Century 1.33x Anamorphic Converter WS-13

• Anamorphic Adapter by Century Precision Optics
• Double Focus
• Mount: 58 MM

First of all, explaining the name, the WS stands for Wide Screen, 13 stands for the 1.33x stretch factor and the final two characters (SD or 58) indicate its mount, bayo, or 58mm threads. You can mod this bayonet as well, just use a larger step ring because the rear element is a little bigger.

This lens is one-of-a-kind. The only reason the Panasonic LA7200 gets all the credit for being the best DV adapter out there is because these big Centuries are hard to find. I wouldn't think twice between the Panny and this Century. While the Panasonic, Optex and others have fixed focus and were designed to work on a specific zoom range of the DV camera, this one is full-zoom, which means it has a focus ring for distance adjustments. It's important to clarify that even though you focus both taking lens and anamorphic adapter, using this lens isn't hard at all, specially when compared with a regular double-focus system. Think of it as a predecessor for the "near" position on the SLR Magic 1.33x-50 Anamorphot. Most of the focusing is done on the taking lens and I'd say you can "fine tune" focus using the Century. For example, if you're doing a rack focus, set the Century between the initial and final focus positions and rack with the taking lens.

Bokeh has a very subtle stretch, since 1.33x isn't strong to affect it that much. It doesn't have the squarey look of the Panasonic or smaller Centuries, that feature rear square-shaped glass elements.

The adapter has a metal body, making it heavier than the Panasonic, at 400g. In mine, the rear threads are 58mm, but my previous one had a bayonet mount which I modded to 67mm threads, no sweat. The front has no threads. There is a clamp/mattebox for it, made by Century, which can hold 4.5" filters. Don't put too much faith on it, though. It's harder to find than the lens itself. Diopters aren't as crucial, though, since focusing ranges from 0.5m to Infinity.

Like all other DV adapters, the alignment is adjusted by loosening and tightening this little screw on the side. Once again, be careful not to lose it!

The WS-13 beats the smaller Century and pairs up at the top with the Panasonic LA7200. Edges are very messed up, even more than the small Century, I'd say, but I kind of like the way it behaves. Also, it doesn't perform as good at minimum focus.

As opposed to its fixed focus brothers, this lens doesn't care if you're using longer taking lenses such as 85mm or 135mm.

The Century Optics WS-13 has some pretty epic flares. They're blue, very saturated and add a very cinematic feel to the images. Very sci-fi. I could look at these for hours. There are some more going on at the world test, just ahead.

Being bigger allows this adapter to go wider, being the second widest anamorphic adapter there is out there, losing only to the Panasonic LA7200. At 37mm we get a totally clear image, and at 28mm we start to see some vignetting on the corners, but still not full-on black edges.

When I was filming this test with my sister, I didn't worry about any technicalities of handling the lens. Aligning it is very easy, focusing is fast and image quality holds up pretty nicely. The moment the flares start showing up, I'm sold. I could shoot anything on it. The image doesn't have much distortion to it, except for the taking lenses, and stretching it straight to 2.36:1 - even for the in-camera preview - already conveys a cinematic feel to it. I believe its "clean and futuristic" aspects blend pretty well with the randomness of the russian taking lenses. If I had to shoot anamorphic and don't worry about any technical aspects of it, I would be between this adapter and the Iscorama. That shows how simple it is to handle it and how well it can perform.