ABSTRACT
An anamorphic optical system will compress or ‘squeeze’ the image laterally to retain the gate ratio so that the image is distorted upon recording. Anamorphosis may be used at the taking, printing and projecting stages. An anamorphic system using cylindrical lens elements was first proposed and demonstrated by H. H. Chretien of France in 1927 and later improved by 20th Century Fox in the early 1950s to give the Cinemascope process and the generic title of scope lenses. The anamorphot is integrated permanently with a prime lens; various camera lenses have been modified in this way. Such a lens is termed a monobloc anamorphic lens. An alternative to cylindrical lenses is a prismatic system combined with spherical lenses. Cine camera lenses with anamorphosis are available in monobloc form, utilizing various prime lenses, but zoom lenses are also available with a reasonable choice of zoom ratios. The pupils of anamorphic lenses are non-circular, being elliptical in shape.
