"Biggest" DOF w/Canon, Red1, Scarlet, GH1 ??

[Bwana George]

I have a hypothetical question I'd like to throw out there and see what your opinions are. Just humor me and give me your advise and expertise in this area.

 

IF all these cameras, the RED-One, the Scarlet, the Panasonic GH1, and the Canon 5D Mark II, used EXACTLY THE SAME size/portion of the sensor, which one would produce the BEST quality image with the "biggest" Dept Of Field? Not the shallowest DOF, the "deepest".

 

In other words, if the larger sensors were cropped down to match those cameras with smaller sensors, so all sensor sizes were EQUAL, which of these cameras would produce the highest quality video with the WIDEST depth of field, and give the kind of quality usable for HD television production?

 

Everyone on these forums seems VERY concerned about getting a camera that will give them the shallowest DOF possible, but I'm interested in exactly the opposite. I want the deepest DOF I can get with the best quality 1080p HD video. The kind of specialty work we do requires it.

 

Thanks.

[Jason Hinkle RIP]

I think if all other things are equal and you are cropping in post so as to use only 22.5mm x 15mm from each sensor, I believe that they all produce the exact same shot with the exact same DOF. Because the light coming from the back of the lens hitting that 22.5mm x 15mm rectangle of the sensor should be the same. I'm assuming you're talking about doing the math and cropping in post, rather than doing some type of modification to the sensor..?

 

There's probably more to it than that with cropping at the optics level vs cropping at the pixel level in post. I don't really know the answer to that. But if they're all the same DOF, then I'd say the best quality would be the RAW footage that you'd get from the RED.