Anamorphic rental on the east coast

Jeremy Russell · October 4, 2005

Hi,

I'm gearing up for a spec commercial I am directing, and after being shot down by panavision, my DP and I are searching for a rental house/DP to rent some anamorphic lenses from. I'm reasonably versed in the types and brands available. I did some reasearch, and CSC doesn't seem to rent anamorphics, Abelcine who we are renting the 35 package from (aaton 35-III) doesn't have them, and Panavision seems to be reserving them for big budget productions.

Are there any rental houses I am missing, or is there someone who would be willing to rent them to us for a weekend? My shoot dates are October 28, 29, 30.

Cheers,

Jeremy Russell

Joseph White · October 4, 2005

Hi,

I'm gearing up for a spec commercial I am directing, and after being shot down by panavision, my DP and I are searching for a rental house/DP to rent some anamorphic lenses from. I'm reasonably versed in the types and brands available. I did some reasearch, and CSC doesn't seem to rent anamorphics, Abelcine who we are renting the 35 package from (aaton 35-III) doesn't have them, and Panavision seems to be reserving them for big budget productions.

Are there any rental houses I am missing, or is there someone who would be willing to rent them to us for a weekend? My shoot dates are October 28, 29, 30.

Cheers,

Jeremy Russell

Joe Dunton rents really nice anamorphic lenses out of North Carolina and the UK. You can find their site at www.joedunton.com

I'd also contact Clairmont as they can definitely ship you glass. They have a pretty decent asortment of anamorphic zooms and primes at an array of rates - from their inexpensive Clairmont Anamorphics to the newer Hawk Anamorphic lenses (personal favorite). you can check them out at www.clairmont.com. i've had clairmont ship me cameras and lenses all over the place, including madison, wisconsin in the dead of winter and everything performed beautifully.

since its a commercial, not finishing on film, have you considered shooting Super 35mm? if you're going for 2.35:1 you can get it with Super and you'll have a lot of low-cost choices. and since you're shooting aaton you can shoot 3-perf and save yourself a lot of film. but if you want the qualities of anamorphic glass, then obviously shoot anamorphic, but if you're just looking to shoot widescreen, this might be a good option.

Jeremy Russell · October 4, 2005

Joe Dunton rents really nice anamorphic lenses out of North Carolina and the UK. You can find their site at www.joedunton.com

I'd also contact Clairmont as they can definitely ship you glass. They have a pretty decent asortment of anamorphic zooms and primes at an array of rates - from their inexpensive Clairmont Anamorphics to the newer Hawk Anamorphic lenses (personal favorite). you can check them out at www.clairmont.com. i've had clairmont ship me cameras and lenses all over the place, including madison, wisconsin in the dead of winter and everything performed beautifully.

since its a commercial, not finishing on film, have you considered shooting Super 35mm? if you're going for 2.35:1 you can get it with Super and you'll have a lot of low-cost choices. and since you're shooting aaton you can shoot 3-perf and save yourself a lot of film. but if you want the qualities of anamorphic glass, then obviously shoot anamorphic, but if you're just looking to shoot widescreen, this might be a good option.

Joseph,

Thanks a lot, I'm pretty sure this will solve our problems. As far as going for super 35, the reason that we want to shoot anamorphic is because we want to take advantage of the specific qualities that the lenses have to offer.

Thanks again,

Jeremy

David Mullen ASC · October 5, 2005

I believe Handheld Films (?) in Manhatten has a set of Hawks, but otherwise for PL-mount anamorphics, it's a sub-rental from Joe Dunton in North Carolina, Clairmont in Los Angeles, or overseas.

Panavision anamorphics would only be used on Panavision cameras.

Stephen Williams · October 5, 2005

Panavision anamorphics would only be used on Panavision cameras.

Hi,

Its quite possible to put a Panavision mount on other cameras.

Stephen

andrewbuchanan · October 5, 2005

JDC has been really great when I have rented from them in the past, I don't know the others, but I recommend JDC highly. Good luck.

timHealy · October 5, 2005

I worked on Kinsey, shot in the NYC area, and Fred Elmes got the camera from CSC and the scope lenses from JDC. And David is right, Marc at Handheld has some and he once extended the offer to me to come over and check them out in the shop. I'm sure he would do the same for anyone.

Tim