Anamorphic lenses entered the world of photography and cinematography quite a century ago. Since then, the propose ofanamorphic lenses changed from increasing the field of view without increasing the image format on film material, to thecreation of the most exciting images ever seen. Specific for anamorphic lenses is the different focal length in twoperpendicular planes inside the lens system. This implies the use of asymmetric and rotational symmetric optical elementstogether in the same lens system. The design process becomes more difficult and time consuming than that for designingrotational symmetric lenses because in order to cover all aspects of lens performance within the optimization process, morerays have to be traced. Therefor it is mandatory for the lens designer to know what design means and techniques are to beused for accelerating the design process. This paper describes all development directions of anamorphic prime and zoomlenses since their invention. Different types of anamorphic solutions are evaluated, showing advantages and disadvantagesand optimal structures and power distributions inside the lens system. This gives the designer the best options for designingthis type of lenses.
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