The Difference Between Anamorphic And Spherical Lenses Explained

when light passes through a anamorphic cinema lens, then into your Arri Alexa...all your money disappears

Brilliant breakdown. I like that you explained the creative reasons you might choose either lens. Good stuff.

Good video, but one note: Lawrence of Arabia despite being widescreen (with an aspect ratio of 2.20:1) was shot with spherical lenses, so shouldn't be used as an example of anamorphic widescreen. It's wide aspect ratio was a function of using the larger Super Panavision 65mm film stock rather than 35mm.

This was a great breakdown, must see for anyone who loves cinema

These types of breakdowns get me so stoked! Love finding channels like this!

Great video! I always felt that one of the big differences is that anamorphic lenses give you more compression for a given frame width. I.e., a 50mm 2x anamorphic gives me the same horizontal field of view as a 25mm spherical lens, but produces the same depth compression as a 50mm spherical lens. Thus, anamorphic glass allows me to get a wide (horizontal) field of view without making my subject look like they have a big nose! I guess another crude way of thinking of this is that anamorphic reduces depth distortion at the centre of the frame, but increases lateral distortion at the edges of the frame, which can be a good trade-off if the subject is usually near the centre and you can't afford to go long.

Lawrence Of Arabia was shot on 65MM film in super panavision not using anamorphic lenses

Your videos are criminally under viewed but I’m sure you’ll take off soon. Keep the great videos coming.

Shooting night scenes using only candle light sounds absolutely insane

Keep in mind that 'Lawrence of Arabia' was in fact shot on spherical lenses. It's often shown in this video when anamorphic lenses are brought up, but it was in fact shot spherically on 65mm film at a widescreen 2.20:1 ratio.

The point of a movie is being sucked in by the story till you forget it's a movie. This gotta be one of the best quotes. And it's brilliantly exemplified by your video itself. The atmospheric ambient music lended a beautiful cinematic feel to the whole thing.

Very insightful video to watch especially in an era where cheap anamorphic lenses are being released and indie filmmakers are running to get that "cinematic" look when it doesn't necessarily provide that on its own

I've been a photographer, namely stills, for several years and your video is the first source which painted such a clear picture of the difference between these two styles, their applications, and examples to spot them all in one cohesive bite.

A good summary! One thing you didn’t mention is rear anamorphic lenses. These lenses place the cylindrical element at the rear of the lens in an effort to combat some of the “downsides” (also the distortion that we enjoy) inherent to from anamorphic designs. They are sharper, faster, less distorted and less glare prone than front Anamorphic’s and can focus closely without diopters. You can also get large rear anamorphic zooms, which are convenient. Of course you do sacrifice a lot of “character” AKA distortion, but they’re a good middle ground.

The more I learn about film, the more depressed I am, that I'm not a director.

Just found you through the YT algorithm and this is great stuff! I'm not a filmmaker but I've always had an interest in cinema and the technical aspects of making movies. The anamorphic lens concept always confused me but this has really helped me understand it, and I love that you're also looking at how all the enginineering and science serves the artistic side too. Subscribed!

I love when authors go in depth on the gear used during filming. Helps to really understand the process. Subbed instantly 👍🏽

That was really interesting and really well made video. Nicely narrated, great juxtaposition of clips and images, and the ambient music wasn't distracting but helped immersion. Thanks for sharing what you know

It's crazy how every single second in this video offered valuable information rather than fluff to hit the >8min mark for YT algorithm. Absolutely brilliant! Great work!

I didn’t go to film school, I went to YouTube. Where I found great teachers like In Depth Cine and my man Wolfcrow. Salute to all those honing their craft.