SLR Magic 2x Anamorphic - my footage and first impressions

[Andrew Reid]

What informs the film look? Of all the technical aspects that do, I think it comes down to three key ingredients. 24p, a wide dynamic range and a 2x anamorphic lens. I and many other filmmakers chase that look. Well, I've just returned from Photokina in Cologne, Germany with a surprise. 2 years on from my first visit to SLR Magic at Photokina in 2012, they are back with a 2x anamorphic lens in 2014.

This lens has the potential to revolutionise the consumer market for cinema-standard anamorphic.

Read the full article here

[ChicanoCinema]

This is AWESOME!! I own the anamorphot and was part of the early testers program. Any idea if they will do an early testers program for this lens as well?

[ntblowz]

The SLR Magic Anamorphic also works on Panasonic 14mm without problem, but not Olympus 17mm F1.8 which you get vignetting and border quality are bad. It good to know that Leica 15mm also works! That F1.7 is handy for indoor/low light..

 

Really interested if GH4 can do 4:3 recording in 4K, I would definitely trade the 1.33X Anamorphic for that!  2X squeeze give you far more view than 1.33X does

[Liszon]

Ahh, come on. I was hoping so much that SLR Magic is finally developing a 1.5x lens but noo. 2x. That will only make sense on 4K cameras. No Iscorama competitor this time. Sad.

[Jacek]

Only one question:

Can you mount it on Panasonic LX100? :D

[Dane]

"Upcoming firmware for the Panasonic GH4 already takes a step closer, adding 3:2, 4:3 and 1:1 aspect ratios for 4K recording and enabling a significant vertical resolution gain of up to 2880 lines"

 

Ahh, come on. I was hoping so much that SLR Magic is finally developing a 1.5x lens but noo. 2x. That will only make sense on 4K cameras. No Iscorama competitor this time. Sad.

 

Definitely great news for GH4 owners! The 2x adapter on a 5d iii w/ magic lantern could also be a nice combo since it has 4:3 and 3:2 sensor output (up to 1920x1288). Would love to see some tests

[Xavier Plagaro Mussard]

Only one question:

Can you mount it on Panasonic LX100? :D

 

That question is good, is the LX100 up to have an anamorphic adapter attached or it's not strong enough?? If the GH4 goes multiformat, it is THE camera to go anamorphic though!

[Jacek]

If the GH4 goes multiformat, it is THE camera to go anamorphic though!

 

LX100 has it already:

http://au.panasonic.com.au/News+and+views/News/2014/September/LUMIX+DMC+LX100+Designed+to+inspire+creativity

"4K video recording capability also supports ‘4K Photo mode’, which allows photographers to capture spur of the moment shots by cutting out individual frames from 4K video to create a 3840 x 2160 8-megapixel equivalent JPEG image. In this mode, the luminance level is adjusted to 0-255 which is suitable for photo. Users can also select any aspect ratio (4:3, 3:2, 1:1 or 16:9) when shooting in 4K photo mode by using the aspect switch."

 

EDIT: But I don't think it works how we would like it to work (not much usefull for video)...

[Jorgen Gerstel]

Hi, in some shots the anamorphic lens is not 100% horizontal aligned, happens to me also some times. You can fix it in post, but a trick I use lately is very simple:  put a little marker on the taking and anamorphic lens to prevent it.

[DamienMTL]

This is an excellent news for the GH4.

1.33:1 ratio for this camera will be absolutely perfect for a lot of GH2 + x2anamorphic users who want to step up.

Do you know if Panasonic is considering an in-camera process to desqueeze the image? (dedicated for X2 anamorphose)

Or is it a squeezed 1.33:1 footage that is going to be displayed and rendered on file?

thanks

[Oliver Daniel]

I've been interested in these SLR Magic adapters for a while. Did they mention a price? 

 

Also, like someone else said above, most of the images in the footage look bent. Was this user error (since you've hardly had any time with it) or do they need to make some adjustments? 

[dahlfors]

Exciting. A single-focusing 2x anamorphic is great news!

 

About bent images: any anamorphic will look like that if misaligned. I guess Andrew only had a short time for testing and didn't get the alignment spot on.

[yannis.zach]

Andrew, do you remember widest aperture you used with this?

[Julian]

LX100 has it already:

http://au.panasonic.com.au/News+and+views/News/2014/September/LUMIX+DMC+LX100+Designed+to+inspire+creativity

"4K video recording capability also supports ‘4K Photo mode’, which allows photographers to capture spur of the moment shots by cutting out individual frames from 4K video to create a 3840 x 2160 8-megapixel equivalent JPEG image. In this mode, the luminance level is adjusted to 0-255 which is suitable for photo. Users can also select any aspect ratio (4:3, 3:2, 1:1 or 16:9) when shooting in 4K photo mode by using the aspect switch."

 

EDIT: But I don't think it works how we would like it to work (not much usefull for video)...

 

Exactly... the GH4 will get other aspect ratio's in 4K Photo Mode. I doubt if this is going to be useful for video at all... Probably it means no sound anyway... this GH4 firmware doesn't look like it will add anything interesting for video.

[Xavier Plagaro Mussard]

The 4K Photo Mode seems oriented to get good pictures from the video stream, not so much to have good video. 

 

My doubt about the LX100 was more a weight over the lens concern...

[Andrew Reid]

4K Photo Mode shoots good video, but improvements will come in the future I believe

[fuzzynormal]

I really like the anamorphic look, but I kind of disagree that it's one of the technical aesthetics that define "cinematic."

Encouraging lens development though! Nice that it can be done on a budget if you really want it.

[Caleb Genheimer]

FINALLY. A modern, truly anamorphic adapter (2X is the real deal, IMO). Two important things remain to be seen:

 

1. Does it resolve enough detail for use on these new 4K cameras

 

2. How close can it focus

 

 

There's also a slew of less-important stuff for the anamorphic connoisseurs: type and quality of the flares, performance at fast f-stops, maximum and minimum lens FOV compatibility,etc. But overall, a BIG thank-you to SLR Magic for stepping up to the plate with a true 2X lens. 'Tis the thing of dreams.

[biginvegas]

The 2X you  refer to was designed for a widescreen immersive cinema theatre experience, here on Vimeo it looks like a bad crop.   For budget filmmakers who want to shoot an anamorphic feature and project at a few festivals and then likely only get online distribution, 2X would frankly look ridiculous.  1.5X would be the ideal  but I am really  liking the 1.3X SLR from what I have seen here over the last many months.

[froess]

Andrew you state that the anamorphic lenses were made to avoid losing resolution from cropping the super 35mm film but that's wrong, the anamorphic lenses were an invention supported by the big hollywood studios to runaway from the 4:3 aspect ration of television, that way they would gain more audience lost from the television appearance.