The surge in availability of anamorphic lenses over the last few years is undeniable, with a number of manufacturers releasing options at a wide range of quality and price. While this democratisation is generally a good thing, as it widens the choice for users, some areas are still lacking, but Laowa has entered the fray with what could be a real winner, in the form of their Proteus Anamorphic zooms.
While there are various flavours of anamorphic, Laowa has opted for classic 2x squeeze, which should give a look similar to many much-loved movies. That said, such a desqueeze factor can introduce some problems to contend with, so I was keen to get to grips with them, to see just what they offer, compared to the non-zoom anamorphics I usually use. The draw of zooms being less gear to carry and less swapping of focal length on a shoot.
