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Laowa launches their new Proteus 2x Anamorphic T2 Super 35mm lens series

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Looks like Sony’s not the only one announcing new lenses today. Venus optics has announced their new Proteus line of 2x Anamorphic lenses in 35mm, 45mm, 60mm and 85mm focal lengths. The new lenses provide a constant 2x squeeze ratio for Super 35mm sensors. All lenses offer a maximum T2 aperture for shallow depth of field with smooth elliptical bokeh and that signature anamorphic lens flare.

These aren’t cheap lenses, by any means, coming out at around $5,000 each, with some discounts for buying kits containing either the 35mm & 60mm or 45mm and 85mm lenses. But Laowa promises outstanding sharpness, an ultra-wide 2x squeeze with pleasant oval bokeh, low focus breathing and a high-end user-friendly cine housing. They can also cover full-frame systems with a 1.4x expander.

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Great Joy rounds out its full-frame 1.8x Anamorphic lens lineup with the 85mm T2.9

Great Joy has announced its newest full-frame anamorphic lens. The Great Joy 85mm full-frame T2.9 1.8x Anamorphic lens adds to the 50mm T2.9 and 35mm T2.9 launched earlier in the year to round out the set quite nicely. As with the first two lenses in the range, the new 85mm T2.9 is also being launched through Indiegogo with a super early bird price of $1,229 or $1,495, depending on the mount you want.

It’s available in 6 different mounting options with Canon EF/PL being the more expensive option and Sony E, Canon RF, Micro Four Thirds and Leica L being the slightly cheaper option. Naturally, it comes in a cinema housing with 0.8 MOD pitch gears and matches the 85mm front outer diameter of the other two lenses with a similar length – which varies depending on the mount.

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Sirui’s new Saturn 35mm T2.9 full-frame 1.6x anamorphic cine lens is smaller than a can of coke

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Sirui has announced their new Saturn 35mm T2.9 full-frame carbon fibre 1.6x anamorphic lens. Designed for lightweight and mobile shooting, the new lens is smaller than a can of coke and designed for use on cameras with gimbals and even FPV drone rigs – cinema ones, at least, not cinewhoops! The light construction is thanks to the use of carbon fibre in the lens barrel and it measures only 100-103mm long, depending on the mount.

It’s one of the few third-party lenses I’ve seen that comes in a DJI DL mount. So it can be used with the DJI Ronin 4D gimbal stabilised cinema camera. It’s also available in RF mount for use with Canon cameras and the RED Komodo and V-Raptor, as well as E mount for the entire range of Sony mirrorless and cinema cameras. It comes in two flare options and has a 1.6x squeeze ratio.

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The complete guide – How to turn any lens into an “anamorfake”

Anamorphic lenses seemed to disappear in popularity for a while but there is no doubt now that they’re back in a big way. And while there are some moderately low-budget options out there from companies like Sirui, Samyang and Great Joy, they’re still above the budgets of many who just want to play around and experiment. And playing around and experimenting happens to be Tito Ferradans’ speciality.

Over on his YouTube channel, Anamorphic on a Budget, he’s experimented with a lot of DIY “anamorfake” options and he’s put together a complete guide on how you can do it yourself to pretty much any lens you already own. At least, he’s put together the first part of it, which is the video above.

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Moment has launched an adapter that turns just about any lens into a 1.33x Anamorphic lens

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Moment, more commonly known for its smartphone lenses, has expanded into DSLR and mirrorless cameras with its new Moment Anamorphic Adapter which screws onto the filter thread of your regular camera lenses and turns them into 1.33x anamorphic lenses. Moment says they’ve been working on the adapter for the past eight years to turn your 16:9 footage into a more cinematic 2.35:1.

As well as stretching the view to what we’d typically expect from an anamorphic lens, Moment says it brings those horizontal flares and vertical bokeh that anamorphic lenses also typically present. They’ve launched the new anamorphic adapter via Kickstarter, where they’ve already blasted way through their $50,000 goal with 29 days still left to go on the campaign.

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Vazen’s new 135mm T2.8 1.8x anamorphic lens completes their full-frame anamorphic trio

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Vazen has unveiled their new 135mm T2.8 1.8x anamorphic lens for full-frame cameras in EF and PL mount. This completes their 3-lens 1.8x full-frame anamorphic lineup adding to the Vazen 85mm T2.8 1.8x anamorphic full-frame lens announced in August 2020 and the Vazen 50mm T2.1 1.8x anamorphic full-frame lens announced last May.

As with Vazen’s previous full-frame 1.8x anamorphic lenses, this one’s not cheap, coming in at the same $8,000 price tag as the last two, although you can buy the complete set of three in a nice custom hard case for the bargain price of $19,999 (a $4,001 discount). If you’ve already bought some, though and end up getting the 135 to complete your set, the case is available separately for $300.

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Glass wants to make all smartphone lenses anamorphic – but probably not the way you think

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Glass, a new startup working on AI-enhanced imaging, wants to change how our smartphone cameras work to overcome the limitations of current smartphone cameras. They want to do it using larger, wider sensors and the same technology found anamorphic lenses in order to be able to do it. The problem, essentially, is that size matters. And smartphone cameras are running out of space to expand.

You can’t make the sensors larger without making the lenses larger (longer) and phones just aren’t that thick anymore. AI is great and has brought us a lot of advances in smartphone imaging technology over the last few years but that, too, only goes so far. Glass’ solution is to use the 100-year-old cinema technology to overcome some of those size limitations.

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Sirui announces full-frame 75mm T2.9 1.6x Anamorphic lens for RF, L, E and Z mounts

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Sirui has announced a new 75mm T2.9 full-frame 1.6x anamorphic lens for RF, L E and Z mounts. Naturally, they’re launching the lens via Indiegogo – because that’s what Sirui always does – where it’ll be available for an early bird price of $1,199 (20% off the full retail price). It adds to the Sirui 50mm T2.9 1.6x anamorphic lens announced last October, doubling the number of lenses in their full-frame anamorphic lineup.

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Samyang announces “Xeen Meister” line of T1.3 full-frame cine lenses and a 50mm T2.3 2x Anamorphic

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Samyang has today announced a new set of Xeen Meister cine lenses. The new collection is kicking off with three lenses at 35mm, 50mm and 85mm focal lengths, all with a maximum transmission of T1.3. Oh yes, these are some WIDE aperture lenses! As well as the three new T1.3 primes, there’s also a new Xeen Anamorphic 50mm T2.3 2x.

The Xeen name has been around for a while in the Samyang lineup, but Xeen Meister is the name Samyang is giving to their most premium of cine lenses. What is very new, though, is the anamorphic lens. Rumours have been around for a while now that Samyang was working on an anamorphic lens, but it’s taken a while to bring it to fruition. Well, now, Samyang’s first anamorphic lens, the Xeen Anamorphic 50mm T2.3 2x, is official.

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Sirui goes full-frame with a new 50mm T2.9 1.6x Anamorphic cinema lens

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Famous for their popular APS-C anamorphic lenses, Sirui has stepped out with a new full-frame 50mm T2.9 1.6x anamorphic lens providing a 2.8:1 aspect ratio. As per usual for Sirui lenses, the new 50mm T1.9 is being launched via Indiegogo. You’d think by now they’d be in a position now to just develop a lens, announce it and put it up for sale, but I guess not.

Going up to full-frame marks a nice upgrade for Sirui and with their prices, it puts them in a fantastic position for capturing the entry-level full-frame market. With more full-frame cine cameras (and video-focused mirrorless cameras) coming onto the market at lower prices these days, it makes a lot of sense for them to step up.

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