Anamorphic squeeze,
explained
▸ See the squeeze in the simulator
Anamorphic is the look of cinema — wide 2.4:1 frames, oval bokeh, streak flares. Under the hood it's one idea: the lens squeezes a wider horizontal view onto your sensor, and you stretch it back out in post. The "squeeze factor" is how much it compresses.
A normal (spherical) lens projects the world at its true proportions. An anamorphic lens has cylindrical elements that compress the image horizontally — so more scene fits across the same sensor width. That footage looks tall and thin straight out of camera; in editing you desqueeze it by the squeeze factor to get a wide, correctly-proportioned frame.
focalcomp models this exactly: pick an anamorphic lens and the simulator locks the squeeze and shows the desqueezed display aspect in the readout.
The same cylindrical elements that squeeze the image also do two beloved things: they stretch out-of-focus highlights into ovals, and streak bright point-sources into long horizontal flares. Those aren't lens flaws — they're the anamorphic signature, and they're baked in at capture, not added in post.
Real anamorphic is finally affordable. Our guide ranks the best glass under $1,000 — from the lens that democratized the format to the first autofocus anamorphic.
▸ Best anamorphic lenses under $1,000Do I desqueeze in camera or in post?
Most cameras offer a desqueeze preview so the monitor looks right, but the recorded file is still squeezed — you desqueeze for real in your NLE by setting the clip's pixel aspect to the squeeze factor.
Why do I need an open-gate or 4:3 sensor for 2×?
A 2× lens squeezes so much horizontally that you need extra sensor height (a 4:3 or open-gate mode) to end up with a normal widescreen frame after desqueezing. On a 16:9 sensor a 2× ends up extremely wide and wastes resolution.
Is anamorphic worth the hassle?
It's more demanding — manual focus is trickier, and you lose a bit of light and sharpness. But nothing else gives that frame and texture in-camera. Start with a forgiving 1.33× and decide from there.