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Help with some sensor sizes please

H. Risu

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Hello, I could not find a clear answer to this even after doing some searching online. Can you please help me to find the full sensor size for the below cameras in mm? If you can paste the link where you found the information for each, that would be appreciated. Thank you:

The list:

Panavision Panaflex Millennium
Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL
Panavision Panaflex Platinum
Arricam LT
Arricam ST
 
H Risu,

Short answer is 35mm motion picture cameras don't have fixed imaging devices in them in quite the same way digital cinema cameras have with sensors and you need to understand other factors to get the answers you want.

The actual image size of a motion picture camera is primarily influenced by the film gate which is based on a film format like 16mm, Super 16 ,academy 35mm, Super 35, etc which of course describes the dimensions of the image capture.

Film stock is the means of recording images in motion picture cameras and the characteristics of the stock like the size format (16mm, 35mm) and to some extent the lenses greatly influence the imaging size of the capture.
While the film stock is made to match the film format, the image capture size and shape of the film stock can be influenced by the number of perfs it has.

Of course there are some formats like anamorphic that manage the image size and shape optically.

While all of the cameras you mentioned are 35mm cameras you can get different image sizes and shapes based on what is listed above.

There are some nuances in this discussion but I trust you will come across those as you read.
In other words please don't expect my late night post to be all encompassing on this subject.

You might want to try the format compare tool created by DP (among other things) Phil Holland who is also a member of REDuser.

You can select the format and perf size (if applicable) in the format compare tool above and then compare to other formats including digital cameras based on their sensor sizes for reference.

Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA
 
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Yep. What Brian said. Generally speaking those cameras are standard to capture what is referred to as Super 35mm 4-Perf Full Aperture, but you can get them configured for a 3-perf movement and likely 2-perf, which will maintain the same width of the film plane, but crop down in height to provide a wider aspect ratio.

3-Perf has become rather common in film in modern times due to the popularity of 16:9 displays and theatrically 1.85:1 is very common. It's also a decent way to save of film stock, but it's nice to have some headroom for reframing.

I'll add an additional layer of chaos to the format discussion here. Every feature film I've worked on that has been shot on film, ahead of the production or early on, we shoot a "Frame and Focus Chart". This is a rectangular graphic that outlines the crop and aspect ratio that will be used throughout production and post process. Most of the features I worked on that chose Super 35mm as a format rolled 4-perf. 3-perf gained a lot of favor and popularity in the digital age.

Point of context is film in particular is a format that you likely would be extracting or cropping a final image from. In theaters we used to use projection masks for instance to assist with this, but in the digital age, far easier to control all aspects of that in a scan all workflow which is pretty common these days.
 
Ah, to add. Open Gate refers to Full Aperture, which is essentially the maximum negative size you can get off of any film format.
 
Happy new year all!

Hello you fine folks, thank you very much for all your replies. That is a wealth of information and helpful indeed. I guess I was referring to the gate.

Looking at these cameras that I have noted below, can some or all of these therefore shoot full frame (36mm x 24mm) onto film?

Panavision Panaflex Millennium
Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL
Panavision Panaflex Platinum
Arricam LT
Arricam ST
 
Happy new year all!

Hello you fine folks, thank you very much for all your replies. That is a wealth of information and helpful indeed. I guess I was referring to the gate.

Looking at these cameras that I have noted below, can some or all of these therefore shoot full frame (36mm x 24mm) onto film?

Panavision Panaflex Millennium
Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL
Panavision Panaflex Platinum
Arricam LT
Arricam ST
'Full frame' means something different in cinematography (if it means anything at all). In photography, full frame never referred to the size of the sensor. E.g. the Olympus 4/3 DSLRs were advertised as 'full frame' cameras, which meant that the image circles of those lenses were matched to the sensor size.

Anyway, none of those cameras can shoot 36x24 (horizontal 8-perf, or VistaVision). They all shoot 4-perf, vertical 35mm. If these cameras could be considered full frame, that would refer to the fact that the gate is as wide as the space between the sprockets. This is different than the Academy Aperture, which left space on one side of the frame for the optical sound track, which would be added in post.
 
'Full frame' means something different in cinematography (if it means anything at all). In photography, full frame never referred to the size of the sensor. E.g. the Olympus 4/3 DSLRs were advertised as 'full frame' cameras, which meant that the image circles of those lenses were matched to the sensor size.

Anyway, none of those cameras can shoot 36x24 (horizontal 8-perf, or VistaVision). They all shoot 4-perf, vertical 35mm. If these cameras could be considered full frame, that would refer to the fact that the gate is as wide as the space between the sprockets. This is different than the Academy Aperture, which left space on one side of the frame for the optical sound track, which would be added in post.
Many thanks for this further insight!
 
H Risu,

Short answer is 35mm motion picture cameras don't have fixed imaging devices in them in quite the same way digital cinema cameras have with sensors and you need to understand other factors to get the answers you want.

The actual image size of a motion picture camera is primarily influenced by the film gate which is based on a film format like 16mm, Super 16 ,academy 35mm, Super 35, etc which of course describes the dimensions of the image capture.

Film stock is the means of recording images in motion picture cameras and the characteristics of the stock like the size format (16mm, 35mm) and to some extent the lenses greatly influence the imaging size of the capture.
While the film stock is made to match the film format, the image capture size and shape of the film stock can be influenced by the number of perfs it has.

Of course there are some formats like anamorphic that manage the image size and shape optically.

While all of the cameras you mentioned are 35mm cameras you can get different image sizes and shapes based on what is listed above.

There are some nuances in this discussion but I trust you will come across those as you read.
In other words please don't expect my late night post to be all encompassing on this subject.

You might want to try the format compare tool created by DP (among other things) Phil Holland who is also a member of REDuser.

You can select the format and perf size (if applicable) in the format compare tool above and then compare to other formats including digital cameras based on their sensor sizes for reference.
When it comes to sensor sizes and their impact on image quality, there's a lot to consider. The differences between full-frame, Super 35, and other formats can greatly affect depth of field, resolution, and dynamic range. If you're looking for precise data or need a more academic take on sensor technology for a research project, you might find proposal writing help on educational platforms. It’s packed with detailed insights that can help clarify technical topics, including those related to imaging and camera tech. Depending on your project, digging deeper into these differences might give you the clarity you need to make informed decisions.
Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA
Thanks!
 
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