Atlas Co. Mercury Anamorphic
Atlas Mercury Anamorphic lenses are prized for their classic anamorphic look, rich cinematic rendering, and precise engineering. They deliver bold flares, oval bokeh, and subtle distortion, creating a filmic, immersive aesthetic while maintaining modern reliability and versatility.
Key Features:
Optical Design: The front anamorphic design delivers true anamorphic characteristics, including oval bokeh and horizontal lens flares, while the 2x squeeze ratio provides the traditional anamorphic widescreen look when de-squeezed. Additionally, the lenses introduce a cinematically pleasing distortion, offering a slight barrel effect that enhances the anamorphic aesthetic without excessive warping.
Aperture Range: With a T2.2 to T16 aperture range, these lenses offer a fast maximum aperture that ensures excellent low-light performance and a beautifully shallow depth of field. The smooth iris blades further enhance the image by creating natural, creamy bokeh with the signature oval-shaped highlights typical of anamorphic lenses.
Focus Throw: With a 270° focus throw, these lenses allow for precise manual focus pulls, ensuring smooth and accurate adjustments. They feature both imperial and metric focus markings, providing flexibility for different production workflows. Additionally, the internal focus design maintains a constant lens length while focusing, preventing balance shifts when used with gimbals or Steadicams.
Advanced Optical Design: These lenses exhibit low chromatic aberration, effectively controlling color fringing to maintain clarity and sharpness. They also produce vintage-style flares, with blue and neutral streaks appearing under strong light sources, enhancing the iconic anamorphic aesthetic. Additionally, minimal focus breathing ensures a consistent field of view when racking focus, providing a smooth and stable visual experience.
Build Quality: Constructed with an all-metal housing, these lenses are built to be robust and durable for professional use. Their consistent lens sizing allows for easy swapping between focal lengths without the need to adjust rigging, while the standardized 114mm front diameter ensures compatibility with industry-standard matte boxes and filters. Depending on the focal length, the lenses typically weigh between 5 to 7 lbs (2.3 to 3.2 kg), providing a well-balanced feel for both handheld and stabilized shooting.
Image Quality:
These lenses deliver a soft, cinematic rendering, offering a slightly vintage, filmic softness while retaining sharpness where needed. They produce rich contrast and natural color rendition, delivering deep blacks and vibrant tones without an overly digital sharpness. The smooth falloff and depth enhance subject separation, creating a natural transition from the center to the edges of the frame. Additionally, the organic bokeh, with its signature oval-shaped background blur, further enhances the classic anamorphic aesthetic.
Physical Characteristics:
The Atlas Mercury Anamorphic lenses feature a durable all-metal housing, ensuring reliability for professional use. They have a consistent lens size across focal lengths, a standardized 114mm front diameter for matte box compatibility, and an internal focus design to maintain balance on rigs. Weighing between 5 to 7 lbs (2.3 to 3.2 kg), they are well-suited for handheld, stabilized, and studio setups.
For more detailed specifications please visit the Atlas Mercury Anamorphic website.
3 Lens Kit (36, 42, 72)