Atlas Lens Co. - Orion Anamorphic Lenses

Ignacio Aguilar · June 20, 2018

I've already had the chance to try and test the first three lenses: 40-65-100mm.

They are very well built, with nice markings, very robust end stops for the scales and mechanics that feel very solid. They are close in shape and weight to Panavision G-Series anamorphics, with 114mm fronts, so those used to Master Primes or S4 will feel like they are still using a spherical setup, which is nice these days with the smaller cameras we are getting used to.

Wide-Open they are a bit soft and focus can be very tricky, but they are usable at T2.0 if you need to or happen to like the "out of focus" look. By T2.8 they are sharp and contrasty enough and they look terrific between T4.0 and T8.0, with T5.6 being probably the sweet-spot (as happens with most anamorphics out there), with very fine details in the image being shown and a lot of sharpness. The flares are very classic, with the blue streak line you associate with vintage Panavisions or Todd-AO 35's. I would have liked to test how they hold against windows and hot practical sources, but I barely had them in my hands for about an hour.

If you use them wide-open you may notice that the bokeh is not a perfect oval, which is specially noticiable on the 100mm. You need to close a bit to get it. Maybe the T2.0 is a bit generous marking too, but nothing too dramatic.

Overall they are a no brainer and they are going to be extremely popular IMHO. Mr. Kanes and Mr. Schulz from Atlas Lens Co. have done a very good job!

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