A very clinical but interesting look at the differences between Lomo (round front) anamorphic and Hawk lenses on the Red EPIC. Made by John Brawley:
Here we really see the differences in barrel distortion and sharpness. I read somewhere that the Russian designer of Lomo anamorphic lenses went on to work for Hawk. Here’s an x-ray scan with Lomo & Hawk 100mm lenses (Top is Lomo). Steve Morton from cinemods.com remarks how their elements look rather similar:
Yet it’s clear how the Hawks beat the Lomo’s for sharpness outright. Not surprisingly so given that Lomo’s are not made new anymore, and their standards in optical condition vary greatly as they are passed from user to user. However I must say my own Lomo 50mm is rather sharp at wide open aperture. I can boast mine is nearly mint! This again goes back to finding good, clean, and preferably serviced Lomo lenses.
Considering their astronomical difference in price, the Lomo’s are a good deal if you want a ‘proper’ anamorphic lens. But the challenge is to find a good quality Lomo these days…
Would just like to share what kept food on my table for 2011. Some were shot in Lomo anamorphic – you can tell which ones! Those scenes featured in this video I used the 35mm T2.8. Great lens but I had sold it a few months ago. Kind of miss it now especially since my 30mm developed an air bubble in the element!
The 1.5x cropped videos were just artificially cropped.
I first watched Manga’s cult classic “Ghost in the Shell” when I was a teen but only recently realised that the film’s city background is actually based on Hong Kong – my current place of residence.
When it was made in 1995, it depicted a grimy, futuristic city. Now, 16 years later, it’s interesting to see how Hong Kong has physically changed. So I set out to try and recreate particular scenes from the film. The biggest differences between the film and now is that Hong Kong no longer has those awesome low-flying airplanes (airport moved in 1998) nor do we have canals and river boats – though we do have tramcar systems which is the obvious influence for Masamune. Not every shot could be faithfully recreated. Simply because it was an animation! But when you do a comparison there are the obvious locations (youtube.com/watch?v=wYVbQ-GQTxQ)
I left the scenes with Motoko Kusanagi for narrative reasons (and I couldn’t be arsed looking for an actress!). Another note is the first two shots of the planes, they were ripped and up-rezzed from a YouTube video by airboyd. There is no way I could have recreated those scenes yet I wanted to show people just how crazily low they flew.
This was shot with Sony NEX5-N in 1080p/50fps with 30mm squarefront and 50mm roundfront Lomo anamorphic lenses.
Special thanks to Pete Furkidsinhk and his “fur kid” Cream.
Here’s an interesting extract from Wong Kin Yuen, “Science Fiction Studies #80, dated March 2000:
1. It is now widely acknowledged that Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982/ 1992) initiated a whole tradition of cult movies later grouped under the label “cyberpunk.” Blade Runner’s style draws its images from urban spaces all over the world, including such Asian cities as Tokyo and Hong Kong. Science fiction film critics are less aware, however, that when anime film director Mamoru Oshii was looking for a model of the city of the future in a computerized world, he turned for his primary inspiration to the cityscape of Hong Kong. Through his art designers, actual spots in the city of Hong Kong were transformed into the mise-en-scène of Ghost in the Shell, first released in the United States in March 1996. Science fiction has not fared well in Hong Kong (either in terms of production or consumption), nor is there a cyberpunk culture among Hong Kong’s young computer users. So the question arises: what elements in Hong Kong provided inspiration for this cinematic representation of a near-future city characterized by decadence, anarchy, and fantasy on the one hand, and a mistrusted, high-tech hyper-reality on the other? Taking up this question, I will first suggest a reading of a shopping complex in Hong Kong that emphasizes its fragmentation, disjunctiveness, and ephemerality. Like Blade Runner’s “Ridleyville,” this Hong Kong shopping complex intertwines past and future, memory and desire. Finally, I will analyze the setting of Ghost in the Shell, especially the parts that are clearly modeled on Hong Kong street scenes and architecture. I hope to validate Anthony King’s argument that colonial cities have the best chance of establishing a cityscape of the future that embraces racial and cultural differences.
The front element of my 30mm formed a small bubble, but it was enough to be seen in the image, especially when on a dark surface.
So I braved up and cracked it open. I was assured it would not affect the lens’ collimation.
I was mortified when I discovered the bubble was formed within one of the concave anamorphic elements. I heard if you mark a small black dot directly behind it, it wouldn’t reflect so much in the image. Turned out okay… but still a tad noticeable to the discerning eye.
I only had the lens for about 5 months, and it was stored in a dehumidifying chamber (along with other lenses) the whole time when not in use. Now I’m keeping it in its own storage case.
Anyway, here’s a rare chance to see the innards of the lens:
Basically every Lomo anamorphic lens is made up of a rear prime and anamorphic element. The anamorphic element itself is made up of two optics: A concave anamorphic element and a sort of wide angle element at the very front.
The series of AVC-intra bitrate hacks/patches by ‘Driftwood’ are getting crazy popular.
His latest servings include “seAQuake”, an AQ3, 166mb AVC-Intra patch. It’s quite stable, but you’ll need very good SD cards. The GH2 hack community recommends SanDisk 95mb/s cards. I personally have a 32gig card. But one thing to note is that it can only record in roughly 4:05 segments (equalling 4.3gig) – this is because the card can only record a limited chunk before it needs to go to a new file. But new tests seem to confirm that the 64gig SDXC version can record longer.
Of course, I was thinking how great it would improve anamorphic footage.
I did a quick test here with the 50mm roundfront:
Usually I output to Vimeo with h.264 at 10000kbps. So this time when I’ve uploaded this seAQuake footage, it definitely looks sharper and less muddy. I can’t put my finger on it but I know it looks way better than stock camera footage. Though, in fairness, I think the 66mb hack 3GOP is already good enough for me. seAQuake’s 166mb does seem like a bit overkill.
I also tried out EX TELE with it but definitely not advisable with these kind of lenses. Lomo’s aren’t known for their sharpness and the EX TELE function only highlights it more! Oh well, guess I do need to keep my eye out for a tele anamorphic lens!
I’m spending Christmas holidays in my native Ireland next month so hope to shoot more anamorphic footage with the GH2.
You can find all the popular hacks compiled here.
Thanks again to Vitaly Kiselev and Driftwood.
It’s great to see someone utilising the GH2 x Lomo anamorphic combo for a full-length feature project. It’s ambitious to say the least given the small form factor of the GH2 and the well, “vintage” nature of the Lomo’s.
Director and lead actor Roberto Miller and I liaised a few times about anamorphic lenses in the past, so now it’s great to see his project is finally up and running. Currently they are shooting in his native San Francisco after having wrapped up in Lyon, France.
Here is the synopsis from his website: “Mandorla is a narrative feature film about realizing your dream and living a more meaningful life. Ernesto, who grew up being inspired by heroes in books and movies, is trapped in the corporate world when he is called to be the hero of his own story. He refuses, but the call escalates. Despite risk to himself and family, he takes a leap of faith when he starts to follow signs that lead him on a quest that he senses is his life’s true purpose. Ultimately, Ernesto must face the opposing forces within him that are tearing him apart, and find the alchemy that binds them together to create something new.”
Auction ending October 19th… So, who wants to help me mortgage these?
PL-mounted roundfront 35mm, 50mm, 75mm and 150mm lenses.
Bid starts at US$15,000 and someone has already bidded. Seems to only ship within USA.
At the lowest auction price that roughly works out to US$3,750 per lens. If the seller’s claims about their quality is true then the 35, 50 and 75 are market value. Being PL-mounted gives extra credit since OCT-19 mounted lenses would require the use of adapters for every digital body out there. Whereas some cameras like RED or Alexa come with PL mounts, and could possibly fit those PL adapters for DSLR bodies. I can’t comment on the value of the 150 since I’ve never seen it for sale up till now.
The new 5N is ridiculously compact and light. And this is from a GH2 user speaking. Yet it packs a punch!
Look here, I can’t even see the camera behind the square front lens. Ah, there it is:
I’ve got the 30mm lens on so it’s quite wide – not super wide but for a Lomo anamorphic I can’t demand much. But now that I have it on an APS sensor it’s great to utilise the entire piece of glass. The 30mm is the second-widest anamorphic lens next to the extremely rare 22mm.
