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Lomo Anamorphic Lenses
Originating from the Soviet-era Russia in the early 1980s came the Lomo Round Front Anamorphic lenes. With a 2x squeeze these lenses were designed to cover S35 film formats. The prime units are taken straight from the original Lomo spherical line up with a cylindrical section in front of this to create the squeeze factor. Then the front element (a dioptre) is used to focus the light while the rest of the elements remain stationary. The image from these lenses is unique, reasonably sharp in the centre with fall off starting after the central one-third of the image circle. The distortion is a nice barrelling effect with beautiful rending of the bokeh. These lenses also produce warm flares rather than the harsh blue flares seen on some modern-day anamorphic lenses.
Due to the basic mechanical design of these lenes, the focussing element racks forward and backward on a helicoid thread. This specific setup means that the front of the lens telescopes and rotates as focus is pulled, making the lens difficult to use with any accessories. Even a follow focus is difficult to use if the anamorphics had a gear put on them, due to the amount of movement needed to reach close focus. However, during the rehousing process, all these mechanical issues are taken care of. The lenses become internally focussing, without any rotating elements. The optics are serviced and re-aligned to get the best optical performance out of the lenses, something which most are in desperate need of. The outcome is a beautiful vintage anamorphic image coupled with a high-end cine housing.
The rehoused Lomo Anamorphic lenses also achieve a closer focus as well as individually marks scales. Both focus and iris movements have solid, stainless-steel stops which is essential to prevent the iris blades from buckling under use from motors. The 50mm, 75mm, 100mm and 135mm all share a 143mm front diameter while the 35mm comes out at 190mm. Unfortunately, there was no way to reduce the front diameter of the 35mm while keeping the lens internally focussing. This is due to the field of view alongside the amount of movement needed to achieve close focus.
Lomo Anamorphic Lenses Specification
| 35mm | 50mm | 75mm | 100mm | 150mm | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | PL | PL | PL | PL | PL |
| T-Stop | T2.5 | T2.5 | T2.5 | T2.4 | T4 |
| Min. Object Distance typ. | 2'10" | 2'8" | 2'8" | 2'10" | 5'8" |
| Front Diameter (mm) | 190mm | 143mm | 143mm | 143mm | TBA |
| Total Length *(mm) | 176mm | 168.5mm | 202.5mm | 235mm | TBA |
| Total Length *(inches) | 6 15/16" (6.93") | 6 41/64" (6.64") | 7 31/32" (7.98") | 9 1/4" (9.25") | TBA |
| Weight **(g) | 4600g | 2850g | 3160g | 3390g | TBA |
| Weight **(lbs) | 10.14lbs | 6.29lbs | 6.97lbs | 7.45lbs | TBA |
* Total approximate length is measured from the flange to the front of lens
** Weight subject to change with further developments
