October 2015

On the last video we talked about the FlareFactory58, DSO’s debut product. After that they decided to let people go crazy with customizing options. Came the TRUMP, a larger lens, still all built around the Helios 44, so it’s a 58mm focal length, but a lot sturdier than the default Helios, something much more in the lines of real production ready gear than the FlareFactories. While building your FF58, you pick your things and you’re done, your lens is that and will always be like that. With the TRUMP you’re able to change things on the fly. You can take out the rear elements as a single block, the optical module, and replace with a different one, with different tints or contrast, or artifacts. Removing the optical module gives you full access to the aperture disc. If we had 5 options of apertures for the FF58, I’m not even gonna bother counting the ones available for the TRUMP – and I hear there are even more being developed! Seriously, there are no limits to how crazy you can go with this.

Now you have a “core” body and front optics, and the possibility of swapping apertures and optical module. You also get the option of changing the mounts without a hitch. This one has a Nikon mount, and I’ve adapted it to EF, but we can also take out this entire back part, put on a PL mount and throw it on a RED camera, or Alexa, or whatever you dream about! Focus has the same measurements as the Helios, and it already comes geared for follow focus. The one issue I find about it is not having any distance marks for focus. Front thread is 86mm, and I’ll tell you now, it’s hard to get a decent vari-ND that big, so you’ll probably stick with an 86-82mm step down, no risk of vignetting.

About the lens construction, this thing is solid. If you drop it on a tiled floor, I think there’s more risk of damaging the tiles than the lens. It has this massive “hood”, which is also how you control your regular aperture blades, by simply rotating it. The values are shown on the outer ring. I’m still not fully accustomed to it and end up closing the iris when I just mean to pull focus, since the “aperture ring” is now massive. I know you’re probably thinking this is too big and bulky and “what’s the point of it, since it blocks light and flares?”, well, if you’re not thinking that, I surely was, until I was shown their 38 and 88 optical attachments, but I’m not gonna get ahead of myself and talk about them, because that’s for another video.

The advantages of the TRUMP over a regular Helios, besides all the housing and build quality is that it becomes a reliable lens. You might not be able to always hit the same note with your regular Helios, but with this, as soon as you get the gist of it, you can make it flare when you want, you can control the amount of flaring, hell, you can even choose the color of the damn flare! Being able to quickly swap the tint and aperture modules so quickly won my heart because I’m down for custom, and I’m down for simplicity. The only obstacle you might find about this is the price tag, at £1050 for the lens.

Besides all that crazy stuff I just mentioned, if you have an original Iscorama 36 or pre36 (not the Van Diemen version, which is too big thanks to the alignment lock), it does fit perfectly inside the body of the TRUMP. Setting alignment is a little tricky, but can be done, and the focus ring of the Iscorama sticks out just the perfect amount. The inner small thread, once you unscrew the removable part of the hood, with the aperture numbers, is 52mm threaded.

This video isn’t nearly enough to explain the endless combinations and different looks you can achieve with a single TRUMP and several different optical modules and aperture discs, but that will have to do, because I can’t translate it any better than that! Subscribe to the channel for upcoming anamorphic content, check my blog for tons of extra material and also check Creative Camera Rentals to check what interests you! I’m Tito Ferradans and I’ll see you next week.

If you liked my last video, about modding the Helios 44, you’ll probably like the FlareFactory58, which is a more extreme version (that’s putting it lightly) of the aperture mod.

Why are these lenses in an anamorphic review, if they’re not anamorphic? Well, they were originally meant to enhance the anamorphic look and add even more character to the footage shot with 1.33x squeeze adapters. The cornerstone for DSO lenses is the Helios 44. Starting with the FlareFactory, Richard and James worked their way into tweaking the original Helios 44 lens, adding a ton of optional custom mods. You can choose how contrasty you want it, choose the color it’ll flare, aperture shape and size, mount (EF, PL or Nikon), artifacts and damage, and the outside finish. All of these have several options underneath – like the tint, you can pick from Red, Green, Blue, Magenta, Cyan, Amber, Bronze, Gold, Purple or not-tinted at all – which amounts to 28350 possibilities of different lenses (yes, I did the math, three mount types, five different apertures, three contrast options, ten tints, seven different artifacts combinations and 9 outside finishes). Picking one from thirty thousand options, I have to say there’s a huge chance that your lens is yours alone and no one in the world has something identical, which leads to unique visuals – and yes, I mean UNIQUE.

They also offer an optimized version to be used with Iscoramas, which has the focus locked on the best position to render the Isco’s images onto the sensor, and a tubing in front that brings the back of the Iscorama as close as possible to the front of the FlareFactory, ensuring no vignetting and no measurable light loss which are usually a consequence of adapters and step rings’ constraints. You can also add focus gears and make it as pretty as this one here! The front filter thread has also been increased, from 49mm to 55mm.

The advantages of using a FlareFactory in combination with an anamorphic or without any anamorphic at all is the look that you get. Using oval apertures (either 1.5x, 2x or 3x!!!) gives you beautiful oval bokeh minus the limitations of close focusing that is usually associated with anamorphics. No need for diopters, triple checking focus or any of the quirks we develop shooting with adapters or projection lenses. Shooting with a FlareFactory is simple, straightforward and the results won’t let you down. If you combine them with a flare filter, you’re golden for an anamorfake look at a fraction of the cost of shooting real anamorphic and even less worrying about the post-processing workflow.

I’ve been trying to figure out any sort of drawbacks and the only one I can think of is when you compare the price of a regular Helios 44 to the FlareFactory – but that totally takes out of the equation all the modding and fine tuning done by the guys at DSO, so it kind of defeats the purpose of the comparison. You can order yours at richardgaleoptics.uk, for £265 in PL mount or £180 in EF mount. I always imagine them going like “everything everyone loves in the Helios 44 is kind of an artifact, originally undesired. Hmm… what if we get these artifacts and make them stronger, easier to achieve, like really pushing the look? And what if we let people choose how they want their lenses? Jeez, dude, imagine the amount of work that would be…”. I guess it paid off, since they’re sold out of EF mounts while fulfilling back orders.

The one I’m gonna use for these tests is an Amber tinted FlareFactory with a 2x oval aperture and a lower contrast level. I can’t say about the artifacts, Rob’s the one who picked them. While I shot the tests there was this dreamy feel that I couldn’t quite shake off, no matter what I tried. I guess I just missed the simplicity of shooting like this.

Well, this was it for this episode. We’re now diving deeper into faking the anamorphic look, or anamorfake, as I’m starting to call it. Next up is the TRUMP, and then DSO’s Optical Attachments and who knows, maybe some more. If you haven’t subscribed yet, this is the perfect moment for that. You can also check a shitload of extra content at my blog and rent all these amazing lenses at Creative Camera Rentals. Tito Ferradans signing out.