeze and one positive esferical achromat double to allow the focus. multicoating will be a must due to more lenses results in lots of unwanted reflections. a single lens adapter can work without muticoating but two or more lenses design cannot.

    For me to develop this adapter will be so expensive and time comsuming and i cant go on with the idea. this is a job for @slrmagic and other bigger manufacturers.

    I got a new idea, maybe a good solution for improve the IQ in the anamorphic adapter. Instead of design just one adapter for all prime lenses from 14 to 50mm with focus through, probably it will be better to develop three adapters, one for 14/17mm, one for 20/25mm and one for 45/50mm. i got this idea because to get focus in the adapter when changing focal lenght can be an issue. but if the adapter is calibrated to the 50mm focal lenght it can be used with shorter focal length because longer focal lenghts tends to have a more far minimum focus distance. Maybe slrmagic can select two or three lenses like 20mm 1.7 and 45mm 1.8 and design two or three adapters specific for each of them, this will avoid slrmagic to develop the prime lenses and will allow people to use lenses they already own or can by for an affordable price.

    I will do my tests with the GH2 with the 14 lenses i am waiting to be ready to test. if i found the GH2 can use the single lens anamorphic adapter i will go on, but if i found the GH2 cannot be used with a single lens anamorphic adapter i will stop developing and i will go on just with the anamorphic adapter for small camcorders.

  • the more the dslr lens can focus as near as possible the easiest to develop the anamorphic adapter for it.

    in my researches i found there are lots of lenses who focus as near as 0.3 meter or one foot. most m4/3 lenses can do this including the 14-42mm and some fast primes (go to four thirds dot org to see the lens chart), most vintage lenses from 17mm to 35mm can do this and this is a good range to work with. also nikon aps and canon aps and sony aps 18-55mm and some others also can focus as near as 0.3m or one foot

  • I removed some messages here.

    So, here are the rules of this topic

    1. This topic is about suggestions for SLR Magic
    2. It is not topic about anamorthic lenses in general
    3. It is also not a topic for fights that is better. It is not up to you to decide.
  • Here's an interesting image showing framelines for Arri Alexa sensors that define aspect ratios and resolutions.

    http://www.arri.com/fileadmin/media/arri.com/camera/Digital_Cameras/Learn/FAQ/faq_s_16_ALEXA-sensor-surround-view-and-framelines.jpg

    They define 'Scope' as 2x.

    Wouldn't making the lenses 2x future proof them?

    With 2x, you will not have to buy another set of anamorphic lenses once they can be used with 4:3.

    Currently with 2x, you may have to crop the 8bit 4:2:0 16:9 video your old camera shoots, but what's the big deal?

    Lenses last much longer than camera bodies.

    16:9 shot on 4:3 (mFT) and 3:2 (full frame DSLR) sensors crops out vertical resolution.

    2x 4:3 maximizes vertical use of the sensor.

    *Image source: http://arri.com/camera/digital_cameras/learn/alexa_faq.html#1-1 Under section: 16. Sensor/Image Processing Questions "What are the pixel dimensions of the ALEXA sensor?"

    @maximizer - I agree, there is a market for both 1.3x and 2x lenses.

  • for me if srl magic want to sit at the table with the majors firm, builds 2x ... if you want to play with the consumer is 1.33 x

  • As collector and 3 year user of anamorphic adapters I would say 1.5x is the way to go and generally the most sought after ratio thanks in part to the many Isco's that use this ratio.

    I would say while many "claim" they are willing to pony up 1200 you would be pricing yourself out of a sweet spot on the market...WAY out.

    While you will see a number of listing for BIN on ebay in the 3-5k area that is simply a inflated number. I regularly see Isorama's go for 1200-2000 very often on the ones that actually go to auction.

    This is nothing more then a bubble and the pricing is pretty inflated simply based on scarcity... When I bought my 1st Iscorama 36 is was 260$... 3 years ago. And less then 5 months before that they were going for 200.

    Once the first quality modern adapter hits these prices will crumble and who ever is smart enough to make a truly affordable adapter and sells based on a fair price will see volume.

    In closing an adapter is the smartest way to go and your market will open HUGE as anyone from a Red to a gh1 could use it... Try to sell you adapter to the hardcore and price for the hard core and you will miss out on a MUCH larger market... for 1200 the well informed will simply spend a few more bucks and patiently snipe ebay... Price your adapter for what it is actually worth (modest mark up per adapter) and start a revolution... There is a huge un tapped market out there filled with people who are not gonna spend 1200 or likely even 500 for an adapter let alone a dedicated anamorphic lens... But im sure you will find enough people to buy a 1200 adapter... Until one of the other big companies unveils it anamorphic adapter for under the 500 mark and puts a final nail in the pricing bubble.

  • I decided to give a try in the two elements anamorphic adapter i developed in previous posts. i did the design for 7 new lenses. so now there is 21 lenses designs on the way. Enough for now.

    i will try to make it work on vintage lenses from 17 to 35mm and with lumix 14-42mm and also canon aps 18-55mm if i can borrow it.

    I need to say someting... all the tests i did until now was done with some negatives and positives esferical lenses i have here from 35mm adapter times... i did not do tests with the cilindrical lenses yet (they are in the lab and i will get them soon). but in theory the behavior of a negative esferical and a negative cilindrical are similar and this makes me belive it will work. But there is a chance i am doing all wrong, oh God help me not break my face in the wall! I love diy and development!

  • I am feeling it is time to stop talking for a while...

    The theory, design, experiment, redesign, reexperiment is enough for now.

    It is time to stop design and start experimenting the 21 lenses design, find the best ones and do the real world tests, just waiting the lenses to get ready from the lab.

    will it work? will it become a product? time will tell...

  • My 5D shoots in 16:9. I need a lens that will stretch it to 1.24:1. So, yeah, a 1.33x will be my choice.

    I should add that I don't care much for lens flare or any other side effects of anamorphic. All I want is a wide vista done with 40mm or longer lens. I don't like the look of wide lenses (35mm and below).

    Another poster posted a link to an image taken with Hawk lens. Yep, that's pretty much the look I am trying to get. A 50-70mm lens with 1.33x anamorphic adapter will give that look.

    http://i.imgur.com/sxG9m.jpg

    If you can junk the adapter and build a solid lens, more power to you!

  • @RajV I doubt that slrmagic will make an anamorphic lens that covers a fullframe sensor, so 5D is most likely out of the question.

  • Hello All,

    I came across this thread and just feel that any genuine interest manufacturers take in this particular area should be encouraged, so thank you SLR Magic! (Do I get lots of free stuff for saying that? Hmm… One can only hope)

    I’m not going to pretend I’m an expert. Why do that when I can pretend I don’t know a thing and not get into trouble for it? Seriously, please bear that in mind with anything I say.

    Currently there are (for many here, I suspect) very few realistic options available for going down the anamorphic route and it is a route. This means, as previous posters have noted, that what is available out there is not only often impractical to some degree (having two lenses to focus!), but is also only available to the highest bidder. Personally I’d be glad of any change and even if it does mean I have to accept some trade off, it's probably better than feeling like your being held to ransom on ebay.

    From a real selfish point of view (the point of view someone takes when they haven’t handed over their money yet… hint, hint…) I’d like something that would work well with a BMCC.

    I want an affordable (that doesn’t mean cheap) adapter, or ideally a series of lenses to give the anamorphic route a fighting chance. For me it hasn’t been given one. It seems to me that anything that offers consistency also allows for usability. This is key and a series of lenses would do that. Granted, an adapter has it’s own pluses too, but from a manufacturers point of view I guess it may mean that there are even more unknown quantities to deal with i.e customers (joke). Either way I don’t want to film clips that can’t be used in some kind of project. You'd hope any route you go down would offer some progression.

    What also is key is that the properties you are actually aiming for with anamorphic are maximised. That’s been discussed here of course. The only thing I’ll add to that is that flares are less of a factor for me than effect in terms of resolution is. It seems to me that what appeals to most about the anamorphic route are the properties which may make digital more “filmistic”, whatever that is? To add character, perhaps give space and borrow resolution from?

    Just the idea of optical compression seems so interesting, but I’m not sure how that marries exactly with digital pixels rather than full on chemistry? Would be grateful if anyone could enlighten me further?

    That’s me done. I don’t expect the earth, I’m just happy to find my own way around it. Even if it means crawling.

    Thanks.

  • @vitaphone I was reading your post and felt like I understood your logic and train of thought, until you went from discussing anamorphic adapters to discussing anamorphic lenses.

    I can understand not wanting to pay 4 times more for anamorphic adapter than you did 3 or 4 years ago, but why do you feel that paying $1,200 for an anamorphic lens would be unreasonable on the face of it? Would it not depend entirely on the image quality?

    As I mentioned before, $900-1,200 includes several lenses I own outside anamorphic and several more I would be interested in buying. The f/0.95 Noktons fit that bill for many. Is there a reason why anamorphic lenses (a less commonly available type of lens) should be priced lower if they can provide high image quality? Or is there an inference being drawn about the image quality being lower than desirable for the price?

    Or am I missing the point entirely? Sorry, I just want to understand and I do not feel like I follow yet. :)

  • The GREAT NEWS is: the chances for me to develop the anamorphic adapter for GH2 and other dslr increased so much!

    I would like to thanks @Vitaliy_Kiselev for this amazing website because it is more than a hack development and test, it allow all of us to improve movie making in all aspects.

    I would like to thanks @slrmagic for his initiative on discussing the most wanted anamorphic and let all of us to show our opinions. i am shure all our posts will help them to develop the product we dream, because slr magic have the knowledge and technology to do top quality products for top quality movie making.

    I would like to thanks @redstan for encouraging me on my idea of developing an anamorphic adapter and also for the name he gives to it: Apefos Scoperama

    From now i will start a new topic destined to the Apefos Scoperama development: http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/4560/apefos-scoperama-anamorphic-adapter-development-topic

    Be welcome to read and participate.

  • sweet, maybe now this thread can get back to slrmagic's initial research...

  • Has anyone tries SCHNEIDER ES CINELUX ANAMORPHIC 2X MC Lens with GH1/2? Any experience, info, suggestions...?

    SCHNEIDER ES CINELUX ANAMORPHIC 2X MC.JPG
    500 x 375 - 17K
  • @producer I think this question belongs in a thread about existing anamorphic lenses. This topic is about a new one.

    But to answer your question: That lens looks like it weighs a ton, and if my intuition is right it probably can't focus closer than 5 or 15 feet. I recommend checking out lenses that have been used for smaller projectors . Good examples are kowa prominar, hypergonar hi-fi 2 and iscomorphot 16. Lenses labeled IN FLIGHT are especially suitable.

  • The info I got is about 7cm diameters of the glasses and about 10-11cm length of the body. So, obviously not big and heavy.

    Also, the anamorphic adapter itself is the upper part on the picture (to the deattached line).

  • @producer Ok! Have you bought it? Would be interesting to see how it works :)

  • @producer I researched it a bit now. It seems to have good IQ, but it only focuses to 1,7 meters and you have to use an allen wrench to focus it. That sounds like a bit of a hassle...

    Here's a topic about it: http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/2818/es-cinelux-anamorphic-2x-mc-test/p1

  • @producer

    I investigated this lens and the older one with the little focus knob and found out they do not have a helicoid. Instead they operate focus by screwing into a fixed nut which pulls and pushes the inner tube in/out. The focus is very crude and IMHO junk.

  • What I watched as a result with this anamorphic adapter looks nice.

    Would anyone explain in details about the focusing mentioned many times? I don't have experience with such an anamorphic adapter, so once I do the focus with the prime lens (50mm 1.4), then need to do separate focus with this anamorphic adapter too?

    Two years ago I tried very big and heavy anamorphic adapter with my Canon HV30 and there were not issues with focusing, actually without any touching and adjustments on the adapter.

    Please, anyone who is very known, explain and describe about that matter, I think it will be very good for all the users here, even that the topic is not exactly about that.

  • @producer Yes, you will have to focus both your prime lens and the anamorphic lens, and this specific anamorphic lens has a very inconvenient focusing system. Footage shot with it looks very nice, but every shot will take ages to prepare. You're much better off with another anamorphic lens, for example the kowa. If you have the money, you can even shell out for an iscorama. But again, this topic is not about old lenses. I would rather post questions in the thread I linked to.

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