GH5 2:39:1 crop at 4K, same or better quality than using Anamorphic lens 1.33 squeeze?

[analogs]

When cropping to 2:39:1 aspect ratio on a GH5 shot at 4K using spherical lens, is the quality or resolution worse, the-same or better than using a 1.33 squeeze anamorphic lens on a GH5 shot at 4K, de-squeezed to 2:39:1?

There is an option for 6K anamorphic but would it make it better against a 4K cropped to 2:39:1?

Thank you.

 

[ahalpert]

I couldn't give you a definitive answer, although I'm sure that shooting a test one way versus the other would settle the matter.

My gut feeling is that cropping a spherical lens will probably provide superior quality, especially since quality/resolution is not just about resolving line pairs but also about the many optical aberrations that can occur.

David Mullen answered a similar question on reduser some years back:

"No, anamorphic lenses are generally a bit softer than spherical lenses unless stopped down. On 4-perf 35mm film though, which has a squarish negative area, using anamorphics allows the full height of the negative to be used for a 2.40 image compared to cropping a spherical image, so less cropping means less enlarging and thus a better widescreen image on the big screen, unless you shoot wide-open when the anamorphic lenses tend to get soft and somewhat distorted. But on a camera with a 16x9 sensor, the 2X squeeze of the anamorphic lens means that you will be cropping the sides to get back to 2.40 and even more if you want to get back to 16x9 full frame, once unsqueezed (a 2X anamorphic lens on a 16x9 sensor naturally creates a 3.56 : 1 aspect ratio once unsqueezed.)

Now the anamorphic image may look more "cinematic" though since generally only movies use anamorphic lenses. And on a 4x3 Alexa, for example, recording Arriraw, you'd be using more sensor area and thus more vertical resolution for a 2.40 image compared to cropping a spherical image to 2.40 on the Alexa. But if sharpness is your main goal, you'd be better off using sharp spherical lenses like Master Primes when shooting 6K or 5K."

https://www.reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?2714-Ask-David-Mullen-ANYTHING/page514

 

[stoneinapond]

When cropping to 2:39:1 aspect ratio on a GH5 shot at 4K using spherical lens, is the quality or resolution worse, the-same or better than using a 1.33 squeeze anamorphic lens on a GH5 shot at 4K, de-squeezed to 2:39:1?

There is an option for 6K anamorphic but would it make it better against a 4K cropped to 2:39:1?

Thank you.

Whenever you crop you lose resolution. The higher the capture rate, the more resolution. That's simple math. The other part of your question, how does each affect an image cannot be answered simply. It will vary depending on so many factors, lenses etc., plus your disposition as to how you want the image to look.