Baby Hypergonar aka The World's Smallest Anamorphic Lens (?)

[swagjack8]

hi all, its good to see others using these tiny lenses and sharing their findings. i recently picked up a bolex 8mm version from a polish seller for myself and a baby hypergonar for a mate. ive used both and love both! i really did not want to give the berthiot to my pal least ive still got access to one hehe. they both have good points, both are sharp if used correct with a suited lens .with the bolex i use the konica 40mm 1.8, plus i have great success using a 28mm f2 kiron lens with no problems to the image atall... though you have to be almost against the glass. the thread size on both lenses is the same so home made bolex mount can screw into both. ive used a fair few setups now in the last 3 years and think my new arrangement works nicely. currently on just a gf1 now hacked and plan to buy back a gh2 as my main cam, i used the mkii with a tair11 135mm and a sankor 16d but this setup was huge and forced me to snap and scale down. the sankor and tair combo produced some fantastic footage but moving it around was not fun! really liked sebs footage and it was from that i was inspired to look at the berthiot and then stumbled onto the bolex 8mm. i will hopefully be shooting some music videos this year with a few mates so will really put these little gems to test!

[QuickHitRecord]

I have heard some good things about (and seen good things from) the 8mm Bolex. It would be really interesting if you and your friend could do a side-by-side comparison. I just acquired an Iscomorphot and that is something that I am hoping to do with that and my Baby Hypergonar as well.

[swagjack8]

both great lenses and will def do a side by side test, berthiot needs diopter to get close and shallow and acts like an anamorphic adapter the way u need not focus with it, but the bolex acts like a tiny sankor, kowa etc also the bolex being 1.5x pleases one audience but the berthiot at 1.75x pulls in a more die hard letter box crowd.. i happen to like the 1.75 crop but 1.5x is more usable in most video jobs plus having the ability to focus close without diopter is a bonus. cannot find a bad thing to say about both lenses apart from i need to find more on ebay really cheap!! the bolex wont give u a typical oval bokeh as maybe the 2x lenses around but for that id just buy a cheaper sankor 16f if need be. for anyone wanting these lenses id get them now before it all dries up as cams are getting smaller and it wont take long before people start jumping on the wagon looking for more compact anamorphics to pair up with the likes of the newly released eos m! my biggest regret was selling my gh2.. :-( donations welcombe ;-)

[swagjack8]

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/80376930@N06/7366680702/"]http://www.flickr.com/photos/80376930@N06/7366680702/[/url]
just a quick pic i took before i had to pass my pal his new toy. such a world away from 5d mkii and clunky lenses!!

[QuickHitRecord]

[url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/80376930@N06/7366680702/"]http://www.flickr.co...N06/7366680702/[/url]
just a quick pic i took before i had to pass my pal his new toy. such a world away from 5d mkii and clunky lenses!!

Looks like you guys are ready to take over the anamorphic world!

Here's something that I shot recently with my Baby Hypergonar:

http://vimeo.com/46948810

[Julian]

Nice. I like the handheld look.

[swagjack8]

[url="https://vimeo.com/46977355"]https://vimeo.com/46977355[/url] heres our first test of the bolex moller 8mm anamorphot and baby hypergona side by side, theres more footage off the bolex here than the hypergonar as i filmed more than my pal did. you can tell them apart from the ratio. bolex on a gf1 and berthiot on a nex 5n. its not a great video but its a small starting point with the small anamorphics for now :)

[brucker]

i just took delivery of this lil' darlin':

[img]http://www.eoshd.com/comments/uploads/inline/21346/507b8b90cb9dd_DSC_0962.jpg[/img]

its a kowa prominar anamorphic-8, and that's an AA battery.

the rear thread is just a tiny bit bigger than a C-mount. I've got a nikon v1 so i'll take that out to play with this afternoon. i've got no way to mount/attach so guess i'll have to handhold it for a quick test.

my first proper anamorphic, apart from a massive nikon projector lens i picked up to play with last week, but so far its nice and sharp and focuses to under 5ft. or atleast the focus ring turns to waaay after the 5ft marker.

cant wait to head out this afternoon :D

[QuickHitRecord]

[quote name='brucker' timestamp='1350274831' post='19771']
i just took delivery of this lil' darlin':

[img]http://www.eoshd.com/comments/uploads/inline/21346/507b8b90cb9dd_DSC_0962.jpg[/img]

its a kowa prominar anamorphic-8, and that's an AA battery.

the rear thread is just a tiny bit bigger than a C-mount. I've got a nikon v1 so i'll take that out to play with this afternoon. i've got no way to mount/attach so guess i'll have to handhold it for a quick test.

my first proper anamorphic, apart from a massive nikon projector lens i picked up to play with last week, but so far its nice and sharp and focuses to under 5ft. or atleast the focus ring turns to waaay after the 5ft marker.

cant wait to head out this afternoon :D
[/quote]

Please share your test footage. I am very curious about this lens.

[brucker]

i'll definitely put some footage up,.. gonna take a bit more over the next couple of days. here's a still for the time being though, straight out of the Nikon v1 with its 2.7 crop.


[img]http://www.eoshd.com/comments/uploads/inline/21346/507bfa33f40e1_anamorphicslippers.jpg[/img]

observations so far:

- this particular kowa doesnt seem to be a x2. unsqueezing the still i unsqueezed about 1/3 before it started looking relatively normal, which surprised me as i thought i had quite a ways to go before it started looking right. what does that equate to? x1.5?

- i did the same thing in sony vegas, a par of 2 made it look fat. a par of 1.75, less fat but still clearly fat. par of 1.5 looked about right..... but i think it can be refined a bit more. i need to film something i can compare infront of me when unsqueezing.

or am i calculating wrong?

- the lens is really clean as in it doesnt seem to impart too much of its own character apart from the squeeze.

- with a 50mm takumar f1.4 it didnt really flare. might have to try it on my jupiter 9.

- its a dual focus of course, but it doesnt seem as hard to do as some of the horror stories i've read online. what i found the easiest was to get in position, focus the taking lens, focus the kowa, then move back or forth till everything was good. this lens being so tiny is probably what made it seem not so bad.

- the rear thread is about 28mm, making it a couple of mm's larger than a C-mount. i got in touch with a guy who reckons he can fashion some attaching adapter with a regular filter size for it,... i'm thinking about it.

what little footage i took today, i quite like the look of. wasnt expecting it to be less than a x2. i've mostly been watching x2 anamorphics on vimeo and youtube as i figured anything else would be way over my budget. luckily it works well on the nikon v1's teeny sensor.

m4/3s, i'm guessing it'll vignette as much as any other c-mount lens.

[QuickHitRecord]

[quote name='brucker' timestamp='1350304843' post='19777']
i'll definitely put some footage up,.. gonna take a bit more over the next couple of days. here's a still for the time being though, straight out of the Nikon v1 with its 2.7 crop.


[img]http://www.eoshd.com/comments/uploads/inline/21346/507bfa33f40e1_anamorphicslippers.jpg[/img]

observations so far:

- this particular kowa doesnt seem to be a x2. unsqueezing the still i unsqueezed about 1/3 before it started looking relatively normal, which surprised me as i thought i had quite a ways to go before it started looking right. what does that equate to? x1.5?

- i did the same thing in sony vegas, a par of 2 made it look fat. a par of 1.75, less fat but still clearly fat. par of 1.5 looked about right..... but i think it can be refined a bit more. i need to film something i can compare infront of me when unsqueezing.

or am i calculating wrong?

- the lens is really clean as in it doesnt seem to impart too much of its own character apart from the squeeze.

- with a 50mm takumar f1.4 it didnt really flare. might have to try it on my jupiter 9.

- its a dual focus of course, but it doesnt seem as hard to do as some of the horror stories i've read online. what i found the easiest was to get in position, focus the taking lens, focus the kowa, then move back or forth till everything was good. this lens being so tiny is probably what made it seem not so bad.

- the rear thread is about 28mm, making it a couple of mm's larger than a C-mount. i got in touch with a guy who reckons he can fashion some attaching adapter with a regular filter size for it,... i'm thinking about it.

what little footage i took today, i quite like the look of. wasnt expecting it to be less than a x2. i've mostly been watching x2 anamorphics on vimeo and youtube as i figured anything else would be way over my budget. luckily it works well on the nikon v1's teeny sensor.

m4/3s, i'm guessing it'll vignette as much as any other c-mount lens.
[/quote]

This looks more like a 1.33x. But if you shoot something that is perfectly round like a step up ring, you'll be able to unstretch the object precisely and know exactly what the stretch factor is.

I'd recommend starting a new thread for this lens. I don't think that it has ever been discussed here.

[brucker]

quick question,... sensor size and crop factor wouldnt affect how much of a squeeze we get would it?

[brucker]

[quote name='QuickHitRecord' timestamp='1350306506' post='19778']
This looks more like a 1.33x. But if you shoot something that is perfectly round like a step up ring, you'll be able to unstretch the object precisely and know exactly what the stretch factor is.

I'd recommend starting a new thread for this lens. I don't think that it has ever been discussed here.
[/quote]

that's a good idea. i'll try and do that during the week and then start another thread.

cheers.

[Julian]

[quote name='brucker' timestamp='1350306538' post='19779']
quick question,... sensor size and crop factor wouldnt affect how much of a squeeze we get would it?
[/quote]
Nope, it doesn't.
Nice lens you got there. Looking forward to see some footage.

[tony wilson]

pretty rare little lens..
for 8mm late generation later than baby hypergonar and moller 8
late 1960s should be 1.5x
thick achromatic optic at the front and back should make this a very sharp lens if it has not been messed with and anamorphic and taking lens are focused properly very tasty and worth more than you probably paid for it : )

[brucker]

cheers for the info tony.

going thru some of the random crap i shot yesterday, and it is indeed sharp, provided i got the focus right.

the focusing ring is tighter than a nun's,... tight thing, so i'll have to send it out for a bit of TLC at some point. but it looks like it hasnt been messed with.

paid about $28 for it including shipping. :D

got my eyes on an elmoscope-16, similar size to the kowa, bit bigger and longer, the rear looks twice as wide asthe kowa so a 16mm lens?

a 28mm lens starts to vignette on the kowa so i'm hoping the elmoscope 16 wont.

[tony wilson]

wow... that is worth at least 500 dollars
it needs stripping and helicoid needs clean and regrease.
if i had that lens and it was working fine unless the elmoscope was super cheap as well the kowa should be a more interesting and flexible lens.

[brucker]

:o you're jokin'.

cheers for the info tony! i'll keep that in mind as the auction ends tomorrow.

[Sebastien Farges]

Due to the subject of the post, if someone did not see this, here is a movie with comparison between the baby Hypergonar 1.75X and the baby Isco Gottingen 1.5X anamorphot...

 

https://vimeo.com/41352674

 

Obviously the baby hypergonar is the winner ;)