LOMO ROUNDFRONT ANAMORPHIC

Lomo Roundfront Anamorphic 35mm
Lomo Roundfront Anamorphic 50mm
Lomo Roundfront Anamorphic 75mm
Lomo Roundfront Anamorphic 100mm

Note: They are original, they only have one accessory (orbital cine gun which is quite expensive) that allows you to use clippon.

Lomo Round Front lenses are a type of vintage anamorphic lens, originally manufactured in Russia from the 1970s to the 1990s. They are highly sought after by filmmakers for their unique and distinctive “vintage” look.

Key Features and Benefits: Distinctive Aesthetic: Known for a combination of vintage characteristics and anamorphic qualities, including beautiful streaky lens flares, perfectly oval bokeh, and barrel distortion. They produce a lush, dreamy feel with a warmer tone.

Optical Performance: The lenses are sharp in the center with a pleasant fall-off towards the edges. When properly rehoused, they are as sharp as when they were first made. They also have minimal focus breathing.

Anamorphic Squeeze: They have a 2x anamorphic squeeze factor, a standard for cinematic widescreen images.

Rehoused for Modern Use: Due to their original, cumbersome mechanics (telescoping, rotating fronts), most sets available today have been rehoused by companies like True Lens Services (TLS). Rehousing improves the mechanics, making them easier to use with modern filmmaking equipment like matte boxes and follow focus systems.

LOMO (Leningrad Optical Mechanical Association) anamorphic lenses, produced primarily from the 1970s to the 1990s, hold a significant place in the history of cinema. During the Cold War era, these lenses served as the Soviet Union’s optical counterpart to the Panavision anamorphic lenses widely used in Hollywood productions. This historical context contributes to their unique appeal as vintage cinema tools.

These lenses are highly coveted by filmmakers for their distinctive vintage aesthetic, which imparts a “lush, dreamy vintage feel” to footage. Their optical characteristics include classic barrel distortion, a perfectly oval bokeh, and unique, aesthetically pleasing “blue streak” lens flares, all of which contribute to a highly sought-after cinematic look. Unlike modern, optically “clean” lenses that strive for technical perfection, Lomo Roundfronts embrace subtle imperfections. This results in a “dirty and gritty” yet “poetic” visual quality that is highly desirable for narrative and commercial projects aiming to achieve a nostalgic or filmic aesthetic, distinguishing them from contemporary digital imagery. The demand for such vintage glass stems from a desire to move beyond the “ultra-clean, digital-feeling quality” of current equipment, offering expressive features like pleasing falloff and dynamic handling of flares.