Hi guys attempted my first few shots a while back with my h8 with a 12.5-36mm switar and this proskar 2x anamorphic lens. ...and realised i don't know how to focus! I only shot a few feet so don't know what i got yet.
Do i set the anamorphic to the distance thats on the lens e.g. 10ft (or would this be only be for projection)? …. then open up aperture on the switar…. then just zoom in as much as much as possible with the switar then focus, then pull back to the widest (before vignetting) then adjust to correct aperture on the switar? thats what i did the other day.
second question…how do i know how much exposure to compensate for? Do i just point my iPhone light meter app through it and see what the light difference is? e.g. f8 without the anamorphic and f7.1 with….that means almost a stop right so i need to over expose for a stop next time?
Also are macro camera lens' better for anamorphic? There is a 12mm macro for the h8 …do i need one of them?
Hi Miles,
yep pretty much what you said for focussing. You need to focus both, so setting the anamorphic to roughly the distance then fine focussing with the prime (or zoom) is the way to go.
Most of those anamorphic projection lenses lose about 1/3 stop, which is pretty much what you found going from f8 to f7.1 (a full stop would be f8 to f5.6).
Dom Jaeger
Camera/lens technician
Cameraquip, Melbourne
I don't think a macro lens will work better, anamorphic projection lenses normally won't focus closer than 5 feet anyway. For closer focus you need to use a diopter in front.
Dom Jaeger
Camera/lens technician
Cameraquip, Melbourne
MIles I've got one of those lenses that panasonic made for the DVX100 - it's the right amount of compression to turn a 4:3 frame to 16:9 - you're welcome to borrow it if you like. I think the lense you've got there is an old projector lense so you'll have to shoot on a fairly narrow focal length to avoid vinjetting, but that isn't so much of a problem with the panasonic lense.
By the way school holidays are turning out to be really busy so it's probably easier for me to drop in after they are over! I'll bring the lense down if you like
Scot
Read my science fiction novel The Forest of Life at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D38AV4K
The Panasonic lens has a squeeze ratio of 1.3:1, and is intended for camera use only (subsequent "stretching" for viewing is intended to be achieved digitally).The lens you have has a ratio of 2:1, and is intended for BOTH taking and projection. They therefore are for different purposes. What SCREEN ASPECT RATIO are you aiming for?
[quote="granfer"]The Panasonic lens has a squeeze ratio of 1.3:1, and is intended for camera use only (subsequent "stretching" for viewing is intended to be achieved digitally).
Yeah that's right - I can't remember the thread mount I think it's 72mm - so it screwed in nicely on the front of my 4008ZMII. I got the footage transferred by Nanolab and apart from the fact I underexposed it (dohll!) it actually worked really nicely.
Granfer's question is right - what is the end aim? If you are going to transfer it on your Retro 8 and a look at it on a 16:9 Tv the Panasonic lense is the go. Buyt if you're going to project it the Proskar is the go - but I think the vinjetting will really hamper you. The back element on the Panasonic lense is fairly large in comparison - I had a Proskar too but sold it.
Scot
Read my science fiction novel The Forest of Life at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D38AV4K
Just to clarify in my mind (!) if not in others ..... if you want to project the film on a 2.66:1 screen ("CinemaScope") use a 2:1 lens. If you want to show the result on a 16:9 screen (of ANY media type) use a 1.33:1 lens.
Hi Guys
Scott... brilliant always wanted to have a play with one of those Panasonic's anamorphics. Yeah bring it down when you visit, will be great. Yeah the proskar needs about a 20mm zoom factor on the switar….i wonder if that panasonic would work with a switar 5.5mm…that would be cool wide-angle anamorphic 8O ….cheers Miles
MIles what's the front diameter of your switar? If you could get some kind of step up ring - I usually put a polariser with the glass knocked out of it on the back of the anamorphic as that will allow the zoom lense to rotate with out moving the anamorphic. If you could get something to bridge up to that, that would be good - I'm pretty sure it's 72mm - I'll dig it out and confirm - it's been a while
Scot
Read my science fiction novel The Forest of Life at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D38AV4K
milesandjules wrote:.i wonder if that panasonic would work with a switar 5.5mm…that would be cool wide-angle anamorphic ….cheers Miles
No Idea - I've had it on my 12-120 Angeniux on my R16 and 6-66 Schneider on my 4008 - will be fun to find out.
Do you have a video split set up on your Bolex? When we did In My Image we found we got vinjetting at about 6mm (this is without the anamorphic) but this vinjetting wasn't visible in the viewfinder - which really annoyed us! So the viewfinder effectively had overscan! And it wasn't until the film was developed that we found this - hopefully not an issue with your bolex
Scot
Read my science fiction novel The Forest of Life at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D38AV4K
Hi Scott wow 72mm is massive, i bet the wide-angle switar will even work ….the front of the switar zoom is about 44mm..the 5.5mm is 36mm. We haven't played with a video split yet…though we did test our zigview slr video tap thing…that we used on our digital slr before live view..it seems to work ok. It will need some kind of adaptor printed up to hold it in place i guess.
