(vimeo)
OK, so it’s been awhile. It’s been a weird year of ups and downs and I just don’t even know where to begin.
So, let’s begin with the Aivascope Pro 1.5x single focus anamorphic adapter. After asking nicely, Valdas of Aivascope graciously lent me one of the test copies of his new lens. I was excited to give it a try and looking forward to shooting as much as I could with it. Well, first came the rainiest early summer I can ever remember. Then, I got sick. Really sick. I was in doctor’s offices and hospitals in and out most of the summer. Instead of having the lens for a month, I had it for 3 and only shot with it 2 days or so. Both were really tough in the heat and I really shouldn’t have been out shooting in my condition, but I had to do something with it. It was driving me crazy.
I did two days in Chinatown with a similar rig. On the first day I tried the Voightlander 40mm f/1.4 lens. I had everything rigged on the Ronin-S the best I could and it did a decent job. I had fun filming but I had several issues keeping the rig stable because of the weird design of the Aivascope Pro and lack of a place to support the lens. But the BIGGEST issue was that the Aivascope Pro does NOT like fast apertures at infinity. You get really bad blooming and CA in the highlights.
It looked fine at closer focus, though. I was unhappy with the stability of my rig as well, so I waited until I felt decent and the weather was good to try again. This time I decided to use the Sigma 30mm f/2.8 as the taking lens. I also got the dual handles from SmallRig for the Ronin-S. This combo fixed 100% of my issues from the first shoot. Everything was sharp, clean, and stable. The only downside is that at f/2.8 with this modern lens is that everything looks a bit sterile. I threw in a few shots from the first day so I could have a bit more bokeh in the edit.It flared about the same on pretty much every lens I tried with it, but some lights randomly make it flare, some don’t.
Unfortunately things didn’t go well after the second day shoot and I never got around to editing this until now. I kinda wish I shot more, but hey. I’m happy with what I have. It’s better than nothing.
My final thoughts on the Aivascope Pro are this: It’s clean, it’s heavy, and it does what it says it does. It is NOT an Iscorama replacement. It is a completely different lens altogether. My main issues with the lens are the weight and the lack of a good place for support on the lens itself. It’s almost as heavy as the Bolex 16/32 with the FVD-16A on it. The only place you can support the lens is on the rear thread clamp. I tried to work around this on my rig by putting my follow focus under the lens on the focus gear. That helped a lot on the Ronin.
Speaking of the Ronin-S, it did a fantastic job. I am very happy with it’s performance and heavy rigs. Just balance, calibrate, and it’s always ready to go.
If I could afford to keep it I would definitely do so. It’s an excellent tool with it’s own look and strengths. But I’ve had a Bolex 16/32 1.5x for over a year and I barely use it, so it just didn’t seem like a smart buy for now.
Tech specs:
Panasonic GH5
4K UHD 60fps 4K, CINE-D
Converted to 24fps
Sigma ART 30mm f/2.8 MFT lens
Voightlander 40mm f/1.4 Leica M mount
Aivascope PRO 1.5x Anamorphic
DJI Ronin-S gimbal
IKAN Live Air Wireless Follow Focus
Filmed in Yokohama Chinatown, Japan.
Music is: Pick Up the Phone by Equalibrum