DIY anamorphic lens

andy238 said:
I've been outta the loop for a while and just scanned the posts. I see that reflections are pretty much the topic lately. Here is a source for anti-reflective glass and the sizes may be good for in-between the prisms.

Topic page: Edmund Optics

And more specifically: Glass Page

These might help. Edmund has a lot of optical stuff.

Andy

Actually, come to think of it, I have a 4x4 piece of this glass I was using for my hushbox for my X1....hummmmm. Have to put it between the prisms & see what happens. I'll report my findings.
Bud
 
Got my lenses in tonight. I'm going to have to rethink my theater room. Right now the way I have my dvd player and X1 projector I'm getting an 86" x 48" screen 16X9 squeeze. When I use the prisims the screen goes to 134" x 48" proportional. It really looks good. I mean everthing looks completely proportional. I am getting some pincusioning, not alot, but it's there. I'm building my anamorphic box tommorrow. Hopefully I'll have some pic soon.
 
Anti-reflective isn't useful in and of itself. If you use the prisms, you will get relections. Unless you replace the prisms with something that has no reflections, you need to remove the reflection. The only way I can see you removing or at the very least, reducing the reflection, is by using a polarizer such as a peice of polarized glass. You also want that polarized peice of glass to be anti-relective, but that alone is not enough, you need to polarize the light.

Edmunds optics looks cool. Too bad they don't make prisms that have an anti-reflective coating!

I actually think that if more research was done, we could probably find some prisms somewhere that have anti-reflective coatings on them.

Perhaps there may be a simple spray somewhere that can be applied to the prisms which is anti-reflective?
 
morkys said:
Anti-reflective isn't useful in and of itself. If you use the prisms, you will get relections. Unless you replace the prisms with something that has no reflections, you need to remove the reflection. The only way I can see you removing or at the very least, reducing the reflection, is by using a polarizer such as a peice of polarized glass. You also want that polarized peice of glass to be anti-relective, but that alone is not enough, you need to polarize the light.

Edmunds optics looks cool. Too bad they don't make prisms that have an anti-reflective coating!

I actually think that if more research was done, we could probably find some prisms somewhere that have anti-reflective coatings on them.

Perhaps there may be a simple spray somewhere that can be applied to the prisms which is anti-reflective?
Checking out AR films....so far no luck, but keep trying.
 
morkys said:
Anti-reflective isn't useful in and of itself. If you use the prisms, you will get relections. Unless you replace the prisms with something that has no reflections, you need to remove the reflection. The only way I can see you removing or at the very least, reducing the reflection, is by using a polarizer such as a peice of polarized glass. You also want that polarized peice of glass to be anti-relective, but that alone is not enough, you need to polarize the light.

I have been thinking that the anti-reflection coating be placed on ot after the prisms, but, how about placing that polarizer between the projector and the anamorphic lens? Would the light from the projector now be polarized?

When I was speaking to the optical guy that can treat lens blanks (they are about 80mm dia) it was suggested that the lens profile (actual perscription) is formed and treated before the lens is cut to fit the frame. What if this lens was simply a blank disc that is treated, then cut down to fit into the primary lens of the projector?

Mark
 
I've just discovered this thread and read it from page 1. This is the most exciting home theater thread that I have ever read!

I've been doing the "poor mans CIH" for the past 5 years just using the power zoom/lens shift on my old Sanyo PLV-60. All of these years I would get strange looks of confusion when I would try to explain to people about CIH. But when they saw the result, they were always hooked...even with all of the problems with lost resolution, brightness, bigger screen door, etc.

I'm back in the market for a new projector after a 5-year break from Home Theater, and I feel like a kid in a candy store. First I discovered the dedicated constant-height forum on AVS, and then you wonderful guys gave me a link to this great thread and a link to the prism people.

When I first started reading the thread, I was getting pretty nervous. I was getting worried about all of the talk of liquid prisms, leaking, etc. Then I Mark gets involved and starts making his amazing resin molds. I thought this was all getting way beyond me.

Then Steve found the crystal prisms, and my jaw just dropped. I started giggling like a kid. I had to explain to my wife why I was getting so excited (and I think she might have even understood me 🙂

I'm going to order some prisms tomorrow, even before I order my new projector (I figure 4 mediums should do it). I have a 54"x126" DIY screen from 5-years ago using blackout fabric and screen-door mountings, and I can't wait to try the prisms with even my crappy 5-year old PLV-60 to see what I've been missing all of these years.

I just had to post and thank everyone here for all of the research and work you have put into this. You have brought me a lot of joy in re-discovering the fun of DIY home theater. It almost makes me feel guilty to just walk in here after over 100 pages and 4 years of posts and just see the simple and elegant (and cheap!) solution presented. Everyone that I know is going to blown away by this, and I can tell I'll be spending Christmas vacation watching movies all over again.

I'll be reading with great interest to hear what other amazing stuff you guys come up with. Thanks again!! 😀
 
I'm going to try and see if I can implement some of the mechanics in this, in my build.

It's an older Anamorphic lens.
 

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Mark, I had origninally purchased two of these units. However the guy that sold them to me packed them side by side, wrapped in newspaper. Unfortunately, they did not survive the trip, and completely busted up. This is basically all that survived and the front prisim is chipped. Much to my amazement, it works rather well on my X1, but because of the chip in the corner, I can't use it very well. I'm sorry I don't have a model # or anything. I will be posting more picks of it later.
 
MikeP - welcome aboard. I've been a lurker here for a few weeks and like you, I am getting so keen I am just about ready to order my prisms and I don't even own a projector yet ! I'm not the only one like this either. The pure joy of understanding and building something and watching it work is priceless indeed.

A big thanks to all involved from me as well.

I did a quick search this morning on the interent - and came across this company that does coatings for lenses etc. They actually accept visa and mastercard so it seems to me it might not be a king's ransom to get our prisms AR coated. Maybe I'll give them a shout to get a typical cost and post it up here. Worth a try.

http://www.evaporatedcoatings.com/index.htm