THE HISTORY OF ANAMORPHIC
The film business had to invent new methods to remain competitive with television in the 1950s when it first began to feel the impact of competition.
To make cinema more immersive, Hollywood had been experimenting with several widescreen formats, such as CinemaScope. However, to fit these wide photos onto a screen required a unique kind of lens.
An anamorphic lens, like a Super 16mm camera, reduces images by compressing them through lenses with concave and convex components that capture the wider image and compress it onto the full height of Super 35mm film. The picture does not un-compress on the cinema screen for the complete widescreen effect.
Audiences benefited from a greater field of view and higher resolution when the widescreen format became conventional. This is still true today.
SO WHAT ATE THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ANAMORPHIC?
Obviously, anamorphic shooting has advantages. There are, however, drawbacks? We’ll look at the advantages and disadvantages of using anamorphic lenses in this section.
ANAMORPHIC ADVANTAGES
The main advantages of anamorphic lenses are as follows:
- Unique cinematic feel
- Organic cinematic aesthetics.
- When the final image has been corrected, it has an increased resolution.
ANAMORPHIC EFFECTS
When utilising anamorphic lenses, you may notice unique cinematic characteristics.
- There are a few different types of distortion to look out for. Barrel distortion, for example, is when you notice bending at the widest edges of the shot.
- Because the angle of view is wider than that of a conventional spherical focal length lens, you also acquire a unique form of compression. A shallow depth of field is passed on as a result of the difference in angle of view between this camera and its spherical focal length counterpart.
- Bokeh in high-contrast areas has an oval form, which is a instantly recognizable cinematic feature.
- Anamorphic lenses reflect more light inside the optics than spherical ones do. These include bright streaks of light or delicate blossoms as a result of this. You may enhance and regulate these phenomena with additional coatings or filters.
- The effect of anamorphic lenses is known as rack focusing. The lens vertically elongates out-of-focus regions when focusing from one point to another, creating a unique breathing effect.
These various effects aren’t always obvious, but they all contribute to the filmic appearance of your video.
ANAMORPHIC DISADVANTAGES
Although anamorphic lenses have a shorter focal length than spherical lenses, they don’t provide as good of a close focus. In smaller settings, diopter filters are frequently required.
They are often large in physical size and have a slower T-Stop, so they don’t let in as much light.
Even the best anamorphic lenses may introduce undesirable distortions to your picture, often known as “anamorphic lumps,” where barrel distortion in the image centre produces unfavourable effects on the actors’ faces. Some actresses were unwilling to be filmed with anamorphic lenses during the height of the anamorphic development in the film.
Anamorphic lenses are often older, and as a result, they usually have faults. You might notice a loss of overall sharpness in your recording, accompanied by chromatic aberration or colour fringing. While this may frequently be beneficial if you want a more cinematic appearance.
Anamorphic lenses are more expensive due to the complexity of their construction, and there are usually fewer focal lengths to pick from and fewer zooms.
WHEN SHOULD YOU USE ANAMORPHIC?
The difference between anamorphic and spherical is really just a creative choice. With an anamorphic lens, you’ll get a more gentle aesthetic as well as a starker visual feel. The way it distorts flares, bokeh oval forms, and the wider aspect ratio all add to its visual appeal.
If your subject matter lends itself to anamorphic shooting and you want the best results, then it will enhance your camera experience.
You can see the difference between an anamorphic lens and a spherical lens when you compare them.
The spherical lens has less glass for the light to pass through and is more basic in design. It will almost always produce clearer photographs and minimize distortion across the entire photograph.
With an anamorphic lens, near the image’s edges, you’ll notice reduced sharpness and distortion. The overall look is softer owing to the additional glass within the lens’ body.
You must think about these factors if you opt to employ an anamorphic lens:
- Lens characteristics and available focal lengths.
- The size, weight and t-stop of the lens
- Camera compatibility.
A regular spherical lens and an anamorphic attachment make up a photographic anamorphic lens, such as those used by Pro Motion hire. The bit that performs the anamorphosis is the attachment.
The spherical lens utilised will be somewhat larger than usual, with the goal of generating an image that is twice as tall as it is wide.
