16:9 conversion lenses with wide angle lenses

[lux]

I was just wondering if it is possible to use 16:9 conversion lenses in conjunction with wide angle lenses/telephoto lenses. If so do they work just as well. Thanks

 

[Shaw]

No, unfortunately not. An anamorphic lens does include a 33% (or so) wider field of view in the horizontal direction. It's basically a wide angle lens for only one of the axis. Telephoto though - not much luck there. Sorry.

 

[lux]

That's rather odd. How do we get wide angled 16:9 images at the movies then? Is it because the film cameras have inbuilt 16:9? Thanks for yout help Shaw.

 

[Shaw]

Well, The 16:9 adapter will give you wide angle . Just not wide angle in the vertical direction as well.

Film is a little different. 35mm is 4:3 just like most video cameras these days. Because it has so much more effective resolution than video you can crop it to 16:9 or 2.35 without the image becoming unacceptable. Since film doesn't consist of pixels it's impossible to compare it directly to digital - nevertheless it can pick up much more detail than a standard definition camera.

There is also the possibility to use anamorphic lenses to get a widescreen effect. The main difference being that they come in various focal lengths (or various wide angle to telephoto settings). The right lens, in this case, would be selected for the job.

 

[lux]

Ahhh i never thought about the fact film doesn't use pixels!