Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

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Randy Walters

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Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostMon Mar 04, 2013 4:00 am

This was shot this Sunday afternoon at Colt State Park in Bristol, RI. I wanted to see exactly what would happen to the image when I used the Kowa 2X adapter; it’s the first time I’ve used it with the BMCC.

Each shot is seen twice; first, with just the Zeiss 50mm f1.4 lens, and then the Zeiss plus the Kowa adapter.

Resolve makes it simplicity itself to deal with anamorphic imagery. There are other ways it could have been done, but since I was simultaneously grading 16:9 and 2X anamorphic images, I used the scale/resize tab to reduce the height of the anamorphic clips to 50%, and then zoom in by a factor of 1.488, which resulted in a 2.39 Panavision image. Done! It took me more time to do the math than to do the formatting.

Shot in RAW for maximum resolution. No sharpening was used; I wanted to see just what I would lose with the extra glass. I think it worked pretty well. I got into the pattern of focusing first with the Zeiss alone, and then putting the Kowa back on the camera and focusing it.

I also included the full 2X images at the end of the edit; they’re pretty spectacular. It’s a great way to get around any concerns about the crop sensor making it hard to go wide. I’m very excited about shooting anamorphic. Not every shot was perfectly aligned, but when my monitor returns this week, it will get easier. All that extra image in the 2X images makes it easy to pan and scan, too.

HD, 98MB - it will play better if you download it first. (This compressed version seems to have some issues with a couple shots of ripples on water; the original master does not.)

http://kubrickwannabe.com/anamorphic.mp4

The music is from Trent Reznor’s score to “The Social Network.” Thanks for watching.
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Thomas Schumacher

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Re: Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostMon Mar 04, 2013 7:53 am

Wow, looks great. Thanks a lot for the very nice video.

I want to have that as well !! :-)

P.S. One question about focusing: so if you would like to focus in "real life" you need a twin follow-focus or how would you be able to focus "immedaitely" without putting down/up the Kowa?

Thanks!
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adamroberts

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Re: Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostMon Mar 04, 2013 9:30 am

Nice comparison. It's good to see how much wider the field of view is.

What is the widest lens you can use the Kowa on?

Thanks for sharing.
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Randy Walters

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Re: Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostMon Mar 04, 2013 2:39 pm

gmf: For the test, I naturally wanted to check the camera both without and with the adapter. "In real life," as you say, removing and replacing the adapter would quickly become an enormous pain.

If you left the adapter on, you would just have to be painstaking about the focusing process, moving back and forth between the two lenses to maximize sharpness. I found the BMCC's "Focus" aid to be an enormous help; it really let you know when you had found the setting of highest focus.

I suppose you could indeed use a twin follow focus, as long as you expected to manipulate them separately. There is no way you're going to get them to track in unison to do a rack focus; when using a separate adapter like this, that's just out of the picture.

Adam: I've got a pair of step up/step down rings on order that will let me physically mount all my manual Nikon lenses with the adapter. I've got lenses down to 20mm; I'm looking forward to seeing how they do with the adapter, as well.
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Theodore Prentice

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Re: Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostMon Mar 04, 2013 3:28 pm

Good stuff, thank you for sharing.
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rick.lang

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Re: Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostTue Mar 05, 2013 7:53 pm

Randy Walters wrote:This was shot this Sunday afternoon at Colt State Park in Bristol, RI. I wanted to see exactly what would happen to the image when I used the Kowa 2X adapter...

Resolve makes it simplicity itself to deal with anamorphic imagery. There are other ways it could have been done, but since I was simultaneously grading 16:9 and 2X anamorphic images, I used the scale/resize tab to reduce the height of the anamorphic clips to 50%, and then zoom in by a factor of 1.488, which resulted in a 2.39 Panavision image.

Shot in RAW for maximum resolution. No sharpening was used...

I also included the full 2X images at the end of the edit; they’re pretty spectacular. It’s a great way to get around any concerns about the crop sensor making it hard to go wide. I’m very excited about shooting anamorphic. Not every shot was perfectly aligned, but when my monitor returns this week, it will get easier. All that extra image in the 2X images makes it easy to pan and scan, too.


Very nice results from the 2x anamorphic adapter. Thanks for the shoot.

You make a good point about the extra wide view giving you room to recompose the final image by panning the crop. That would be an advantage sometimes compared to using a 1.35x anamorphic to get to a 2.4:1 aspect ratio since there is not room to recompose the frame with the smaller anamorphic, however the smaller anamorphic will produce a sharper final image.

Rick Lang
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Manu Gil

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Re: Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostTue Mar 05, 2013 8:26 pm

Some very beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing.
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Thomas Schumacher

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Re: Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostTue Mar 05, 2013 10:50 pm

Thanks for pointing that out, Randy.

Seems this is no real-life solution for moving objects and a wide open iris...
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Randy Walters

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Re: Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostMon Mar 11, 2013 10:01 pm

adamroberts wrote:What is the widest lens you can use the Kowa on?


I got my step up/step down rings today, and checked out my Nikon AI-S manual lenses with the Kowa.

All in all, I have to say the range surprised me! The 35mm had no vignetting at all.

The 24mm had vignetting on either side, but when it was trimmed down to 2.39:1 aspect ratio, the vignetted part was totally cropped off - so the 24mm is absolutely useable. I don't think it would make 2.66:1, though.

The 20mm was vignetted as well, but when cropped to 2.39:1, there was still a little vignetting in the corners. Didn't quite make it; close doesn't count.
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adamroberts

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Re: Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostMon Mar 11, 2013 10:33 pm

Nice work.

Would love to see images from the 24 & 35 with and without the anamorphic like your previous shots.
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Randy Walters

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Re: Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostMon Mar 11, 2013 11:00 pm

adamroberts wrote:Would love to see images from the 24 & 35 with and without the anamorphic like your previous shots.


I'll spare you an in-depth examination of my living room... :) but next time, I'll make a point of trying the whole set of Nikons... 20mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm (six-bladed for that Game of Thrones bokeh), 55mm macro, 100mm, and an ancient 200mm you could hammer nails with.

I'll just park it in one place and go through the lot of 'em.
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Kevin Thompson

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Re: Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostWed Mar 13, 2013 8:38 pm

Well done Randy, this is precisely the process I have been intending to use with my 2x adapters.
I don't have a camera yet ... thanks for proof of concept
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vonkuttenberg

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Re: Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostThu Apr 11, 2013 8:22 pm

how do you monitor 2x stretched picture? interested in very much!
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adamroberts

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Re: Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostSun Apr 14, 2013 8:19 am

vonkuttenberg wrote:how do you monitor 2x stretched picture? interested in very much!


Both my Alphatron EVF and smallHD DP6 offer various scale modes so you can deal with anamorphic footage. The DP6 even has a custom scale tool so you can simulate you cropping that will happen in post.
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PetePolyakov

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Re: Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostFri Jan 24, 2014 6:21 am

Honestly, the most interesting part about using anamorphic lenses + cropped bmcc you didn't make yet :-(

how is perspective works when two actors in over shoulder shot for example.
I swear, it's the most important thing

if you would use zeiss 15,17,21mm or tokina 11-16(basically any wide angle lens) for the same over shoulder shot, it would be a mess, because actors in the shot will be isolated from each other. actor on a foreground will be huge, actor on a background will be way to small. so, for usual over shoulders you would use ~35mm. but crop is 2.33 so, 35mm over shoulder shots such a pain in the ***.

I was wondering if anamorphic adaptors/lenses would help me with the problem. to keep the balance between size of actors in the shot and in the same time give me more space in the shot in small space.

but nobody (at least I didn't find yet) made any tests like that yet..... AAAAA :((((
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burrencrawler

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Re: Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostWed Apr 02, 2014 8:06 pm

Hi Guys,
I am battling to get my Kowa anamorphic lens working(Bell & Howell one), and I am having no luck, perhaps you could advise me, it does not seem to want to focus on anything no matter what both focus rings are at. My rig is (starting with a BMPCC or GH2 camera) is:
BMPCC/GH2 => M42 to M43 adapter => Helios 44M =>clamp ring => Kowa 2:1 Anamorphic lens
Is there anything obviously wrong at first glance of this set up? As i have not been able to shoot one clip with this yet, very disappointing. Please help........Quentin
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David Hessel

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Re: Anamorphic test - Kowa 2X

PostWed Apr 02, 2014 8:37 pm

burrencrawler wrote:Hi Guys,
I am battling to get my Kowa anamorphic lens working(Bell & Howell one), and I am having no luck, perhaps you could advise me, it does not seem to want to focus on anything no matter what both focus rings are at. My rig is (starting with a BMPCC or GH2 camera) is:
BMPCC/GH2 => M42 to M43 adapter => Helios 44M =>clamp ring => Kowa 2:1 Anamorphic lens
Is there anything obviously wrong at first glance of this set up? As i have not been able to shoot one clip with this yet, very disappointing. Please help........Quentin


I am assuming that you don't have a diopter on the front and you are not trying to focus below the min focus of the Kowa.

Put the camera on a tripod and focus with taking lens first, add the adapter and try to focus that way to eliminate on variable. If you cannot achieve focus then it is very likely that the anamorphic elements have gotten out of alignment. The alignment is extremely sensitive and the lightest offset means no focus.

If that is the case the will have to be realigned by you, if you are adventurous enough, or by someone else.
David Hessel

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