Focal lengths between stills and video advice

[andrew00]

Hey,

I'm a fan of 35mm as a focal length for full frame stills, which shoot in 3:2 and I'm looking to get the same feel in 16:9 video, which naturally has less vertical resolution.

Given that I'm losing height, should I stick with a 35mm lens and just change the framing. Or should I go with a wider angle in order to maintain the same height?

Wondering if there's a rule of thumb or anything that y'all use?

 

[Ken Hull]

Andrew,
Assuming that you're staying with a full-frame sensor, just altering the aspect ratio from 1.5 to 1.78, that would mean your vertical dimension decreased from 24mm to about 20mm. So switching to a slightly shorter focal length, say about 29mm, would give you the about same vertical angle of view as you had with a 35mm lens in a 1.5 aspect ratio. (Of course, that would slightly increase your horizontal angle of view... oops!:shocked
-- Ken