Filmizing - Differences Between Video and Film

Differences Between Video and Film

  • Frame rate: 24 frames per second for film, 50 or 60 fields per second for old SDTV video. Modern video cameras shoot 24 and up as well.
  • Shutter angle: Shorter (90° - 210°) for film, often ~350° for old video. Modern video cameras have adjustable electronic, or - in Arri's video cameras - mechanical shutters.
  • Dynamic range: film and video systems have widely varying limits to the luminance dynamic ranges that they can capture. Modern video cameras are much closer to the dynamic range of film, and their use is better understood by directors.
  • Field of view and depth of field: Depth of field is tangentially related to the size of the image plane, however, it is a popular misconception that the image plane is directly related to DOF. Smaller image planes (whether film or sensor) require a proportionally smaller lens to achieve a similar field of view. This means that a frame with a 12 degree horizontal field of view will require a 50 mm lens on 16 mm film, a 100 mm lens on 35 mm film, and a 250 mm lens on 65 mm film. And a 250 mm lens delivers much shallower DOF than a 50 mm lens does. It follows that standard lenses on most consumer video cameras with small sensors provide much larger depth of field than 35 mm film. Digital cinema cameras like the Red One or Panavision Genesis, as well as some digital SLR cameras with video capabilities, (such as the Canon EOS 5D Mark II), have sensors roughly equal in size to 35 mm film frames and thus show the same field of view characteristics.
  • Photo-chemical color-timing/grading: only possible with film; white balance adjustment for video performs a similar function.
  • Noise type: film grain noise generally differs both statistically and visually from digital sensor noise. However, artificial noise can be added to video, to simulate film grain.

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