Lomo 75mm Round-Front Anamorphic Lens Review | Written by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Round-Front Anamorphic Lens - Photo by: Keith Nickoson | Director of Photography | Cinematographer | Cleveland, OH
I acquired my 75mm round front a few years ago, directly from a lens broker in Eastern Europe. At the time, I was looking to fill the gap between the 50mm square-front, and the 100mm round-front with the Cineovision 85mm. Single copies of the Cineovision were hard to come by, so when the 75mm Lomo became an option, I went for it. The construction and behavior of the lens are very, very similar to my 100mm Lomo, so please refer to that post for a comparison. | Note: I covered basic anamorphic lens properties in Parts 1 & 2 of my Lomo 50mm lens review if you’d like to back-track for a primer.
The 75mm is wonderful for close-ups where a less severe subject isolation (compared to the 100mm) is preferred - though it has an incredibly complex bokeh when wide open at a T2.4. The lens weighs nearly 5 pounds, has a front diameter of 105mm, and the minimum focus is around 3ft. PL mount of course, and the anamorphic crop factor is 2X. For more history of Lomo as a company, please click here. | Note: The above photos of the 75mm lens were taken with the 85mm Helios 40-2, wide open at an f1.5.
A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY
The worlds largest Star Wars specific fan gathering/convention is called Star Wars Celebration. The con draws together tens of thousands of people for a multi-day Star Wars extravaganza. This year, Disney | Lucasfilm and Reed Pop chose McCormick Place in Chicago, IL. With all the faces, costumes, and textures present at an event like this, it was the perfect place to exploit the features of the Lomo 75mm.
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | This sprawling banner greets you in the main hall at McCormick place. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
WELCOME TO CHICAGO
It’s been quite a few years since I’d traveled to Chicago. Olivia and I opted to ride the Amtrak, as neither of us had ever taken a trip on a train before - and it was only a six hour trek from Cleveland. Looking back, it was actually pretty cool, and I’m sure we’ll do it again. I had a few lenses with me on this trip, but the one I kept barreled on the camera most often was the Lomo. I’ve placed a few images below to give you a feel of the city-scape through this lens. As is typical for me in my posts, I’ve let the color correction vary greatly from shot to shot - trying to let each image tell it’s own tale, rather than attempt uniformity throughout the collection.
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | The Sears Tower, or, what it’s really called - Willis Tower. Yeah, no one calls it that though. It’s still the Sears Tower. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | The Chicago skyline from the window of our westbound Amtrak sleeper. Stopped down to a T4 for this picture. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
STAR WARS CELEBRATION CHICAGO | LOMO 75mm GALLERY
The following images were taken at Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC. I used the Sony A7s in 3:2 capture size. With the 2X squeeze, this produces a finished image with an aspect ratio of 3.00:1. We’ll probably never see this ratio used in any formal film or commercial project, but I’ve left most of the stills in the gallery 3.00:1 for the heck of it. Again, I’ve chosen to treat each picture individually with respect to the color grading. Each costume or character reflects a different mood or feeling within a possible scene, so I thought it would be fun to let them each have their own personality.
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | Courtesy of the 501st Legion, Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper pose in a set on the show floor at SWCC. This shot is almost unfair in its resemblance to a frame of cinematography pulled directly from Episode IV: A New Hope. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | Olivia as Resistance Rey, Boba Fett, and a Jedi pose on the show floor at SWCC. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | Darth Vader clearly choking someone across the room. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | Crowds of Star Wars fans moving through the Exhibit Hall at McCormick Place. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | Olivia Otten with R2-D2. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | Hermit Yoda is checking out the crowd. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | Jenna Hunt (@jeniwan_kenobi), and Laurence Blackledge (@latchwooking) of the Great Lakes Rebel Legion show off their costumes on the expo floor in McCorrmick Place, Chicago IL. You can find them on the web here - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | This image was captured wide open at a T2.4 - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | A very stoic Holdo with some intimidating protection. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | A small Emperor Palpatine figure in a case. The two heads on the floor look silly. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | A group of BB-8 droids stand in a line in the Droid Builders room. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | Alan Brown, the host of Star Wars 20, and creator of Forcechella, poses with some Ewoks. Olivia and I became fast friends with Alan and his co-host Jon Chiado when we bonded over Reylo. You can find their Star Wars content here: Star Wars 20 YouTube and on the web: starwars20.net
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | K-2SO in the Droid Builders room. I loved keeping this image very dark. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | Finn and Luke Skywalker join forces for this pic. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | This awesome couple busted out some PDA - Reylo style. Hopefully Episode IX does not reveal that Kylo Ren and Rey are brother and sister. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | A crowd filled with lightsabers for The Phantom Menace 20th Anniversary panel at the Wintrust Arena, McCormick Place Chicago, IL - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | Chef Vader with a platter of Porgs for dinner. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | Classic R2-D2 in the Droid Builders room at SWCC. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | A Jedi uses the Force with Rey outside the Exhibit Hall. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | A gang of Rey girls at McCormick Place. Olivia’s in there somewhere. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | More Rey costumes. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | An RA-7 protocol droid, aka the Death Star Droid in the Droid Builders room. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | Dark Rey at the Rey photo op, McCormick Place - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | Rey photo op, and whole bunch of Pozu Piper boots at SWCC. Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | Another Mandalorian on the show floor. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Below is a small gallery of pictures from the Droid Builders room. I opted to expose some of these a bit darker than normal. When I saw this room, it reminded me of the images Director of Photography Gilbert Taylor lensed and lit when R2-D2 and C-3PO are aboard the Sandcrawler in Episode IV - A New Hope. You can definitely sense the grittiness of the 75mm here, and recognize the importance of the subject isolation this lens is capable of when your cinematography is confined to darkened spaces with minimal distance between objects. All of the images were exposed at a T2.4. We also met a really awesome Luke, portrayed by Star Wars fan John Rinehart. Click on any of the images to pop them out in an isolated window. For more info on the Droid Builders, click here.
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | One of the absolute highlights of Celebration was meeting Cris Macht (pictured left). Onstage with Jimmy Mac and Jason Swank of Rebel Force Radio, Cris is a passionate Star Wars fan that also directed two of my all time favorite Star Wars documentaries: The Force Among Us, and The Force Within Us. I met Jimmy earlier that day at McCormick place and he helped guide me to this RFR podcast event, where they brought me up on stage to meet Cris and have him autograph my copy of The Force Among Us. Olivia and I were able to speak to him at length after the podcast too. Really quite an amazing evening. Image edge cropped to 2.40:1. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson - For more info on The Force Among Us, click here. For more info on The Force Within Us, please click here.
FLARE CHARACTERISTICS
Below are a collection of images that showcase the flare characteristics of the Lomo 75mm. This lens flares quite nicely when triggered, but the overall contrast reduction is minimal. It behaves much like the Lomo 100mm in that regard. There weren’t a whole lot of natural flare opportunities at SWCC, so I’ve included a handful that help demonstrate the flare properties under some different lighting conditions.
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | This photo of Kylo Ren was taken 2X in 16:9 aspect then converted to 3.55:1. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | This R2 unit offers a great look at the color transference the 75mm has. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Star Wars Celebration Chicago - SWCC | Olivia dressed as Resistance Rey is overtaken by a giant sun flare. T2.4 - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | The Buckingham Athletic Club | A sun flare from the window of our hotel. This one’s straight out of the camera. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Flares from the Star Wars Show stage lighting. McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Flares from the base of a correctional facility in downtown Chicago, IL. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | Amtrak Station Cleveland, OH | A nice flare cuts through First Energy Stadium, home of the Cleveland Browns. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | A few skinny flares across from the Amtrak station in downtown Cleveland, OH. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
Lomo 75mm Anamorphic Lens | This photo of Kylo Ren was taken 2X in 16:9 aspect then converted to 3.55:1. - Photo by: Keith Nickoson
I hope you enjoyed the images here. Finding cinematic things to shoot in an uncontrolled setting is always a fun challenge, and it really provides another way to show off some framing aesthetics and color grading choices that speak to my particular taste as a director of photography. Please leave any comments you have in the box below. May the Force be with you.
For more information about Star Wars Celebration, please click HERE. For an isolated gallery of stills featured in this post, please click HERE.