Shooting with the Proteus for the first time I was impressed by their optical and mechanical performance. They were a perfect match for the Alexa 35 covering 2.39:1 in open gate, even the 28mm at a T2. The image characteristics were consistent across the set and I could shoot into bright sources while maintaining good contrast. This allowed my lighting to dictate the overall characteristics of the image without fighting the lens. We included several long focus racks and I was impressed by the lack of distracting lens breathing and magnification changes that are typical of many anamorphic lenses.

 

The Proteus are also unique in that they have a distinct flare combined with minimal veiling glare, allowing for greater control. Further, they perform like modern lenses while being gentle and pleasing on skin tones.

“When projected, the Proteus lens produces incredibly sharp images with superb contrast. The captured images have vivid colors with a painterly bokeh.

In addition, the focus transition is velvety and natural. Finally, the flare characteristics are nuanced but not muted. As a result, it has considerably more character than other optics of a similar price range.

Overall, the Proteus will impress you!”

The Proteus make a significant splash in the anamorphic world, offering unmatched quality within their price range. With a close focus distance of 1.8 ft, we shot an entire music video with the 45mm, capturing wide shots and close-ups effortlessly. Subtle characteristics, clean imagery, and no vignetting. The robust build, smooth rings, captivating flare, and vivid colors impress. These lenses unleash new possibilities, elevating anamorphic cinematography to unprecedented heights. 

“Laowa have made a serious entry to the anamorphic world with these lenses.

Being able to shoot wide open at T2 with the Proteus is a great test of its sharpness and performance at 7K 6:5 2X on the RED V-RAPTOR.”

“The proteus has beautiful vintage character wide open while maintaining sharpness. Let a little light in and the most incredible horizontal and vertical flares take shape. I especially like the amber coating.“

“I think this is a really nice anamorphic line-up.

I was very impressed with the close focus distance, which made it easier to get detailed close-ups of nature and people.

They are built like tanks, having robust bodies with smooth focus and aperture rings.

And they are really good wide open at T2.0 with nice oval bokeh.”

“Having only 45mm at my disposal, I’ve managed to shoot a whole music promo with it. The close focus distance 1.8 ft allowed me to get right into the action without worrying about diopters.

The silver coating meant that I had full customization of the flare, meaning I just had to adjust the colour or gel of the light and it would create the preferred colour of the flare. It had nice characteristics, but they were subtle and not over the top. And last but not least,

I truly enjoyed working with a clean, almost-zero vignette lens; it allowed me to shoot in open gate mode without compromising on anything.”

After using The Proteus Anamorphic, I’ve concluded these are some of the best attainable anamorphics to hit the market right now. One of the things I love the most is the level of sharpness and resolution compared to any other lens in this price range. The lenses provide a sharp and clean cinematic anamorphic look with extremely minimal breathing and non-distracting flaring and amazing close focus without diopters