[ARRI PL] Huge fan of these SLR Magic Microprimes.


I now have a full set: 12mm T/2.8, 17mm T/1.5, 21mm fT/1.6, 25mm T/1.5, 35mm T/1.5, 50mm T/1.5. They're the best bang for your buck cinema primes out there, in my opinion. I use them with a BMPCC4k and GH5 and I love them.


The only thing I wish they had was a bit more throw with the longer distances. There's very little travel from infinity to six feet, for example.


If your focus or aperture ring seems stiff at first, don't worry - it'll loosen up after some use.


I'm now starting a collection of the SLR Magic APO lenses for PL mount.

[ARRI PL] Love the results from these lenses. SLR Magic did a great job. Thank you B&H for the fast shipping.

[5.6 lb] We understand what this adapter does to the image, the squeeze on the picture and the flares and all, so then what's really to discuss here is the practicality of using this on a set.

Considering the anamorphot adapter requires focus adjusting in addition to the taking lens, it's rather impossible to shoot any sort of complex cinema without the rangefinder. One cannot pull or push focus on two elements simultaneously at any level of efficiency - if it's discovered that this is in fact a practice on any set, then the cinematographer deserves both and award and a slap on the head. You see, if the adapter and the taking lens are both pushed to infinity focus, then the rangefinder takes over focusing responsibilities, thus making it possible to use a standard geared focus system to push and pull.

Then, the issue becomes finding a taking lens that can maintain a proper relationship with the anamorphot+rangefinder. It appears that unless using an SLR Magic brand taking lens, the quality of results will vary. The rangefinder includes instructions on how to dial in the perfect focus using any lens other than one of the SLR Magic brand (assuming that lens is of the smaller diameter), though such is to be practiced with discretion. Apparently not all "other brand" lenses match perfectly with the anamorphot+rangefinder. To properly dial in focus, one should apply the anamorphot and the rangerfinder to their taking lens of choice, push the taking lens and anamorphot to infinity, and then focus the rangefinder to exactly four feet away from the sensor of the camera. Here, final focus adjustments to the taking lens are to be made, to achieve perfect focus. Then, so long as the taking lens focus does not move, the rangefinder can take over. Understand that with SLR Magic lenses, this extra step may not be necessary.

Perhaps there's other alternatives, but for the price, this is a legitimate option. Be prepared to baby your rig, but the results pay off.

[1.33x] The two together are a great value as the rangefinder by itself is $600 but it this package only adds $200 to the price of the anamorphot. And anyone who has used an anamorphic adapter without one knows how difficult it can be to pull focus, so they really go together. Focusing is precise and easy and the 2x adds a cinematic dreaminess to the images that can only be achieved with anamorphic. I highly recommend the pair and the price is well worth it.

[35mm] Is it equivalent to the 50mm Arri/Zeiss Master Anamorphic ? Probably not.

But optically & mechanically, it's a very nice lens. You can easily switch from the native PL mount to an EF mount with a $150 adapter (or go very 1st class with SLR Magic's own Titanium adapter).

It offers full-frame coverage.

And you can add 82mm close up lenses (diopters) to get much closer than the lens's 3.5' minimum.


For Run_n_Gun, leave your Matt Box & rails behind & use an 82mm lens hood. The lens is small and light enough so you can use it hand held.

The travel case is a nice touch, too.

It's a bit more affordable (and a lot lighter) than the 50mm Arri/Zeiss Master Anamorphic. In fact, it's probably the most affordable way to get a true anamorphic lens.


Last, but not least, B & H has been very easy to deal with.

[1.33x] We used this on a shoot only a few days after receiving it, which was challenging but I love a good challenge. It wasn't just any shoot either, a campaign of 3 separate commercials shot over 4 days. We used only this and a Contax Zeiss 50mm prime taking lens, and a canon close up filter between the anamorphot and rangefinder as a diopter, which also worked great. It picks up almost exactly where it leaves off without it, (around 3ft6in) and with it I can focus in at around 6-8 inches! Obviously it's very important that it's aligned correctly, but its easy to tell when you point it at any vertical lines. We used an FS700 into an Odyssey 7Q which did our desqueeze for us, and even has a setting where you can center crop for correct framing for 2.35:1. It's subtle in all the ways you'd want it to be, and has all the elements that just makes things look more cinematic We'll be buying the GH5 and I can't wait to use this with the new photo mode!

[35mm] An easy, affordable step up in the look of my images. Received great assistance from B&H through Chat to think through options, ideas, and trade-offs.

[1.33x] Such a lovely lens. I compared it directly with a Zeiss CP.2 50mm I'd been using over the years, and the difference in purple fringing at high contrast points was jaw dropping. The Zeiss had a quite a fair bit of fringing, while there was no fringing whatsoever with the SLR Magic APO. This is a true, legit APO lens. A nice surprise considering how loose many manufacturers are with the 'APO' moniker. The lens has a really lovely, cinematic rendering. Finds a nice balance between the hyper crisp, clinical look of modern lenses and the flattering character of a classic cinema lens. Just the slightest hint of veiling flare when wide open. Incredibly clean, smooth bokeh thanks to the spherical optics (no aspherical elements), and 13 aperture blades with rounded edges. Very little focus breathing. Adapting these lenses to EF is crazy fast and easy with SLR Magic's optional matching PL-EF adapter. It's quite compact for a cine lens, however it is very dense due to the amount of glass. The only items I can fault it on are a rather pedestrian minimum focussing distance of 2', and a fair amount of vignetting when shooting wide open on vista vision/full frame (don't notice any real vignetting when shooting 135/APS-C). Unlike the CP.2's, CP.3's, Xeen's, Sigma Cine, and Canon Cine lenses (which are almost completely photo optics rehoused in cine bodies), these were designed for cine use from the optical design on up.

[1.33x] I have the set of these including the 50, 85, and 25mm, lenses; they are lovely. However, I'd like to note that the filter thread diameter for the 50mm lens is 62mm, not 58mm as described in the specs. The 85 and 25mm lenses have a filter thread diameter of 82mm.