All About Anamorphic (PDF)

Panavision-Anamorphic-front

Apocalypse Now, Blade Runner, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Bridge on the River Kwai, Evita — if you were enthralled by the look of these classic ’Scope films, you may be considering anamorphic lenses for your next production. Angénieux, ARRI/ZEISS, Cooke, and Scorpio showed prototypes of new anamorphic lenses at NAB, some expected to be ready later this year, others next year. If you need your anamorphics right away, Hawk primes and zooms have been made by Vantage for the PL world in Weiden, Germany since 1995. Panavision has covered the PV world since the late 1960s. The pages following this article present lenses to purchase or rent. Hawks are mostly rented; a few are sold. Panavision only rents. But first a few words about anamorphic.

This is a reprint of the 8-page report from June 2013 FDTimes, issue 53. It includes “shopping lists” of most of the anamorphic lenses out there, a page on Anamorphic Math, explaining the difference between 1.3x and 2x squeeze, 16:9 and 4:3 sensors, and how 2.39:1 on screen begins life as 1.195:1 in the camera aperture (divide by 2).

Download the 650 KB PDF Reprint: Anamorphic-Math-FDTimes

FDTimes-Anamorphic-Math

Diagram courtesy of ARRI

 

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