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2 perf wide, normal and telephoto


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Hi there, what would be a typical range of lens focal lengths for 2 perf? I'm wondering actually if the approximate 2.40:1 widescreen aspect ratio influences perception of focal length to some degree. Coming from a Super 8 and 16mm background, I've never photographed in such a widescreen format before. Also, does anyone have any experience of the Nikon zooms that are sometimes used for video, and might be appropriate for shooting on 2 perf film, such as the 17-35mm lens with manually adjustable aperture ring?

Edited by Jon O'Brien
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2-perf has the same width as standard 35mm 1.85 so the same focal lengths apply for the same horizontal view.  However, due to the shorter height of a 2.40 frame, there is a tendency to compensate by increasing the field of view in general, so choosing a bit wider-angle lenses than 1.85.

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Thank you. Yes, David has covered a point I was wondering about. The table from Panavision is very helpful but I was wondering more about people's tendency in what they used themselves, which depends on the shot and the particular context, etc.

Here is a tentative plan, for 2 perf wide, standard and telephoto, given David's comment on the tendency to compensate by increasing field of view slightly.

Wide - 15 mm (possibly less focal length if not too distorted)

Standard - 28 mm

Portrait or slight telephoto - 50 mm

The 2 perf frame is the same as 4 perf 1.85 widescreen in width, and therefore slightly less wide than the APS-C sensor which is (close enough) about the same as S35 (for my purposes, 'close enough' is fine). So the above seems to fit reasonably well with my online reading of typical focal lengths.

For wider than, say, a focal length of 16 mm, in full frame 35 mm we are starting to get into 'fish eye' lenses, which introduce much distortion. But because the 2 perf frame crops out most of the image circle this is going to be significantly less of a problem?

Edited by Jon O'Brien
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2-perf crops the corners so you'd see less vignetting or portholing, maybe a little less barrel distortion... as for whether lenses wider than 15mm are too distorted, that depends on your taste and the lens, there are rectilinear lenses like the 8mm Zeiss Master Prime which have no barrel distortion.

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Different brands lenses will look very different e.g the 14mm Xeen is quite distorted but the 14mm Canon CNE has no distortion its rectilinear. And to be be honest even the distortion on the Xeen is not that objectionable unless you push it into a close up. 

For instance this is 14mm:

fruit14mm.thumb.jpeg.a417311824ad2bdf9b49599c2acd1952.jpeg

Location choice is a factor and that might be regional thing... In the UK/urban areas houses certainly can be small, needing lenses in the 14 to 18mm range for 2.39:1 framed films. 

If you have a nice big open plan house then lens in the 20 to 28mm work for the wides. 

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On 7/3/2020 at 11:50 PM, Jon O'Brien said:

Uber cool contribution to the knowledge on this, Phil. My thanks! Feel free to post any more shots if so moved to do so ?

Thanks, we found ourselve the Xeen 14mm on my short (The Fruit Fix) last year quite a lot even on closeups. 

Our next widest lens was a 24mm and that was bit tight for some locations in 2.39:1 (FS7)

Here's a couple of frame grabs of closer shots on the 14mm, there's some distortion but it works in context of the sequence (Dop was Tom Shawcroft)

14mm_recordshop.thumb.jpeg.0cd0696085038edcb60da66997a89364.jpeg

adnan14.thumb.jpeg.d22d68366e576a70648270b1ffd31de3.jpegsnorry.thumb.jpeg.999b4bafaae4ed14ddf28449a5562f4d.jpeg

The softness is more due these grabs coming off 720p proxies rather then the lenses themselves

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