Why I Bought and Returned the SLR Magic Anamorphot: A Review

For the past five years or so I've been quite interested in shooting anamorphic.  Purported gains in image quality, wider aspect ratios that I like so much without losing data to cropping, anamorphic flare, oval bokeh; all of these things really piqued my interest.  The rarity and price of anamorphic adapters as well as the poor compatibility with taking lenses kept anamorphic shooting as not much more than a curiosity for me.

Enter the SLR Magic Anamorphot 1.33X anamorphic adapter.  Finally, the ability to purchase an anamorphic adapter new and more affordably than vintage ones on eBay!  The specs also looked great: fairly wide compatibility with taking lenses, a decent maximum aperture that got even better when using SLR Magic's diopters, and purposefully engineered anamorphic flare.  The adapter squeezes 33% more horizontally onto the sensor, thus giving roughly a 2.36:1 aspect ratio in post when shooting 16:9. I was excited that I could frame my shot on my GH4's screen (albeit squeezed horizontally) without worrying about cropping the top and bottom in post to achieve the aspect ratio I desired.

Out of the box, the build quality of the adapter is only so-so.  It feels well constructed and solid, but there is much to be desired regarding the mechanical operation of it.  First, the step down rings, which allow it to be attached to lenses with varying filter thread diameters are quite cheap feeling.  The front filter threads of the adapter, which allows attachment of the diopters, is quite poor.  It is very difficult to get the diopters on and far to easy to get them cross-threaded.  Also, the Normal/Near focus ring is extremely difficult to turn.  Even with two hands, sometimes it is so tight you almost unscrew the adapter from the lens rather than turn the focus ring.

The kit comes with +0.33 and +1.33 diopters, which supposedly reduce chromatic aberration and increase sharpness at closer focus distances.  Aside from the treading issues, their build quality is good.

Attaching the adapter is easy, but finicky.  Simply screw it onto a lens with a 62mm filter threading like any lens filter or select the proper sized step-down ring first.  After attaching the adapter, it needs to be aligned properly so that the images is squeezed perfectly horizontally.  For the most part you can eyeball this, but to get it exact you need to shine a bright light, such as the iPhone flashlight, into the lens, creating a flare.  Then you must rotate the adapter until the flare is horizontal.  To lock this in you must then tighten one of three screws on the size of the adapter.  It's kind of difficult to use a tiny screwdriver to tighten the screw without rotating the adapter out of the desired position.  It shouldn't be overtightened, but has to be tight enough to ensure that it doesn't move when your adjusting the Normal/Near focus ring, which, as I already said, is very difficult to turn.  Unfortunately, this process needs to be performed every time you switch taking lenses.  The adapter is heavy, especially with diopters attached.  This wasn't a problem on a Zeiss ZF lens, but the focus ring of a Canon 50mm wouldn't make then lens focus with the added weight.

If all the rigamarole of attaching the adapter wasn't annoying enough, using the adapter is just about as unpleasant.  Sometimes achieving focus is as simple as focusing your taking lens.  Sometimes you need to adjust that damn Normal/Near ring on the adapter (did I mention yet that it's like trying to open a pickle jar?).  Sometimes you need to also add a diopter (the +1.33 for focusing under 3 feet and the +033 for under 10 feet). But sometimes, not matter what you do you just can't seem to get focus.  I've found that sometimes the only solution is to change you focal distance or stop down the aperture even more.

Another caveat with focusing is that focus peaking seems to be fooled by the squeezed image, sometimes giving focus confirmation, when in fact it is not.  Always use the magnification feature to ensure that the image is actually in focus even if peaking says it is.  Conversely, I've never had a problem with the GH4's focus peaking without the anamorphic adapter.

Now, let's talk about aperture.  SLR Magic claims the adapter works well with maximum apertures of:
• f/2.8 for 20 to 50 mm
• f/4 for 55 to 85 mm
• f/5.6 for 90 to 135 mm
With a diopter attached, SLR Magic claims you can get another stop out of it. I tested the adapter with the Zeiss ZF 50mm f/1.4 and Canon 50mm f/1.4, assuming I could shoot at f/2.8 without or f/2 with a diopter.  Even with a diopter, I found images basically unusable under f/4 as there was so much chromatic aberration and the image was very soft.  Not until f/5.6 with the diopter did the image really look decent.  I wish I would have had an 85 mm lens to test it with to see if the aperture had to be stopped down even further at that focal length.

The only thing easy about the anamorphic workflow is post-production.  Simply change the pixel aspect ratio or stretch the image 33% and you're set.

So using the lens is tough and you have to make sacrifices with respect to maximum aperture, but this pays off in the end, right?  Honestly, not so much.  Let's look piece by piece at how the SLR Magic Anamorphic performed with respect to the touted benefits of shooting anamorphic:

•  Better Image Quality.  The poor performance of the adapter seemed to negate any benefits of preserving the vertical resolution of the image; similarly framed scenes were more detailed without the adapter.  The adapter also leads to noisier images since you have to bump up the ISO to compensate for stopping down to f/5.6.

• Oval Bokeh.  From my testing I couldn't see any discernible difference in the quality or shape of the bokeh with or without the adapter.  Since the adapter requires you to shoot at smaller apertures, you definitely get less out of focus backgrounds as well.

• Flare.  The lens does produce a pleasing, blue, classic-looking anamorphic flare when shooting at a very bright light source (I was only able to get the lens to flare when shooting an LED flashlight and my iPhone's flash).  It's an excellent novelty, but not worth the $1099 price tag of this kit.  

• Aspect Ratio.  You do indeed get a 2.36:1 aspect ratio from the adapter when shooting 16:9 or an even wider 2.52:1 when shooting in the GH4's Cinema 4K mode.  The adapter gives you a 33% wider field of view horizontally.

• Style.  I see very little unique style imparted on the image by the Anamorphot.  Some lenses give a certain unreproducible aesthetic to an image, but I find no such qualities here, unless you really like chromatic aberration or an unusable soft image.

Overall, the only reason to buy this lens is if you absolutely need anamorphic lens flare and you're willing to pay $1099 for it.  Otherwise the adapter is nothing more than an (at best) f/4 lens that's 33% wider horizontally than your taking lens.  Simply substitute you 50mm for a 35mm lens and crop it to 2.35:1 and you will end up essentially the same shot.  I tried this and I can't see any benefits from the anamorphic adapter over this.  The results of this method yield a much better image with the freedom of using any aperture you want, without the hassles of the adapter.

I simply cannot recommend purchasing the SLR Magic Anamorphot.  I'll take the simplicity of focusing a buttery smooth Zeiss ZF lens any day over the tedious process of getting a shot in focus with the Anamorphot, let alone needing to attach it to the lens and align it first.  I'll shoot at f/1.4 if I really need to, with better results than f/4 on the anamorphic adapter.  I'll get the same bokeh (and actually get bokeh) without the adapter.  I'll shoot with a wider lens and crop in post and still achieve an almost identically framed shot.  That $1099 could go toward something a lot more useful.  Needless to say, I returned the adapter after only 3 days.