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Cheap anamorphic lenses for m43
  • 72 Replies sorted by
  • ipcmlripcmlr

    @bubba thanks!

    @madrivermoco looks good. I dont know how heavy that anamorphic is. must be light.... I'll be getting a generic anamorphic which is like the century in a few days (hopefully) and I'll set it up on the gf2 and see if it handles well.

  • disneytoydisneytoy

    Wow, can you point me to any stills or videos with the 20+Century Optics Anamorphic? If its decent I want one. The Sankor/58mm Helios, is impossibly long to use or focus other than on a tripod.

  • ipcmlripcmlr

    @disneytoy I'll shoot some on a 20mm + the generic once I get it. Should be the same as the century. They are really soft at the edges.

    Here's a nice video of the 20mm + century

    But the background is completely black so it hides the softness on the edges of the century.

    Here's an optex (which is the same as the century) on a 9-18mm olympus.

    And here is forum member itimjim's test video with a 14mm. Which is pretty cool since he decided not to hide the softness unlike the previous videos.

  • itimjimitimjim

    Hey @ipcmlr, the Century I was using was the focussing version designed for the Canon XL2. It suffers quite a bit at the wide end, but 14mm is pushing most thing's limits. It works much better using a longer focal length, or ETC mode. Even then, you need to be f4 and above to avoid astigmatism.

    The video EOSHD (Andrew) shot on the Oly 9-18 looks good, but it shows a lot of softness at the edges, and the CA is rescued because it's in black and white.

    The LA7200 is the best focus through adapter. I have one and I'm very pleased with it. But, it's still not great at large apertures, and it's not perfect wide. But, it does produce very acceptable results in most cases. You just have to know or accept its limitations.

    The best anamorphic I've used to date, that blows away everything I've used...although I've yet to use an Isco...is the Bolex 32/16/1.5x Anamorphot. It's a pain to mount (as is the LA7200) but it is simply wonderful across the frame, and more importantly at all apertures. This thing is not effected by even an f1.4 aperture. It also focuses down to about 3 foot. I can get a 28mm lens on there too, but it will slightly vignette at longer focal points (nr infinity) and narrow apertures. They are rare, but can be had for 1/3 to 1/2 the price of an Isco.

    Be careful with anamorphics, they are a quick money drain that could be spent better elsewhere. But, they are beautiful....

  • disneytoydisneytoy

    "Here's an optex (which is the same as the century) " Is that correct? I'm pretty sure when Optex in England was in business, they developed and manufactured their own lenses? Century Optics is a Hollywood based company. Currently owned by Schneider Optics a German company that has been making lenses forever.

  • ipcmlripcmlr

    @disneytoy

    Well. Just got my generic anamorphic today and played with it for 15 minutes. It is tiny and light. About as thick as the 20mm pancake and lighter. Build quality is cheap. 52mm thread is extremely useful.

    You can focus thru, flares pretty well. Waiting for an adapter so I can attach this to the 20mm pancake.

    But I did test it on a 14-42mm at 18mm just so you see the image quality close to the 20mm FOV.

    Looks ok at aperture f9, looks horrible in my f2.8 test (had to test this with a Helios 44M 50mm as this and another 50mm nikon were my only fast lenses with a 52mm thread)

    I dont have a front clamp on this so no tests with diopter.

    I probably need to test this out more. Can't seem to get good focus below 10 feet at wide apertures. There hopefully is a way around this.

  • disneytoydisneytoy

    ipcmlr, I don't have the exact items to buy, but if you go into a Home Depot, or DIY store, they have in the plumbing section these black plastic step up tubes. I found a couple to use as a clamp. Cost about $2-3. Can be easily cut or drilled. I was able to use two, that fit one inside the other tightly. The larger one went to the Anamorphic adapter the other on my taking lens.

  • itimjimitimjim

    @ipcmly

    You will need a diopter to reduce the focusing distance. Most common are +1, which will get you in the 1m or 3 feet range. Rarer are +0.5 and +0.4 which brings you a bit further back.

  • rozrozrozroz

    so, at the moment, what's the cheapest option for 1.5X single focus lens? (cheapest= around 500$ or less)

  • EeeCeeGeeEeeCeeGee

    @rozroz I have one single focus lens the isco iscomorphot 1,5. I've you can find one, they will set you back $500 or more. There are cheaper optinons like a bolex moller 1.5 but with this lens you have to focus both the taking and anamorphic lens.

    ebay makes prices higher. Best option is to look around thriftstores, fleamarkets etc etc.

  • rozrozrozroz

    @EeeCeeGee, thanks, i do bump on those iscomorphot 1.5 in Ebay and indeed they go around 600$ already :( 500 is the top i'll pay for it. btw- do you have any video you shot with yours?

  • EeeCeeGeeEeeCeeGee

    @rozroz

    Made one test video

  • rozrozrozroz

    @EeeCeeGee May i see it? ;)

    sorry- didn't see the linked video when replied. looks very nice and filmic. so this is a comfortable lens to work with right? what's your pros/cons?

  • ipcmlripcmlr

    @disneytoy I got no residue duct tape and attached the generic anamorphic to a front clamp I use on the eiki 16f. Worked pretty well. @itimjim I tested out a +1 diopter and a +0.4 diopter on the generic anamorphic yesterday but only at f2.8. It looks better but still awful especially when comparing it to my eiki 16f. I'll test it on my Nikon 50mm f1.2 instead of the Helios 44M later. Hopefully it holds up better.

  • itimjimitimjim

    @ipcmlr I've tried most of my primes on both the LA7200 and Century Optics and they've all been quite poor at large apertures.

    On my Kowa Promina 8Z and Bolex 1.5x there isn't that problem at all.

  • disneytoydisneytoy

    So what is the best at any price Anamorphic? Isco 54? Aren't these all out of patent by now?

  • itimjimitimjim

    Depends.

    If you don't mind dual focus, then I personally think the Bolex 32/16/1.5 is the best all round performer.

    But, and it's a big but, if you need single focus, Isco 54 1.5x is by far the best option.

  • EeeCeeGeeEeeCeeGee

    @rozroz It's a comfortable lens because you only focus through the anamorphic. Need to test with different taking lenses and focus distance of the taking lens, but I really like this tiny anamorhic lens. Pro's small and light lens. Cons.. haven't met one till now

  • disneytoydisneytoy

    EeeCeeGee, can you post a couple pics of the lens in question?

  • EeeCeeGeeEeeCeeGee

    @disneytoy

    Here are a couple of pics Taking lens is Nikon 35mm f/2.8

    IMG_1207.JPG
    2592 x 1936 - 2M
    IMG_1208.JPG
    2592 x 1936 - 1M
    IMG_1209.JPG
    2592 x 1936 - 1M
    IMG_1210.JPG
    2592 x 1936 - 2M
  • EeeCeeGeeEeeCeeGee

    If anyone is interested in a Iscomorphot 1.5 there's one on auction on ebay Germany.. See marketplace

    @Vitaly_Kiselev I understand and edited the msg.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @EeeCeeGee

    Use Marketplace for this, do not post this in topic, as it introduce unnecessary noise that is unactual after very short time.

  • ipcmlripcmlr

    @disneytoy I finally got some free time to test out the GH2 + 20mm f1.7 + generic anamorphic (Century/Optex type) Most shots at very high F-stops. tried putting in one shot at f1.7 which is the 2nd to the last shot. Its a shot of a tree. Hope this helps you out.

  • beeldlabbeeldlab

    Another short with the Sankor 16C.

  • JayB38JayB38

    @beeldlab... did you use diopters with your Sankor? I have a Sankor too, 16F

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