bootsie

I wanted to show how the Iscorama 36 delivers when fitted to a fast 50mm on full frame.   boring imagery I'm afraid
 
due to the size of the sensor the field of view obtained here is very close to that which you would expect from a 35mm focal length anamorphic on 4perf 35mm film.  A 35mm anamorphic lens is considered wide, and anything beyond that is considered a 'special effects' type lens as far as i am aware.  I feel the ability to obtain a wide angle from a anamorphic is a very desirable attribute.  A fast wide is the holy grail.
 
The magic is that despite the fact that we are getting a little fringing on leaves (characteristics of the 50mm lens when wide open), the results at f1.4 (t1.5) are astounding when you consider the width of frame and the control of dof possible on this combo. 
 

 
 
to me I think this is the benchmark the new bunch of single focus options should be compared against.  
 
-can they deliver this field of view/dof combination? nearly what you;d expect from a motion picture 35mm anamorphic from the likes of panavision.
-can they deliver the above without adding CA or softening at f1.4?
-can they do this on a full frame sensor?
-can they do this without adding vignette?
-can they provide this without the need for additional support?
 
-ultimately, can the new options improve on the Iscorama when the above criterion are met?
 
This is not a poke at the new units, but a personal opinion of my own which i feel needs to be considered.  For example since the SLR magic anamorphot arrived not a single user has really put it through any challenging tasks and as such, we are now seeing many appearing on ebay due to what i imagine is disappointment from users expecting more from it.  at the time of launch of the slr magic iscoramas went down in value slightly.  of recent i have seen a lot coming up for sale - from people thinking about the new options around the corner?  who knows?
 
if we had seen the slr magic tested on a f1.4 prime on full frame we'd have probably seem more obvious oval bokeh, however, will it have been so soft the results are null and void?  We need to see these things IMO.  
 
 
 

That's right, I bought this one and it works perfectly with the Lanparte Follow Focus!

Just uploaded some test shots to my blog taken with a Kowa B&H on a Voigtlander 28mm f/2.8. Check it out if you're interested :-)
 

 
http://alexeymarfin.com/anamorphic-new-york-city/
 
Let me know what you think!

I really dont see these images as cinematic.
I think we're back in the "how to grade h264 to look like cinema" discussion again.
This blog convinced me that shooting 2x anamorphic raw in 4:3 ratio with my 5d3 was "the shit" and i still believe it,
Honest question: Why should I consider all this new buzz?
Detail? i can see its there, but is only noticeable when you do a 300% crop,
Dont get me wrong, i embrace 4k, but at the cost of going back to a lousy codec and poor bit depth... nope, ill pass.

Back online!

when someone says movie i think of movie.
i repeat nobody is gonna make a movie motion picture with this new optic.
why would you.
it does not make any sense.
if your making a 1000 dollar movie ok maybe.
but that is not gonna be a film a movie a motion picture.
that is gonna be a you tube clip.
 
with the new cookes coming companies like hawk are gonna have to take a price reduction on rentals.
if you are making a cinema movie and you have a budget you rent the real magic stuff.
not the fake stuff with the name magic on it.
and plus no director is gonna wanna work around that ugly broke back flare.

sean cun
what are you.
you build up something like this thing like  it is the second coming and you produce bilge complete and utter visual bilge.
 
did you destroy all comers no.
you counter attack with words to try to diminish cos your bland visual style is made for this rather cheap optic.
keep the words cumin fella and leave the visuals to seb : )
 
i only came back here to give you a slap girly cos you are really quite horrid to people.
and you lecture folks based on years of using an optex century.
 
get back to your film set big boy leave the amateurs to polish nice proper glass.
or should i say film studio tour of a film set.

Hi guys,
 
I heard that some were trying to get in touch with me about some custom follow focus work here. I 3D print the follow focus gears to what ever specifications you may need. Im afraid on the tapered lenses, I would probably need to have the lens in my hands (unless someone wants to give me very detailed measurements/drawings from the lens). If some one is willing to part with their lens for a week or so, I'll get one fit on there and begin selling them via eBay. I'll even give anyone from eoshd a discount on custom gears, so try emailing me again and we'll get one rolling. Just shoot me an email at helicoptersean@gmail.com or contact me through eBay's messaging system. 
 
Sorry if I've missed any of your messages!

i have the completed optics the mounts have to be altered i have 8 +0.25 new design.
i also have some new test new design +1   both 82mm ready now.
 
 
in the spring
also will have +0.65
and +0.75  all achromatic doublets

Hello, the filter is still available.
Can be quite useful with recording RAW in the 5D MK II. Check it out! 
 
Thank you.

Nobody interested? Secure payment via Paypal only.
 
Cheers,
Andreas 

Hello, I'm selling a Mosaic Engineering VAF 5D2 Anti Moirée Filter for the Canon 5D MK II.
Price is € 250. Andrew Reid wrote about it: http://www.eoshd.com/content/7120/canon-5d-mark-ii-mosaic-engineering-vaf-5d2-anti-aliasing-filter-review
 
PM me if interested.
 
Thanks and regards.

There's an Isco II 16:9 Video Attachement lens on ebay Germany.

i am sure these new lens will be great compared too the century and the panasonic as all the design work was done years ago,just a question of figuring out what panasonic and century did wrong.
and engraving a new logo on .
 
1700 -2000 for the letus is gonna be an interesting sell in the age of pocket cameras..
an interesting test will be century with achromat against slr magic at f2.8 and f4.
i did a test close up lens at  mag power +0.12 and it was way to mild and subtle waste of time.
tokina magnification is great but as i had a few left i thought i would go milder at 0.25

many people even dp's still say single element is all you need and mild magnification does not generate any chromatic shit but i can see it on a battered old gh1 screen zoomed in.
i have some old angenieux single element i have tested the new doublet against and it beats the single element angenieux.

Clinton Harn of Newsshooter.com wrote an article about a new anamorphic adapter by Letus35:
 
 
http://www.newsshooter.com/2013/09/10/letus35-launch-high-quality-anamorphic-lens-adapter/
 
Sounds interesting and affordable.
What do you think?

The Iscorama 54's were made with a rear screw on adapter that covers the protruding element and provides a 62mm mounting thread.  Another option I use is three empty 77mm filter rings or two 77mm's and a 77-72 step down to connect the 54 to lenses with larger front elements.  As mentioned, the anamorphic alignment is done by pushing a button and rotating the front of the adapter.  In my experience the locking mechanism often slips so I always use black paper tape to keep the ring from moving once I've adjusted it.  
     I have done some extensive tests with my 54 and compared it to just the taking lens without the 54 and in many instances I could not even tell the difference.  Both were equally sharp.   Where it's character will really come through is with very out of focus backgrounds...and of course flaring if you have a non multi-coated version.  It will mount to a 50mm on full frame (I'm using a Canon 5D Mark III) but the edges do tend to display more compression than the center which becomes apparent on pans if you look for it.  For this reason I would recommend using a slightly longer taking lens for this type of work.
      I had it mounted to my Canon 24-70 f2.8 at one time but do not recommend this as my lens needed servicing soon after.  I always used a lens support but I suspect that the incredible weight of the beastly 54 was too much for the Canon lens.  That particular lens moves forward and back so it's not a good choice for a heavy add on anyways.  
     I have found a way to support the 54 that I like.  It involves using a Cavision lens support (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/750371-REG/Cavision_R15_LS25100M_Lens_Support_with_Metal.html
).  I prefer this to just a cradle style lens support because even thoughthe focusing ring on my 54 is smooth, it does have some tension and when using a follow focus I find it best to have the 54 locked in position to prevent movement.  If you decide to use the Cavision support the trick is, the rear ring that comes with the 54 is a bit too small to work comfortably with the Cavision.  RedStan did in fact make a rear ring for the 54 that gives it a 67mm thread and has a slightly larger outer diameter...perfect for mounting with the Cavision support, particularly when built up with a very thin layer of cardboard like those found in a packet of printer photo paper.  And the last time I inquired...Alan still had some stock of those rear rings laying around.  Of course changing the lenses while shooting is challenging with the 54 mounted with the Cavision so you will want to figure out your own quick release method, or just use a zoom lens that only moves internally.   I have my own quick release method but don't have the time to illustrate it now.  
     There have been questions as to mounting the Tokina achromat to the 54 and it can be done but quite frankly, the 54 is a much sharper optic than many others and the achromat's usefulness won't be as apparent as it is on say the baby Berthiot.  When mounting any filters to the front that are smaller than the 95mm front element be prepared for the possibility of a slight reduction in exposure and circular ghosting around the edges in certain circumstances depending on the focal length of your taking lens.  
     I also notice that my footage with the 54 is smoother than without it, when using a shoulder mount.  I attribute this to the added weight.  The rolling shutter on the 5D is not good though and seems to be accentuated by the use of anamorphic lenses.  

If you're after close up filters add '95mm Focar A' & '95mm Focar B' to your list of Ebay saved searches - these are vintage Voigtlander +1 & +2 diopters. I believe they were made to suit an early Voigt zoom lens and are quality plus.
 
I say this because I just picked up a mint 95mm Focar B for $50!

In the end, we never stop talking about these suckers across multiple threads, so I'm gonna try to compile as much information as I can into this one.
 
As in most cases, diopters are cheaper than anamorphics, I ended up with a lot of them, from multiple brands and multiple performances. The key was never go where everyone else is trying to find. Got the classics too, but that was luck.
 
Anyway, let's go to the undeniable favorite: Tokina +0.4 Achromatic diopter. My only complain about it is: why aren't you bigger?! My first lens was the LA7200 and I took quite a while to find the 105mm.
 
The next lenses all had different thread sizes. I could filter the Hypergonar on 77mm or 86mm, the Kowa with 72mm, Sankor 72mm too, Isco 54 at 95mm or 86mm and had a plan of an alternative 86mm front for the Lomo Squarefront, which didn't go through. Anyway, if I started to look for all these sizes of diopters, I'd go broke.
 
My salvation were the Series 9 filters. If someone isn't familiar with these, they come as unthreaded glass, that you put into an adapter that can range between 67mm and 86mm. That pretty much covers all lenses. I got adapters for 72, 77 and 86. The glass itself has around 83mm diameter.
 
Tiffen Series 9 filters are not in production anymore, so you can pick them off cheap ($1-10), even though they're not so common. The adapters are a bit harder to find.
 
After that, I went crazy on other brands as they showed up with decent sizes. Got 77mm Spiratones +0.5 and +0.25 for $6, 86mm +0.6 Fujinon, 72mm +1.25 Fujinon, 95mm +0.25 Pentax (for the 135-600mm Pentax Zoom), 82mm +0.75 Canon (1300H), etc, all very cheap. Some of them are real heavy, and I don't know if they're achromatics or single elements.
 
The advantage of the bigger ones is, less vignetting, even when you go wide, and, the sharpness is increased, since you don't get corner areas.
 
Finally, I found a couple 4.5" ones (around 114mm), that require special adapters, like Series 9. These adapters are impossible to find! I'm making a couple myself, as I trust threads more than tape. :P
 
EDIT Dec 07, 2014
 
Why Look for Low Powered Diopters
 
There's a common question going around, of WHY fraction diopters are better than full numbers, so I'm addressing that here too. Rich has a good explanation too >here.
 
As you can see below in the math section, the numbers correspond to certain maximum and minimum focus distances. When it comes to anamorphic lenses, what is the most common minimum focus distance? Something between 1.5m and 2m (or 5 to 7 feet, imperial scale).
 
Iscoramas have 2m minimum focus. Kowas, Sankors and most dual focus projector lenses are set to 1.5m minimum focus. For most shots, this distance is greater than the distance you want to put between the camera and your subject, which leads to being unable to focus properly - also, it's a pretty messed up distance for working indoors.
 
What a +0.4 or +0.5 diopter does is turn this "near 2m minimum focus distance" into "near 2m MAXIMUM focus distance" (see math below, seriously), allowing you to frame and shoot freely indoors and much closer to your subjects. If you want extreme close ups, then you need to have stronger diopters, but a +0.5 is a key tool for "standard" shots.
 
Achromats are also better, but they have their own explanation below too.
 
Focus and Anamorphic Compression
 
Another thing that relates directly to diopters is the lens compression. Most of our 1.5x or 2x stretch lenses only have that proportion when focused to infinity. Things change when you twist the focus ring. As you get closer to minimum focus, the less compression you have. 2x lenses tend to go towards 1.7x or 1.8x, Iscoramas get very close to 1.3x. 
 
When unsqueezing your footage, this compression disparity can make shots look different from the rest of the footage, as if it was shot with a different lens. In a technical level, it really was a different optical path.
 
Using diopters you get rid of using the shorter distances on your focus ring and keep your compression constant throughout the shots.
 
DISCLAIMER: I don't know how this relates to baby anamorphics, and this CERTAINLY does not affect focus through lenses since you don't change the distance between the anamorphic elements.
 
//EDIT.
 
Strength measuring:
 
Fujinon: The first number is their maximum focus distance, the second number is the thread size. For example, a 16086 reaches 160cm at infinity (+0.6) and has 86mm thread. 190101, 190cm at infinity focus, 101mm thread.
 
Canon: The newest series (250D and 500D) measures in millimeters their maximum distance. 250mm equals +4 and 500mm equals +2. The "D" stands for Double element. The older ones use the same measuring, 1300H = 1300mm, +0.75. There's also a 900H, 105mm, which is a like +1.1.
 
When nothing is marked on it, good luck with testing the thing. It's usually not hard, but most of them have information lying around the web.
 
Thread size:
 
As well as regular threads, some are marked with a C after the number (mostly 86C, 95C and 105C), that means the thread on this filter is coarse, 1mm pitch. Our regular (fine) threads have .75mm pitch. There are adapters for these too, like the one below, from 86mm fine to 86C.
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/350325079425
 
Minimum and Maximum focus distance:
 
Just realized that I haven't explained the math relating diopter strength and maximum focus range! Since most anamorphics perform better when focused closer to infinity, a diopter gives great help in "faking" it optically. A close up filter "sets" infinity just a couple meters/feet away, so anything BEYOND that certain point will be IMPOSSIBLE to focus.
 
Of course, this will NOT follow the lens' focus marks. Infinity on the lens now equals the diopter maximum focus distance.
 
Now, the numbers:
 
S = diopter strength (+0.5, +0.6, +1, +2, etc)
MaxFm = maximum focus distânce, measured here in METERS
 
MaxFm = 1 / (S)
 
Ha! I bet you expected something waaaay more complex, right? Some examples are never bad, so let's get to it. I'll use +0.5, +1.25 and +2 as sample strengths.
 
MaxFm = 1/(0.5) = 1/(1/2) = 1 x 2/1 = 2 meters
MaxFm = 1/(1.25) = 1/(5/4) = 1 x 4/5 = 0.8 meters
MaxFm = 1/(2) = 1/2 = 0.5 meters
 
If you live in a country where imperial scale prevails over the metric system, you just gotta do a quick fix to the expression.
 
S = diopter strength (+0.5, +0.6, +1, +2, etc)
MaxFf = maximum focus distânce, measured here in FEET
 
MaxFf = (3.3 / S)
 
Same examples from above, now in feet
 
MaxFf = 3.3/(0.5) = 1/(1/2) = 3.3 x 2/1 = 6.6 feet
MaxFf = 3.3/(1.25) = 1/(5/4) = 3.3 x 4/5 = 2.6 feet
MaxFf = 3.3/(2) = 3.3/2 = 1.6 feet
 
Regarding minimum focus distance, I'd say anything closer than half maximum focus distance is gonna look pretty bad already. With high power close ups (+2 and up), I'd say anything closer than 3/4 of your maximum focus distance is gonna be pretty bad already.
 
Of course, this "minimum focus distance" image quality has A LOT of influence from the anamorphic. Also, achromatic diopters will improve almost everything you could imagine.
 
Since I've just mentioned them, here's a list of achromatic diopters, with their strength, manufacturer, price range, etc.
http://fuzzcraft.com/achromats.html
 
Price range:
 
Just for checking, here is a list of the most common lenses and their outgoing price.
 
Tokina +0.5 72mm - $150
Kenko +0.5 72mm - $90
Tokina +0.4 72mm Achromatic - $350
Kenko +0.3 105mm - $350
Canon +2 72mm Achromatic - $100
Sigma +1.6 62mm Achromatic - $20
Angenieux +0.25 82mm - $330
Kinoptik +1 82mm Achromatic - $530
Foton-A +1 or +1.25 - $900 (GONE!)
Tiffen +0.5 to +2 138mm - $50 and up
Tiffen +0.5 to +5 Series 9 - $1-50
Tiffen/Kodak Series 9 Adapters - $20-40
Tiffen +0.5 to +2 4.5" - $10-50 (RARE)

Click here! See attachment.

Click here! See attachment.

The dutch Iscorama 54 arrived today in mint condition. Focus is smooth as can be. I'm overwhelmed.

The dutch Iscorama 54 arrived today in mint condition. Focus is smooth as can be. I'm overwhelmed.