16:9 anamorphic lenses

[choirislife923]

what are the cheapest ones you have seen? the cheapest i have seen online goes for $800. I am looking for really cheap ones...as in less than $100. If wide angle lenses can go for $32, why can't anamorphics...

[energy80s]

Simply because there is a lot more glass in an anamorphic lens! Expect to pay upwards of 500 quid for one (unless you can get one secondhand). Remember to always put it on straight (I have seen some footage meant for broadcast that was way off line) and don't zoom through more than about 25% of the focal length or things will go out of focus and distort.

[choirislife923]

darn...is there any way one can makeone themselves?

[BJ_M]

sure -- you start with some sand .........................

[choirislife923]

sure -- you start with some sand .........................

..............................cant u buy the lenses and assmble the construction is a better way of wording my question

[Steve Stepoway]

Simply because there is a lot more glass in an anamorphic lens!

Not exactly. Glass is cheap. The problem is that non-anamorphic lenses (often refered to as spherical lenses) are, well, spherical. More importantly, they are radially symmetric. Because of that they are much easier to manufacture. An anamorphic lens has to bend light more in one direction than in another, and is thus more complex to grind. That, coupled with a small demand, makes them expensive.

Remember to always put it on straight (I have seen some footage meant for broadcast that was way off line) and don't zoom through more than about 25% of the focal length or things will go out of focus and distort.

Exactly right.You have to be careful.

[FulciLives]

@choirislife923

Well it says you are in the USA so I am assuming you are shooting NTSC

There is a "trick" you can use to get 16x9 anamorphic image but the quality will not be the same as using a lense attachment.

Basically your cam is 720x480

You would crop 60 from the top and bottom

This gives you 720x360

Then you stretch that back to 720x480

Bingo you have 16x9 anamorphic video.

You just have to be sure to not film "too tight" since you will be cutting off the top and botom of your image.

One way to double check this ... film a bright even surface like a blank white wall.

Import it to the computer.

Cut 60 off the top and bottom but don't stretch it ... replace it with black. Copy it back to your cam tape and play it back on the flip-out monitor.

Now on the monitor you can mask the black with tape for instance and use that as a guide for framing your videos.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[choirislife923]

@choirislife923

Well it says you are in the USA so I am assuming you are shooting NTSC

There is a "trick" you can use to get 16x9 anamorphic image but the quality will not be the same as using a lense attachment.

Basically your cam is 720x480

You would crop 60 from the top and bottom

This gives you 720x360

Then you stretch that back to 720x480

Bingo you have 16x9 anamorphic video.

You just have to be sure to not film "too tight" since you will be cutting off the top and botom of your image.

One way to double check this ... film a bright even surface like a blank white wall.

Import it to the computer.

Cut 60 off the top and bottom but don't stretch it ... replace it with black. Copy it back to your cam tape and play it back on the flip-out monitor.

Now on the monitor you can mask the black with tape for instance and use that as a guide for framing your videos.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

yea...my camcorder does that.....unfortunately, it doesnt give you the real 16:9 philosophy (you get MORE scenery and so forth), so i was hoping to find a cheap lens. i'm gonna go test shoot using that mode...see if there is any severe loss, if there is not, i might as well use that mode and get the cool anamorphic effect.

[FulciLives]

yea...my camcorder does that.....unfortunately, it doesnt give you the real 16:9 philosophy (you get MORE scenery and so forth), so i was hoping to find a cheap lens. i'm gonna go test shoot using that mode...see if there is any severe loss, if there is not, i might as well use that mode and get the cool anamorphic effect.

My understanding is doing it later in post production (i.e. on the computer) gives better results than what the cams do internally when you shoot in 16x9 mode.

Apparently the way the cams do the resize internally adds a lot of artifacts to the image.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[choirislife923]

yea...my camcorder does that.....unfortunately, it doesnt give you the real 16:9 philosophy (you get MORE scenery and so forth), so i was hoping to find a cheap lens. i'm gonna go test shoot using that mode...see if there is any severe loss, if there is not, i might as well use that mode and get the cool anamorphic effect.

My understanding is doing it later in post production (i.e. on the computer) gives better results than what the cams do internally when you shoot in 16x9 mode.

Apparently the way the cams do the resize internally adds a lot of artifacts to the image.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

ic...a question that might be considered sidetracking...I have an old 8mm XR (extended resolution 8mm...who knows wtf thats supposed to mean) camcorder from 2000 and it has a 16:9 mode. since its analog, would artifacts pop up in that?

[kabanero]

I use Century Optics DS-1609-37 with my TRV840 D8:



http://www.centuryoptics.com/products/dv/16x9/16x9_37mm.htm

It is $320 at B&H

[choirislife923]

HOLY CRAP!!! thats cheap!!! ...well...cheap compared to the other lenses...if only saran wrap can be used to distort the light pickup so that it can pick up the 16:9 ratio...