topobros

I recently got a Kowa 16S fairly cheap and have been putting it to the test with the NX500, and I must say it´s a neat combo for less than 600€!! You can get as wide as 35mm with the 4K on the NX500, aprox 2.4x crop ratio.

The amazing thing is 5K! 5185x2160 in 2.40:1 aspect ratio or 5745x2160 in 2.66:1 which is insane. And the detail on the NX500 with the 200mb/s bitrate hack is amazing. The only thing that doesn´t cut it for me is the color, I hope they release the LOG hack and this would really be a killer setup.  

You can check some frames taken with a Nikkor 35mm f2 AIS at f2.8, no sharpening, graded on filmconvert with grain. No diopter needed, by the way.

Anyone tried something simillar? I´m exited to hear other good bang for buck.

Cheers!

Hey!! Thanks for the info, I´ll try it for sure.

Hey, I love this project!

I have the exact same lens and hadn´t heard about the front modification, seems really interesting!  

This is a bit of my experience with this lens and anamorphic in general. I have a pretty special grandpa that managed to build me an adapter made of methacrylate that fits the back of the Bell&Howell and converts it to a normal m49 filter thread. Pretty absurd, but it works. On the front I attached a 77 diameter diopter directly to the mattebox, and voilà, ready to shoot. 

Did a couple of test shoots with my GH2 and then I shot a short documentary with this on the A7s with a Jupiter 9, and it didn´t vignette at all, even though it´s full frame, so nice. Although it´s a nightmare to shoot with, I dropped the filters a couple of times, I had to constantly do the double focus, a pain in the ass, but managed to finish it and looks good. I really love the look of this lens, and I agree that it flares more nicely when paired with a vintage lens like the Helios or the Jupiter.

Also, as a bit of an accident, I discovered that the methacrylate leaked light inside the lens and created a rather unusual white vignette that´s very unique and I actually ended up liking it and not fixing it in post. 

It´s always nice to try stupid ideas, you may end up using them. xD

You can see some shots below. The setup was: A7s + Jupiter 9 85 f2 + Bell&Howell Anamorphic + Diopter 

Oh! And be careful with mounting the lens, I destroyed my m42 to NEX adapter. Too much weight, should have bought a clamp. 

I´ll follow the thread and see where this goes, maybe mod my lens too.