Does APS-C delivers a more 'cinematic' look?

F

Fellipe

Active member
Don't know if it's something on my mind but I think I see a subtle difference between the footage from a 7d (for example) and a 5d mk2.
The 7d footage seems a lot more cinematic, don't know how to exactly describe but the image looks more 'plain', like a film cinema image.
While the 5d mk2 delivers a image with the look of.. well... a 5d. What I mean is, almost every footage from 5d has the same 'look'.
Anyone notices this?
 
Yes. 5D to my eye has much more 'soft', hazy depth-of-field, or something, like a warm cloth, which is especially visible with somewhat wide lenses. I really like that look, but it isn't strictly cinematic.
I watched a documentary yesterday and i'm almost sure it's 5D and not 7D or any other, let me see if i can find it.

EDIT; More accurate description: it's like there's no bokeh, but gaussian blur in the areas not in focus.
 
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I think is mostly about sensor size
http://blog.tylerginter.com/?p=290

i read a post a while back on Phillip Bloom's site where he was heaping praise on the 4/3rd size because its techinically closest to a 35mm film for video frame size. This frame is much smaller than 35mm film for stills because the film on a still camera advances horizontally while a film in a 35mm video camera advances vertically.
Putting all of this together it means that a 50mm f/1.4 on a 5d vs a 7d vs a 35mm film camera and a 35mm video film camera will result in different amounts of DOF at f/1.4

The 5d will match the 35mm still frame and have the smallest area in focus, then comes the 7d with a slightly larger area of focus and then the 35mm video on film will have a slightly larger area of focus.

So if your shooting an APS-C Camera your DOF will look more like cinema while the 5d will always be softer. Personally i like that feature of my t2i and the gh1's i use for work.

edit: i realize this can quickly get confusing just keep in mind the smaller the sensor size the greater the DOF. So ideally we would be shooting with cameras that had a 24.89mmx18.66mm sensor to get the closest possible look to true cinema film.
 
I know it's true, but that surely is a little confusing. Doesn't RED have a similar sensor (in size, ofc.) to the 5D, though? I made a nice overview a while back and mean to remember the 5D has a slightly larger sensor. But i can't compare the 5D DOF look to the RED look at all.
 
No, Red's sensor is the same size as the 7D. The 7D's APS-C size is almost identical to 35mm movie film. The 5D is the oddball, its sensor is twice as big as movie film and accordingly, the DOF doesn't look like movie DOF.
 
D.P delivers cinematic look but its easier to do this having APS-C sensor.I personally would prefere 5D and use 50mm instead of 28mm on APS-C for regular perspective shots and cinemascope crop, i dont like wide angle distortion on 28mm.
This is 5D in good hands
Remember that theres a TON of people with 5D shooting video without any knowledge how to shoot a movie so Director Of Photography with his experience can make the camera really shine.
 
with using the 50mm on the 5d instead of the 35mm on the 7d is your dof is super shallow
then in order to keep people in focus you have to stop down and that equals to light loss ... the benefit of the 5d is shooting w-i-d-e
 
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Frankly, I've gotten exhausted with the term "cinematic" in regaurds to cinematography. Nothing is inherantly cinematic or uncinematic. Traditionally, we think that a shallower DoF and higher lattitude are indicative of film over video but there are so many examples that break these "rules." Think of the deep focus work of Welles or Kurosawa. Think of black and white films with super high contrast. Nothing is really more movie-like.

As with anything, an artist knows that he has a number of tools at his or her disposal and uses said tools for dramatic affect. When any person thinks that one particular too suddenly makes their work "professional" or "movie-like," then they're kidding themselves. This certainly happens a lot these days. Right now, everyone is shallow DoF crazy but it doesn't feel all that different to me than people being zoom crazy in the 70s. I'm actually really glad the 5Dii came out as I'm FINALLY seeing younger filmmakers who are getting burned out on a super shallow DoF and willing to use DoF as a tool rather than a fix all problem. Now if only we can get people tired of shaky-cam...

Personally, i like the APS-C sized sensor not so much for the DoF but simply for the slate of lenses one uses on it. It's the size of a Super 35mm role of film and that works for me. For decades audiences have been used to seeing the human face shot on the length of lenses that one uses with that size of a sensor. We're used to seeing how the human face looks on a 35mm or 50mm for a mid shot and an 85mm or 100mm for a close-up. That's not just the DoF but the PERSPECTIVE. It's why even if one is able to blur the background in show from an iphone, it still looks very off as the perspective is far too exaggerated and the face looks odd and angular. This isn't a huge deal as smart filmmakers have been making great looking stuff with 16mm, 1/3, 1/2, and 2/3s sensors. It's just nice to be able to know that one is using the same style lenses that movie makers have used for years and when a film DP talks about the kind of lenses they like to use (be it in DVD commentary or interview), I know that I can use the same kind to similar effect.

Still, it all comes down to using different techniques to different affect. I've seen untalented people make 7D, 5Dii, RED, and Super 16mm footage all look less "movie-like" than DVX footage!
 
No.

Both cameras have same FOV and DOF if you use 30mm f2.8 on 7D and 50mm f4 on 5D (not sure if the numbers are exact, but you get the idea). So 5D can deliver the same as 7D plus it can deliver the super shallow DOF 7D can't.

fuen, lens determines bokeh, not camera.
 
I am not talking about color or lighting.There is a subtle difference on how the image is projected on the sensor.
 
@Davidbeier
Still, it all comes down to using different techniques to different affect. I've seen untalented people make 7D, 5Dii, RED, and Super 16mm footage all look less "movie-like" than DVX footage!
Click to expand...

Says it all. Totally agree and I think it sums all this up. It's the use of techniques. More than one.
 
HEy first one looks good because of the lighting and DP knowledge, second one looks like that cause its mostly exterior with natural light and contrast bumped up so whites are slightly blown out and in first one blacks are crushed to define shadows a bit more.
And yes pretty girl helps a lot.
 
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