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What lens is a normal lens for 35mm FF 4k?


Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

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Well a 35mm stills frame is 36mm x 24mm which is 1.5:1, whereas moving images these days usually use a wider aspect ratio. Whether it's the cinema standard of 1.85:1, the HDTV 1.78:1 frame, or things like 2:1 or anamorphic 2.39:1 you're generally cropping the height with video. Whether 50mm is normal for FF video is a question of preference, I think. Certainly wouldn't be for a filmmaker like Wes Anderson for example.

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35mm still frame / 35mm full-frame (FF) / 35mm VistaVision are all more or less the same thing, around 36mm x 24mm, though lately a lot of the FF cine cameras have been playing a bit fast and loose with that standard, partly because they don’t want to make a 3:2 sensor. So some are closer to 40mm x 20mm, a bit wider but less tall.

So if you consider a 50mm normal in 35mm still photography — similar in view to a 35mm in cine or APS-C — then it still holds true for most FF cameras.

The K doesn’t matter, there are smart phones with tiny sensors that shoot 4K, they just cram smaller photosites into a smaller space.

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I usually consider a focal length equivalent to the diagonal of the sensor/film back size to be the "normal" regardless of aspect ratio.

36X24 would be: 43mm

Super35: 25mm

Canon APS-C: 27mm

6x6: 80mm

I shoot most often with 50mm on 36X24 and 28mm or 35mm on Super35/APS-C, though, and consider those the "normal." So I guess I round up.

If 50mm is "normal" for you on Super35, then the full frame equivalent would be 85mm.

Edited by M Joel W
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