What are some decent (and hopefully cheap) anamorphic lens adapters for DSLR's ?

Liam Howlett · June 2, 2010

I'm looking to get an anamorphic lens or an adapter that can go with my Canon T2i but I'm not acquainted nor know any in the first place.

Can anybody here provide a couple of good brand names, and maybe models for some?

I saw a video on Vimeo on about an AG-7200 adapter and that looks really good.

but then I also discovered about Iscorama 36 1.5x anamorphic adapter here - http://vimeo.com/10175596 and THAT caught my attention as well, but it's a bit pricey.

Here's an example of an Iscorama adapter

there's also a Sankor/Kowa

and those look great too.

Anybody in the know have any suggestions on which one to go with? WITH the budget in mind AND second option being without the budget in mind.

Thanks, I really appreciate it

jacob thomas · June 3, 2010

I'm looking to get an anamorphic lens or an adapter that can go with my Canon T2i but I'm not acquainted nor know any in the first place.

Can anybody here provide a couple of good brand names, and maybe models for some?

I saw a video on Vimeo on about an AG-7200 adapter and that looks really good.

but then I also discovered about Iscorama 36 1.5x anamorphic adapter here - http://vimeo.com/10175596 and THAT caught my attention as well, but it's a bit pricey.

Here's an example of an Iscorama adapter

there's also a Sankor/Kowa

and those look great too.

Anybody in the know have any suggestions on which one to go with? WITH the budget in mind AND second option being without the budget in mind.

Thanks, I really appreciate it

I'm pretty sure the sankor/kowa adapters are designed for 16mm and therefore have small rear elements which would only be useful for long lenses on a aps-c camera like the T2i or the 7D. Century and panasonic make anamorphic adapters for video cameras with a 1.33x squeeze factor which would be perfect as it would give a roughly 2.35 aspect ratio on a 16:9 camera.

At the moment nikon and m42 mount Iscorama 50mm 2.8 anamorphics are going for about $2k on ebay presumably because people like to use them on HDSLRs. The iscorama's are generally 2x squeeze factor meaning you'd get a very wide frame.

That is what I'd get and preferably mount it on a 5D or a D3 if money was not a factor.

Here's a couple:

Iscorama 50mm 2.8

Another Iscorama 50mm 2.8

Edited June 3, 2010 by jacob thomas

Mei Lewis · June 3, 2010

Here's an example of an Iscorama adapter

You could get a very similar look to that just by using an ordinary wide angle lens and cropping the top and bottom off the frame.

The lens flares would look slightly different and maybe the bokeh too, but in this particular image the difference wouldn't be very big as there's no bokeh to speak of and the flares are very undefined.

All the NIL (non-imaging light) surrounding the rear light sources could be exaggerated by using a cheap lens or putting a not too clean filter on which usually makes that artifact worse (like it is here).

Mei Lewis · June 3, 2010

The NIL is what you usually try to avoid by flagging the rear lights. See the second image here:

http://missionphotographic.com/five-point-lighting/

jacob thomas · June 3, 2010

Sorry the nikon mount iscoramas are actually 1.5x squeeze factor.

See this thread for more information Anamorphic for Canon 5d mkII

Liam Howlett · June 5, 2010

Sorry the nikon mount iscoramas are actually 1.5x squeeze factor.

See this thread for more information Anamorphic for Canon 5d mkII

Yeah the Iscorama is something I'm probably eventually going to get in the future - money is an issue afterall, i just wanted to know if it wasn't an issue, what adapter/lens I should go with.

For now however, I need something cheaper if it exists. I'm talking under 1K, maybe even a few hundred bucks, like I said - if it exists.

One thing I don't like about the Sankor/Kowa is that they're tooooooooo wide. I like the 2.35 the most and it seems only Iscorama can produce that, not to mention the flares distortion it produces is quite sick.

Andrew Reid EOSHD · June 11, 2011

The Iscroama 36 is beautiful but some of the other Iscoramas are multicoated and don't have the trademark anamorphic flare as much as the 36 does.

Yet they still go for very high prices. So you need to be careful over what to buy. Here is a comparison showing how my multicoated (MC) Isco anamorphic compares to the Kowa 2x and Panasonic LA7200 1.33x

http://www.eoshd.com/content/538/anamorphic-flare-shootout-kowa-la7200-isco

The square-front Russian LOMO anamorphic lenses are very authentic looking as is the Kowa Prominar 2x, though focussing with these lenses is quite difficult.

These are 2x lenses, you can achieve a less severe aspect ratio with workflow methods. The LA7200 is good but you need diopters to shoot with fast lenses or achieve a close focus.

I have written a guide on anamorphic lenses for those looking to buy one and get the best out of it:

http://www.eoshd.com/anamorphic-guide

Also here is my review of the Kowa lens and some footage shot with a very cheap Optex adapter, similar to the LA7200:

http://www.eoshd.com/content/558/kowa-prominar-for-bell-amp-howell-anamorphic-lens-review

http://vimeo.com/15543342

Edited June 11, 2011 by Andrew Reid EOSHD

Chris Keth · June 11, 2011

Sorry the nikon mount iscoramas are actually 1.5x squeeze factor.

See this thread for more information Anamorphic for Canon 5d mkII

I think 1.5x is preferable to 2x for DSLR work and here's why:

You're already recording 16:9 so the 1.5x makes it 24:9 which is 2.667:1. You'll already crop the sides by 10% to get to scope aspect ratio.

If you use a 2x anamorphic adapter, you'll have to crop out about 33% of your frame to get scope. That's just a huge waste of resolution, in my opinion.

Nate Opgenorth · January 5, 2013

I hate to necro post and revive a dead thread but are there any plans that anyone is aware (and privy to telling us) of more 1.33x squeeze or even 1.5x anamorphic lenses or better yet adapters that would be usable on a variety of platforms preferably DSLR's? I know about the Hawk V-lites and those got me excited but I don't see my self owning PL mount glass when I only own DSLR's....The AG7200 seams like the best choice but I'd preferably like to NOT spend more than 800 USD on an anamorphic lens/adapter....How hard would it be to make an anamorphic lens that didn't degrade quality substantially? I know I've seen guides for home theater projectors but I suppose thats a bit different? I'm asking because I'm sort of a nut for shooting in scope and shooting flat and then cropping just doesn't feel the same...I can't even find a place that'll rent AG7200's or Kowa's or Iscorama's...keep in mind I will be shooting on a full frame but have a APS-C DSLR for back up if I have no choice, hence why the AG7200 sounds nice! Always wanted to throw it on a variety of cameras like medium format stills, Super 8, etc. (I know I'm strange but this stuff is what I love more than anything!). Thanks in advance.

Paul Bartok · January 5, 2013

I hate to necro post and revive a dead thread but are there any plans that anyone is aware (and privy to telling us) of more 1.33x squeeze or even 1.5x anamorphic lenses or better yet adapters that would be usable on a variety of platforms preferably DSLR's? I know about the Hawk V-lites and those got me excited but I don't see my self owning PL mount glass when I only own DSLR's....The AG7200 seams like the best choice but I'd preferably like to NOT spend more than 800 USD on an anamorphic lens/adapter....How hard would it be to make an anamorphic lens that didn't degrade quality substantially? I know I've seen guides for home theater projectors but I suppose thats a bit different? I'm asking because I'm sort of a nut for shooting in scope and shooting flat and then cropping just doesn't feel the same...I can't even find a place that'll rent AG7200's or Kowa's or Iscorama's...keep in mind I will be shooting on a full frame but have a APS-C DSLR for back up if I have no choice, hence why the AG7200 sounds nice! Always wanted to throw it on a variety of cameras like medium format stills, Super 8, etc. (I know I'm strange but this stuff is what I love more than anything!). Thanks in advance.

Its not weird at all I'm really itching to see if the AG7200 could work on medium format film, that would be awesome.

Nate Opgenorth · January 6, 2013

Its not weird at all I'm really itching to see if the AG7200 could work on medium format film, that would be awesome.

Glad I'm not alone! I first thought of it when I saw people flocking to the AG7200 for DSLR video (unfortunately I was 2 years late, could have had one for $400> a few years ago >:\ ) and I wondered about stills since I always like anamorphic artifacts and wider aspect ratios. The AG7200 for stills on a 35mm would bring the aspect ratio to about 2.00:1 pretty cool stuff! Then I remembered some of the few movies like Ben-Hur and Lawrence of Arabia shot in Ultra Panavision 70 and after seeing The Dark Knight Rises I really loved the photochem finish and the anamorphic 35mm scenes stood out as shockingly beautiful.

One day me and a friend went on a shoot in an old factory and we got to the roof and you could see just miles and miles of highway and city and I told him to grab his Pentax 6x7 camera out, I felt like that square aspect ratio didn't do justice to the scenery...I researched and saw a few lone wolfs ask about anamorphic solutions on several forums and most people (even DP's) just replied "Crop the frame its got enough rez" and I get that, I mean when I saw for the first time a medium format negative it was quite shocking and then to see a shot from a Mamiya 6 drum scanned at 150MP's something like that and to go to a 100% view and see every single little detail resolved I realized how incredibly awesome larger formats can be. I think part of being a Photographer, DP or Director even is establishing a certain look, Chris Nolan and Wally Pfister together make beautiful movies (duh) and everyone knows it but when I watch any movie that those two made I recognize it, most likely from the mix of formats and the look.

I think people should be a bit more open to crazy ideas and at least TRY them! I think had I had the funds for the AG7200 at the time I would have bought it and thrown it on anything with a lens just to see how it looked because very often innovation is just stumbled upon. I love the look of anamorphic 70mm (although 2.75:1 is a tad bit too wide for my taste, nothing over 2.55:1 for me but I won't complain), it has a hint of that anamorphic look I love but the wide shots are so detailed it makes me feel silly inside! Theres allot you can do with ANY camera at ANY location to make an image but when I see a vast landscape I automatically think of large formats and I automatically think of anamorphic. Maybe someone will offer the AG7200 for rental and I'll rent a Pentax 645D and experiment with some 1.78:1 medium format prints! I'll probably get a few dirty looks from naysayers thinking I cropped, so Ill have to pull a JJ Abrams and have 3 or 4 people run out in front of the camera with flash lights to get some blue streaks (kidding).

In all seriousness though If you have the cash I would jump on the AG7200, I've seen a few excellent short films where it was used on the 5D Mk.II/III, 1D Mk.IV, Nikon D800 and a few others, pretty sure I saw some Super 16 footage as well. I had a few discussions with owners of it and asked about the difficulty of using it, some shots like macro shots were more difficult but a few sequences where you use spherical only and just crop isn't gonna hurt a film. Its nice because it can technically adapt to pretty much any lens with a 77mm diameter filter size, so I don't think you'd run into issues using it on larger format cameras, works great on the 5D which is a VistaVision sized frame (8-perf film equivalent). Close focus stuff is hard but you can use diopeters (sp?), even with the close focus issues I can't say I'd complain, I know the Panavision anamorphics had at one point issues with that. I know you can't go too wide on the focal length. I'd really like to see someone manufacture some affordable 1.33x adapters and lenses for the DSLR market...Hawk V-Lites are expensive from what I've heard too. I think 1.33x adapters would have great market potential too, Allot of 16:9 sensor cameras and allot of movies still in scope with a good amount of people who appreciate the anamorphic look. Also instead of converting 4-perf cameras to 3-perf you could throw on an adapter that wouldn't squeeze it all the way to 2.35:1 but only to 16:9~ then unsqueeze in the digital intermediate. Just my .02 cents....

Paul Bartok · January 6, 2013

I feel very similarly about most of that as well, I think 2k for a anamorphic adapter is a ripoff and shocked that no professional company has made cheap adapters I mean if I can buy a Canon 50mm f.18 for $120, then a anamorphic adapter should be around 300-400 and they would sell like crazy. Theres a homemade adapter you can buy but not to sure about it atm.

I can't seem to get my head around the anamorphic calculation my Mamiya rb67 has a back of 6x4.5 or 1:35:1 so I think with my 90mm lens it should equal 2.35:1 with the AG7200 any ideas?