SLR Magic 65 1.33x - Full Frame review?

[BabsDoProd]

Hey, everybody, has anybody tried out the big SLR Magic 65 1.33x adapter (currently $900) and experimented with using it for full frame use? I’ve only seen a few videos that talk about having to go into APSC mode but that seems to be more for the lenses being used, mostly the new Fuji zooms, but I haven’t seen much about trying to make it work for full frame. Even if it’s working under projector anamorphic rules (ie. 50mm or 85mm and up only), I would like to know if and how it works out. Also, I did read one review that the squeeze ratio can change focusing closer than infinity but how far could you get with leaving the adapter focused at infinity and adjusting only the taking lens? The old Panasonic LA-7200 was designed for Mini-DV cameras but it works just fine on larger formats and the same goes for various wide angle and telephoto video lens adapters so I can’t imagine the SLR Magic 65 would be somehow limited to just APSC as an add-on lens. Any help or advice would be appreciated!

[BabsDoProd]

Alright, didn’t get any answers so I’ll have to find out on my own, just placed my order! I’ll let you all know how it goes.

[au8ust]

Waiting for the review!

[leslie]

On 6/26/2020 at 2:23 PM, BabsDoProd said:

Alright, didn’t get any answers so I’ll have to find out on my own, just placed my order! I’ll let you all know how it goes.

very trekish of you, going where no one has gone before 😉 hope it works out well for you. Certainly let us know how it performs. I ordered a rapido fvd16 a few days. So i guess we are both pretty excited.

[BabsDoProd]

Okay, I tested the lens out and it turns out to be a dud!

To start, the lens had dust inside it from the factory which was a shocking quality control issue and I would have to send it back nonetheless. Still, I wanted to test it out and I decided to test right away with how wide I could go with it.

While I could get a sharp image out of the adapter with every lens I tried, it became very apparent that the lens would be a hassle to use on set with lens changes between shots. The workflow with attaching the lens is the main hassle that slows you down because it’s supposed to screw onto your lens and then rotate to position but, in practice, this is quite difficult as the lens is wound so tight that you often accidentally unscrew the lens and it is made worse with added tedium when using step rings. 

About pulling focus, the double focus wasn’t too bad and the lens was a little forgiving if you were off slightly, however, this sometimes meant you weren’t one hundred percent sure if you were in complete focus if you had to eyeball focus in the field. Ideally you would line up both the lens and adapter in the same focus position but sometimes you may have to adjust and set things quickly in an awkward camera position so I could see this being a problem and a case where you couldn’t always use this lens as your sole anamorphic adapter. As a side note, you could somewhat get away with leaving the 65 adapter’s focus in place at infinity or nearest and focus just the taking lens but it’s limited and is a much narrower margin than I had hoped.

Some may complain about the added heft of the adapter but I didn’t mind as the best thing SLR Magic did was put a squared off tripod foot on the lens to help for easy calibration and stability. Calibrating anamorphic adapters during attachment is one of the hardest parts about using such adapters as you can easily be slightly off and end up with oddly skewed footage if you’re not careful. With this adapter, it was actually very easy and simple to do as long as you didn’t accidentally unscrew the adapter from the lens while doing it, of course.

Despite having a large rear element with 82mm filter threads, the lens coverage is no better than other anamorphic lenses with full frame use requiring 80mm and up. I even tested it with Mamiya 645 lenses and it was like I had expected with 80mm being the minimum when accounting for a Kipon Medium Format Speedbooster. Using no Kipon Speedbooster you could say that the Mamiya 645 45mm and 55mm work but with the crop factor on full frame there’s no point.

The anamorphic image was the worst part of the lens. The 1.33x squeeze of the lens never felt right, unlike my old Panasonic LA7200 or Century Optics 1.33x, and I can confirm some reports I read where the squeeze ratio shifts around when focusing the adapter. On top of that, it seems like SLR Magic did everything they could to take out the anamorphic look of the lens, flares so muted that you could almost say the lens doesn’t flare, bokeh that’s barely squeezed or distorted to the point it’s about as round as the taking lens, and the undependable squeeze ratio makes for one of the dullest anamorphic adapters I’ve ever tried.

Overall, I wanted to love the 65 adapter but it was a real disappointment. I really do enjoy SLR Magic’s 2x anamorphic adapter and wished that they would just make a larger diameter version of that for use with bigger lenses and even wider lenses on full frame. I would also say that SLR Magic needs to make matching rangefinders for their anamorphic adapters, if not incorporate them into the design for easy single focus use as this double focus issue is most likely a deterrent to their anamorphic products. Most importantly, I can’t stress enough that SLR Magic needs to get away from the Micro Four Thirds and APSC standard and focus on products designed for full frame as those smaller formats can go up but larger formats can’t go back down for the most part. Unless something better comes out, I’ll probably have to rethink my anamorphic lens options for my next projects and end up with a more limited range than I had hoped for.