Xelmus APOLLO 2x Anamorphic Lenses

[heart0less]

Finally some solid material about Apollos from Max Swan.

These come in three flavours: 40 mm T2.1, 60 mm T1.7 and 100 mm T2.5

I reckon that no mortal will be able to afford them (the deposit for all three costs 18K $, but it's not a final price), but many rental houses may want to.

[Julien416]

To me, they are basically remade panavision lenses. They use the old Gottschalk design whose patent has long expired. 

They look exquisite honestly. I am considering getting a series myself with a DoP, trying to figure out if that makes sense financially. 

[leslie]

16 hours ago, Julien416 said:

To me, they are basically remade panavision lenses. They use the old Gottschalk design whose patent has long expired. 

They look exquisite honestly. I am considering getting a series myself with a DoP, trying to figure out if that makes sense financially. 

start your own rental shop ?

[seku]

talked a bit with Max about them ... they really are everything they should be. Heck, for a Gottschalk lightweight and close focus design, they aren't that expensive either!

[Julien416]

3 hours ago, leslie said:

start your own rental shop

Using them on personal projects. Plus renting them occasionally 

[BrooklynDan]

The new Caldwell Chameleon anamorphics also use a similar design with counter-rotating cylinders controlling the squeeze ratio, albeit at a much higher price tag. This design was also used in the series one Todd-AOs way back in the 70s (see Max Max, The Getaway, Logan's Run). 

This is IMHO, the best design ever developed for anamorphic lenses. Without the anastigmatic group, the breathing and mumping is a bit much. The variable diopter design solves the squeeze issues, but the breathing is still there and it works very poorly for wide angle lenses. I've handled a variety of wide angle anamorphics from Lomo, Hawk, Technovision, Cineovision and JDC and they all had massive front elements, awkward mechanics, and severe barrel distortion.

The Gottschalk design allows you to build a lens wider than 40mm while maintaining reasonable size and weight and a standard front diameter. Panavision has a 20mm that's barely larger than a Cooke S4. And the vertical breathing and crisp blue flaring is to die for. I'm really excited for these Xelmus lenses and I hope that they flesh out the rest of the set. 35mm up to 180mm would make these a standard on many sets.

[Leica50mm]

 

[heart0less]

..?

Was this music video shot with Xelmus APOLLOs?

Can't find it in the description.

[Leica50mm]

Yes, it’s posted on their Instagram page.