Anamorphic

Anamorphic on a Budget – Epilogue.

January 23, 2015

WHAT LIES AHEAD

So I decided to add a little something after the Conclusion and Bibliography for a couple reasons. First, it’s been a year since the article was originally written. During this year, a lot happened. SLR Magic’s Anamorphot came out, we got the Focus Module, 4K is becoming very popular, the GH4 allows people to shoot 4:3, the Rectilux are just around the corner, and so forth.

I’ve tried to follow how things are going, but there’s nothing like testing, and my budget is currently VERY low. I’ve moved from Brazil to Canada, running after a career in VFX, but cinematography and anamorphics are not forgotten. Over the following months I have some lenses to test and review (placed an order on a Rectilux and just a Kowa B&H from a friend), got an Isco 16:9 Video Attachment, that essentially is an Isco 54 with 1.33x stretch, FINALLY got an Iscorama 42 and most definitely will try something for the FM lens contest, so these might have their posts here anytime soon.

There are also some other more specific products that I’d like to try, out of curiosity, like Moondog Labs’ anamorphic adapter for iPhone, the tiny VM lens paired with something small on the BlackMagic Pocket Cinema Camera, the new Cinemorph filter, that goes on the back of the Sigma ART 18-35mm f/1.8 lens, as any oval adapter should, and, of course, the – not so new anymore – SLR Magic’s Anamorphot and Letus AnamorphX. I’ve seen test videos and read reviews, but they aren’t as deep as I wanted them to be. I know what to expect from each lens, but the exact details and feeling from them are not there. I mean, test videos are nice, but you can’t figure out how that would work in a real production workflow, what kinds of quirks and bonuses they have and how to benefit or get around them, this is not the kind of thing you get from a test video. Anyway, I’m getting off-topic.

I was able to find the SLR Anamorphot on a rental house nearby and might try going there during school’s break to test it out, but most of the other lenses are completely out of my reach and I’m not willing to spend any money to find the good and bad about them, write it down and then have the trouble of passing them along – as I did with over ten of my anamorphics before coming to Vancouver.

I’m also posting random small hints, tips and things I did during research that didn’t quite make into the final version of the essay on my Instagram, along with pretty pictures of the lenses we all love so much. I just went over how to convert a bayo mount Century into regular threads and adapt regular filters in front of it for less than $10, so it might interest some people.