Zmu2

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!

Here is a movie done with the SLR Magic Anamorphot 50, a 1.33X anamorphic lens.
All the details are subtitled in the movie, here are the material :
SLR Magic Anamorphot 50, 1.33X anamorphic lens
1-On Sony A7 with Konica Hexanon 40mm f1.8 pancake lens
2-On Olympus OM-D E-M5 with Nikon E Serie 50mm f1.8 pancake lens and Lumix 20mm pancake lens
Some of the shots done with the focal reducer TurboLens, a cheaper version of the SpeedBooster
Some of the shot done with SLR Magic achromatic diopters (0.33X and 1.3X) and Tokina 0.5X diopter
ND variable filter
No color correction
 

nice choice of squeeze ratio IMO.  If anything i think anamorphics should have lots of breathing. - something i wish the 'Rama had!  

for the OP.... :D
"People Attach More Value to Items that they Own
# Group 1: shown an assortment of random, trinket objects: rubber bands, paper clips, beer cozy, post-it notes, etc. They were asked to value each objectall were roughly valued the same. # Group 2: shown the same objects, but were told that they could keep the beer cozy after the experiment. The value of the cozy doubled for these respondents.

What I don't say is just as important as what I do.... aaaaaahhh  :ph34r:  

A lot has been questioned about this subject since it first showed up in >a> couple pictures uploaded to Redstan's flickr, or (four days later) in Andrew's first post about them, in late July, 2011. Almost three years have passed and still we don't have enough objective reviews and facts about this mod. I'm gonna try to achieve this goal here. I'm starting with a bit of history (which involves some guessing), but feel free to skip it. :)

At first, it seemed that Alan (Redstan) was the one responsible for the whole thing, but now I believe he was the one who presented the the job to Van Diemen, and made a whole bunch of them at a huge cost and time. I don't think he sold any of these from the first batch, since we never heard of anyone reselling them, or using anything like that, but I might be wrong (Tony, feel free to chime in and correct me if this is wrong information). Then, time passed and a year and a half later comes Andrew Wonder, who was also featured on another EOSHD post involving a tuned iscorama, he called his "Wonderscope" and explained how he linked the pictures to Christopher Smith's machining job at Van Diemen.
 
I come to believe it was only after this "indirect" advertising and lots of emails and questions from anamorphic shooters over the world that Van Diemen realised this "thing" could be a regular service they were the only ones able to provide. Partly thanks to Tony's many inputs on the original design and partly thanks to the sudden interest in the subject. If I'm not mistaken, early 2013 was the moment when other shooters from this forum started sending their lenses over, and we had all the fuss regarding HUGE delays in delivery and processing orders. People had their lenses trapped there for over six months, etc. Just search the forum for "Van Diemen" and some of these will be listed, followed by multiple users asking various questions about the mod. Mainly "is it worthy?", which is a VERY subjective question.
 
I've sent my pre-36 Iscorama lens from Brazil in early December, 2013, after extensive emails with Christopher, at Van Diemen. My main concern was the time it would take to complete the job. He assured me I would have the lens back in 90 days. Recently, other forum members have reported they're >speeding the process to only a week, which is amazing (of course, this doesn't take into account the time spent during shipping).
 
The mod is listed on Van Diemen's website, and costs £850.00 + shipping (and another £95.00 if you want special engraving). That rounds to about US$1500, which, we all should agree, is a big amount of cash. It's important to remember that not all Iscoramas are eligible for the conversion as well. Tony has pointed out that the inner workings of the anamorphot are kept intact, so if you have defective glass or bad internal mechanisms, these will be passed onto the mod. Christopher confirmed this by informing that all lenses are verified once arriving at VD's, and every single defect is reported back to the owner, as you're asked if you want to proceed with the conversion (mine has some faint markings on the rear glass). 
 
Now, what does the mod do, EXACTLY?
 
The original Iscorama 36 weighs about 400g, has a fully plastic housing (which is pretty fragile) and focuses down to 2m without diopters (or >closer, through a hardcore mod). Rear thread is 49mm and you need some spacers to avoid hitting its rear glass onto the taking lens' front glass. Goes as wide as 50mm on a full-frame sensor and has a simple button feature for alignment. Focus throw is long (around 8mm), and if you modded yours for close focus, you need special attention so you don't drop the front element to the ground.
 
The VD conversion weighs 680g (220g lighter than an Iscorama 54, and still much smaller than the 54 beast), because the housing is solid metal. Also, it has standard 0.8 pitch focus gears. At some point during assembly, Christopher sends you an email, confirming if focus engravings should be in feet or meters, and it focuses down to 1.1m (or 3' 7") without diopters (it's twists a little over 360 degrees, and that impresses me every time I do it), even though the closest focus engraving is 1.2m (the 1.1m mark would overlap with the infinity mark). Focus throw is 1cm long, beating the close focus mod and making your life really hard if you want a follow focus that is able to spin from infinity focus down to 1.1m.
 
Rear threads are 58mm, and it does increase vignetting a little. It shows very slight vignetting on a Helios 44 (58mm) if stopped down, on a full-frame sensor. Aligning is still very simple, much like 1.33x lenses, where you have a rotating part with a small screw that locks the lens into position. Mine had the alignment buttons in really bad shape, so this new housing made aligning really simple, and I don't have to worry about breaking the lens apart in the process. They're also kind enough to include front and rear lens caps for safer transport.
 
I also read - after my conversion was done - that Van Diemen redesigned the rear (clamp-like) part of the housing to avoid this extra vignetting. I couldn't find the link pointing to where I read that. If someone knows what I'm talking about, please comment below and I'll update the post! Also, if you want to improve it even more, you can follow >jaquet's tips and stuck it into a lens support so you don't even need to align it ever again.
 
There's a recurring comparison between VD and a 54, and they are, indeed, different lenses. First of all, VD isn't necessarily multicoated, like all 54's, it's still a "medium" lens (not as small as the original 36 nor as big as the 54), but it doesn't draw so much attention, so you still have the stealth factor. Front thread is 72mm, which is a blessing for finding and using diopters, quite the opposite of the 95mm filter threads on the Isco 54. Please consider that I've owned (and used) an Isco 54 for over a year, so these aspects aren't guesses at all.
 
The full metal body is very nice too, since many Iscoramas have had rough times since they left Isco's factory, 30-40 years ago. Mine had its filter thread broken to smaller chunks of plastic and was held together by an empty UV ring. This, added to the almost-stuck alignment mechanism, and close-focus mod made sure that I could not EVER rent the lens as it was. Damn, it's a $4000 lens, it would be nice to make some money out of it, right? VD's conversion lets you rest assured that your Iscorama will work like any regular professional lens should work: without any special information required (specially regarding quirks).
 
Also, some other useful information not entirely related to the conversion: You should check in your country's customs office if there's a special form or procedure for items that are being sent out for servicing abroad and will return later. This will avoid paying extra taxes over the conversion costs. I know Brazil offers this option, and it's particularly useful, since I would pay a 60% tax over the declared value + shipping cost if it wasn't through this method. Plus Christopher is a really nice guy, who replies all messages and addresses every question you might have about the service. A good seller makes a hell of a difference for me.

Yeah, it looks to be a dynamite little camera and it or the MFT BMCC are my first choice for upgrades for my GH2, even before Metabones introduced the BMD specific SpeedBooster models.  
 
Our last feature was very low budget and I just remember every dollar counting.  Small luxuries made a major impact and if I'd spent the money in the beginning to get me a new camera it would have been felt elsewhere.  We would have been without something, I don't know what, but it wouldn't have just been absorbed.   A few months out before the actual budget was put together that would have been different, and then the new camera would have been included in the list of "existing assets".

There's always the risk of feeling buyer's remorse with technology but, realistically, your film won't be any better or worse off no matter the decision you make.  4K isn't something most folks should be concerned about.  It's no guarantee of a better looking film if it was projected in a theater and if it's not being projected in a theater it's pretty much a waste of money and resources and effort that could be used elsewhere.  
 
Most theatrical films are still finished 2K (regardless of origination) unless a director has the juice to force production to pony up for a 4K finish.  You would think that for $100+ million dollar blockbusters this would just be a given, since they're already spending a mint but that isn't the case.  It's still quite rare.  Not as rare as even a year ago but it's not standard practice to finish 4K.
 
Making your own feature, either putting up your own money or getting some from investors, you should save yourself the headache.  Spend the money that might be needed for extra storage or an upgrade to your editorial on something like catering, being able to bump your key talent's per diem a bit or the wrap party (or wrap gifts...I didn't understand the importance of these my first indie).
 
And make sure you even really need to upgrade your camera, considering it's an asset you already own.  $1500 goes a long way on an independent feature.  I admit I never thought much about the T2i but that was before seeing Kendy's stuff...
 

 

 
 
...I'm a GH2 guy and know it's technically a better camera but operator talent (along with the quality of the content) can render technical jibber jabber and megabits rather meaningless.

"The newest addition to the Letus AnamorphX family: the 1.8x"
 

Still can't beat the Nikon 1 v1 shooting 4k for only....$250! (yes, it's limited to one second but so much fun)
 

 
I still use mine to this day and I actually just licensed this video ^ to Samsung to use for their 4k displays.  Best $250 I ever spent!

Got mine today. Will be working on a review on the next days. It's pretty impressive! :P

Hello everyone,
 
These are just some random snaps cut together using the DSO Trump FF58 with a 1.5X oval aperture inside, combined with the iscorama 1.5X anamorhic.  Simulating the bokeh of a 2X anamorphic..
 
 
Anyways I thought some of the shots looked pretty good an wanted to share. Pretty cool being able to shoot this on a D800 and not go to wide like 3.25:1
 
Password is buds
 

Baby Isco, but the quality is no where near up to scratch compared to its bigger siblings. If you can live without dual focus (I certainly can) then the best quality small adapter is the Bolex Moller 8/19/1.5x, simply incredible images.

This is my fifth attempt to find an affordable stabilization solution for the BMPCC, particularly for the heavy setup with Speedbooster and Sigma 18-35. It works perfectly, and the only two things that are missing are
1. Pistol grip to be clicked underneath the cage with a quick release plate and
2. Lanc-controller with button on top of the grip for START/STOP.

 
It consists of an old, self-built shoulder pad with counterweight (aluminum rack, ~$ 5,- , bent in a vice and padded with foam rubber, ~ $ 2,-), a micro goose neck with 3/8" connections, ~ $ 7,- , filled with a steel rod, ~ $1,-) and a ball head (~$ 30,-).
 
The ball head allows for fast height- and angle-adjustments. I found this to be the most crucial aspect of all shoulder supports. You both stress your neck with only half an inch of unergonomic proportions and run the risk of unintentionally rotating your frame. Not with this ball head.
 
If you loosen the ball, you can screw it on or off the cage within 10 seconds. 

 
The counterweight could be substituted with a battery pack, and the rod that helds the goose neck stiff could also be a steel tube (well, perhaps, it could turn out to be too weak then) to hide the cable.
 
The shoulder pad doesn't look particularly elegant, I'm sure you can do better. 

You get a more robust lens but you loose a bit of flexibility – because of it`s design (as mentioned before).
It becomes a real "fat lady" after the mod. And with the close focus mod done you'll need a FF with a faster gear ratio (2:1 like the Arri Cine FF). And this FF isn't a lightweight at all!!
 
 
When I got my ISCO back from VD, I decided to mod the mod.
 
A friend of mine – "SFX Lange" based in Hamburg – did the following:
 
- we made it noticeable lighter (the mount is the heavy part of it)
- we've added a solid lens support (Vocas) 
- we attached a torque motor on the lens support (redrock micro remote)
 
The ISCO is held by the lens support and is just "pushed" in front of the lens (not screwed!)
Now I can change the taking lens within seconds, without a recalibration of the ISCO is necessary.
 
Have fun!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Here's my first compilation of test footage with the SLR Magic Anamorphot.  Even before the lens arrived I knew this would be an upgrade in both performance and functionality coming from the Century Optics 16:9 adapter I'd been using for over a year now but I was anxious to see just how much.    My favorite lens pairing on the Century Optics was my Nikkor 24mm f/2 which, on the GH2, became pleasantly wide instead of feeling more like a normal focal length.  Some folks hate the distortion you get from non-rectilinear lenses once you start getting this short but I love it.  It's a subtle curve that doesn't feel fisheye at all and the anamorphic glass + scope framing just accentuates this quality.  Paired with the GH2 both adapters can go a bit wider, to about 18mm-20mm depending on the lens design, but this Nikkor is the widest prime I currently own.   On the Century Optics if I needed infinity focus I also got soft, chromatic edges regardless of stop with the Nikkor.  This isn't always an unattractive quality and more than once I've read reputable DPs giggle over their choice to shoot on some vintage set of anamorphics *because of* their soft, soft-edged, chromatic character.  One man's lens with character is another man's junk lens.  Anyway, if I didn't need infinity focus then slapping on my Tokina +.4 achromat provided good, sharpenened up footage mostly free of chromatic effects.  The SLR Magic Anamorphot, on the other hand, doesn't need any extra help.  It's sharper at f/2.8 on my Nikkor 24mm than the Century Optics at this stop with or without the Tokina doublet, doesn't go soft at the edges and doesn't go all chromatic either.   Where I really felt the limits of the Century Optics adapter was anything above 24mm.  For straight 16:9 shooting I loved the look of my F.Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 even though it's a bit soft and exhibits coma wide open because most of its faults are hidden from the GH2.  To get soft but still *maybe* useful footage with the 50mm on the Century Optics I'd have to be at f/4 though I really needed to be more like f/5.6 which is decidedly not "bokehlicious".   Stacking diopters let me open it up but with a serious restriction on range.  With the SLR Magic Anamorphot I could happily shoot at f/2.8 on the 50mm thanks to its close-focus system which behaves like a built-in variable diopter.     Speaking of, SLR Magic decided to also produce a new line of high quality achromats as a set (+1.3 and +.33).  Where diopters are an absolute necessity with the Century Optics and LA 7200 adapters they're totally optional on the SLR Magic Anamorphot.  They become more of an aesthetic choice for further enhancing bokeh in close-up photography, enhancing its stretched quality.   SLR Magic rates the Anamorphot as sharp on lenses in the range I shot at as wide as f/2.8 though YMMV depending on the complexity of the lens design.  Some lenses have been shown to perform even better than the ratings provided by SLR Magic.  For the sake of this test footage I kept generally to the f/2.8 - f/4 range, which I anticipate will be my preferred spread of stops for shooting with the lens though for anything serious this will require a 1st AC to pull focus.  A few daylight exteriors are likely shot at f/5.6 but I only went further stopped down, to f/8, on one comparison shot against the Century Optics adapter.