The Official Anamorphic Research (HTB) lens thread

I have a HTB anamorphic lens and have been very pleased with it. Top notch service too...

Is this great thing over? I need to upgrade to 2.35.1 Can you still preorder?

Does anyone have any opinions on how an AR-2 would compare to a DIY lens?

Does anybody know, if there will be a special "slot" for the astigmatism correction element in the new lens housing in order to fix it in front of the rear prism?

What happened to the HTB lens being affordable? Didn't it used to cost <$1K? Now you add it all up for the AR2 and it's something like close to $2k w/ sled and mounting plate, Astigmatism Correction Element and shipping?!?!?!

Has anyone had any experience w/ the AR2 yet?

What is the AR4? There website has no info on it.

How much better is it supposed to be?

I'm checking the anamorphic research website nearly every day. I'm wondering, if there are any AVS members who actually use the universal astigmatism correction element with their HTB lens?

Are they still around? I have an old HTB lens that they customized for short throws and was curious about using the UACE with it and they've not returned my emails.

Hi Kitzi,

actually i'll upgrade my HTB with the UACE and post my results after adding the element into the lens housing. I hope to make a before/after comparison with movies and test patterns.

HTB / AR offer a fantastic customer suppert. Therefore i'm wondering why you didn't get an answer.

Maybe my first email got lost in the bit bucket. They did respond today to the message I sent a few days ago. I'm tempted to order, but was hoping some user reviews would be around, but i've not found any. If you do decide to give it a try please post your impressions.

Thanks

Hopefully I can report some news soon as I have the new AR2 lens with correction element almost ready to test, will post my results soon.

Rapallo,

please show how you added the correction element to the AR2 lens.

Look here!

 

Quick Astigmatism Setup Guide.pdf 29.1669921875k . file

Hi,

no i mean how YOU added the UACE to your lens, for example how it sits in place etc. ...

Would you post some pics please?

Please read the setup instructions it tells you how.

Has anyone tested the UACE?

Yes it works well.

Has anyone heard about the motorized sled that they said was coming out in May 2010?

How well does the Lens perform as a whole? Is it worth shelling out the extra for a big-name lens or will this lens with added astigmatism correction do the job for all us Home theatre enthusiasts on a budget?

Well its obvious it will never be the same as a 10k+ lens but if you want scope its very good value for money. Most would be more than happy with the results.

I've been using the lens without the astigmatism add-on for about a year. Does a great job. Slight softening at the outer edges, but hardly noticeable unless I'm calibrating. I've considered adding the Astigmatism lens, just haven't done it yet...

Like everything - it's up to you the value vs cost tradeoff. For me - it was well worth it. I'm showing it on a ~148" (I dont remember exact size, close to that though) screen - and the image is amazing. I wouldn't consider a theater without using a lens of some sort.

Pics (I've done several updates since these images - acoustic treatments throughout (including about 10 feet wide on the ceiling above the screen - huge improvement... reduced the reflection from the screen itself on the ceiling)

How does Anamorphic Research perform with competitors like Panamorph, Prismasonic, MK3 which are all prism based lens?

That we are.

Both the following images were at one stage on this site. What I have done to keep it all fair is to shrink my image to be the same pixel height as the other image. I've also added pillars at the side of the original because the person that took these didn't want us to see the CA at the edges, so cut the AR down some. I can't restore that, however I can at least make the two images the same size to allow you to compare.

Both were sourced from 1080P (BD and projectors). The top image is from a lens with prisms. no correction.
The 2nd image is from a fully corrected cylindrical lens. See for yourself.
After that, you might want to have a read of the post I made about surface finishes and the difference between a "trophy lens (top image) and a real lens (bottom image).

No images here Mark?

Interesting...



Lets see if they stick this time.

Working this time!

These are the same type of results I had too, hence the reason for spending the extra in buying a Schneider.

It all depends on how fussy one may be, I know I just want the very best possible image for scope, if I cant get that with any anamorphic lens I would rather just stay with 16:9

For the record, the the 1st image did not use the prisms from the HTBs latest AR2 lens. This was from when they were using the "trophies". As I explained in the link about surface finish is that the surface was sub standard for this kind of optical use as the surfaces are just too rough. So even though they appear "crystal" clear, under a microscope, they might look like these mountains in China.