Anamorphic Photography options.

[nateo200]

So I've read a ton about anamorphic, in fact I would say I'm pretty obsessed with it...I simply LOVE the look of anamorphic in film and even in stills. Problem is with video 2x anamorphic is difficult and 1.33 and 1.5 anamorphic lenses/adapters are hard to come by or expensive....however I would like to dive into anamorphic photography....does anyone have any suggestions? I've seen some beautiful results on Reduser but I'm looking for the cheapest way to get a 50, 75 or 100mm anamorphic lens that I could mount on my Canon EOS 550D...obviously not expecting EF mount but something that could be mounted via an adapter...2x squeeze factor would be fine for stills since I can crop...looking to create not only unique images for my self but possibly for others, I'm not much into making banners but I think it would be really cool to make a banner using an anamorphic lens to create a nice 2.39:1 or even 3:1 image. Also landscape and architecture photography in anamorphic is pretty cool...I can think of a ton of uses...anyone want to chime in?

 

[snberk103]

Not an answer, but I remember once at a summer camp they brought in a CinemaScope movie (the trademark name for shooting a film anamorphic) - but forgot to put the complementary lense on the projector. Which meant the film was projected as shot. The movie was called "Cast a Giant Shadow"… and boy - did they. Giant tall narrow shadows.

I still smile about that….

 

[nateo200]

Not an answer, but I remember once at a summer camp they brought in a CinemaScope movie (the trademark name for shooting a film anamorphic) - but forgot to put the complementary lense on the projector. Which meant the film was projected as shot. The movie was called "Cast a Giant Shadow"… and boy - did they. Giant tall narrow shadows.

I still smile about that….

Haha my fondest memories of seeing 35mm in theaters as a kid was of the projectionist forgetting to put on the anamorphic lens to unsqueeze the image, and it was like you say tall and narrow and then they fixed it and the image stretched out and it still impresses me to this day. I not only was film a magic medium but anamorphic was. I recently saw an early screening of 'Lone Survivor' and the projectionist was adjusting the lens and everyone was confused about what was wrong with the image and I was just smiling for some reason...

Anyways back on topic...anyone explore anamorphic photography? Anyone have suggestions for lenses?

 

[steveash]

Anamorphic panoramas have a great look, I don't blame you for wanting to play. I don't have experience myself but have been eyeing the Cinemorph filters which seem to produce a very similar look with less bother and a lot cheaper. If you want to use an anamorphic lens then they are usually fitted on the end of an existing lens with an adaptor or straight onto the filter thread.

 

[nateo200]

Anamorphic panoramas have a great look, I don't blame you for wanting to play. I don't have experience myself but have been eyeing the Cinemorph filters which seem to produce a very similar look with less bother and a lot cheaper. If you want to use an anamorphic lens then they are usually fitted on the end of an existing lens with an adaptor or straight onto the filter thread.

I'm actually planning on ordering some of those, from what I've seen they do a pretty cool job...that said I still like the real deal more, the actual squeeze IMO really can't be replaced :/

 

[acearchie]

Probably not a huge consolation but I will be using some real anamorphics on a shoot in the new year if you want to know anything specific about them?

 

[nateo200]

Probably not a huge consolation but I will be using some real anamorphics on a shoot in the new year if you want to know anything specific about them?

What kind of anamorphics are you shooting on? Arri? Panavision? Hawk? Other? Just curious. How much of a resolution increase do you see on a digital sensor...I imagine not as much as film since and have actually talked about this with David Mullen but still curious...I think allot of people see Anamorphics as useless since we no longer are restricted to grainy film stock where cropping to your aspect ratio might result in wayyy too much grain and see anamorphics as only a tool and not a stylistic choice...

Maybe you could share some shots? Obviously not content from whatever your shooting since you can't do that but I'd be interested to see some test shots.

 

[acearchie]

What kind of anamorphics are you shooting on? Arri? Panavision? Hawk? Other? Just curious. How much of a resolution increase do you see on a digital sensor...I imagine not as much as film since and have actually talked about this with David Mullen but still curious...I think allot of people see Anamorphics as useless since we no longer are restricted to grainy film stock where cropping to your aspect ratio might result in wayyy too much grain and see anamorphics as only a tool and not a stylistic choice...

Maybe you could share some shots? Obviously not content from whatever your shooting since you can't do that but I'd be interested to see some test shots.

I'll definitely share some stuff. Shooting on Epic and delivering on web so it was never about resolution but more of an aesthetic. Toying between some Hawks, Lomos and Arris but it will boil down to price at the end of the day.

Interested in possibly getting in coated versions and just going crazy with lens flare!

To be honest I'm just grateful that I will have the budget and trust to give them a go. I'm building up to try and shoot on real film at some point in the future. So this is the first creative push before I try the film discussion!

 

[nateo200]

I'll definitely share some stuff. Shooting on Epic and delivering on web so it was never about resolution but more of an aesthetic. Toying between some Hawks, Lomos and Arris but it will boil down to price at the end of the day.

Interested in possibly getting in coated versions and just going crazy with lens flare!

To be honest I'm just grateful that I will have the budget and trust to give them a go. I'm building up to try and shoot on real film at some point in the future. So this is the first creative push before I try the film discussion!

Well good luck! I REALLY appreciate you sharing stuff in the future though, I have RedCineX and all that wonderful stuff and have worked with REDCODE so Ill be waiting with baited breath! Epic is such a great platform, I haven't shot on it but Ive gotten samples and done a ton of playing with. Epic has a certain aesthetic, all digital cameras do, their sensors are like all the different film stocks past and present. I think you'll find it fun and if you need a film look on digital I would say Epic comes in #2 next to #1 Alexa in how much you can do in camera let alone in the edit suite. I'm currently looking at both coated and uncoated lenses from Nikon and Zeiss BUT I don't have a project for them so its mostly dreaming but some of them are pretty cheap so combine that with the CineMorph adapter and I think Ill get a nice look...Any reccomendations on cheap anamorphic lenses for video and stills on a DSLR and a RED Scarlet? I want something that I can use to sort of play with seriously across a couple of different devices (and the LA-AG7200 would be a dream, silly I know its no Master Anamorphic or C/E Series but its flexible and works on a variety of formats.) of course if its cheap and its not as flexible thats fine too but I mainly am interested in getting anamorphic adapters or lenses for/are 50mm, 85mm, 135mm and to some extent wider like my 35 (all of those are primes with fast apertures I own). Man this would be easier if they just re-made the LA-AG7200 adapter since it was so loved! That or make a 35-105 anamorphic zoom with a 1.5x squeeze....

I think its really great using lenses and even film stock of certain filming ages to replicate the feel. Hawks are great if you want a 1.33x squeeze option from what Ive heard but they are pretty expensive...Im guessing the Lomos would be the cheapest. Although with the 1.33x Squeeze lenses you can shoot standard 16x9 4K on an Epic and not get as much resolution loss as you would with 2x squeeze lenses...but you might get less anamorphic artifacts which might be good or might be bad. Elysium was recently shot on Epic using 2x anamorphics and the resolution they worked at was 3.3K until the master copy...just an example.

If you can disclose it what is your film about? Any specific plans and what not? Sorry its been slow with my work lately and I think I'm going insane here (Don't live in a place where film is big...).

Now I'm just rambling but feel free to PM me at a normal hour. I love this stuff would love to here about your plan since Im terrible with organizing..

 

[steveash]

Just spotted the Letus AnamorphX Adapters for GoPro Hero and full size lenses here: http://letusdirect.com/cart/letus-anamorphic-adapters/

Thought you guys might be interested.