Cine tech comes in waves. Jon Fauer points out that, historically, each wave of excitement for 3D Stereo is followed by a wave of anamorphic production—and it seems we’re riding that wave right now. Interested in anamorphics but unwilling to splash out on expensive glass, since waves ebb as well as crest? Affordable anamorphic adapters let you shoot widescreen, oval-bokeh, horizontally-flared images without breaking the bank, though they come with their own set of idiosyncrasies and operating peculiarities. Adam Wilt gives a brief overview of anamorphic lenses and adapters, then illustrates the challenges and rewards of anamorphic shooting using SLR Magic 1.33x and 2.0x adapters.

• Why shoot anamorphic?
• Squished pictures by the numbers: aspect ratios, squeeze factors, and cropping
• What’s available, and what does it cost?
• Attaching, aligning, and focusing anamorphic adapters.
• Viewfinding and monitoring.
• Anamorphic footage in post: now what do you do?