Bold

This video cites several films which switch (or otherwise play with) aspect ratios.

remove from the metal housing and wrap the element in masking tape
draw a line down the middle
drill lots of holes along the line using a glass/ceramic drill bit - like an arrow head shaped drill bit - make sure the elements are in a shallow pool of water to aid cooling/lubrication during drilling.  don;t apply pressure - let the drill do the work.  high speed, use a battery powered drill for safety - 230volts and water don't go!
using a tile cutting fret saw slowly cut along the line - the drilled holes will mean you have less material to physically cut through
using very high quality 'wet and dry' glass paper from 240 grit down to around 1000grit to grind the edge flat.  the courser the paper, the more likely you are of chipping the edge so go steady when using he course grades.  grind 'edge ways' not 'across' to avoid chipping
once flat, apply a very fine chamfer to the cut edge using 1000 grit wet so remove any tiny chips.
thin down some enamel matte black paint and apply to the ground edge - thinning will mean the paint natirally absorbs into the frosted ground edge
dry in oven for an hour at 90degrees

 
since the cheaper single element diopters from vivitar are crown glass they are less prone to chipping  start on the diopter you;re less likely to actually use so you can practice.
 
DO NOT attempt this with cemented doublets!  you'll think you;re doing really well, then when that drill bit gets through the first layer and hits the second it'll shatter.

OLIVIA Scope was originally going to be a straight clone of an iscorama, just scaled up.  It soon became clear that in order to make something really groundbreaking we had to start out with a blank canvas.  Though OLIVIA Scope is operated in the same way as an Iscorama, because of the wide fov capability a racking adjustable diopter type 'untactful isco copy' focus mechanism would need a ridiculously over-engineered helical to provide shift of a big diopter element.      

 

This ^
I imagine it's largely a matter of financials: can someone (with the means and machines) create an Isco clone at a price that is both competItive and turns a profit.  My guess would be no, otherwise someone would have jumped on this by now.  Doesn't mean it couldn't happen in the future though...

http://www.richardgaleoptics.uk/olivia-scope-15x/
Might have taken one apart & thought it might be easier to just make one?

My guess is that Rich is doing exactly this

Bold, I applaud your efforts, the mod is looking good.
Regarding the infinity focus issue, I believe it is a flaw of the B&H itself. It simply cannot focus to true infinity.
I was also wondering if you've saved the design for the 3D printed parts and could share it. Maybe I can find some workshop where I can do it in my country and try your mod as well.
BTW, I see that redstan is selling his original clamp on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/finest-anamorphic-lens-clamp-kowa-isco-sankor-and-more-by-redstan-/331812493831?hash=item4d4190da07:g:0NUAAOSwQYZWzlcS
This clamp is a perfect snug fit for the B&H with the silver ring attached (I have it).
Cheers!

My initial test was disappointing.  The mod seems to suffer the same issue QuickHitRecord mentions near the bottom of the first post in this thread, where it can't quite seem to get to infinity.  The taking lens is a Helios 44 (not 44-2) that focuses to infinity just fine on its own and is flat up against the back of the B&H.  The front element of the mod  is sitting in the helicoid nearly touching the front glass of the anamorphic.
John Barlow mentions a negative achromat further down in the same thread as a solution.  Anyone know of this and how to acquire one?
Richg101 (or any other B&H modders out there) do you have any other thoughts/suggestions?  I'm hesitant to shorten the distance between the front glass and anamorphic any further because I'm worried about the glass touching each other.
On a positive note, the long helicoid allows me to focus down to about a foot (maybe less!) on my Helios without noticeable vignetting.  Some mighty focus breathing, though. I'm very close to finishing this mod and would hate to think all my effort has been for naught.  Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated!
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My initial test was disappointing.  The mod seems to suffer the same issue QuickHitRecord mentions near the bottom of the first post in this thread, where it can't quite seem to get to infinity.  The taking lens is a Helios 44 (not 44-2) that focuses to infinity just fine on its own and is flat up against the back of the B&H.  The front element of the mod  is sitting in the helicoid nearly touching the front glass of the anamorphic.
John Barlow mentions a negative achromat further down in the same thread as a solution.  Anyone know of this and how to acquire one?
Richg101 (or any other B&H modders out there) do you have any other thoughts/suggestions?  I'm hesitant to shorten the distance between the front glass and anamorphic any further because I'm worried about the glass touching each other.
On a positive note, the long helicoid allows me to focus down to about a foot (maybe less!) on my Helios without noticeable vignetting.  Some mighty focus breathing, though. I'm very close to finishing this mod and would hate to think all my effort has been for naught.  Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated!
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Finally, a progress update.

A combination of polyurethane casting and 3D printing to mate the B&H anamorphic with the helicoid.

A couple 3D printed brackets to hold the front glass element in the M58 Helicoid.

Plus some invaluable help from a friend (with a workshop) for marrying the finderscope bracket with the 15mm rail system.  The helicoid pictured is 25mm-55mm, in hopes the longer travel distance will allow closer focus. I have a 17-31mm helicoid as a backup in case vignetting on the longer helicoid is too much.

This has been an agonizing process full of mis-steps.  Fortunately, no anamorphics were harmed in the making of this prototype.  Although two helicoids did not make it (RIP).  But I'm only a few days away from testing.  Everything fits snugly so I'm crossing my fingers that the test footage will be worth the absurd amount of time I've put into this.  I hope to have good news soon.

I ended up purchasing lucabutera's lens and I love it.  It works great with my Samsung NX1 and 50-150 S lens.

Currently, I'm using the RJ Focal Reducer 0.72x, Helios 44-2 MMZ and Helios 44m, and Bolex Moller 8/19. I'm considering trying some EF taking lenses, so if any of you in here have any good recommendations for some nice EF lenses to go along with my Baby Moller, I'd appreciate it. 

Here's a recent video I just shot with this setup. GH4 + RJ Focal Reducer + Helios 44-2 MMZ + Baby Moller. 
 
 

Nice work, Bioskop.  Love that opening timelapse!

test shot with Lomo Foton-A 37-140mm and Canon 50D.
test shot with Iscoramas (pre36 and 54) and Canon 5D3.
I have plenty of test videos with various lenses on my channel, but most of them are like you described (I always try to get people on all my shots), but shooting narrative is hard and expensive and requires much more preparation than a plain test. If you're shooting narrative, you're not testing, because it would be stupid not to bulletproof the workflow before heading down a narrative path with other people involved beyond the cinematographer (aka: me). That being said, I recently shot a 1.33x anamorphic shootout that I'm editing which is somewhat narrative (there's a very basic plot to it) and it should be up in a few weeks.

Exactly what Tito said about the fact that you can't spend loads of time & money on tests. Here's some of my stuff:
This was a test of a cheap anamorphic lens I bought in a drunken ebay bidding moment a few years ago at Christmas time (Canon 60D + Iscomorphot S8/x2:
 
This is Short film I shot for a friend, using the same set up (60D + Iscomorphot S8/x2):
And this is a short sequence for another Short Film, which I didn't like at the time, but have now gone back to the footage and am editing up for a quasi fake Documentary (60D + Iscomorphot S8/x2 - aspect ratio/squeeze is wrong on this one)):
 

Sandro, I took a few hours to work mine out. Javascript and wordpress plugins. If you wanna check it out:
http://www.tferradans.com/blog/?p=8615

Sorry Ken, but I have to disagree with you. I've had 4 or 5 of these small Century adapters, and I still like them a lot. It's gonna be tough selling the last one. The best thing about them is they're small and light. I have tests to prove it can achieve decent IQ even on full frame, which is tougher than smaller sensors. (start at 4m13s)
But I still have the WS-13, which is considerably better. (4m57s)
 

That's the DS-1609 model, the WS-13 listed above is far rarer and better in many respects.  $320 USD for a DS-1609 is actually a good deal!

That's the DS-1609 model, the WS-13 listed above is far rarer and better in many respects.  $320 USD for a DS-1609 is actually a good deal!

DSO Trump88 with 2x oval.

Thanks for the info, Bold. I think I'll go for the Kiron super-zoom and see what the quality is like. It's a pity that the Vivitar has a rotating front element. It really looked like the perfect lens! It's parafocal too apparently.

Timpy,
If you want a parfocal super zoom, you're unlikely to find one that isn't push-pull.  That is, you won't find one with separate zoom & focus rings.  Your best bet may be the first (and some argue the best) super zoom, the Kiron (Kino Precision) 28-210mm.  It is also found under the name Promaster Spectum 7.  KINO PRECISION was started up by engineers who moved from NIKON to make lenses that equalled, or in many cases, were superior to OEM lenses.  Their fit, finish, mechanics and optics were top quality.
The 28-210mm is a parfocal lens where the front element doesn't turn when focusing.  When focused at 200+mm, focus stays spot on down to 28mm.  When focused at 28mm, it is a tiny bit off when zoomed to 200+mm.  This is attributed to a small amount of human focus error at the low end (28mm) and not a fault in the lens.  It's most commonly found for Canon, but I've seen it in Nikon, Minolta, Konica and Pentax mounts.  It is very affordable.
Here's a little Kiron info from a guy looking for a zoom for his Century Optics and Panasonic anamorphics:
Hope this helps!
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Timpy,
If you want a parfocal super zoom, you're unlikely to find one that isn't push-pull.  That is, you won't find one with separate zoom & focus rings.  Your best bet may be the first (and some argue the best) super zoom, the Kiron (Kino Precision) 28-210mm.  It is also found under the name Promaster Spectum 7.  KINO PRECISION was started up by engineers who moved from NIKON to make lenses that equalled, or in many cases, were superior to OEM lenses.  Their fit, finish, mechanics and optics were top quality.
The 28-210mm is a parfocal lens where the front element doesn't turn when focusing.  When focused at 200+mm, focus stays spot on down to 28mm.  When focused at 28mm, it is a tiny bit off when zoomed to 200+mm.  This is attributed to a small amount of human focus error at the low end (28mm) and not a fault in the lens.  It's most commonly found for Canon, but I've seen it in Nikon, Minolta, Konica and Pentax mounts.  It is very affordable.
Here's a little Kiron info from a guy looking for a zoom for his Century Optics and Panasonic anamorphics:
Hope this helps!
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