Anamorphic for Canon 5D Mark II ??

[Phil Holland]

100mm? I thought it would be wider than 50mm?? How can you have heavy vignetting with a 100mm lens? Did you try other focal lengths between 50mm and 100mm? Or longer than 100mm?

 

Chris, it has everything thing to do with lens design and the size of the entrance pupil of the lens. The 50mm f/2.8 lens that the Isco lens is equipped has a front diameter that is much smaller than most typical still lenses. And as mentioned, the adapter protrudes greatly "into" the lens and matches that small diameter. So for instance, if you stick the adapter in front of say the 100mm f/2.8 Macro lens and wedge it right up against it, glass to glass, you will literally see the outline of the adapter. Meaning you'll need something with a larger diameter and that Isco lens won't really work. There might be a way to get it to work with say a 50mm f/1.8 or 50mm f/1.4, but apart from those two lens designs, I fear there is not much hope. Believe me. I've spent a long time experimenting.

 

 

I assume we are talking about using anamorphics for 1080p HD video mode shooting here?

 

Phil, what type of anamorphic lens could be used to cover the entire FF35mm 16x9 sensor area of the 5D2 in video mode, and then result in a 2.40 scope aspect ratio when unsqueezed? I suppose there would be a slight resolution gain on that. I wonder if shooting anamorphic might also help to eliminate some of the moire pattern bullsh#t the 5D2 produces in video mode?

 

I've been using mine to shoot stills on the full 3:2 frame of the 1Ds Mark III and 5D Mark II, but you can indeed use them for HD video as well. Both of my solutions produce a much wider aspect ratio you would need to crop into to cut out the 2.40 after unsqueezing. (this was my initial goal as well) What you want is something that is a 1.33x adapter to unsqueeze the 16:9 into what would almost be a perfect 2.40 stretch, but there would still be a little bit of height to trim off.

 

 

Nico, you were clear in my mind, but I imagine for others who literally don't have the Isco lens in front of them or have ever used it, that's where the confusion comes in. I certainly would love the lens to be something more like a f/1.4 and higher quality glass, but other than those issues, I've been damn pleased with it. Sounds like you enjoyr yours too.

[Hampus Bystrom]

I've been dying to shoot some anamorphic with my Mark II. Does anybody know what this is? http://cgi.ebay.com/Isco-Iscorama-Anamorph...93%3A1|294%3A50

[Tom Lowe]

What you want is something that is a 1.33x adapter to unsqueeze the 16:9 into what would almost be a perfect 2.40 stretch, but there would still be a little bit of height to trim off.

 

Phil, so this would be an adapter for a FF35mm lens, or a 1.33x anamorphic lens itself? Does such a lens exist for full-frame 35mm?

 

Do you think a 1.33x or 1.50 squeeze could kill some of the moire patten artifacts? If you have a 1.50 or a 1.33 adapter, could you try shooting some brick walls, for example, then shoot the same wall with a regular still lens, and see if the artifacts can be contained by squeezing the image? I am dying to figure out a way to kill this stupid moire nonsense. It's ruined several good shots for me.

 

Thanks, Phil!!

[Leo Anthony Vale]

I've been dying to shoot some anamorphic with my Mark II. Does anybody know what this is? http://cgi.ebay.com/Isco-Iscorama-Anamorph...93%3A1|294%3A50

 

It's an early model Iscorama attachment. It originally would have had a 50mm camera lens, which in would screw into, and it would also go on to a slide projector lens.

 

Unlike Nico's lens, you would have no problem screwing this into a 50mm lens which has 58mm filter threads or use an adapter ring.

 

The rear element is quite small. The camera lens' front element needs to be the same size or smaller, else you'll get the vignetting Ph.Holland's had with the 100mm.

An f/3.5 0r f/4 100mm ought to be okay.

[Chris Gloag]

It's an early model Iscorama attachment. It originally would have had a 50mm camera lens, which in would screw into, and it would also go on to a slide projector lens.

 

Unlike Nico's lens, you would have no problem screwing this into a 50mm lens which has 58mm filter threads or use an adapter ring.

 

The rear element is quite small. The camera lens' front element needs to be the same size or smaller, else you'll get the vignetting Ph.Holland's had with the 100mm.

An f/3.5 0r f/4 100mm ought to be okay.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=130316439314

 

Leo,

 

Is this lens as same as Nico's model? Or as same as that early model Iscorama attachment?

 

Chris

[Jonne Ollakka]

Hi all!

 

I keep getting refs from this thread to my flickr, so I might as well write something here.

 

My Iscorama clips on Vimeo: http://www.vimeo.com/6081756

 

I've been using the Iscorama front, the 50/2.8 front with 49mm thread, on my Arax 80/2.8 tilt/shift. Works great. One guy on cinema5d.com has used it with the Nikon 50/1.8D fine also. I've been testing other lenses as well, the EF50/1.2L should work fine once I get a 72-52mm step-down ring and then add a 52-49. It needs two rings to get as close to the fifty as possible. It works with all of my six 72-49 rings too, but the vignette is a bit too much. I wouldn't mind some light fall off, but this is actual vignette. Cutting down six rings to two will probably cut down on the dark corners on the 50/1.2.

 

I also have an M42 lens, a lovely Helios 44-M (58mm f/2), that should work fine. The Helios is almost able to grab the threads of the 52-49 ring on the Iscorama. I need to take out the glass of a 49mm UV filter and use it as a spacer. I have one, just need to find it..

 

Basically, you can use the Iscorama on anything that has a deep enough recessed front. Sharpness really picks up with newer lenses on it. And apparently flares too with the Nikon's larger aperture.

 

Flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/graciform/set...57616802489169/

My photoblog (turning 5 about now!): http://graciform.my-expressions.com/index.html

 

/Jonne

[Jonne Ollakka]

A shot with the Canon EF 50/1.2L and Iscorama 36 front. The still was first cropped to 16:9 as it would be in video mode and then stretched to 2.40:1. There's some vignetting in the still images, but video crops most of it.

 

/Jonne

[Jean Dodge]

Glad to see you join the disucssion Jonne. Your experiences are helpful to hear.

 

I'm curious what anyone thinks about the idea of adapting the Russian 35mm cine mount lenses to a Canon camera. Having a cine lens with the attendant rack focus control and spacing seems like a no-brainer for achieving quality, careful motion picture use.

 

Having said that, how would anyone who has experience with the iscoscope lens AND has shot and or assisted w 35mm motion picture lenses compare the two?

 

I'd be curious to see what a Clairmount tilt-shift lens rig in the hands of Jonne would be like, especially if it was mounted with a cine anamorphic lens to it, if that were even possible given the weight.

[Maximiliaan Dierickx]

Thanks to everyone for the lovely help out here, especially Phil!.. This thread has been very useful!

 

What are the general ideas about doing rack focus with an isocrama lens?

 

I think I'm going for an Eos 1D MrkIV setup for the iscorama lens because of the crop factor, but what do you think about it, because I have never seen any 1D MrkIV footage so far..

 

And final question.. I can't seem to find a single good iscorama lens on the net for sale.. I found a Iscorama 42, but Phil told me this lens is certainly not as interesting as the 36.. Any ideas?

[Saba Mazloum]

Can anyone tell me where i could get these ISCORAMA lens? or if anyone here is selling one?

 

Thanks

[Phil Holland]

It's been a while since I've visited this thread and I thought I'd update it with some answers to questions and some new thoughts.

 

First some replies:

 

Tom - Moire patterns still exist with the anamorphic. I feel, like you, that this is one of the major issues with this camera. However, there are many ways to correct it in post via After Effects and Photoshop. Especially if you have CS4.

 

Jonne - Nice stuff! I've tried adapting it to the 50mm f/1.2L as well and I'm not in love with the vignetting sadly. I have a Nikon 50mm f/1.8D as well, and it's very nice. However the problem with using all of these other lenses with the Isco front seems to be the barrel distortion being exagerated. The Isco base 50mm prime is actually a pretty "flat" lens, but really isn't anything special optically beyond that.

 

Jean - Comparing cinema anamorphics with the Isco isn't a great path to go down. I find that Panavisions anamorphics are much nicer to use (more flexible in terms of focal length at least) and sharper. That said, you can indeed shoot something with the Isco as you can pull focus just by adjusting the front element. It's best to lock down the front adapter with the lens via tape or even rubber cement though as it does have a little play. In use you'll want to get a few diopters to have a fully capable lens. I use a 0.5 and 1 a lot. 4 is nice for really close up stuff.

 

Maxim - The reason I mentioned that the Isco 36 is the most interesting out of the lot of the Isco lenses is that it's pretty quick and easy to adapt to a Canon camera and start shooting. The Isco 54 is a hard lens to find and getting a good copy of the lens is going to cost you upwards of $2k in my experience. I paid $500 for my Isco 36 when I purchased it, but now since everybody and their cousin is buying them ebay prices are soaring to upwards of $1500. Sadly I had access to six of these at the timeI bought mine and should have bought all of them. Rack focusing isn't a problem, but again, you'll want to secure the lens nicely and use some sort of gear ring adapter. I'm using one from Redrock Micro.

 

Saba - Isco discontinued the lens a while ago and I even called them up to discuss manufacturing new lenses, but they seem focused on the projector market and I didn't gain much ground there. Best bet to find one = Ebay.

 

On to some pictures.

 

Again, I got into the anamorphic on full frame dSLRs before video came about and was more interested in the shooting stills in anamorphic. Here are few shots I took while shooting on Marmaduke in Vancouver last year (yeesh! 2009 is gone already?)

 

Shot with the Isco on the plane, at f/2.8. -bigger

 

Japadog. -bigger

 

From the balcony of the hotel. -bigger

 

I'm doing more testing with the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 and the Isco combination these days, but the above are all from the stock 50mm f/2.8 lens that comes from with the Isco.

 

 

What am I working on right now?

 

Here's me being a ham and testing out my 100mm f/2 2x anamorphic. I dropped in a new anamorphic element to test it out. Mostly for sharpness.

The bottom two frames are from the Isco however.

 

Here's the squeezed and unsqueezed versions.

 

Sharpness is good, but I'm getting some ghosting, but keep in mind this is the full resolution of the camera.

 

Again, sharpness not to shabby. Minus the motion blur that is.

 

 

I've been working harder on getting a more flexible 2x. I've spoken two three companies and have recieved quotes, but it's an expensive world in the anamorphic universe. I'm considering building a front side adapter that will work with lenses around 35mm wide and up on full frame 35mm, but again the cost is.... erm.... costly.

[Hunter Hampton]

I just got some of my 2x lomo roundfront anamorphics on my 5d mark 2 via an oct-19/eos adapter. Really fun for the video mode because you can extract the full 4-perf anamorphic gate size from the sensor- in fact im extracting an image about 22mm tall with the 75mm, its basically like holding a lens with a camera attached to the back:

 

Test Clips: http://vimeo.com/9116034

[Thomas Dobbie]

Hi,

I've just discovered this thread,fascinating stuff.

I picked up an Optex 1.33 anamorphic adapter on ebay,bought on a whim.

These were apparently made for the BBC to use with their SD video cameras to enable them to shoot 16.9.

I've been using it on a Panasonic GH1 with various lenses,but without much success,in fact I was about to sell it.

Thought I would give it a last chance and managed with the aid of various step up/down rings to fit it onto a Zeiss/Hasselblad 50mm and suddenly everything changed.Sharpness is acceptable and the flares are good.

Finding the correct host lens seems to be the key,coverage is sufficient for a cropped sensor DSLR like the 7D,but I've also tried it on the Hasselblad with a P45+ digital back.Although there's quite a bit of cut off,as one would expect,the results are very encouraging.

I'm still playing,but when I get the chance I'll post some results.My next step is to try and get it onto my Red.

I can see though that I've started something which I know is going to lead to an expensive obsession.

 

Tom.

[Olivier Koos]

I am selling my Iscorama 54, anyone interested?

 

O.

[Maximiliaan Dierickx]

How much Olivier?

[smelson languedoc]

Hello, I am just wondering where could I get my hands on an anamorphic lens for either a 7D or 5D Mark ii. Also how much would it cost me?

 

Please respond!!!

[David Mullen ASC]

Hello, I am just wondering where could I get my hands on an anamorphic lens for either a 7D or 5D Mark ii. Also how much would it cost me?

 

Please respond!!!

 

Feeling rich?

 

The problem isn't the lens, though you probably can't afford it, it's the fact that cine lenses, usually PL-mount, have a deep flange depth so you'd have to permanently disable your mirror in your DSLR and rely on Live View only. Plus get a PL-mount, then somehow afford to buy PL-mount anamorphic lenses.

 

http://www.redheadwindscreens.com/indy-fil...ot-rod-cameras/

 

http://www.mbf.de/116-1-PL-Mount-fuer-Canon-EOS-7D.html

Please note:

The adaptor only works for the following lenses:

Angenieux Optimo 24-290 mm

Arri Shift & Tilt (also 5D-2)

Century Series 2000 200/300 mm (5D-3 also)

 

http://www.fdtimes.com/news/?cat=25

http://www.hotrodcameras.com/products/lens...mount-and-mods/

 

http://anamorphic.biz/

http://rafcamera.com/lomo-square-front-ana...ount-p-636.html

http://www.insyncpubs.com/storeNew.asp?id=14

[Brian Drysdale]

I'm assuming he might mean something similar to the lens attachment that people put in front of their MiniDV cameras to convert it from 4x3 to 16:9, rather than a full cine lenses.

 

http://www.gthelectronics.com/images/ANAMORPW.PDF

 

Best thing might be to get hold of one these and test it with various lenses, although I wouldn't expect too much quality wise.

[Jonne Ollakka]

Or he's after an Iscorama type deal, but that's just me speculating out of the blue. Seriously, did you guys even peek at the first two pages? :)

 

Anyway, I was out with the Arax 80mm tilt and Isco front today, but the sun quickly escaped and the skies turned dark. Maybe I'll get something tomorrow evening. First I have to get trough a few hours of aikido (10AM-4PM). We're doing a one day seminar of jo 31-kata.

[Jonne Ollakka]

A nice Iscorama flare: Holy thursday

 

Arax 80mm t/s and the Iscorama.

[Bruce Taylor]

For a reasonable price, Hunter's set-up is probably the way to go with the OCT19 Russian mount. The FFD is 9mm greater for the OCT19 mount than the PL (61mm vs 52mm), which makes mounting it on the 7D easy, no mirror clearance issues for most OCT19 lenses. Steve Morton or Aranda Film makes the adapter for $500, and Lomo roundfront anamorphics go for about $3k each, or rent them.

 

Bruce Taylor

[Hal Smith]

PV adapters are on the way for EOS mounts. I'm not certain if that's supposed to be public knowledge just yet but they currently are in manufacture and soon it will be possible to rent Panavision anamorphics to hang off of 7D's. I don't know if you'll have to buy the adapter yourself or only rent it from Panavision.

[Phil Holland]

David is certainly correct about many PL lenses having that deep flange. That said the full cost of a 7D type body (maybe 60D very soon) is not too expensive. Most PL mount adapter range from $300 to $750. Which isn't too bad at all. Many good machinists might be able to tackle that at a cheaper price, but since fractions of an inch can effect your focus, I wouldn't skimp on the adapter.

 

I can confirm that PV->EF adapters work very well on the 7D. I haven't seen any mass production units floating around, but I have seen some custom machined units. Panavision anamorphics are very nice in general. I think for many people who are new to the cinema lenses and have a still background will indeed be shocked by their size.

 

Here's a few anamorphic stills to add to the pool in this thread:

 

Iscorama 50mm 1.5X (with a Nikon 50mm f/1.8 behind the adapter for that extra bit of light)

 

- bigger

 

- bigger

 

- bigger

 

- bigger

 

- bigger

 

- bigger

 

And here's a 100mm 2X collage from that same beach.

 

- bigger

 

I'm still working on building a 35mm-40mm 2x, but I've had to put that on the back burner.

[Phil Holland]

However, something I did acquire this year in cinema glass, but non anamorphic flavor is a very rare Century Precision Optics 600mm f/4.5 that can be adapted to full frame cameras just fine. I spoke to Schnieder Optics who now own Century Precision. This lens was made in the early 80's and there were likely less than 25 ever manufactured. Holds up pretty well with tele-converters as well. I've even tried stacking 2 2X TCs, but that's really hurting in the aperture/light loss department. It does however occasionally vignette on the 3.2:1 frame, but 16:9 in video mode on these "lil digi VistaVision" cameras works fine. Just a little daunting shooting at this length.

 

- bigger

 

- bigger

 

- bigger

 

1200mm with a 2X TC - bigger

 

- bigger

 

100% crop of above - bigger

 

2400mm with 2 2X TCs. The real issue is that at this length atmospheric and heat distortion start to polute the image. The 2nd converter also destroys a good amount of sharpness and contrast. - bigger

 

However, if you are going for an epic moon shot, this is a full frame image at 2400mm, which I think is pretty nice. - bigger

 

This is a 300mm frame for comparison. - bigger

 

- bigger

 

Phil

[Phil Rhodes]

Crikey, where's that industrial plant? Looks great.