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First Anamorphic with a GH2


anid
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Hello, I recently got a used Hacked Gh2 and plan to work with narrative stuff. However I am a sucker for the anamorphic look but without the budget to support it. 1.33x is way less Anamorphicy and 2x is way too anamorphicy according to my personal taste and 1.5x is the sweet spot (subjectively), which is sadly very pricey. I am aware of an MJPEg hack on the gh2 to use 2x anamorphic but I much rather prefer AVCHD,

I was hoping if you guys could suggest a cheap 1.5x anamorphic solution, which I understand may not be very cheap? If that is the case, I am willing to settle with 2x Anamorphic too.

My requirements in the anamorphic would include close focus (from infinity upto 8-10 feet is fine. A bonus if I can go more closer). Not much preference for single focussing if the lens is sharp wide open. I'm willing to live with the hassles of double focussing. What would be the 2x or 1.5x cheap (cheap being a key word) anamorphic for my needs? For 1.5x I am willing to let go a little on IQ but for a 2x anamorphic, I would prefer good IQ and sharpness. Also I might not be able to order different types of clamps sold by vid atlantic and redstan as customs to my part of the world are very troublesome and I would not like to deal with them for more than one or two orders from another country. The taxes are too much for my budget.

I understand I have placed many conditions. So I am sorry for that. Please let me know if I have any hope with these aforementioned conditions. Thank you

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You will need to get a hold of some sort of clamp though, or figure out how to machine one in your country. Most of these adapters have non-standard rear connector, so a clamp will be needed (either that or you're stuck with duck tape or physically glue/weld the anamorphic component to your taking lens somehow.

 

I've not been here too long but from what I see most people suggest the Sankor 16 c/d/f/etc. adapter. It's especially good for those starting out with anamorphic because it's small & light, cheap, and performs well in term of image quality.

 

There's also the larger projector lenses, and these you must use some sort of clamp to mount onto the taking lens on the camera. In addition, since these projector lenses are much bigger and heavier, that using railing or some sort of support system is suggested. The anamorphic projector lenses are big and bulky but they're much cheaper and widely sold.

 

Here's a good thread on the Rectimascop, one of the smaller projector lenses that's pretty good for the price. Here you can see what I'm talking about regarding projector-size adapter lenses.
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@Juan Le - Thank you for the reply. I'll check the Rectimascope out. However first impressions tell me it might be too front heavy to mount.for me. I have also been checking out the Sankors and also the gold Schneider super Cinelux ones. But I am unable to decide as yet. How would you compare the Sankors against the Schneiders in terms of Image Quality, Focussing and Widest aperture or Focal length I can shoot without vignette ?

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I want to say that the Sankor adapter out performs most projector lenses. It can focus closer, it's smaller and lighter, it doesn't cost that much more compare to other adapters, and the image quality is good for the price you are paying. I don't have any experience using the projector lenses so I can't speak for them myself personally, but just based on what I've read they're more suitable for experienced people that want to experiment and have a rig setup already that can support large lens adapter and front-heavy setup.

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I my self have bausch and lomb anamorphic its a big projector lens well not that big more bigish but its extremely sharp lens does not flare that much. I have it on a small rig it only focuses down to 12 ft to inf so you will need diopters. I can use 35mm lens on this lens even 24mm if i decide to chop the lens in half some people do it. I am really happy with the lens and it was only 60 dollars

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@enny - Thanks. I'll check that one out too. I'm however leaning more and more towards the Kowa Bell and Howell. I have come across one that has a few spots of fungus and the seller also mentions that it has the rainbow effect. Would you know what this "rainbow effect" is? Also will my image quality suffer badly owing to these two factors? I'm getting this for less than 200 dollars hence it is tempting. But I can't be sure if the lens is already crippled owing to this rainbow effect and fungus. Is it possible to perhaps get the fungus cleaned at a camera shop?
Thanks

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The Kowa is better than the Sankor in that it's sharper and wider.

 

The lens you mention I am familiar with, since I've been browsing Ebay recently. That lens is not in good condition, I can tell you that much. The spot is significant enough to affect image quality, and I'm not even sure if it's serviceable unless you can get your hand on some replacement glass. The cost to fix it alone is not worth it even if you got it for dirt cheap, you might as well just buy a Sankor and be happier with it than a Kowa with a damaged optic in my opinion.

 

If you can't find a decent Sankor for less than $200 you should look into these

 

http://www.motionsix.co.uk/products/#tab-1415324886037-2-6

 

From some of the demo videos I've seen it look quite promising. You can get them with color coated optics as an option if you want to add a certain color tone to your light flares and pictures. I plan on getting myself a pair to experiment with in the future.

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@Juan le - Thanks a lot Juan for the link! I'll take a decision soon. However you have managed to persuade me that going for the damaged kowa is indeed a bad idea.
But just for the off the hand knowledge, can you tell me what that "rainbow effect" on the lens means? Does it mean it's inner elements are now misalligned? I searched but couldn't find an answer on the internet. Probably my searching skills need improvement.

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My best guess is that it's a damaged coating on the optic. Coating damage can happen in a number of different ways. A common way is by rough cleaning/rubbing on the lens that causes the coating to separate or rubbed off. Another I can think of is chemical damaging the coating on the optic through the misuse of cleaning solution and so on.

 

A pristine Kowa shouldn't have any "rainbow effect", none of the anamorphic adapters have that feature unless the optic was damaged or intentionally replaced/tinkered with in some way.

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Thanks a lot everyone on this thread who helped me out. I have wrestled out some money from my tight budget and decided to go all out for a Kowa Bell and Howell. However I was wondering what clamp I need to purchase to adapt to my fd taking lenses with 52mm thread? I've looked at Redstan but emails are met with no reply. Does anyone have one to sell with a 52mm rear thread? Also if I scour on Ebay how do I know which redstan clamp will work with the Kowa bell and howell 2x?

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Thanks a lot everyone on this thread who helped me out. I have wrestled out some money from my tight budget and decided to go all out for a Kowa Bell and Howell. However I was wondering what clamp I need to purchase to adapt to my fd taking lenses with 52mm thread? I've looked at Redstan but emails are met with no reply. Does anyone have one to sell with a 52mm rear thread? Also if I scour on Ebay how do I know which redstan clamp will work with the Kowa bell and howell 2x?

50mm rear mount is ok. you can find others(52/55/58 etc.) to 50mm step down ring. refer to my gallery.
But actually I never use this way by directly screwing them, which would not be able to put both lenses closest.

gallery_34324_122_40150.jpg
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@Ken - I'm sorry but I failed to understand what you meant there, hence I am a little confused.
Do you mean screwing on a 52mm filter thread of an FD lens (I'll be using fd 35 and FD 50mm , both with 52mm filter thread) to the 52mm rear thread of a clamp is a bad idea?
I presume putting both lenses closest is what I would want to be doing and if yes, then how do I proceed about this? Isn't screwing directly the 52mm filter of the FD to the 52mm rear of the clamp the best way to put both lenses closest?

I'm sorry if I sound confusing, because I'm actually confused. Also since I don't have much experience with shooting anamorphic before, I didn't understand much from the pictures in your gallery.

Best.

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Sorry for my poor English. In above picture, the left lens had 52 to 50 ring, so you can screw in the front of 52 thread lens. But this way would not be close as the way using a clamp(mine is made of two step up/down rings) to mount as shown on right lens. Usually, I would use adhesive tape to cover anamorphic lens rear mount edge first, so it could touch to the front glass of prime lens that won't be scratched. Then you got the closet mount.

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  • 2 weeks later...

@araucaria -  I am getting a B and H Kowa. However I need to get a cheaper one for my friend. And he doesn't want to splash money on the FM focus module. Atleast not yet. And since the Super Cinelux is tack sharp , I'm sure he could live with not being able to pull focus in shot.
Hence, I inquired about the aforementioned info.

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