Anamorphic Lens for K3

Micah Ellars · December 5, 2004

Hi everyone,

I am currently looking for a nice anamorphic lens for my k3. Does anyone know a good place to find one? Or does anyone have one? I realize that, most likely there wont be any made for the k3, so I will have to get creative and build a rig to mount the lens. But, what lens in particular should I go for? Does any one anamorhpic lens stand out for anyone? Right now I don't care as much if its 16X9 or 2.5:1. All advice on this topic is greatly appreciated, and I would like to thank everyone in advance.

Thanks,

Micah

René · December 8, 2004

Hi Micah,

I've been looking for the same thing. It seems that m42 anamorphic lenses are very rare to come across and so are 77mm adapters. I think Iscorama-54 has a 77m thread (see this page), but I've not been able to find one.

Have you considered just converting to S16. That's what I'm doing.

Good luck and let me know if you find something.

René.

Jonathan Spear · December 8, 2004

Hey,

Not to diss your camera (I would love to own a K-3), but isn't putting an anamorphic lens on a K-3 kind of like buying a DTS-ES/DOLBY DIGITAL 6.1 surround sound system for a 13" black and white TV?

:blink:

I wouldn't be surprised if converting to S16 instead would save you a ton of $, and I hear decent anamorphic lenses cost an arm and a leg.

-T

Edited December 8, 2004 by TSM

René · December 8, 2004

Yes, I also think converting it to S16 would be a better option. You nearly have the 1.85 ratio and you get a lot of extra image area and thus better picture quality.

You don't have to spend the full 250 dollar if you just want your gate widened. I had mine done for free by a friend who works at a hardware store and I'm sure you could work out a nice deal with your local store. Just make shure it's done accurately.

René.

Micah Ellars · December 9, 2004

Yes, I also think converting it to S16 would be a better option. You nearly have the 1.85 ratio and you get a lot of extra image area and thus better picture quality.

You don't have to spend the full 250 dollar if you just want your gate widened. I had mine done for free by a friend who works at a hardware store and I'm sure you could work out a nice deal with your local store. Just make shure it's done accurately.

René.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the advice, was your s16 modification done preices enough that you can zoom while filming without distortion? I was actually planning on upgrading to s16mm and aquiring an anamorphic lens if possible. Then I would get increased qaulity as well as aspect ratio. Let me know what you think.

Thanks

dangertree · December 9, 2004

Thanks for the advice, was your s16 modification done preices enough that you can zoom while filming without distortion? I was actually planning on upgrading to s16mm and aquiring an anamorphic lens if possible. Then I would get increased qaulity as well as aspect ratio. Let me know what you think.

Thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Is zooming while filming something you want to do? It rarely adds production value, and is generally to be avoided.

René · December 9, 2004

Thanks for the advice, was your s16 modification done preices enough that you can zoom while filming without distortion? I was actually planning on upgrading to s16mm and aquiring an anamorphic lens if possible. Then I would get increased qaulity as well as aspect ratio. Let me know what you think.

Thanks

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My conversion was done very accurately. The machine can do it with a precision of 1/10th of a mm. But the zooming problem occurs because the centre of the image formed by the lens is not in the centre of the groundglass/filmgate. Therefor zooming won't be straight. This is because only one side of the gate is widened. You might be able to do an ultra-16 conversion, which widens the gate on both sides, leaving the centre where it was, but I think it's not as common and you'd have to check with you transfer house whether they can handle it.

As for using both an anamorphic lens and Super16, It's not done very often I think, beacuse an anamorphic lens usually softens the image quite a bit. And using Super16 can get you to 1.85 with very little cropping.

I've actually had the same plan of using them both, but I found a lot of info in this topic at filmshooting.com.

Please correct me if any of this information is incorrect, beacause I'm also just learning this stuff.

Hope this helps,

René.

Max Jacoby · December 9, 2004

Is zooming while filming something you want to do? It rarely adds production value, and is generally to be avoided.

I love zooms. If they are well done they can be very nice. Check out some of Stanley Kubrick's films for great use of zooms.

cineshooter · December 9, 2004

Try this before you make yourself completely nuts.....I had a K-3 a few years ago (fun little camera).....I also had an early 70's Mamiya 35mm SLR with the c-mount lens.....(screw on type)...low and behold the SLR lenses fit the K-3....I did a few testes and wham-o the film plane was even in focus....I was then able to use my 35mm SLR lenes on my K-3.....those old mount lenes are pretty easy to find at old camera stores.....look for the best ones you can find and test them out on your K-3 Once you do that you'll need to remeber that these lense are not the mm's in 16 that they are for 35 ...

Best of luck

Oh, and no I no longer have the cameras or the lenses, my entire bag got stolen off a job a couple of years ago...

JD

www.cineshooter.com

Chris Keth · December 10, 2004

Once you do that you'll need to remeber that these lense are not the mm's in 16 that they are for 35 ...

JD

www.cineshooter.com

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Those lenses ARE still the same focal length in a 16mm camera as when they're on a 35mm camera. They don't just magically change. It's just an apparent change since the dimensions of the film are smaller.

Sorry, that particular bit of spread misinformation irks me.

cineshooter · December 10, 2004

Those lenses ARE still the same focal length in a 16mm camera as when they're on a 35mm camera. They don't just magically change. It's just an apparent change since the dimensions of the film are smaller.

Sorry, that particular bit of spread misinformation irks me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK, let me clear up what I mean....the numbers on the lens are still the same, however the lenses will behave as lenses with double the focal length of the stated focal length on the lens....for example a 50mm lens for a 35mm camera will give the fielsd of view of a 100mm lens for a 16mm camera...it's been a while since I did these conversions but if I am not mistaken these are the way things react...

JD

www.cineshooter.com