Anamorphic Lenses for Your Phone! - Sirui, Moment, Moondog, Ulanzi and Kapkur Comparison

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*** LENS GIVEAWAY! ***
The first giveaway is open to everyone: the Sirui VD-01. To be a part do the following:
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*** SIRUI GIVEAWAY! ***
Sirui USA will be giving out one VD-01’s per week for the next three weeks. To be eligible to win, do the following:
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- Participants must be USA residents only, and only 1 winner per household. The winner will be contacted each week by SIRUI directly.

Here's a head-to-head comparison among some of the most popular anamorphic lens options for your phone.

Moment on B&H

MoondogLabs on B&H

Sirui VD-01 on B&H

Ulanzi on B&H

Kapkur on Amazon

The full "Anamorphic on a Budget" guide can be found at:

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[BBAACKE]

I’m not even going to lie. I wasn’t expecting very much hardline info when I started this video. When you to hit me with contrasting each lenses distortion with one another, my head & eyes immediately snapped back to soak up that knowledge & hit ‘subscribe’. Good on you, brother. Truly. Keep this quality of content coming. You’re crushing it. 🤙🏼

[factsflow]

This is the most detailled and fair mobile anamorphic lenses comparison
Thanks

[samsen]

Man... You're the KING of Anamorphic thingies!
Loved it. Again.

[ArminHirmer]

great comparison. I took the moondog for the flares and they were the first ones :)

[wabisabiprod]

Loving the looks from the sirui. That flare has a nice deep scifi vibe.

[davejenx]

i use the ulanzi ver2 it has a 17mm but use a 37mm adapter to mount it to the 37mm front plate mount of my sony rx0ii works really well and close focus is 20cm . an anamorphot 60 on my xh1 achieves everything else

[xdgime]

Tito, I have Kapkur anamorphic lens. It is NOT LOCKED, it can be rotated to any angle, AND it snaps in to 0, 90, 180 and 270 degrees (exact vertical/horizontal) positions.

[efrenplaza]

I just got my new iPhone 12 pro max and it's just so frustrating researching for information regarding compatibility of these products. You would think that lenses are the hardest to understand but it's not. Thanks for your great review! Mounting these products is the most frustrating. It would be great to create a video on "All you need to know mounting these lenses on an iPhone 12 pro max" including gimbals, cages, proprietary cases and which mounting system fits the most. Thanks!

[Babsdoproductions]

I know what you mean by the build of these phone anamorphics. I have a used Beastgrip 1.33x that I picked up for cheap on eBay and when I got it, I noticed that it was just dirty so I tried to clean it. Eventually, I had to take it apart because the Q-tip polishing actually pushed the rear element into the lens! I found out that the lens was held together by sticky glue and the interior was lined with felt of all things. Needless to say, simply by cleaning the lens, the felt started falling apart so there were fuzzy hairs everywhere. After letting things dry a bit, I was able to clean all the surfaces, revealing coating and glass damage from the previous owner. Just by moving the front element to clean, the inner corner on one side of the glass completely chipped off! Thankfully it wouldn’t affect anything and I painted it over with black Sharpie but it tells you how fragile the glass is. Without applying more sticky glue or perhaps double sided tape, the lens won’t stay 100% together as tightly as it should but I was at least able to push the rear element back into place and clean the front element overall. The lens turned out to not have very pretty or anamorphic-like flares anyway but it at least was a learning experience. Since then, I found a good deal on a Moondog Labs 37mm model and it’s much better optically but I wonder if it’s built the same. Overall, like anything camera related, you’ve got to be careful with these things. Also, if you need an easy way to carry your phone lenses, a pack of microfiber sunglass pouches should do the trick and $10 can get you a pack of 100 or something like that so you would be covered for a long time! Btw, I’ll be doing a video on my anamorphic lenses once we’re done with our feature film. Keep up the good work, Tito! :)

[dameanvil]

- [00:41] 📱 Phone Anamorphic lenses for smartphones have seen increasing popularity and options since their inception in 2013, with various companies entering the market to capitalize on the demand.
- [02:21] 🎥 Basic 1.33 anamorphic lenses for phones lack oval bokeh and many visual traits of traditional anamorphic lenses, primarily offering wider aspect ratios, flares, and some barrel distortion.
- [03:47] 📷 Using the Filmic Pro app provides advanced features for smartphone filmmaking, including squeezing footage on the fly, zebras, focus peaking, and integration with gimbals.
- [04:40] 💡 Investing in a variable ND filter can offer more light control, but compatibility with lens filters varies among brands, requiring custom solutions for some lenses.
- [05:14] 🎞 Shooting in 4K and using a filming app with on-the-fly squeezing saves time, ensuring the final resolution maintains quality for editing and output.
- [07:38] 📸 When comparing lens performance, differences become apparent in center sharpness, corner sharpness, light fall-off, and flares, with each lens offering unique characteristics.
- [09:11] 🔄 Checking the squeezed factor and distortion of each lens reveals variations, with some lenses not adhering strictly to the standard 1.33x squeeze factor.
- [10:00] 🔍 Minimum focus tests show the limitations of fixed-focus anamorphic lenses, resulting in stretched bokeh due to differences in focusing distances between the taking lens and the phone.
- [11:43] 🔩 Mechanical differences in construction and alignment mechanisms among lenses impact user experience, with some lenses offering more convenience and flexibility than others.
- [13:17] 💰 Choosing between lenses can be challenging due to similar performance and construction, with considerations such as price, alignment mechanism, and mounting method influencing the decision.

[zoomoz]

Love this channel, no blabla only facts

[rm]

I am just looking at an anamorphic lens for my iPhone XR. Must say, your review, by far, is the best review that I have seen in making my decision to purchase a particular brand for my current amateur status. Thanks a heap and keep up the good work. Cheers, and stay safe.

[peterplantec]

This was an outstanding job. I learned a few things. I tested the very first Moondog labs anamorphic. It was excellent, but only fit one model of iphone, so now it is a brick…so sad.

[CONOCLAT]

I have the ulanzi and I really enjoy using it. I’m also very excited at the fact that there will soon be a 1.55x lens which means all the other companies will come out with their versions of that too. I’ve seen tests of the prototype version on YouTube and it looks great.

[theleastsignificantbit]

I bought the Beastgrip 1.55 Mark II. I like it quite a bit, and would be interested in how it stacks up.

[KindQuotes]

Wow, such a beautiful presentation, and it was like watching a relaxing, yet adventure movie!

[airbornesuper]

I make my own adapters by hand and I use camera grade lenses on my smartphone. I'm a little different when it comes out to vacations

[Veptis]

I once considered this as a cheap path with the tiny 14mm f/2.5 Panasonic lens.

as phones are rather wide angle, this actually makes them interesting

[ivankursacts]

It's an amazing work!) Thank you so much for this comparison!

[filser.official]

moondog lens is not available anymore sadly i liekd it the most