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My first Anamorphic lens, some advice please ;)


Thai Reisje
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First lens and first post on this forum. Hello everybody.
I just bought a Isco Iscomorphot 16/2x Anamorphic cinema-scope lens Isco Göttingen from ebay. This will be my first Anamorphic lens. It seems to be stripped from a Bauer projector and i like to use it on a GH4 for video and a Fuji XT1 for stills. However i have some questions...

First question: is it any good? ;)
It seems to have a mount diameter of 38.92 mm . Could anyone advise me on a good and inexpensive lens clamp
here in Europe?

Anyone tried this lens? What master lens are you using on m 4/3 or better, what focal length would you use to minimize vignetting?
For the moment i have a kit zoomlens on the GH4 and a sigma 60mm f2.8 prime.

On the Fuji Xt-1 i have a 35 F1.4, 23 F1.4 and 56 F1.2.

Any input would be appreciated ;)

$_12.JPG

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One of the more underrated and nicest 'organic' lenses, especially for crop frame cameras. very sharp, lovely golden flare.

this Isco type has a min focus of around 1m. Closer focus can be made by fixing diopters to the front. This lens does not have a front filter thread, so I've found that tightly wrapping a step ring to the front with electrical tape can allow for common diopters to be attached and detached easily by screwing into the step ring's filter thread. Or even better solution is to get a proper front filter clamp from Redstan.

As for 'cheap' clamp? - you can find them online, but the Redstan clamps are well worth the money. The others are made from cheap and nasty materials with metal clamp screws that will mark and scratch your Isco every time you tighten. the Redstan clamps use nylon screws that do not damage your lens when clamped.

As for suitable taking lens? - on S35 I've used f2 58mm Helios 44 and on Full frame, 85mm Olympus OM f2 or Jupiter-9 85mm f2 gave me the best results by far...very sharp and filmic images, even wide open.

On GH4 I'd  personally recommend a Helios 44 on speedbooster as taking lens, if you get an older 'zebra' Helios 44 with golden coatings - the flares will match beautifully in your taking and your Isco anamorphot.

 

In short, this lens is great - and well worth saving for proper rear clamp from Redstan and experimenting with vintage lenses to get the nicest look from it IMO.

 

 

 

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Thank you Hans for this valuable information. :)

I found a Helios 44-2 in Ukraine but i am not sure if it has the golden coating, It does not have the white zebra markings on the focus ring so probably not. I will keep my eyes open for a white version.  I will also need a 52 to 49mm step down ring i presume?

Redstan clamp sounds like a good choice. I have also found a speedbooster for m4/3 to m42.

Anyway, tnx again. When i got all the components i will try to post some footage. :)

 

 

 

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Yes, Redstan clamp that would fit this particular iscomorphot would almost definitely have a 52mm rear thread - so a 52-49mm step down ring for the helios 44 is correct.

Most older M42 mount lenses pair very nicely with your iscomorphot 16/2x - if you find a taking lens with amber/gold coatings (non-MC) then all of your flares will match better. It's not essential, but is a really nice look - especially with the Helios Zebra model.

Here are some very boring examples from my old Canon 7D (when Magic Lantern Raw firmware was in it's infancy) using a Pentagon 135mm taking lens wide open at f2.8. Mostly shot at minimum focus (no diopters)....make sure you check videos in HD to see the sharpness.

I don't have any good footage online of the iscomorphot on the Helios 44, but that sure is a winning taking lens from my experience (especially for your smaller sensor, with or without speedbooster). 

 

 

 

 

 

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Congrats on the anamorphic lens!

I found a Helios 44-2 in Ukraine but i am not sure if it has the golden coating,

I had been wondering about that too, but after some searching I found an earlier Helios (the 44, not the 44-2) on eBay in great shape with a gorgeous golden coating.  My understanding is that there were a lot of different 44-2's manufactured over many years, some may have the same coating. But keep an eye out for the original 44 too.

Cheers,

-Bold

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