There seem to be a large number of what appear to be very high quality anamorphic lenses on eBay, probably from theaters converting to digital projection. Most appear designed to screw into a 35mm film projector. I'm guessing these can't be used as add-on lenses in a home theater setting, but thought I'd post this for comments from those more knowlegable in this area than I am.If these lenses could be made to work in a HT, there appear to be some real bargains out there.
Not sure but I think you'll find that some of these will be x 1.25 rather than x 1.33 that we need for 16:9 to 2.35:1 conversion. They will also be made for extremely long throw use, so even my 6 metre throw distance (2.8 throw figure) is considered short throw in these terms, so will likely suffer with vignetting on our 'home' projector models.
Having used 35mm film in photography for many years, I should have realized the difference in aspect ratios make these lenses unusable.
I put my cheapo Home Theater Brothers prism anamorphic lens in front of my new JVC RS46 last night and it was horrible. Chromatic abberation toward the edges was massive and after an hour of fiddling, I was not able to get a square picture that was edge to edge sharp, even on my curved screen. I'll stick to zooming for now.
I'm using an Isco II lens with my X35, I found it secondhand about 2 years ago and used it with my old HD350 as well. Worth keeping your eyes open for a used one, but you need quite a long throw for it to work with the JVC due to vignetting on short throws.
I've been keeping a "eye" on eBay for lenses for years. The projection lenses and "taking lenses" you see on eBay are almost always there, they aren't new. They won't work with HT projectors. Tiny in comparison to what you need. Very rarely, but it has happened, you will see a high end HT type lens, or a Digital Cinema (1.25x) lens there. Pretty rare. And always risky. They rarely have lens caps, or the original hard cases needed for proper handling and transport. The people selling them often have take-offs from old Runco projectors and think they have more then they really have. I've known a couple of people to get stung with damaged glass and bad coatings. But about a year ago Meridian dumped about 3 of them on eBay when they got out of the video business, and those people got a steal. Only time that's ever happened that I know of.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelvin1965S /t/1451207/ebay-anamorphic-lenses#post_22816604
I'm using an Isco II lens with my X35, I found it secondhand about 2 years ago and used it with my old HD350 as well. Worth keeping your eyes open for a used one, but you need quite a long throw for it to work with the JVC due to vignetting on short throws.
Sounds a decent price, but make sure that it will work in your set up as it's smaller than the Isco II and may cause vignetting if too much projector zoom is applied.
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