$80 VS $8000 Lens for Filmmaking

Which lens looks better? Vintage vs Anamorphic?

CREATOR RESOURCES


Disclosures: All opinions are my own. Sponsors are acknowledged. Some links in the description are affiliate links that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

[DuelingPeaks]

Vintage looks good, but anyone saying it looks better than the anamorphic lens is tripping. The anamorphic lens captured so much more detail and had better colour reproduction.

[calebbrunkow]

Great to see this side by side. Dune part two also used rehoused ARRI Moviecam lenses which for the most part are just rehoused Olympus OM vintage lenses

[mike_s_media]

I'd have liked to see some of the shots framed the same to see the real difference between the lenses more apples to apples. ie some shots like at 5:19 and 5:35 look like they were shot at different focal lengths or one was shot in aps-c while the other was in full frame etc. At almost the same focal length the van should appear the same size in both shots where the differences should lie in the extra width the anamorphic is able to get in addition to all of the lens characteristics ie flare etc.

[ChrisPza]

Each have their place. The vintage look great for the right projects. Anamorphic though look great. I don’t need 8k lenses. I’ll enjoy the sirui or other budget friendly anamorphics

[JonnyRay]

That Atlas anamorphic looks soooo much better.

[Digibeatle]

Just a “perspective” (no pun intended) on lenses generally - and this is from someone who goes back to the days of 35mm still photography - lenses from “behind the Iron Curtain” - as they called it - could represent very good value. Most people - if they could afford it - would use lenses made by Canon, Nikon or Pentax but stuff from, say, the “Democratic Republic of Germany” could perform quite well to all but the most demanding of photographic purposes (i.e. super big enlargements from a negative) - generally a “cheaper lens” shows its limitations used “wide open” - stop down a few apertures and it’s likely many people would be happy with its sharpness and contrast. Anamorphic is a completely different topic and I leave it to content creators like this to go into the “ins and outs” - I am tempted to buy one or two Blazar (Great Joy) anamorphics at some stage - they may not be as good as the Atlas, for example, but they’re a damn sight cheaper !

[aaronmeldrum]

I love the radial flares, that the vintage glass gives.

[BrendanMiranda]

$80 is good to own, $8000 is great to rent 😅 it’s kind of weird but a few of those shots where the lighting and composition was stronger I preferred the vintage. Those compressed wides are anamorphic all day though. Especially that SpaceX launch 🚀

[bigdspeedshop]

Thanks for taking the time to do this great comparison. To my eye, on my laptop, the Atlas is far superior. I really can't criticize any of it. The footage from the vintage lens looks like a phone footage that's been run through Blindusk or something. I know it's "organic, " but it looks cheap. The flares are unpleasant, as is the overall softness. To my eye, on my screen. But it still has a use, and I've made (far) worse 30sec vertical reels. In summary, of the ultimate goal is the best IQ, Atlas hands-down.

[plot]

A couple of days ago I found out there are cine lenses. I dove into that topic and am totally fascinated by them and thinking to replace (or rather add to them) my existing lenses. Did you ever use them and what is the most important thing to keep an eye on when using cine lenses?

[jaydoster]

Informative lens comparison...yet I'm more fixated on van's on-board stove! Never seen this before. Seems both practical and frightening.

[Rockingvideos]

I think that if you had just told the story without trying to match the perspective of the lenses, the shots would have matched better and the difference between vintage and anamorphic would have made more sense.

[miketomas]

Jeven - @16:50 "Nothing against Photo lenses, but .." "..I really just don't take photos anymore; and I only take Video" OK. STOP. What is that transition like? moving away from still photography to Video only. How does that feel? any difficulties with moving from something your use to to a new way of filming? Mostly I've done stills, but now I'm forcing myself to shoot video instead. And then I find myself looking at the frames and then grabbing a still. so there is a transition there.. And P.S.- I like old Minolta prime Glass.

I think the spherical lens camera could be walked back a bit to achieve the same look to widen up to the anamorphic. Although I'm preferring the spherical lens for less post processing work and squeeze distortion, I'd say there is a time and a place for each scene. For instance the mountain crest I prefer the anamorphic lens for that, but most anything else I prefer the spherical.

[bondgabebond]

This is an apple to orange comparison. The difference in picture made it obvious that the choice of lenses did not match each other in the height department. As one who grew up in the 'vintage' timeline, I saw many movies in the typical format. As time went on movies that stretched longer horizontally became the norm. The only real difference I could see (possibly due to YT downgrading the video) is the flair, both are quite different.
One thing that is confusing is the use of film, movie and video. Maybe you can be clearer and not say you are filming as you are not filming anything. You have digital cameras. Now, this can lead to a comparison to the use of actual film that is squeezed vs digital. Then explain why a cinematic movie looks different than a 'video.' Again, the use of words doesn't match what you are trying to say. Film is a totally different medium that digital and you need to make that absolutely clear. Too many 'digital' video makers incorrectly use the words 'film' and 'filming.' I shot film in my still cameras last century. Today I use memory cards when I shoot images. Same goes with video. And 'movies' is a good term as it denotes 'moving pictures.'

[joshsmith]

I think in the 1st shoot of your jeep the footage is not desquezed properly.

[TheBakRd]

what's the point of comparing spherical against anamorphic lenses? They are in so drastically different categories!

[PyxisCinema]

They both look amazing but i'm leaning towards the vintage lens.

[dizzybuizzy]

Your information might be correct, but your presentation is very unsteady... I didn't find it very professional..