Wide angle lenses question

[hoozdapimp]

So I have a sony mini-dv camcorder that gives me the option to shoot in 4:3 or 16:9, but I have been reading that it's not true 16:9, it's more of a 4:3 cropped to 16:9...so then I started looking around in stores and found a few wide angle lenses. Now my question is if I bought one of these, which mode would I shoot them in, 4:3 or 16:9? How would I preserve this aspect ratio when transferring to my PC?

[The Geek]

If you get an anamorphotic lens, then you have to use the 4:3 mode of the camera, coz the 16:9 mode will add borders at the top and bottom, and that is what you don't want.

The anamorphotic lens squeezes a 16:9 image into a 4:3 one. Nearly all 16:9 DVDs are anamorphotic, so there you can see how it looks like. The DVD players and DVD playback softwares stretch that picture so that it looks normal at 16:9 aspect ratio.

When you transfer that footage to PC, you have to set the 16:9 flag, so that the players know that they have to stretch it.

I believe anamorphotic lenses are pretty expensive, so first I'd make sure that your camcorder really captures letterboxed 16:9 instead of anamorphic 16:9. What model do you have ?

The Geek

[hoozdapimp]

Thanks for all the info!

I have a Sony TRV-22

Any idea how much anamorphic lenses cost?

[bb]

Please keep in mind that a "wide angle lens" is maybe not what you want. The lens you are looking for is called "anamorphic 16:9 lens" or something similar.

bb

[dionisos]

another hint...
probably you would like to use "1.2 PAR" only for preview purpose...
'cos if you edit, render and export like this you will get one recompress generation that should probably increase the source degradation...
if i'm wrong, please somebody correct me...
but i would go 4:3 (0.9 PAR) until last render/encode... for print to tape and mpeg2 encode
cheers
JB

[hendrix]

you can always shoot 16:9 with an anamorphic lens attached - thus giving you CinemaScope style aspect ratio of 2.35:1

[vhelp]

I have a TRV22 also :)

Some time over the Summer (or earlier) I purchased a wide angle lens.
The lens is by SIMA and is rated 0.5X (whatever that means) I purchased
this a CC back then, for $39 dollars.

Its not an actual Anamorphic type. And, it's not a 1.778 Aspect Rate
either. It's a standard 4:3 AR lens. But, under normal, and un zoomed
modes, it will capture a whole lot more detail in the lens.
.
There is where you can decide upon how you want your final (Director's
Cut version) of your videos.

I've played around w/ 1.778 and 2.35 Aspect Ratios (AR) but I think that
as long as I shoot footage w/ guidlines of just the areas I want
in my final video, then it doesn't really matter all that much to the
viewers. And, you can go ahead and make your 1.778 or 2.35 (or 1.85)
AR final cuts.

If you use a tripod (soo important) you can obtain a great looking (and
almost Cinema) quality.
.
You ruin this when you take footage by hand, because of the constant
motions you hands really have.

There are various techniques to employ a 4:3 footage, into a 16:9 final
cut.

Good luck,
-vhelp

[theReal]

You ruin this when you take footage by hand, because of the constant motions you hands really have.
That's not always true - a lot of scenes in movies are shot with a shoulder camera to get a more "lively" feeling. Often the cameraman will add some shaking by purpose to achieve a dramatic action-look.

[jggimi]

:goodpost: .... actually, Great post!

[bb]

I'd like to add that your "True 16:9" mode is actually 16:9 anamorphic. That's how my camcorder (Canon MV3) records in its 16:9 mode - while recording you see a horizontally squeezed picture in the 4:3 display.

bb

[hoozdapimp]

Hello.
Thanks for all the info! I really do appreciate it.

After playing around with my camcorder I have concluded that it does not shoot in true 16:9, but instead, just crops off some of the vertical resolution.

I am still considering just buying a wide angle lense, and take some of vhelp's advice, but I was wondering if anyone knew an approximate price for a true anamorphic 16:9 lense that would work with my camera. I have tried google, but with no luck.

Thanks again!
Scott

[hendrix]

also understand that there isn't such a thing as fake 16:9...
either it's 16:9 or 4:3 - despite how the camera does it..but it's still 16:9 whether it's been cropped or not.

[theReal]

also understand that there isn't such a thing as fake 16:9...
either it's 16:9 or 4:3You're right, it's not literally "fake" - the term "fake 16:9" was just used as a short description for 16:9 that was recorded by cropping the normal 4:3 pixels instead of by increasing the resolution.
It is "fake" in only one way: camcorders are sold under the false pretense that cropped 16:9 is better than 4:3, but it's not, it's only more black in the picture. A lot of people fall by that and think they're filming at greater resolution when actually they film at less resolution.