The cinemorph filter has the same characteristics of an anamorphic lens. When there is a light source it will flare or streak, and the cinemorph filter stretches the bokeh vertically. Due to the oval bokeh sharper element, the cinemorph filter will not stretch or squeeze the image like an anamorphic lens but you can crop the footage in post to get an anamorphic aspect ratio.
The cinemorph was made for run and gun shooting allowing you to focus just the prime lens, allow easy rack focusing. An anamorphic lens would require you to focus both the prime and anamorphic lens, making rack focusing in run and gun shooting almost impossiable, unless you were locked down on a tripod with marks set on your follow focuses.
The cinemorph filter is mounted to a smooth rotating filter with sharp glass allowing easy mounting and alignment. It will cause a step or 2 in light loss, so faster primes lenses are recommend 2.8f and faster. You will need on a cropped camera a 50mm lens or tighter to avoid lens vignetting. On a full frame you will need a 75mm or tighter.
I stumbled across anamorphic lenses while looking on the internet and fell in love with the look of the bokeh and the light flares. I began my search for anamorphic lenses and found out they were actually projection lenses that needed a clamp to work with dslr cameras. I also learned they needed to be focus through both the prime lens and anamorphic lens to get proper focus. Most anamorphic lenses don't focus really close, 15 feet and beyond, which makes close ups impossible. But there are a few that will focus down to as close as 5 feet. A few anamorphics have threaded front rings allowing the use of nd filters or diopters which is ideal but most do not. There are a few anamorphic lens that only the anamorphic needs to be focused but isco's usually go for 2000 dollars and up which makes it out of reach for most.
After more searching I found Vid Atlantic and saw they make an anamorphic lens filter that produce anamorphic like effects for a fraction of the cost. The cinemorph just screws on the front of a prime lens much like a nd or polaizer filter. I emailed Eddie at Vid Atlantic and he answered my questions fast and I ordered one the next day. I got the cinemorph filter quickly and tried it out. The effects are nice it flares easily producing streaks across the whole screen. Most of the time the streaks are white but easily corrected in post with color grading to match the streaks of an anamorphic lens. The cinemorph filter allows you to change the bokeh both horizontally and vertical by rotating the filter.
Later I got my first anamorphic lens, a Sankor 16c from Vid Atlantic. Another pleasant and easy purchase. The Sankor will focus down to 5 feet without diopters and has a threaded filter rind for the use of nd or diopters.
I decided to write this blog to compare the cinemorph filter and an anamorphic lens to see the likeness and differences. I used a Canon t3i with Jupiter 9 an 85mm set at f2.0 to get a really shallow depth of field to compare the bokeh of just the Jupiter 9, then with the cinemorph filter and Sankor 16c. With just the Jupiter 9 the bokeh is more oval with a ring like effect for the out of focus area. On both the cinemorph and Sankor, the bokeh changes from the rings out of focus area to a more painted smear vertical lines. To my surprise the cinemorph filter looks very close to the sankor 16c with the bokeh stretch vertically. The Sankor has just a little more smear like effect with the bokeh but the two look close enough it would be hard to tell unless you really knew anamorphics. The cinemorph flares just like the Sankor with horizontal lines. The cinemorph flares are more white with a little blue tint but with a little work in post you can get the flares more towards blue flares. The Sankor flares are a little more pronounced. All shots were locked down at the same spot through out the shoot. You can see in the video the only real difference between the cinemorph and Sankor 16c, the Sankor 16c stretched the image and got more into frame.
Overall I'm very pleased with the cinemorph filter. It does want it is meant to, create vertical bokeh and lens flares at a fraction of the cost of an anamorphic lens. If you're looking into getting into anamorphic lenses or the look of anamorphic lenses, I recommend giving Vid Atlantic a look. They are a great company and they have great customer service.
The cinemorph was made for run and gun shooting allowing you to focus just the prime lens, allow easy rack focusing. An anamorphic lens would require you to focus both the prime and anamorphic lens, making rack focusing in run and gun shooting almost impossiable, unless you were locked down on a tripod with marks set on your follow focuses.
The cinemorph filter is mounted to a smooth rotating filter with sharp glass allowing easy mounting and alignment. It will cause a step or 2 in light loss, so faster primes lenses are recommend 2.8f and faster. You will need on a cropped camera a 50mm lens or tighter to avoid lens vignetting. On a full frame you will need a 75mm or tighter.
I stumbled across anamorphic lenses while looking on the internet and fell in love with the look of the bokeh and the light flares. I began my search for anamorphic lenses and found out they were actually projection lenses that needed a clamp to work with dslr cameras. I also learned they needed to be focus through both the prime lens and anamorphic lens to get proper focus. Most anamorphic lenses don't focus really close, 15 feet and beyond, which makes close ups impossible. But there are a few that will focus down to as close as 5 feet. A few anamorphics have threaded front rings allowing the use of nd filters or diopters which is ideal but most do not. There are a few anamorphic lens that only the anamorphic needs to be focused but isco's usually go for 2000 dollars and up which makes it out of reach for most.
After more searching I found Vid Atlantic and saw they make an anamorphic lens filter that produce anamorphic like effects for a fraction of the cost. The cinemorph just screws on the front of a prime lens much like a nd or polaizer filter. I emailed Eddie at Vid Atlantic and he answered my questions fast and I ordered one the next day. I got the cinemorph filter quickly and tried it out. The effects are nice it flares easily producing streaks across the whole screen. Most of the time the streaks are white but easily corrected in post with color grading to match the streaks of an anamorphic lens. The cinemorph filter allows you to change the bokeh both horizontally and vertical by rotating the filter.
Later I got my first anamorphic lens, a Sankor 16c from Vid Atlantic. Another pleasant and easy purchase. The Sankor will focus down to 5 feet without diopters and has a threaded filter rind for the use of nd or diopters.
I decided to write this blog to compare the cinemorph filter and an anamorphic lens to see the likeness and differences. I used a Canon t3i with Jupiter 9 an 85mm set at f2.0 to get a really shallow depth of field to compare the bokeh of just the Jupiter 9, then with the cinemorph filter and Sankor 16c. With just the Jupiter 9 the bokeh is more oval with a ring like effect for the out of focus area. On both the cinemorph and Sankor, the bokeh changes from the rings out of focus area to a more painted smear vertical lines. To my surprise the cinemorph filter looks very close to the sankor 16c with the bokeh stretch vertically. The Sankor has just a little more smear like effect with the bokeh but the two look close enough it would be hard to tell unless you really knew anamorphics. The cinemorph flares just like the Sankor with horizontal lines. The cinemorph flares are more white with a little blue tint but with a little work in post you can get the flares more towards blue flares. The Sankor flares are a little more pronounced. All shots were locked down at the same spot through out the shoot. You can see in the video the only real difference between the cinemorph and Sankor 16c, the Sankor 16c stretched the image and got more into frame.
Overall I'm very pleased with the cinemorph filter. It does want it is meant to, create vertical bokeh and lens flares at a fraction of the cost of an anamorphic lens. If you're looking into getting into anamorphic lenses or the look of anamorphic lenses, I recommend giving Vid Atlantic a look. They are a great company and they have great customer service.
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| cinemorph |
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| cinemorph close up |
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| cinemorph filter |
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| jupiter 9 cinemorph, dfocus, cpm ff, Smallhd dp4 |
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| Jupiter 9 with Sankor 16c http://vid-atlantic.com Video of the cinemorph filter and sankor 16c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVVy4wR6s9M&feature=colike |
Very well done! Really great review and informative. Loved the night shots!
ReplyDeleteNice. I dig the anamorphic look. obviously it's not appropriate all the time but for special occasions/moods I think it's useful. And now I know I can achieve that look with a filter, rather than an expensive lens, or a lot of post. Thanks for posting this. How much did you spend on the Cinemorph filter?
ReplyDeletethanks, the cinemorph is really awesome it gives the anamorphic look pretty close to the real lenses. i think i paid 120 for it
ReplyDeleteHow would it look with a stock lens? I'm concerned about vignette. I have a t2i.
ReplyDelete