explaining the Anamorphic look

[Alexius]

Hi Roger,

I know about some of the technical aspects that come with using anamorphic lenses (little depth of field, horizontal lens flares etc)
but I'm interested in your opinion on a harder-to-quantify aesthetic level.

They do have a different quality to other lenses (besides the obvious) and I'm trying to nail down what makes the images feel so... nice.

What is it about an anamorphic image that feels so different?

Thanks for your time. As always, much appreciated.

Anton

[Roger]

As must be obvious from my comments elsewhere on this site I am not a great fan of anamorphic. What you see as 'nice' I see as artificial. The lack of sharpness and the distortion that occurs at the edges of the screen when currently available anamorphic lenses are used at wide apertures are a real drawback and I don't like either the artificial looking flares or the shallow of depth of field. The real advantage of anamorphic has nothing to do with the lenses but relates to the size of the negative.