Chris Elkerton

Hi tferradans,

 

When I first saw the offer on Craigslist I was attracted by the price and the possibility of checking the lens before buying it as I though the buyer was based in London. But thanks for the info.

 

Borja

Hey Borja,

Yes unfortunately Lomo zooms do command a high price, if it seems too good to be true it probably is. This forum is a good place to buy for the most part. Tito is a good guy he's been doing business on here for a while.

I would say anything this old and Russian would need to be serviced to get the best out of it anyway. If your budget won't stretch, go with a Sankor or a Kowa, you wont go too far wrong.

Hey Rupert,

Good work! Thanks for sharing. Glad to see you got yourself a lens.
Shooting handheld in a car, especially at long focal lengths is a real nightmare! You did pretty well with it. What taking lenses were you using?

Love the idea of anamorphic time lapses. The car footage and the day time lapses are nice. Like you say the car stuff is shaky no getting away from it. You might look at stabilising it maybe.

When you get the camera on the sticks there are some really nice shots, I wanted to see more of that. :)

The sunset lapses are beautiful. The night stuff is amazing! I love the shots of the planes taking off.

Really nice Stanley! I love the colours. Looks pretty sharp, what f stop were you shooting at? Did the Hoya diopters sharpen things up a bit?

2 x Red Epic Dragons
1 x Kowa anamorphic set
Massively impractical, completely pointless and it will probably bankrupt you. Might be fun though. :)

Or just keep the money, move to Cuba and change your name to Miguel.

Perhaps not a scam, but certainly something that is going to trip a few bidders up. Look at the shipping costs on this lens: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Anamorphic-Lens-for-GSMO-and-CP-16-Moviecameras-/291050634439

$5000 for shipping from Germany to the US seems legit :)
Maybe he plans on hiring Elton John to swim it across the Atlantic wearing a pair of gold Speedos.

Yeh, totally agree. I was lucky enough to off load my Optex adapter for pretty much what I paid for it.

Sell it while there's still a market for this model. That will be changing soon.

I would take this advice, it's experience talking. I wouldn't spend my money on expensive diopters for this lens if I was you.

Ah I used a diopter for a different set of shots. Interestingly enough at distance i was having trouble focusing with the diopter. Not sure why.

Diopters reduce the maximum focus distance of your lens. That's why you can't focus at distance.

I really like the lens, and think the mod will be great, even for renting it out (I would never rent it the way it was), and if I eventually decide to sell it, the mod also incresases it's value. :P

I agree. Plus I think it's worth it purely for aesthetics, Van Diemen rehousings look awesome! Pure lens porn. ;)

31 inch? Nahh...


http://www.engadget.com/2013/12/18/lg-105-inch-curved-uhd-tv-105UB9/

WTF! Now you're talking.

i here your red camera is pretty big but even that telly would be a little silly as an on board monitor yes no ?

Haha, I don't know I'm pretty strong!

Anyone seen this?

Just stumbled across it on Reduser. Imagine what your anamorphic videos will look like on this "ultra widescreen" bad boy.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/12/17/lg-4k-ultra-widescreen-monitors/

Really nice as always Seb!

Sharpness when shooting anamorphic is relative. It's not pin sharpe at F2 but it not too bad. F2.8 is perfectly usable in my option. For me F4 is very sharpe, but your prime will have an impact on this.

Check out this video I shot with mine. Low light so it's shot between F2 and F3.2. Should give you a good idea if what to expect.

Thanks for the input.

I've heard everyone raving about the redstan clamps, a bit expensive for me, but I guess you get what you pay for. If I'm going to be shooting anamorphic I might as well do it right.

Do you use diopters with yours?

Also, am I correct in assuming that the going rate for a Sankor in good condition is around $250-$300? I've seen some on eBay for much more but I'm assuming they are just inflated because I have seen some on this forum go for much less.

Thanks

Yes it is worth getting a decent clamp. Cheap clamps are just that. Cheap!
Diopters are definitely a good idea, they will reduce the minimim focus, good ones can be quite expensive though. My advice would be see how you get in without first.
I'm not in the US so prices are a little different here. But if that's what you've seen then its probably about right. Keep an eye out for auctions if your looking on eBay buy it now prices are sometimes a bit inflated.

Hey Rupert,
It's really worth getting a clamp. Even if you can get a step up ring to fit you may still have alignment issues. I have a Redstan clamp for my Sankor which fits like a glove, they are by far the best. Plus it has a 52mm thread.
http://bit.ly/1dv3vDN
Send him a message and tell him your model of anamorphic and I imagine he will send you one that suits best.
The Sankor does indeed have a hidden thread. (I had mine for nearly a year and never noticed) I believe it's 52mm but I have heard people say its an odd size 52.1mm or something.

Wow! Great work Michael! Such a good video, you really captured the essence of Thailand. I feel like I recognise some of the places, where did you go?

the guy that sold me it said it was as good as an iscorama if not china better

said it was an all new design not like the regular old one a special one he said :  )

Haha, absolutely!

 

Can't wait to see what she looks like when she comes out the lab! Are you going to put stripes on it? You should definitely put a graphic on that reads:

Isco

Iscorama

Moller

Kowa

Sankor

Singor

Make $$$$ Professional lens

What happened to my Otpex? Did you kill it?

I'm thinking about buying one of those brand new Arri master anamorphics and have it converted to Nikon mount. I have some cash left from the grocery store.

Oh no, wait a second...

Haha, It makes me feel better to know I'm not the only one who suffers from this affliction.

Thanks Rudolf.

PS I haven't seen the commercial in question but it can not be more annoying than the latest Star Trek !

Haha, Yes the Star Trek one is pretty out of hand. It appears a movie isnt sci-fi now without a ridiculious about of anamorphic lens flares.

Hi,

 

I was just sitting here, eating my mince pie and drinking my tea when, I had what alcoholics refer to as "a moment of clarity". It was sparked by an advert on the TV for Lambrini, which is truly the worst thing I have ever seen. (For those who don't know what Lambrini is, it's a cheap wine mainly consumed by women on hen nights) (If you don't know what a hen night it, its a bunch of hysterical women drinking too much and behaving like promiscuous idiots, under the guise that their friend from work, who they don't even like is getting married)

This advert like so many others has jumped on the anamorphic band wagon. Which is not a bad thing in itself, they have just done so in the most horrible way possible. Probably shot on spherical with some tacky flares, but that's not the point and I digress.

 

I love anamorphic as much as the next man, but it seems the world has gone mad.

I know the topic of price has been a hot one on this forum so I will choose my words carefully. After all who the hell am I to tell another man what to sell his lens for.

 

With the introduction of the new anamorphic adapters, love them or hate them, they have brought about interesting eBay auctions with low start prices. Perhaps it was inevitable as people clamber to raise cash to follow in Andrews footsteps as one of the first adopters of the SLR Magic. :rolleyes:  Interestingly I have seen Kowa 8Z's go for around £250, that's a great buy for whoever bought it. Lots of lenses for sale = cheap prices for all.

Here comes my point, these auctions give us an indication of what these lenses are actually worth at this present moment in time. I'll pause there..... Don't get angry, keep reading.

After all you can put your scope lens on eBay for £1200, cross your arms and stubbornly claim that's what its worth, that's your business, I'm not knocking anyone for doing that. You won't sell it. But again, that is your prerogative.

There are people selling lenses on eBay who have no idea of what they are actually selling, let alone if it works or not. But alas it has some bent glass on the front so they slap it on eBay with a description reading "Anamorphic lens" and they convince themselves it's "worth" £1000.

There have been lenses for sale on eBay for as long as I have been looking, that have never sold. Why? Simple, no one wants to pay the price they are asking. Basic economics. So is that what they are really worth? The simple answer is...........(say it in your best Chris Rock voice) "Naaaat Really". There is a big difference between something being rare and valuable and something being a piece of old tat. I suppose people will realize that eventually.

 

There have been arguments on this forum about inflated Iscorama prices. "They're not worth this, They're not worth that". What I would say is; they are worth what people are willing to pay for them. That's it. Personally I don't have $4500 to spend, but if I did, I would have been really tempted by "Macgregor's" 2004 Leica delight. What a lens, what pedigree, what a luxury. Someone said "worth every penny", yes quite possibly. The photos he posted were truly breathtaking. Thoughts start to run through your head, "if I had that lens I could capture images like that!" Hmmmm maybe, but there's a lot more at play here than just a nice piece of bent glass. Location, lighting, talent! I have seen images captured on Iscoramas that were very ordinary, I have seen images captured on a £300 Samyang that were truly beautiful.

Look at what happened in this thread started by robtilbury Guess the camera and morph lens!

This is a strange example. We all thought the video was shot spherical. We agreed it was a great looking piece with really nice shots, I personally really liked it, but there wasn't any anamorphic "character". Turns out it was shot on an Iscorama, the holy grail of anamorphic. I know a lot of this was down to wide lenses and stopping down to f8 but still we called an Iscorama spherical.

 

So back to my "moment of clarity". For me my frustrating journey of looking for a bargain lens has come to an end. What I have found is, there are no bargains, if it seems like a bargain it's a scam. If it's worth anything, someone will have bashed its name into eBay using their ham fists and come back with a ridiculous price from another listing, which they will demand until they turn blue in the face.

 

I could save like mad, spend £3000-6000 on a lens, cross my fingers and hope that it works. My girlfriend would leave me and I would have to eat baked beans for a year, but I could do it. Then I would have something truly amazing to shoot photos of my cat with. (no offense to those who shoot pictures of their cat, I do it all the time)

Or.... and here is where it gets interesting, I could use that money to travel the world, see things, beautiful things. I could buy grip and lighting, I could finance (all be it very cheaply) a short film, I could photograph it all on a £300 boring lens, it doesn't matter. I could hone my skills, learn my trade. I have become bogged down in lenses and kit over the past few years. No more. If you have an Iscorama, or a Lomo roundfront, that's great. Shoot with it, do great things with it, share them.

 

I think the early adopters of the DSLR anamorphic resurgence did so to add something different to their work. Just like we are all trying to do. They hunted for bargains and forged a new path. Is that still the case, is anamorphic still as "different" as it once was? Has that Lambrini advert killed it? I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. Are the new anamorphic lenses that are coming out turd, who knows.

All I know is, I will no longer be obsessed with finding the perfect lens, for me it doesn't exist.

I'm going to buy a spherical Samyang, put tape across the top and bottom of the screen and wonder the Earth like Ryu at the end of Street Fighter II (If you're 18 and don't know what Street Fighter II is, it was an arcade game in the early 90's) (If you're 15 and don't know what an arcade game is, you haven't lived)

 

Congratulations if you made it to the end and thanks for reading. :)

Hi hidalgoserra,
Amazing video. Very weird, very French, thanks for sharing All pure speculation, but I would agree and say probably Red Epic, although the slightly washed out colours are indicative of the Arri Alexa. Lens wise, very hard to say. Except that they seem to be quite wide and incredibly sharp, maybe Master Primes.
I would say there are a mixture of techniques going on here. Lots of cleaver compositing, again I agree probably something high-end like Flame.
The cloned soldier shot is interesting, makes me think they may have used something like a Milo motion control unit to shoot the exact same shot over and over again. Either that or they are 3D models composited into the shot. Not sure how you would achieve it otherwise. (Unless they cloned actual humans)

Yes I also think it looks spherical, I wanted to see if anyone fell into the trap but it seems everyone is too smart for that.

Hey Rob,
Great video, lovely images.
I love your idea, I think it will really make people think about the importance of gear vs good technique, location etc.
it's difficult, as the quality looks great. My guess would be a small sensor camera like the GH2. I am ruling out the 5d's, only because of the lack of shallow DOF, but I could be wrong.
Lens wise, it looks beautiful and I have an idea of what it is but I want to hold back and hear other people's thoughts first.

Chris.