Schneider Cinelux custom engraving

For a while Rapido Technologies was selling sleeves for anamorphic Schneider Cinelux adapters which allowed the cinematographer to mount them securely on a camera rig. For a little extra charge they offered a custom engraving on these anamorphic cine lens adapter sleeves. I’ve opted for a stacked-and-justified setting using two weights of Sonar Sans.

The original anamorphic lens held in place by this sleeve was created by Schneider, the German manufacturer of high end cine lenses, for use in movie theaters. It allowed the projectionist to de-squeeze footage that was horizontally squeezed during filming. The objective was to allow Cinemascope footage to be recorded on standard 35mm film instead of the much more expensive 65mm or 70mm film stock, which would also have required a separate projector.

As most cinemas have been converted to digital projection, these very high quality anamorphic lenses have become available on eBay etc. Film makers have started using them in front of their standard taking lenses to capture anamorphic footage without having to use true anamorphic lenses, which are prohibitively expensive and still quite rare.