Frame vs micro 4 3 for video full#

If you mount the same lens to a camera with a Full Frame sensor vs one with a Super 35 sensor, the Super 35 camera will give you an image that is ~1.5x optically zoomed-in.Ī 24mm focal-length lens will have the equivalency of 36mm. It’s the same story with LF as well – it’s a marketing term and there are a few cameras out there with slightly varying sized sensors and a whole lot more coming christened as LF. Now there are endless offerings of Full Frame DSLR cameras with video features that shoot glorious images, and the higher-end camera market has followed suit, dubbing these big sensors Large Format or LF. Today, we generally accept Super 35 to mean the image has a 1.4-1.6x crop factor from a Full Frame imager.įull Frame (generally 36 x 24mm but it varies, again, from manufacturer and even camera models) finds it’s origins in 35mm still cameras which only started to matriculate into the video/film world with the addition of video features in the Canon 5D Mark II (circa 2008). This has been around in-one-way-or-another since the 1950s and has also gone through a host of terminology, and size changes as well. Specifically, Super 35 refers to a method of utilizing the space on 35mm film that was usually reserved for the optical audio track to capture a larger image.

The term ‘Super 35’ gets its origins, however, from (you guessed it) 35mm motion picture cameras. All of these are marketed as Super 35, but if you put the same lens on each of these cameras you’ll end up with a slight variation in the image crop.Īnd as you can see, there is actually nothing 35mm about it. Panasonic gave the EVA-1 a 4:3 sensor at 24.89 x 18.66 mm.īlackmagic with their 23.1 x 12.99 mm in the BMPCC 6K. The Canon C200 uses a 16:9 sensor at 24.6 x 13.8 mm. Every manufacturer makes their cameras with a slightly different sized sensor but they still call them Super 35.įor instance, the ARRI Alexa has a sensor that is 4:3, 23.8 x 17.8mm. The Super 35 (S35) digital sensor is really a family of varying sizes and is sometimes confused with APS-C sensors in DSLRs. But, a large sensor can allow for a larger pixel pitch (larger receptors) which can produce cleaner images with better low light capabilities. It’s important to note that the size of the sensor has next to nothing to do with resolution – that is a whole another ballgame. We’re going to focus on the differences between Super 35mm and Full Frame, but dive-in their video is great. In the words of Little Richard, “It’s not the size of the ship it’s the size of the waves.” Understanding the differences in image sensor sizes amid today’s evolving camera technology is important when determining the look you’re intending to capture as a cinematographer.Ĭamera manufacturers are continuously dancing around technological advancements and their marketing strategy – blending stills and video cameras, adding megapixels, 4K, 6K, 8K, more dynamic range, new lens mounts, larger sensor sizes, and spinning things into a slurry of somewhat confusing terminology that can often be misleading.įortunately, Media Division has put together a terrific explanation of image sensor sizes (1/3″ to IMAX), their history, and how they impact the quality, composition, and perception of the images you’ll capture.

Frame vs micro 4 3 for video