QuickHitRecord

There's an Olympus Zuiko 100mm f2.8 that I have been using as a taking lens for anamorphics on my 5Diii. It's the smallest (i.e. shortest) lens in that range that I could find and I like that it lets me keep my anamorphic rig small -- it is even smaller than most 85mm lenses that I have seen. It has a non-rotating front and a small filter size, so it's a good match for anamorphics. Doesn't cost too much either.

Here's a little more info on it: http://omexperience.wordpress.com/lenses/zuiko-100mm-f2-8/

I am very interested in modding my iscorama in this fashion to reduce radius needed to focus close to infinity. I don't really understand how it was done, a whole new front housing?

Yes. I screwed the original front housing off, and then screwed the new one on. I moved the diopter and the retaining ring from the old housing to the new one. I'm no machinist, but if you think about it, it's really nothing more than a tube with some angled ridges machined into it, like this:

Anyone using RawMagic 1.11 (paid) yet?

EDIT: I've downloaded it and run a quick test. The app is quite fast compared to the other conversion tools that I have used, and it now incorporates vertical stripe correction (important for 5D footage), automatic audio sync in Resolve (HUGE time saver), and the Cinema DNG files that it creates are 12-bit and therefore quite a bit smaller. In my view, this really is the final missing piece to ML raw shooting.

Front element diameter: 51mm*

Rear element diameter: 41.5mm

Length: 4.35"

Weight: 18oz

*Some of this gets covered up by the retaining ring.

Slight digression... go see the "NO" movie from Chile, its recorded in old U Matic and is a chromatic aberration fest! 

Coincidentally, my roommate just borrowed that film from the library. I was going to pass but now I'll make a point of watching it.

Nice finding, I saw one on ebay the last time I searched for anamorphics and it was pretty cheap. Btw,what diameter diameters do the front and back elements have?

 

[edit] Now that I have looked at you footage (which is very nice btw) I've seen some cheap diopters errors (funkeh displaced and aberrated bokeh) but it's still very pleasant. Show us some sunlit vegetation with it ;) that's the definitive test.

I'll measure when I get home, but I think that the front element is 55mm.

Know what's funny? After years of trying to avoid it, I'm finding that I rather like chromatic aberration in my images.

I wonder how many more sleazy chancers will come out of the woodwork and start listing these for $1000+...

When I first stumbled upon this, I thought about doing a small run of the housings and then selling them for a small profit, but keeping the total price below that of a Kowa B&H or 16H/8Z (less than half of what the guy above is asking). I never got around to making that initial investment though. Money is a bit tight, and the much more polished-looking SLR Magic anamorphics were hitting the market so I wasn't sure if there would be a demand.

The cool thing about these lenses is that they are readily available and inexpensive, so there is no reason that anyone with enough enthusiasm shouldn't have access to one. The 2x lenses are my favorites anyway.

Here's another sample, and probably the only cat video that I'll ever do:

I was trying to develop something based on the fact that these two cats hate each other and fight constantly. But the gray one bit me mid-shoot, and I was done looking at her so I packed up my camera and left. Still, there's a shot or two in there in which the B&H really shines.

He's put a piece of tape over the tube, which has the name engraved on it. Very sneaky.

My lens cost me $100. The modification cost about $400.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171335595766

this one got me very curious. any ideas?

>All will be revealed.

PREFACE: I have been doing some testing with this lens for a while now, but lately I have been swamped with work. Also, there has been some sadness surrounding the girl who appears in the demo video (and several other anamorphic tests of mine), so anamorphic shooting has been on the back burner for a while now. But I'm seeing now that someone else has had the same idea, and is trying to make an unrealistic profit from it. And so I feel that I must post this write up, because this isn't a $1400 lens.

The search for the perfect anamorphic lens is over (at least for me).

Some months ago, I saw a post here from a member named frerichs. He claimed to have purchased a Bell & Howell 2x 16mm Anamorphic Projection lens (not the excellent Kowa model) for cheap and discovered that it was single focus, like the coveted Iscorama. I was skeptical, but since they can often be had for between $75 and $150 on eBay, I bought one to try out for myself.

At first glance this lens does not look like a winner. It has neither the steam punk appeal of the Lomo square fronts, nor the timeless curves of the Iscorama. The impossibly long and narrow build of the lens suggests that this would never be viable match for anything but the longest taking lenses.

And yet it works. The front element is a -7 diopter that focuses the other two elements in the housing as the head is turned, similar to the Iscorama. Unlike the Iscorama, the lens takes about five full rotations to go from infinity to close focus, which is limiting for practical use. But I have been working with a CNC machinist to resolve this, and I now have a prototype that allows me to do a full range rack focus in a one and a half turns:

(Want to do this yourself? Ask a machinist to design a new front housing with a "multi-start thread" that will house the front diopter and screw directly onto the existing thread on the tube; this could also conceivably be done for Iscoramas to the same effect). 

We have also added a standard 58mm threading for easier filter mounting, and I've since installed a custom seamless ultra-wide delrin focus gear to add just a little torque for even easier focusing (not pictured).

The Bell & Howell projection lenses that originally shipped with this lens were f/1.2 and f/1.4, so it is designed to be sharp at faster apertures -- and I find that it is. Perhaps not razor sharp, but as sharp as I'd ever want an anamorphic lens to be. And once you've removed the two limiting screws from the "head" of the lens, you can focus as close as two feet without diopters. Too much closer than that and the head will screw right off, but it's just as easy to screw right back on.

Flaring is nice:

The lens is not without its drawbacks. For one, it focuses to about 40 feet, not true infinity. That's not an issue for me, but it might be for some shooters. It's all-metal construction makes it a bit heavy which combined with its length will benefit from a lens support (which eliminates the shake that appears in my rack focus test). It vignettes when paired with wider lenses, so it is a better fit for smaller sensor cameras or Canon DSLRs with Magic Lantern raw crop mode enabled. For instance, I can shoot 1600x1200 with a Pentax Takumar 105mm f2.8 lens on my 5D Mark III and I don't see any vignetting before f/8. I also tested it with a Nikkor 50mm f1.8 AI-S on my GH2, and it was vignette-free so long as I cropped my 2x image down to 1.5x.

So how does the footage look? Here's something that I shot with it: 

I am excited to add a sharp, easily rack-focusable, short minimum-focusing anamorphic to my arsenal. It won't be the right lens for every anamorphic user, especially those who want to be able to shoot as wide as possible, but for the price, it could make single-focus anamorphics more accessible to those who have not had a chance to work with them yet. 

Happy shooting!

I use one at work and it makes my life a lot easier. The NDs and waveform are wonderful. The amount of detail in the images is very pleasing. It's a workhorse, and that's why I chose it for us.

I often edit for 8, 10 or 12 hours straight and this is what I use to keep the carpal tunnel at bay: http://www.evoluent.com/vm4r.htm

Good comparison. The jagged edges on the 5D3 are unfortunate, but not usually very apparent without magnification. The GH4 is really tempting.

Has anyone seen this yet?

THAT made my day.

Is this the kit? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1043614-REG/fiilex_flxk302_k681_3_light_p360ex_led.html

 

Looks pretty cool, and versatile too + high CRI (90-95). Did it work as expected- you can shoot very hard point light as well as diffuse/soft (with matte box)? For close interviews, looks very nice. Is the light output sufficient for green screen and/or wider studio shots? 400W per light looks nice for portable though (some of the square panels are putting out 1000W each, lower cost, but less portable/versatile).

Yes, that's the kit.

It did work well and everything looked good. The softbox is a nice key and I packed a tiny reflector as a fill, leaving me with a rim light and a kicker for the background. I also ordered a dome diffuser, and the fresnel lens, which both attach via magnets. The fresnel will give you the hard point that you are looking for.

All that being said, I wouldn't use these for a green screen. There's simply not enough luminance here to do it properly without boosting your ISO through the roof. For wider shots, you could potentially take a white balance and then dial these heads in to match the color temperature (provided that you are working with a single, consistent source). Then you'd be able to add to what was already there.

There aren't any proper reviews out yet since it's a relatively new product, but I've been happy with them for what they are.

This is either someone reselling my Lomo square front set (asking about twice what they paid me for it about a year ago), or using the images and description from my original listing: http://www.ebay.com/itm/141271312464

I just wrapped up a travel shoot with a three-LED kit from Fiilex (P360EX) that my work bought. I haven't reviewed the footage yet, but it looked good in the LCD. They were a joy to work with -- bright, lightweight, and checkable on my flight.

Baby Hypergonar is focus-through. Wonderful lens though.

If you value a large sensor and raw over 4K resolution and workflow, then absolutely.

I've used them with the doublet, no problem.

this is what i found on ML forum  ("coming soon: a lot of stuff, including a real sensor upgrade")

Can you share a link to where this was posted?

EDIT: Nevermind, it's in a1ex's signature!

Looks nice. Some of the better looking footage from this lens I have seen.

The "rant" in this article has been some of my favorite EOSHD material yet. 

No one has mentioned Nikkor AI and AI-S primes yet. I have a set of five, cine-modded by Duclos, and I have been pleased with them; first on my GH2, then on my FS100, and finally on my 5D3. I've also had them on a RED Scarlet, and they looked great at 4K. They are compact but well-built, and the lens characteristics match closely across the set. The only downside that I can think of is that the focus ring goes the other way, making a reversible follow focus a necessity.  

Here's a nice rundown on them by Caleb Pike of DSLRVideoShooter: