October 3, 2015 at 12:17PM

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Shooting with an Iscorama Anamorphic Adapter on BMCC

Hey NoFilmSchool forum! So I've recently purchased a cinehoused Iscorama anamorphic adapter for use on my bmcc, and I figured other shooters here may be interested in it, so here are my first impressions and footage.
https://vimeo.com/90435046
here is my reel containing some footage with the adapter (anything with anamorphic flares, or the footage of the mechanic). Everything else in the reel is shot with the bmcc besides the slomo stuff (fs700).

So I have a love hate relationship with this adapter. First the good;
-I feel that this is the most robust anamorphic adapter money can buy (and its not cheap). The best technical aspect is its unique focusing, where you set your lens to infinity, then only focus the adapter (which focuses sharply from infinity to about 4.5').
-The 'anamorphic feel' is great. Since its a 1.5x squeeze, you get a lot more of the anamorphic bokeh than with the 1.33x adapters. I think this is a huge deal, as there's more to anamorphic footage then just flares.
-the flares are fantastic. They are warm, distinct and not over the top. I personally don't like the blue flares you get with the slr magic anamorphot, those seem to be exlusively scifi and are way too intense for my taste. This adapter also doesn't flare all of the time (which I prefer, you get to control your footage and only flare it when you want to)
-In the Cine rehousing, it comes with a .8 pitched gear, basically making all of your stills lenses geared with a long focus throw.

the bad;
-While this could be seen as a positive, the focus throw actually feels too long (over 360 degrees). This makes raking focus very difficult, especially if you dont have a focus puller. Also, if you hit the hard stops of the lens too hard, you will actually rotate the anamorphic element inside, warping your footage.
-I haven't tested this adapter with a long lens (it usually lives on my otus 55 with a speedbooster), but on medium to wide lenses it does distort. Its not quite as bad as the 'fat face' effect common with old anamorphics, but your background will bevel slightly if you are panning across it.
-The widest lens it will cover is barely a 35mm on s35 sensor size (50mm on a 5d). Luckily this isn't terrible because your 35mm will have the width of a 24mm with the adapter.
-Another problem is that anamorphic adapters exaggerate your rolling shutter (since anamorphic footage is stretching your horizon), which makes panning or quick moves look bad, especially on a the A7s or the bmcc. As global shutters become more readily available this wont be an issue, but for now I have to live with the ugly jello effect (which is also made worse by the speedbooster).

Overall I would say my experience with this adapter is positive, and the best way to get anamorphic footage without breaking the bank. Ill have more footage up soon! Let me know what you guys think!

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