disadvantages of lenses more than covering the sensor?

[andy black]

When choosing a set of lenses a big deal is made of the ability to "cover" sensors of a larger size when moving up(5/6k for example). Also it seems to make sense that full frame lenses have another advantage when using cheaper/stills glass shooting say aps-c/super 35 as the edges of the lens are cropped so more of the sharper area(centre) of the lens is used.

However, recently i came across someone on a forum commenting that they hate the look of footage that has been shot on lenses that cover wider than the sensor. Roughly: full coverage of the image being the most important thing as lenses have been calibrated for the image and that the closer the lenses are to covering the sensor size the prettier the image etc.

Is there anything in this? Is there really any specific disadvantages to using a lens that more than covers a sensor and not designed for the image size?

Id love to hear opinions on this...

 

[Louis Maddalena]

I personally have never heard of such a thing. Kind of sounds like somebody is just trying to complain about something.

Maybe they just like lenses fall off on the edge and they had trouble communicating that.

 

[Robert Hart]

It would take the likes of Matthew Duclos to explain the theory sensibly. Apparently in the 16mm/Super16mm realm, from about 25mm to wider, lenses purposed to 16mm/Super16mm work best and sharpest. There is some sort of "circle of confusion" thing quoted. From about 25mm to longer focal lengths the difference between 16mm/Super16mm and 35mm lenses is less of an issue for 16mm/Super16mm origination. There likely is a need for 16mm/Super16mm optics to be more precise. ---- I don't know how that plays out with the 35mm formats.

 

[Ketch Rossi]

When choosing a set of lenses a big deal is made of the ability to "cover" sensors of a larger size when moving up(5/6k for example). Also it seems to make sense that full frame lenses have another advantage when using cheaper/stills glass shooting say aps-c/super 35 as the edges of the lens are cropped so more of the sharper area(centre) of the lens is used.

However, recently i came across someone on a forum commenting that they hate the look of footage that has been shot on lenses that cover wider than the sensor. Roughly: full coverage of the image being the most important thing as lenses have been calibrated for the image and that the closer the lenses are to covering the sensor size the prettier the image etc.

Is there anything in this? Is there really any specific disadvantages to using a lens that more than covers a sensor and not designed for the image size?

Id love to hear opinions on this...

I used to be a Lens purist...

For this I understand exactly what you mean, or actually what the poster in that forum meant...

Lenses are designed with particular characteristics to them, and yes, even Chromatic Aberration, Flaring, Barrel Distortion, etc. each have their qualities, same for the Cold or Warm look, and so on, some designs are flows, yet they do give a particular fill to the lenses, and each manufacturer has in some ways, denoted their look form this, yet some can and does of course get corrected, especially with Top of the line lenses for Cine such as the Zeiss/Arri Master Primes, and Leica Summilux & Summicron C Primes, yet even they do have some specific looks, and this looks on every lens, were this gets more noted at the edges of the glass, were by nature the polishing and coating, renders out some specific looks, and when using lenses that cover more then the sensor that they are used on, this artifacts, defects, looks or what ever you want to call them, become less apparent, while others more apparent and magnified by nature of utilizing only the center circle of such lenses.

To a purist this is not acceptable, it used to be so to me as well, now I look for more the actual fill I find when using a specific lens on a specific sensor, and that varies from lens to lens, and this is why I have shot with about every lens I have come to find, so that I can choose the ones that best fit my taste and needs.

IMO, no one should really just trust or go with any one else writes, not even when reading what I write, but take note of it, and then go test, shoot something with different lenses in order to make an informed decision based on what you see for yourself and not form what others such as myself have written about it.

 

[andy black]

Very interesting responses.
Thanks Ketch, i think you covered it very well.