I recently went on a recce for an upcoming shoot. I decided to shoot anamorphic with SLR Magic Anamorphot 1,33 X – 50 in 4K ProRes on Sony FS700 with Odyssey7Q recorder so I brought my recce camera with me. Sony NEX-5N. Same sensor size, E-mount. Perfect for director’s viewfinder. We wanted to shoot with primes as Anamorphot works better with them but I didn’t want to lug them around with me and change them every time on a reece. So I thought a zoom would be easier to handle. I screwed an Anamorphot 1,33 x – 50 to Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G with 77 to 62 step down ring interested to see what would happen. I knew it won’t be perfect for all focal lengths (especially at wider side) as it is an anamorphic lens meant to be used with the taking lenses with smaller front lens than 50mm. As I dialled the zoom to around 28mm the vignetting almost stopped being visible. Some shots have more visible vignette as I also added a polariser for more dramatic sky.
So I wanted to see how the Anamorphot preforms on another popular zoom lens. Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L on a Metabones SpeedBooster. But unfortunately that lens is useless in combination with the Anamorphot. I don’t know if it is the SpeedBooster or the lens design itself but the lens vignettes even at telephoto focal lengths and even at 105mm it produces strange blurred artefact on the left. And it looks like it is impossible to focus at this setting.
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L at 24mm (17mm)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L at 35mm (25mm)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L at 50mm (35mm)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L at 70mm (50mm)
Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L at 105mm (75mm)
Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G at 17mm
Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G at 20mm
Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G at 24mm
Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G at 28mm
Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G at 35mm
Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G at 45mm
Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G at 55mm
Nikon lens is usable from 28mm on so the lens is not only usable for a recce lens but would also be great for a main shoot. When we finally did the shoot we decided against using it as there wasn’t enough time. It is a screw on anamorphic adapter so you need to change it whenever you change the lens. It also wasn’t compatible with all Samyang lenses that we had. So it was only used in one shot at the 0:28 seconds into the movie.