David Mullen ASC
Moderator
I still don't know what you are referring to in regards to this 1.5 crop factor. When does this 66% resizing take place?
Obviously oversampling is better. If you need to end up with a 4K file, starting out with a 6K sensor is going to look better than if you had a 4K sensor, but I don't get all this talk about a 1.5 crop factor and 66% resizing. Are you talking about a 4K finish? A 2K finish? An HD finish?
And why is 4x3 "full frame"? There really isn't such a term in cine technology. There is "Full Aperture" but that can be any aspect ratio. 4x3 is traditional but it is not particularly "fuller" -- for example, in 16mm, the 4x3 standard 16mm gate is physically smaller than the 1.68 Super-16 gate.
Again, it comes down to what purpose does a 4x3 sensor serve you if your delivery formats are widescreen in some form or another? You can't take advantage of more pixels vertically if you just end up cropping them to achieve a widescreen shape, so there is no oversampling advantage - unless you use anamorphic lenses. Otherwise, the only advantages are: ability to reposition the image vertically, or deliver a 4x3 commercial (but then, most 4x3 is for standard def video, so cropping a 4K image to achieve 4x3 720 x 480 is no big deal, resolution-wise. You are already way oversampled.)
"Full frame" is only a term in DSLR still photography to differentiate sensors that match the size of the 8-perf 35mm still camera frame from those that are half size, i.e. match the size of the 35mm cine formats. Those are the only people who factor in conversions for FOV from what they are used to in 35mm still photography. It's meaningless for cine shooters where the RED sensor already matches the size of 35mm cine formats, so there is no conversion factor. And most cine formats use some form of cropping to achieve aspect ratios like 1.85 or 2.40.
So please explain where this 1.5 crop factor comes from and when this 66% resizing happens.
Obviously oversampling is better. If you need to end up with a 4K file, starting out with a 6K sensor is going to look better than if you had a 4K sensor, but I don't get all this talk about a 1.5 crop factor and 66% resizing. Are you talking about a 4K finish? A 2K finish? An HD finish?
And why is 4x3 "full frame"? There really isn't such a term in cine technology. There is "Full Aperture" but that can be any aspect ratio. 4x3 is traditional but it is not particularly "fuller" -- for example, in 16mm, the 4x3 standard 16mm gate is physically smaller than the 1.68 Super-16 gate.
Again, it comes down to what purpose does a 4x3 sensor serve you if your delivery formats are widescreen in some form or another? You can't take advantage of more pixels vertically if you just end up cropping them to achieve a widescreen shape, so there is no oversampling advantage - unless you use anamorphic lenses. Otherwise, the only advantages are: ability to reposition the image vertically, or deliver a 4x3 commercial (but then, most 4x3 is for standard def video, so cropping a 4K image to achieve 4x3 720 x 480 is no big deal, resolution-wise. You are already way oversampled.)
"Full frame" is only a term in DSLR still photography to differentiate sensors that match the size of the 8-perf 35mm still camera frame from those that are half size, i.e. match the size of the 35mm cine formats. Those are the only people who factor in conversions for FOV from what they are used to in 35mm still photography. It's meaningless for cine shooters where the RED sensor already matches the size of 35mm cine formats, so there is no conversion factor. And most cine formats use some form of cropping to achieve aspect ratios like 1.85 or 2.40.
So please explain where this 1.5 crop factor comes from and when this 66% resizing happens.