I just bought a Century anamorphic adapter and want to do some resolution chart tests to find out how far I can zoom and what aperture settings I can live with, as well as document how much better an adapter is over digital 16:9. I also figured I'd see if I can settle once and for all (for me anyway) whether or not you give up a significant amount of resolution with frame mode. I'm hoping people can give me some advice on how to go about it to make sure I'm comparing apples to apples. I was planning on lighting the chart from either side with a couple of Totas. I already know that I need to keep out of the glare zone, but that's about it. I'm asking because it seems like the kind of thing you would have to be pretty anal about if your tests are going to have any value.

Hi Marco,

You can always order a Century Optics Focus And Test Chart from Century Optics by giving the sales team a call at (800) 228-1254 or (818)766-3715. Ask for Robert Orlando or David Contreras. I think the chart is in the range of $50.

- don

John Beale's TRV900 has the EIA(J) resolution test chart in vector format for your printing pleasure. http://www.bealecorner.com/trv900/cats/cats.html

There are some other test charts that check for barrel distortion and resolution at the corners.

When you do the test, you should watch out for the Kell factor. If the edge of a line falls between pixels then it doesn't get reproduced well. If possible try moving your camera very very slightly until you get the maximum possible resolution. It might help to preview on a computer monitor (which should show full resolution).

You might also want to look for possible optical defects by shooting into point sources of light.

SMS Productions has a good one as we use it when we put on our Century Optics Lens. It's great when you have to do back focus.
I think it’s about $20
http://www.smsprod.com/expendables/chart.html