More on Letus Anamorphic adapter for GoPro Hero

Letus posted the following to their Facebook page about the new anamorphic adapter for the GoPro that they teaser yesterday:

Letus AnamorphX-GP (left), Letus AnamorphX for 35mm lenses (right)

Here's a few specs for the AnamorphX-GP:

  • 1.33x squeeze factor
  • Custom CNC aluminum housing
  • Use the GoPro 3+ waterproof housing for mounting. The adapter replaces the waterproof lens housing element. The unit will retain waterproof property.
  • In 1080 mode, when the Letus AnamorphX-GP is attached, it will convert the 16:9 aspect ratio into 2.39:1 aspect ratio without the need for cropping (post production de-squeeze is required).
  • In super-view mode the GoPro records in 4:3 aspect ratio and digitally stretch the image into 16:9 aspect ratio (dynamic stretching: http://gopro.com/support/articles/what-is-superview). The center of the image is kept same but the outer of the image is progressively stretched outward and that is what causes the distortion, especially on the edges. This is why GoPro does not recommend shooting people on the edges in superview mode for the distortion will make people on the side look much fatter than they really are. When use with the Letus AnamorphX-GP, the extra 1.33 field of view will then create a 16:9 image that compensate for this digital stretch. As a result, the GoPro in super-view mode with Letus AnamorphX-GP yields a true 16:9 image where you can see people (objects) on the edges to have a more normal aspect (not stretched). You can use the 16:9 images in superview mode with the Letus AnamorphX-GP adapter as is and will not need to be de-squeezed in post. 



I must admit, I'm intrigued. And if I read this correctly, when shooting in regular 16:9 mode, you get an anamorphic image (you have to de-squeeze it in post to get the correctly sized image.) But if you have the GoPro shoot in the 4:3 Super-view mode (which is a new feature of the Hero3+ Black), it actually sort of fixes the distortion of the resulting image (which is stretched to 16:9.) That's kind of interesting.


UPDATE: It's priced at $199 and expected in about three weeks according to News Shooter.

UPDATE 2 (Jan 4) : Letus now has a product page with more details, price ($199) and expected availability. No sample footage yet.

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