The choice between adaptors and actual lenses can often make people unsure of what to prioritize; cash flow or effect. An adaptor allows you to use your existing spherical lens while still getting an anamorphic look, while an anamorphic lens gives you the original effects from the original oval lens.
What You Can Do With an Anamorphic Lens
Shoot Wide Angle with Sharpness that Fades at the Edges of Frames
The wide-angle powers of a SIRUI anamorphic lens give you crisp sharpness at the centre that dissolves into a dreamy effect around the edges. This soft quality can be played with and enhanced for landscapes or close-ups, adding another element to the expanded background capabilities of the SIRUI anamorphic lens for filmmaking.
Shoot Oval-Shaped Bokeh
Because of the uniquely shaped elements within a SIRUI anamorphic lens, out-of-focus objects appear oval-shaped instead of spherical. This added effect can be leveraged to add a dreamy and cinematic effect to images. These small oval balls are at once subtle and unique.
Create a Shallow Depth-of-Field
Go with this if the right effect for your filmmaking is to make objects in the foreground burst off the screen, creating a larger-than-life effect while still capturing plenty of the background for the extra information therein.
Get Closer Without Distortion
SIRUI anamorphic lenses give you a wide-angle look without distorting the image. This is crucial for the close-up shots where you must focus on the subject while pulling plenty of background in without allowing the subject to become warped.
How to Get Optimum Results From an Anamorphic Lens
Lens Flare
Anamorphic lenses are famous for their elongated lens flare, which can be used to great dramatic effect under the right hand. However, this effect requires a balance because using it too much can be harsh and distracting.
To use lens flare, shoot into the light. You're able to play around with this effect by keeping the light source at the edges of the scene or shooting from the side. If you're concerned about making it look natural, you can transition flare in and out of your background.
Oval Bokeh
A distinctive quality of the anamorphic lens is oval bokeh. The out-of-focus images captured by a SIRUI anamorphic lens appear fuzzy and oval rather than spherical like those in regular lenses. You can use this look by leaning into the fuzzy and dreamlike quality of oval bokeh, leveraging it for appropriate scenes in filmmaking.
Shallow Depth of View
Focusing on a closer foreground object while allowing your SIRUI anamorphic lens to blur and stretch the background image gives a shallow depth of view. You can leverage this look for close-up shots where the background adds to the gravitas and drama of the picture.
High Quality of Image
SIRUI anamorphic lenses are high-quality lenses that are designed to get high-quality shots as well. They leave space for dramatic cinematography while still getting the desired resolution.
Anamorphic Lenses Vs. Anamorphic Lens Adaptors
When it comes to anamorphic lenses vs an anamorphic adaptor, it comes down to understanding the features a lens will give you. Adaptors are great for those who want some of the anamorphic effects, while SIRUI anamorphic lenses are ideal for people who want all of them.