GEAR
A SIRUI-SLY GOOD SET-UP
The last obstacle for filmmakers wanting the Hollywood-style Cinemascope widescreen look is a set of full-frame anamorphic optics. A super-widescreen format can be approximated with careful use of spherical lenses and cropping in post, with blue horizontal flares emulated via filters. But you can’t fake the trademark oval bokeh. Sirui has championed affordable anamorphics in the past few years, originally for crop-sensor cameras – either Micro Four Thirds or Super 35. These lenses give 1.33x squeeze, which isn’t a massive amount, but still only 2.4:1 aspect ratio. In the past year, Sirui launched its first full-frame anamorphic: the 50mm T2.9 1.6x at £1299/$1499. Now, it’s joined by a second: the 75mm T2.9 at the same price. Not cheap by any means, but far less than other ‘modest’ full-frame anamorphics like the Atlas Orion. A premium anamorphic such as a Cooke can cost 25 times as much! Armed with a full-frame Sony A7S III and A1, we wanted the total Cinemascope effect, so took the new 75 and 50mm full-frame lenses on our shoot. But as there’s no wider Sirui of this format, we mixed it with the 24mm Super 35 model, cropping the sensor to suit. With the wide lens offering a 1.33x squeeze versus 1.6x on the longer lenses, it became a bit of a faff in post to match things up, de-squeeze the images correctly, then crop the sides off the footage from the full-frame lenses to match the image ratio of the 24mm version.
HIP TO BE SQUARE There’s no mistaking the unusually shaped front element of a Sirui anamorphic lens
“If you’re not technically minded, wanting a straight-out-of-camera option, maybe Sirui anamorphics aren’t for you yet”
odd. If you have a camera like a Panasonic S1H that will shoot in 3:2, it gives an ideal 2.4:1 aspect ratio with the full-frame lenses. On a 16:9, such as our Sony mirrorless, you get a 2.8:1 aspect ratio that’s super-wide. It’s best to crop to something like 2.4:1 or 2.66:1, so it plays better with the 1.33x wide-angle lens. With not many cameras offering internal anamorphic de-squeeze, you’ll need an external monitor in most cases. Even so, most have 1.5x and 1.8x choices, not 1.6x or 1.33x. It might require a bit of guesswork to get the framing right. In use, the 24mm lens provides good optical quality, with some vignetting. But it’s sharp across the frame, especially when not used wide open. Colours and contrast are decent and slightly warm, with a green tint that can be sorted in post. Horizontal blue flares may stop before the end of the frame, which can look slightly strange. As it’s only a 1.33x squeeze, out-of-focus highlights are slightly ovalised. These new Siruis are both a huge step ahead – and very sharp right across the frame. That’s due to an increasingly complex optical design,
If you’re not technically minded, wanting a straight out-of-camera option, maybe these anamorphics aren’t for you yet. Not until Sirui launches wider alternatives to its full-frame optics, which must surely be on the horizon. The 24mm version isn’t really built like a cinema lens, since it has f/stops, no geared focus or iris rings – and is a totally different size to its big brothers. But at £854/$999, is far cheaper. Larger lenses have a maximum aperture of T2.9 and consistent size and shape, like real cinema glass. They are made from aluminium alloy, with clickless aperture and focus rings geared for use with a follow focus – offering a controlled feel. Underneath is a small bracket with 1/4in-20 thread for mounting to a rig or lens support. The complex internal focusing mechanism is a relatively basic synchro-focus system, to cut costs against higher-end lenses. This means the 1.6x squeeze factor changes slightly through the focus range – from 1.6x at infinity to around 1.51x at minimum focus. In fact, Sirui’s squeeze factors of 1.33x on the APS-C lens and 1.6x on the full-frame version are a bit
FIRST IMPRESSIONS The 75mm T2.9 is the latest in the range – and perhaps the best
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