Anamorphic Lens vs. Letterbox

[Daniel Meier]

Last weekend I shot a music video on the BMPCC and FS700.

The director wants the final clip to be 2,35:1.

 

Since this was a no-budget shoot we were limited to DSLR lenses. I really had a hard time getting a narrow depth of field in my shots, since I had to back the camera up so much to not cut of the persons head or torso.

 

What if I were to shoot this same shot with a 1,33x anamorphotic lens. Would that extend the horizontal field of view (to the sides) so I wouldn't have to back up any longer?

 

 

[David Mullen ASC]

Yes, by 1.33X... but since depth of field is controlled by f-stop, not just distance focused, you can run into situations where your spherical lens is so much faster than your anamorphic lens that you get less depth of field in spherical. Roughly the depth of field compensation is the same as the squeeze ratio, so assuming the same distance and field of view, you'd have to open up by 1.3 stops on your spherical lens to match the depth of field of your 1.3X anamorphic lens.

[Darrell Ayer]

David Mullen, just answered a quiestion rolling around in the back of my head for a long time. Thank you sir.