Vintage anamorphic adapters in 2025

[Ninpo33]

On 10/13/2025 at 6:15 PM, QuickHitRecord said:

@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.

I only buy old glass LOL. I look at the price of new lenses and think, "wow that's like 10 - 20 interesting vintage lenses"

 

On 10/13/2025 at 6:15 PM, QuickHitRecord said:

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?

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?

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

So you haven't bought from any of the Japanese websites or you have and haven't had good results? 

Speaking for myself, it's been a game changer and I've ordered 12 items just this week. 10 - 15% OFF coupons and promotions all the time so there's your tariffs leveled up right there. I will say that it depends what you're after and there are some things that are better on eBay vs direct from Japan.. Once you find a groove though, it's great to bounce back and forth between the two cultures and see what's what? Some things are really popular in Japan and fetch premiums while other items that are rare in North America sell for very reasonable prices. But it's nice to have options. 

And yes I got 3 of those Yashica Scopes 1.5x in mint condition for $80 each. combined the shipping for $20 and it was 2 days door to door. 

As far as fungus and issues with quality... The Japanese culture generally is very honest and most sellers accurately describe their products, warts and all. Better photos than eBay too and a much more realistic idea of what you're getting. I personally don't mind taking chances on things if the price is right and I know I can fix any smaller issues. But that has really never been an issue for me and any issues are almost always me trying to really get a good deal and gambling on a bad/cheap lens. 

I will say that the experience has changed for the worse with Trump in office and this most recent tariff grift. Shipping is a bit higher and you don't have as many options but at least delivery is super fast and always well packaged/protected. I'm a fan.  Hopefully things normalize soon but it's still a deal. 

Here's a post I screen captured a while back with more info about the Sirui 1.25x mods

 

[kye]

17 hours ago, Ninpo33 said:

I only buy old glass LOL. I look at the price of new lenses and think, "wow that's like 10 - 20 interesting vintage lenses"

Love this.

I remember as a teenager I used to translate everything to CDs - how many albums I could buy with the money I was evaluating.

17 hours ago, Ninpo33 said:

As far as fungus and issues with quality... The Japanese culture generally is very honest and most sellers accurately describe their products, warts and all. Better photos than eBay too and a much more realistic idea of what you're getting. I personally don't mind taking chances on things if the price is right and I know I can fix any smaller issues. But that has really never been an issue for me and any issues are almost always me trying to really get a good deal and gambling on a bad/cheap lens. 

+1.  My own experience of buying from Japan on eBay is similar to this.  

There are always examples of scammers / criminals / misrepresentation / bad behaviour from every culture.  I think that it's precisely because the Japanese have such a good reputation for this that the few examples of misrepresentation that have happened get blown up and repeated far more than they might from other countries.

I've bought quite a number of lenses that were cheap because they had fungus or haze or some other issue, and I consistently found with the Japanese listings that when I received the lenses and really examined them (especially against a strong light source) that the issues I discovered were almost always completely described by the Ebay listing.  
I suspect I might have had one surprise from a Japanese listing where something was misrepresented, but the level of deception was what you'd sensibly assume to be true on every other listing from any other place basically.  From everywhere else, "buyer beware" is just being sensible.