Here's what you get when you use a vintage anamorphic lens with a 4K Canon 1D C

Vintage anamorphic lens with Canon 1D C in NYC

We can't help being fascinated when people try to use very old techniques with very new technology, and here's a case in point

We've come across this video made by Ben Silberfarb using an up-to-the-minute Canon 1D C (Canon's 4K DSLR flagship) and a 50 year-old "8mm, H. Chretien Baby Hypergonar anamorphic lens" that was "adapted to the front of an 85mm Nikon".

The results look great apart from the pretty gross chromatic aberration, which Ben says could be fixed with a bit of calibration.

Strengthens the case for 4K

This project is fascinating in its own right, but it also serves to strengthen the case for 4K all round.

First, using an anamorphic lens is actually a form of analogue compression. It squeezes a wide image horizontally so that it will fit onto a narrower sensor. It works well but there will always be fewer pixels on the sensor to represent the actual detail in the image. But with 4K, there are so many pixels, this hardly matters.

And then an even more subtle point. If you want to preserve all the nuances and textures that you get from old lens, then you need more resolution, not less.