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Isco Anamorphic Ultra Star HELP!


bobwertit
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I recently purchased an Isco Ultra Star Anamorphic lens. To my dismay, the focusing ring seems to be locked, and can't rotate forwards or backwards.I don't want to start messing with screws; I'm afraid I'll misalign the elements by doing so. Is there a specific set of screws I should undo? Any help would be very much appreciated. Thank you.

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The lens is identical to this model:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Isco-optic-Cinemascope-2x-Ultra-f-80MM-German-anamorphic-projection-lens-/161416449283?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25952b8d03

 

I have tried pushing the locking ring forwards/backwards and it won't budge. Do I need to undo the screws on it in order to push it forwards/backwards? Thanks.

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I finally managed to pull out the focusing ring out of the locking position to get it to rotate (thanks). However, I'm unfamiliar with these kinds of lenses; is the focusing barrel supposed to rotate 360 degrees continuously without any hard stops? The focusing on the anamorphic seems to have no apparent change in the image compared to my taking lens. Is something wrong?

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Hey, dual focus is not wrong. It's harder. For the Ultra Star it's worth it.

 

Bobwertit, I've done a fair amount of shooting with these. You'll see quicker results if you give the taking lens the first turn, then the Anamorphic... lastly fine tune the taking lens for best results. I strongly recommend getting the focus assist zoomed in while your doing this. You'll get the hang of it.

 

Also, in practice the ultra star stretches more like 1.8 than 2x... and the stretch varies a little near the edges like a old fashion anamorphic. Keep that in mind when editing your footage. For best results I recommend cropping it down to a 2.66 aspect ratio most of the time.

 

Anyway, hope you enjoy the ultra star and shoot some cool footage!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the help Drew! I have now been able to do some more extensive testing, and unfortunately try as I may the focusing on the Isco seems to do nothing at all to my image (I'm focusing using the 1:1 punch-in feature on my camera). Only the focus on my taking lens seems to have an effect on my image. I have also tried stopping down my lens to get a deeper depth of field, and then attempting to focus the adapter, but only the focusing ring on my taking lens results in a change in sharpness in the image. Am I doing something incorrectly? Thanks in advance!

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  • 2 months later...
  • 4 years later...

Hi. I just got an Isco Ultra Star Anamorphic Lens (Light Gold Version) & the focus ring will not turn. I tried to pull to unlock or twist but it but wont budge. Is there a locked version or is this lens busted? It is set to infinity. Do you have specific instructions on how to move the focus ring. The seller said that that's how it is & the images he got was fine. Thank you.

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1 hour ago, PeterA said:

Hi. I just got an Isco Ultra Star Anamorphic Lens (Light Gold Version) & the focus ring will not turn. I tried to pull to unlock or twist but it but wont budge. Is there a locked version or is this lens busted? It is set to infinity. Do you have specific instructions on how to move the focus ring. The seller said that that's how it is & the images he got was fine. Thank you.

it does sound odd, maybe the guy who sold it to you had a single focus solution mounted to it. I have an isco gottingen anamorphic, light golden in colour. Its pretty tight,  it takes both hands to turn the focus ring. Rather than sort it out i bought an elmoscope but that may not be an option for everyone. One day i might get it sorted.

If it has a distance scale on the front then the front should bloody well turn. Have you had it long? can you send it back for a refund ?

some shcneider anamorphics had an odd setup where to adjust focus you needed an allen or hex key to turn  screw on the front to adjust focus not sure if isco ever did something like that however

 

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