Kowa Bell and Howell and Sankor 16C? Made for 8mm or 16mm?

[andrewkeam]

Hi, I was just hoping that someone could clarify whether the Kowa and the Sankor 16C were originally made for 16mm film?  

 

Or was it for 8mm film?  

 

My searches came up with conflicting results..

 

If I was to buy a new camera to be used with these, would I get better results using a crop sensor camera (maybe the Nex series) or a Micro 4/3 sized sensor...  

 

I do like shallow depth of field, so i am somewhat drawn to the crop sensor, although with the 25mm 0.95, 35mm 0.95  and 50mm 0.95 lenses out there, this is not so much of a problem for micro 4/3's

 

So with relevant shallow D.O.F being able to be achieved, does it come down to what the anamorphic was designed for originally and then placing it on a digital equivalent?  ie If they were designed for 16mm film then micro 4/3 is the closest digital sensor?  And then placing it on a larger sensor i thought would have introduced some flaws and imperfections.... Or am I totally missing something here?  

 

 

 

Last question, Was there ever a "consumer" type anamorphic attachment that was designed for 35mm sized film ( roughly crop sensor on digital )?  Or was that reserved for the big Hollywood production lenses?  

 

 

 

Any thoughts or suggestions from you guys would be gratefully received!  

[Mondo]

I don't think those fast lenses would even work wide open due to the nature of that anamorphic. From what I've read it doesn't allow you to shoot wide open. You have to be stopped down to 4 for the lens to look sharp. And you would need something longer than 50 anyways to get rid of the vignette since it's a 2x lens.

[Julian]

Look at this topic: http://www.eoshd.com/comments/topic/2170-iscorama-vs-iscomorphot-8-2x-vs-iscomorphot-8-15x/

Anamorphic is actually pretty appealing with more depth of field. You still get a very specific look. No need for super fast lenses imo.

 

Anyway, I'm pretty sure you can get pretty good results with the Kowa B&H and big apertures. I have one myself, didn't shoot much footage with it wide open, but also didn't see much trouble with it. You can find plenty of footage on vimeo. Also see Andrews test: http://www.eoshd.com/content/558/kowa-anamorphic-lens-review

 

There are different Kowa lenses though, the Kowa Bell & Howell isn't the same as the Kowa 8Z/16D.