Cosimo murgolo

I prefer the 1.4x version.  Thoughts?

Having just seen "Selma" (Alexa and Hawk V anamorphic), I'm extremely pleased with the FM, Hypergonar, Russian M42 glass and A7s combo is immensely filmic. Organic glass and great sensor response. Character and color science trumps resolution, IMO. 

That's my 20 seconds video for the FM video contest
 

IMO there is a fine line between character and resolution.  4k is simply a marketing term.  Pushed by the technology companies.  We don;t need it and never will need it, but the customer (who pays for our work) will often be susceptible to marketing terms and switch off if something is not 'up to date'.  
Classic case...  Music.  Modern music sucks yet youngsters donlt realise because its all they know.  same with movies.  modern movies suck compared to 1980's hollywood.  
 
But on topic, I think if a anamorphic system will deliver 720p with beautiful character, I'll take that over a boring lens that delivers 4k, 6k or any other number that non creative people like to hide behind rather than make art.
 
 

Rudolf, thank you very much for the comment!
I know it's harsh, and this was one of the few pieces of the whole article I considered taking out, but well, if I did, I wouldn't have learned this just now! I don't remember where I got that from, still! hahaha. Thank you very much for this, do you have any link, video, magazine, whatever, where I can go more in depth on the subject? I'll be more than happy to fix that.
Regarding the achromats, I didn't know they existed until a couple weeks back, when some popped on ebay and I was able to grab one. HAHAHA. Had NEVER heard of them before - and I spent quite some time looking for both things before writing the paper (Iscoramas and achromats).
The only reason I was able to afford the gear was buying weird lenses and reselling them on the brazilian market. The profit from that eventually was enough to match a unique opportunity to grab the Foton-A. The other LOMO was just blind luck, no other explanation. Paid $800 for it! One thing I took from the process was: the more fucked up the lens, the more you'll learn by trying to fix it up (true for the Foton and Iscorama).
One more thanks for your comment, and I hope you enjoy the episodes!

Hi Tito, I just watched Zona S. SP. and I am very impressed! Great job. Really, realy well done. I have to say you definitely are the right man to own those fine lenses as it is much better to make good films than boring flaretests and so on 
Unfortunately I cannot provide you with any good resources regarding the Iscorama stuff. I know some filmmakers who have decades of experience with Iscos. One in particular knows some engineers from Isco and had a quite close relationship I think. He owns all the good stuff...
Keep up the great work! Hope you have a nice time in Vancouver (heard it is a great city)
 

I had the Optex a couple of years ago and I recall it has to be stopped down to get sharp like all focus through adapters. Unfortunately it will still not become that sharp even at f5.6. But as GH4 is so sharp this is not so bad maybe? The Tamron diopter is quite good. Nearly as good as the 0.5 Tokina.

@nahua and @Cosimo, if the idea is downscaling, then I'd rather have a superb 1080p camera than shooting 4k. I'm currently attending a 3D/VFX course and the thing they tell us the most is "no one but you and your family is gonna take time to watch this even in full HD. 720p is more than enough". I can't agree more. I mean, a shortfilm should look superb in HD. The resolution doesn't matter so much after a certain point. Also, our eyes have physical limits for resolution depending a lot on the size of the screen and the distance from it. If you're more than 2m away from a HUGE screen, you're missing the 4k fine detail ANYWAY. (reference: http://carltonbale.com/does-4k-resolution-matter/)
I love raw, I love the intricate process of it, and I agree not everyone would shoot like this (heck, most of my time I'm still shooting h264). 4K is something that should be used when you're ABSOLUTELY sure that your product (ad, short, feature, whatever) is gonna be played on a huge movie screen at festivals or something (and that isn't even near as common as people wish it was). Then, I agree, 4k is cool, but not even Hugo (2011) was shot 4k, no one cared, and it still won the oscar for best cinematography, so...
I agree 4k is a good testing procedure to see how much can a lens resolve, and 4k tests should be standard, yadda yadda.

@Tito You would rethink 4K if you could shoot 4:3 or 3:2 like I'm doing with my GH4.  And you can always downscale 4K to 1080P if you want.  So much less hassle than ML RAW.  File sizes are so much smaller and I can do real time previews too.  If it wasn't for that, I'd agree with you.

Thanks! I was midway through a brief post on my blog regarding the exact subject of this thread.
a LOT has come out since Andrew's guide and some more (bringing great changes) has came out after I wrote my essay. I wanted to cover SLR Magic's anamorphot, FM lens, that little moondog labs thing for iphone, the new cinemorph that works in the back of the sigma 18-35, john's rectilux, and maybe move on to reviewing more expensive ones (hawks, anyone?) for real if I have the chance now that I'm not anymore in Brazil. hahaha.
I'm gonna need a better camera to test this resolving power stuff, though. hahaha.
I don't like 4k - I feel like it's being pushed down on the users, but it's not such a great deal - , but that's something for a whole different talk. hahaha

I also think the guide should be redone.  Maybe a combination of Andrew's and Tito's guide.  Both are excellent!
The 2x or 1.8x look will always be the preferred anamorphic format.  I think the new options are very welcome and open a lot of doors for everyone.  Unfortunately at this point you have to buy and experiment yourself to find the right options.

Hi, all!
I personally would like to have a space to discuss new developments in anamorphic lenses, how they compare to tried-and-true options, and perhaps even where things may be headed in the not too distant future. 
 
My copy of Andrew's Anamorphic guide is, I think, up to date, and yet it simply doesn't touch on some of the newer stuff that's come out. (Andrew, if you're reading this, get your hands on an FM Module, and a Rectilux, and push SLR Magic for some info on their 2X Ana.)
 
The FM Module seems promising: works well with Schneiders, but the Schneiders themselves have some distortion problems . . . may yet work even better with other projection anas.
 
The Rectilux looks to be more or less the same kind of optical solution as the FM Module, albeit bespoke, and I suspect higher quality too (though at the moment mostly vaporware). 
 
Andrew wrote one article on a 2X from SLR Magic, and I have not heard anything since. And honestly, I wasn't impressed with their 1.3X (nor were others. They seemed to be quickly resold by early adopters, same with the VanDemien ISCO. There are several on the 'bay already.)
 
So what do people think? There are of course the old faithfuls: Iscoramas, LOMOs, and a smattering of vintage single-focus options. How does it all stack up? 
 
I'll start things off by saying that I'm cautiously optimistic about the future of 2X Anamorphics

I just tried the UV filter in the 50mm super takumar prime lens and mi cinelux 1 with FM is MUCH BETER AND BIGGER flares, thank you Hans for the advise.

Win FM Lens!
When?
From today till 1st of March 2015
HOW?
Submitting any anamorphic video footage link (20sec. max.) to: 
fmcompetition@anamorphicshop.com
All video material of all entrants will be presented on FB ‘anamorphic shop’ for your independent vote.
www.facebook.com/pages/Anamorphic-Shop/774607322559772
WHO WILL WIN?
The contestant who will have a leading number of ‘Likes’. Winner will receive a second edition fm lens.
Lets get creative!
 

   

As a full frame owner - 5d3 - I'm way happier with anamorphics than I was with standard spherical. I also took time (and money) to get Iscoramas, and 50mm taking lens plus 1.5x stretch is wide enough for almost everything I ever needed, covering the whole sensor and getting 2.66:1 aspect ratio.
MagicLantern also allows us to shoot 4:3 raw, using the sensor's full height and get the best out of 2x anamorphics,
My goal is not to have the best lenses available, but achieve the best balance between cost and picture quality. Some day, if I win the lottery, I'll go after LOMO roundfronts. hahaha

Those are mine when I used to be a musician, I did it long time ago, never went anywhere though

this 6 years ago:

and another

 

 
 

Hello Izhar, that is a wonderful video. I really like it very much. Great with your music - kudos!!! The image of the GH4 is great. I often read it is not 'cinematic' (whatever this means?) but a lot of your shot look like film (depends on the stock though - maybe old Revue/Agfa). GREAT! I will definately upgrade from my GH3. You are a strong man... carrying around the Rectimascope-monster. I did not know it would work that good. I use one for projection which works great though. Thanks for making my decision against NX1 for GH4 easy

The storm hit Tel Aviv on the weekend. The tension was high.
Shot with Panasonic GH4, 4K photo mode (3:2), Rectimascop 48/2X anamorphic lens, Helios 44-2 taking lens.
Music by me.
Edited with FCPX, graded with FilmConvert.
 

Thank you very much for your effort. Very intresting read and enjoyed it a lot.
I tried to write a comment and some additions but that did not work for some reason. Second try: Maybe Ernst Abbe deserves a mention as founder of the patented anamorphic lenssystem. (He also invented the triplet later called "Cooke triplet") Therefor it is maybe a little bit harsh to say Isco have stolen a russian formular. Isco Göttingen were already in the anamorphic business since the late 1950's. Isco Göttingens concept with the Iscorrama being able to split depends on the fact that the anamorphot has to be used for projetction (was not a discovery by users). Therefore the Iscostat was used (available for all sizes). The Iscorama 36, 42, 54 were targeted at the Super-8 enthusiast. They had also cooperations with Bauer and Beaulieu resulting in the Cingegon (taking lens was a Schneider Kreuznach Macro Cinegon 10mm 1.8). Isco Göttingen put a big effort to make their lenses popular: In 1979 they offered a journey to Israel accompanied by anamorphic experts and lending out Iscoramas to the interested film enthusiast. Unfortunately all this did not prevent Isco from breakup.
Maybe the Isco's achromatic diopters especially built for the Iscoramas are worth mentioning too ?
Again thank you very much for your work!!! Very inspiring. I wish I could afford more stuff like Lomos and 5D III (I am still on GH3 and mostly Super 8)
Tonight I am looking forward to wathch Zona S. SP.

Got the final chapters done, but can't edit the main post! Are we gonna be able to edit stuff again, or is this a permanent change?
c ) WORKFLOWhttp://www.tferradans.com/blog/?p=7370 CONCLUSIONhttp://www.tferradans.com/blog/?p=7371BIBLIOGRAPHYhttp://www.tferradans.com/blog/?p=7372 *weirdly enough, I was able to edit THIS post...

Great fotos and stills! Although I am the worst photographer on the forum (internet?) I dare to post some images
Canon FDn 50mm (plus cheapbooster) and mighty-little-8mm Moeller

Canon FDn 28mm and 1968 Exakta Iscorama

Schneider Kreuznach Optivaron and  late 70's Iscorama 54 (obvisously not MC)

try

FM Lens + Cinelux ES + Olympus OM 85MM @ f.2

Canon 5D3 + Iscorama pre-36 VD + Helios 44-2 at f/4

Canon 5D3 + Kowa B&H + Jupiter 9 at f/2

Focus Module with Isco Animex s8/2x, olympus OM 100mm @ f4