ARRI ARRIFLEX D-21 - Manual (Page 10)

10
A Film Sized Sensor & Film Lenses for a Film Look
Depth of field is the one of the most powerful creative tools available to
cinematographers, and the shallow depth of field of 35 mm film cameras has
become associated with cinematic imagery in the minds of movie audiences
over the last 100 years. The D-21’s and D-21 HD’s sensor has the same size as
a Super 35 mm film frame to give cinematographers the same versatility and
control of depth of field.
Having a wide range of lenses available is of immense importance, as it
gives cinematographers the greatest flexibility in expressing their vision. The
35 film format enjoys the widest variety of prime, zoom and specialty lenses
available for any format, and the D-21 and D-21 HD are compatible with all
those lenses thanks to their industry standard PL lens mount. Since the D-21
and the D-21 HD are the only high-end digital cameras with a 4:3 aspect
ratio like 35 mm film, they are also the only digital cameras that can take full
advantage of the unique CinemaScope look of anamorphic lenses.
Further enhancing the film-like quality of the images is the rotating mirror
shutter, which functions exactly as it does on 35 mm ARRI film cameras. This
method of progressive image capture results in the most film-like motion
portrayal possible.
The PL lens mount.
Inside, the sensor is visible on
the left, and the half closed
mirror shutter is visible on
the right.
The ARRIFLEX D-21 and D-21 HD are the only digital high-end
cameras that can make full use of anamorphic lenses for the
CinemaScope format.
The image, as recorded by the D-21
with an anamorphic lens. A simple 2:1 stretch and slight crop of the sides
in post results in a CinemaScope format image.
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