Vintage anamorphic adapters in 2025

[QuickHitRecord]

I'm looking around at the current anamorphic landscape and finding that while much easier to work with and capable of wider angles, the new offerings from Sirui, Blazar and Laowa lack the same jaw-dropping quality that footage from the older adapters had. I find them so clean (yes, even the Blazars) that I think that it defeats the point of shooting on anamorphic. So that brings me back to the vintage adapters, which seem to have come down in price since the modern lenses have hit the market. Plus there are now several variable diopters available for single focus.

Going on character alone, what are your favorites? At one point or another, I've owned 10-20 different adapters, and I still have a modded Bell & Howell Single-Focus. But after an 11-year hiatus from anamorphic, I am looking for fresh perspectives.

[Ninpo33]

Right now it’s a great time to pick up older adapters vs new modern $$$ anamorphic lenses. The 2x stretch and even 1.5x stretch of the older adapters looks really good to my eyes compared to the modern offerings. The Yen is also fairly weak so buying from Japanese websites takes it to another level. There’s also a nice middle ground and I’ve had a blast choosing from the best of both worlds. 

My favorites in 2025 

1. Most Kowa Prominar 2x and 1.75x versions. $200 now 

2. Elmoscope II because they are usually in amazing condition and equal to the Kowa’s but cheaper because they are not as well known.  $150 now 

3. Smaller 8mm scopes because they are fun and I’m working on a tiny solution with old small Rangefinder glass and Fuji APS-C $100 - $150 now 

4. Blazar Nero 1.5x adapter because it’s good and you can play with completely different looks depending on taking lens and sensor size. Looks really good on APS-C and gets very funky on Full frame. $500 or less now on the used market if your patient. 

5. Siuri 1.25x adapter mod where you take out the anamorphic and convert it to just a DIY Variable focusing adapter for cheap. That way you can have a budget focusing option for the older adapters at a reasonable cost. $250

 

[Ninpo33]

My “Pocket Anamorphic” setup i’m working on. Waiting for a couple eastern european guys to finish with a small scale front focuser prototype for these little 8mm scopes. 

[Ninpo33]

Another bargain right now is the Laowa Nanomorph lenses if you’re OK with APS-C. Used they’re getting really cheap and they’re very tiny. For a native mount solution and ease of use they’re quite acceptable in my opinion. Especially if you consider not needing to mess with all the clamps, adapters, FVD’s etc and being able to go wide. 

 

 

[QuickHitRecord]

@Ninpo33Thanks for such a detailed response. It's good to know that there are still some out there making beautiful images with this old glass.

2 hours ago, Ninpo33 said:

The Yen is also fairly weak so buying from Japanese websites takes it to another level.

I love the idea of Buyee for vintage lenses, but it never seems like it was more cost effective than just waiting it out on eBay. And that was before the tariffs. Plus, it seems like a lot of older glass imported from tropical climates has more fungus. How do you make it work for you?

2 hours ago, Ninpo33 said:

5. Siuri 1.25x adapter mod where you take out the anamorphic and convert it to just a DIY Variable focusing adapter for cheap. That way you can have a budget focusing option for the older adapters at a reasonable cost. 

I can't find anything written about this. Is it as simple as unscrewing the back panel and popping out the anamorphic element? Seems like a steal compared to some of these other variable diopters. Are there any known limitations?

2 hours ago, Ninpo33 said:

My “Pocket Anamorphic” setup i’m working on. Waiting for a couple eastern european guys to finish with a small scale front focuser prototype for these little 8mm scopes. 

Is that a YashicaScope? Would love to see some footage!

[kye]

13 hours ago, QuickHitRecord said:

I'm looking around at the current anamorphic landscape and finding that while much easier to work with and capable of wider angles, the new offerings from Sirui, Blazar and Laowa lack the same jaw-dropping quality that footage from the older adapters had. I find them so clean (yes, even the Blazars) that I think that it defeats the point of shooting on anamorphic.

How dirty are you looking for?

My Sirui 1.25x can look pretty dirty if you put it on a softer taking lens.

[kye]

Here's a quick test from the Voigtlander 42.5mm F0.95 and Sirui 1.25x showing the overall quality and how it behaves with differing apertures.  The Voigt is sharp when stopped down, but not when wide open.  The colour shifts are from the Voigt.

F2.0

F1.4

F0.95

Here's an image from the other night to get a bit of a flavour.  I've sharpened it quite a bit in post.

I've shot with this combo on my current trip and really like it, but it's really heavy and so I've been thinking about alternatives for getting a similar look.  I'm starting to think of this as a two-part challenge: the first part is things that can only be done optically like the bokeh (size, shape, CA, etc) and the second part is things that can be influenced in post (especially the softness of the focal plane).

In this sense, I'm looking for glass that will give me the right bokeh, and can then degrade the image in post using softening, vignetting, distortion (barrel / pincushion), CA (of the whole image) etc.

I'm surprised at how much the bokeh swirls:

The fact that swirly bokeh is just anamorphic bokeh at the sides of the image, and the wider the aspect ratio you end up using in the final video the more you're cropping off the top and bottom where the swirl goes from vertical to horizontal, makes me think that a very swirly spherical lens with a wide crop might be a passable alternative.
I will be investigating my vintage fast ~50mm collection on SB when I get home.  These seem the easiest way to get soft images with character without huge weight and complexity and cost.

[kye]

Great thread BTW.  Modern sterile images are incredibly boring.

[eatstoomuchjam]

11 hours ago, QuickHitRecord said:

Plus, it seems like a lot of older glass imported from tropical climates has more fungus.

Japan is not tropical at all.  Tokyo sits at 35N, a little bit North of San Diego, CA which is about 33N.  For buying used lenses, tariffs are a real motherfucker, since buying lenses used from Japan used to mean getting them for a bit less than US prices and in much nicer condition all-around.

6 hours ago, kye said:

My Sirui 1.25x can look pretty dirty if you put it on a softer taking lens.

As can my Blazar 1.33x when I pair it with one.  It's a great place to pair with an old DSO FF 58 if you can find one at a reasonable price (or just wait until Gale does another run of them, I picked one up last year over the holidays).

6 hours ago, kye said:

The fact that swirly bokeh is just anamorphic bokeh at the sides of the image, and the wider the aspect ratio you end up using in the final video the more you're cropping off the top and bottom where the swirl goes from vertical to horizontal, makes me think that a very swirly spherical lens with a wide crop might be a passable alternative.

If playing with this, you might also experiment with a lens modded with an oval aperture or with just putting an oval cutout in front of or behind the lens.  It'll make the bokeh a little more stretched.  It's similar to what Blazar are doing with Mantis and was one of the options with the previously-mentioned DSO FF 58.  I think there are also tutorials on doing a DIY mod for the Helios 58 (the lens used for DSO) to have it.