@vicharris Thanks again for your input, but if that's the case, they should have measures to guard "unreasonable" returns, instead of creating misconception that the quality of their Standard Edition is similar to mint condition (used) lenses. It's unfair to them as a company, but equally unfair to serious buyers.

Well we'll see in a few weeks what a long focal length looks like :)

The lens isn't being compared in the sense of being implied better than an Iscorama.

The Iscorama is one of the benchmarks for amateur anamorphic. It has nice qualities. What's being addressed above is the incorrect notion that you cannot get oval bokeh from a 1.33x adapter. You can, but it takes a little more work and a little more care. The above examples demonstrate that you can get it and that it, in fact, can be at least as pronounced as some Iscorama examples.

New set, but with a Minolta MD Rokkor-X 85mm f/2.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/110076354@N02/sets/72157641683160794/

Hi Everyone, Here is a test with the the SLR MAGIC ANAMORPHOT and the SLR Magic CINE II 35mm T1.4. I did not find the combo hard to focus with peaking on the BMPCC and the D.O.F was easy to control. it was shot in cine mode @ 400 ISO As "Left of Right"is about a bounty hunter, I wanted to create the sense that she is being watched as she tracked her bounty. She also senses he is not far.. So that is why it is hand held, also because it is a lens test, any stabilisation in post would have affected the sharpness. The clip was shot at a shallow shutter angle about 45-22 deg (1/200-1/400th) to increase the sense of unease. I actually found the ANAMORPHOT and the CINE II 35mm T1.4 combo easy to hold. Oh and I used a zacuto Z finder which also made it much easer to hold well. In retrospect I should have mounted it on a shoulder rig, ( as per VicHarris suggestion.)

Here's my first compilation of test footage with the SLR Magic Anamorphot. Even before the lens arrived I knew this would be an upgrade in both performance and functionality coming from the Century Optics 16:9 adapter I'd been using for over a year now but I was anxious to see just how much.

My favorite lens pairing on the Century Optics was my Nikkor 24mm f/2 which, on the GH2, became pleasantly wide instead of feeling more like a normal focal length. Some folks hate the distortion you get from non-rectilinear lenses once you start getting this short but I love it. It's a subtle curve that doesn't feel fisheye at all and the anamorphic glass + scope framing just accentuates this quality. Paired with the GH2 both adapters can go a bit wider, to about 18mm-20mm depending on the lens design, but this Nikkor is the widest prime I currently own.

On the Century Optics if I needed infinity focus I also got soft, chromatic edges regardless of stop with the Nikkor. This isn't always an unattractive quality and more than once I've read reputable DPs giggle over their choice to shoot on some vintage set of anamorphics because of their soft, soft-edged, chromatic character. One man's lens with character is another man's junk lens. Anyway, if I didn't need infinity focus then slapping on my Tokina +.4 achromat provided good, sharpenened up footage mostly free of chromatic effects. The SLR Magic Anamorphot, on the other hand, doesn't need any extra help. It's sharper at f/2.8 on my Nikkor 24mm than the Century Optics at this stop with or without the Tokina doublet, doesn't go soft at the edges and doesn't go all chromatic either.

Where I really felt the limits of the Century Optics adapter was anything above 24mm. For straight 16:9 shooting I loved the look of my F.Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 even though it's a bit soft and exhibits coma wide open because most of its faults are hidden from the GH2. To get soft but still maybe useful footage with the 50mm on the Century Optics I'd have to be at f/4 though I really needed to be more like f/5.6 which is decidedly not "bokehlicious". Stacking diopters let me open it up but with a serious restriction on range. With the SLR Magic Anamorphot I could happily shoot at f/2.8 on the 50mm thanks to its close-focus system which behaves like a built-in variable diopter.

Speaking of, SLR Magic decided to also produce a new line of high quality achromats as a set (+1.3 and +.33). Where diopters are an absolute necessity with the Century Optics and LA 7200 adapters they're totally optional on the SLR Magic Anamorphot. They become more of an aesthetic choice for further enhancing bokeh in close-up photography, enhancing its stretched quality.

SLR Magic rates the Anamorphot as sharp on lenses in the range I shot at as wide as f/2.8 though YMMV depending on the complexity of the lens design. Some lenses have been shown to perform even better than the ratings provided by SLR Magic. For the sake of this test footage I kept generally to the f/2.8 - f/4 range, which I anticipate will be my preferred spread of stops for shooting with the lens though for anything serious this will require a 1st AC to pull focus. A few daylight exteriors are likely shot at f/5.6 but I only went further stopped down, to f/8, on one comparison shot against the Century Optics adapter.

All footage was shot with @Driftwood "Moon Trial 7"

I've tested the SLR with a 50mm and 85mm and they were fine.

@fredfred27 I saw it, but the adapter performs differently at a given focal length depending on the lens design. I certainly won't be trying to pair it with those Minolta lenses. Prior to release and in all the literature this has been disclosed, that some lenses pair well while others might not.

I'm going to be looking for an alternative to my F.Zuiko 50mm for similar reasons. I like it less as a short telephoto lens than I do for close-ups, but for close-ups the hexagonal bokeh is ugly, to me. For non anamorphic photography the hexagons are fine but I don't like them at all with even a little stretch. Thankfully, there are lots of choices out there in the 50-60mm range just like there are at the 85mm range. It'll just take some experimentation and research for me to find one that pairs better.

But an ugly, angular bokeh is still going to be ugly with a 2x stretch on it.

5' from the chart on a 50mm and you're that smeary even with the diopter says to me either something is wrong with your particular adapter, the Near/Normal dial is improperly set, or it just really doesn't like the design of that Minolta.

Putting bokeh aside, look how bad it is on the chart itself. Something seems out of whack.

edit: oh, ~f/1.7 might just be too open for that particular lens. They don't recommend wider than f/2.8 as a general rule at 50mm. My F.Zuiko at f/2.8 is usable but not as sharp as at f/4 yet a different lens might work just fine at f/2 or larger.

Ah, gotcha. That makes sense.

@jleo THANK YOU! Hah, I was hoping someone noticed! Love me some Shawscope!

@grisnjam very cool. Something like that 75mm sounds rather perfect as well.