Smoke bombs, a V for Vendetta mask and "golden hour" at the railroad tracks near our warehouse in Des Plaines, IL. - the perfect opportunity to shoot a fun video to show off some of the incredible image quality from our upcoming anamorphic lens. Without any further ado, take a look at our first sample video, shot with the Beastgrip Pro Series 1.33X Anamorphic Lens:
Gear we used:
We used an iPhone 7 with a DS1 Gimbal for all of the motion shots and the 56mm telephoto camera on an iPhone 7 Plus for our handheld, close-up shots. We were pleased to see that when we used our lens with the iPhone 7 Plus' 56mm camera at a close distance to our subject, the anamorphic lens flares were more powerful and there was a nice separation/shallow depth-of-field. Lastly, we recorded the video on both phones with FiLMiC Pro at 120FPS.
When shooting on a smartphone at 120FPS, you sacrifice a little bit of image quality, but it's a really nice feature if you want to have a "super slo-mo" video - which we did.
What does an anamorphic lens do?
Anamorphic lenses create a dramatic widescreen 2.4:1 aspect ratio for video (or 16:9 aspect ratio for still images) and add distinctive, Hollywood-style lens flares. You can see anamorphic lenses used in lots of popular movies like Transformers, Star Wars, etc.
How does an anamorphic lens work and why should you use one?
The anamorphic lens "squeezes" your image in so it can fit more information on your camera sensor, so it can be "de-squeezed" later in post-production (or in real-time with a third party filmmaking app) to get a widescreen 2:4.1 aspect ratio. If you wanted to get a widescreen aspect ratio without an anamorphic lens, you'd need to add black bars to cover the top and bottom of the frame, which obviously cuts off the top and bottom of your video - not good.
What makes the Beastgrip Anamorphic lens special?
Optimized for the Beastgrip Pro
We designed this lens to work perfectly with the Beastgrip system, which means that you can easily pair all of your favorite photography and filmmaking gear with the anamorphic lens for an even better quality shot.
Dramatic lens flares
One of the best and most compelling reasons to shoot with an anamorphic lens are the cool horizontal lens flares that you get when the lens is pointed towards a bright light source. We created this lens to bring beautiful and cinematic-looking lens flares/streaks and a crystal clear image. To see what we mean by "lens flares," rewatch the sample video we shot (above) and pay close attention to the shots with the sun shining through.
Lens filter-ready
It has a 58mm threaded lens filter mount built-in, so you can easily add your favorite ND (Neutral Density), polarizer, UV (Ultraviolet) or infrared filters and be ready for all types of shooting scenarios. You can learn more about lens filters on this blog post from Photography Life.
Compatible with most phones
Just like the Beastgrip Pro, you can use the Beastgrip Anamorphic lens with most phones, making it a versatile tool for all phoneographers.
Note: It's designed for phones with a >28mm focal length equivalent. If your phone has a wider focal length, you may see softer edges or chromatic aberration on your image.
Build quality
It’s made of a durable anodized aluminum and has a knurled grip and smoothly rotating lens to make mounting and alignment easy.
Conclusion
Anamorphic lenses are a fantastic tool for any photographer or filmmaker that's looking for a unique and cinematic-looking image. We expect to have ours released sometime soon - stay tuned! We can't wait to release it and see what you all create with it!
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Behind the Scenes of the "Of Land and Sea" Short Film
Sample Video Shot with DOF Adapter MK2, Pro Series 1.33X Anamorphic Lens and iPhone 7 & 7 Plus