While editing I discovered that there a lot of differences between the shots on each camera but most of these are due to my mistakes and not the fact I was using different sized sensor cameras. Regrettably my focus was rough and the shots weren’t identical, with both making it harder to compare.

As I have discussed in earlier posts, to have an equivalent field of view the Z7 had to be on a shorter physical focal length than the 5D. I found that the shots captured on the Z7 had a deeper depth of field. This is because at the same f-stop number of 4.0 as the full framed camera, this corresponded a smaller entrance pupil size and hence a deeper depth of field. The shots below are similar, however the first shot on the smaller sensor Z7 has both characters in focus since the full framed DSLR only has the closer character in focus. I find this shot particularly interesting as the apparent distance between the two characters should appear reduced on the 5D compared to the Z7. However, on the 5D the male character looks further away to our eyes due to him being out of focus. It’s interesting to note the effect that depth of focus has on the perceived perspective.

 

After cutting comparing both camera’s versions of the scene I found that the Canon 5D footage was visually more pleasing. A lot of shots taken on the Z7 appeared warped due to the very wide focal lengths I was forced to shoot on. This becomes distracting and is not what we as an audience are used to viewing visually. By comparing the images below you can see that the window frame is warped in the image taken by Z7. It’s nowhere near aesthetically pleasing or correct as the straight lines of the window framing the female characters face, which we see in the 5D shot. 

Although the shots are framed slightly differently you can still see the dramatic effect that the focal length has had on the background. In the video taken by the 5D the background is completely out of focus directing our attention soley on female character. Furthermore, the perceived distance between the character and the background is reduced compared to shot taken by the Z7. In the Z7 shot the background is partly in focus and you are able to see a lot of it, which is quite distracting. In this shot the distance between the character and objects in the background are exaggerated. You can really notice the difference between the two shots by paying attention to the washing line in the background. On the 5D it seems much closer than it did on the day, because on the Z7 it looks much further away.

Even in the establishing wide shot you can notice the subtle differences that using the shorter focal lengths on the Z7 had on the scene. If you pay attention to the leg of the coffee table in the left corner it has warped. Subtle things like this can distract from the narrative and the ‘illusion’ of film. To achieve similar framing to the 5D I had to shoot at the short focal length of 6mm.

The shots taken on the 5D all look what we think as ‘normal’ as they are shot on focal lengths close to the ‘standard’ focal length of 50mm. A focal length of 50mm is known as a standard focal length due to it being close to what we see with our eyes. That’s why these really short focal lengths are so noticeably different.

Overall the scene captured with the full framed Canon 5D looks better due to being shot on close to standard focal lengths. Furthermore, when I actually focused accurately the shallow depth of field facilitated by the longer focal lengths looked really good for instance the shot of the female character from outside the window. Especially seeing the background isn’t interesting in this scene. I also found the 5D easier to shoot on but this is primarily just because I more accustomed to it than the prosumer Z7 and its many useless buttons.

In terms of the overall decoupage of the scene I think I did a good job but it could be improved. Because I was focused on exploring this idea of sensor size and focal length the decoupage was a second thought and this resulted in a faster paced scene then I think it should be. This was also because I had to shoot it twice in a limited time. Furthermore, there were some nice shots that I captured on the 5D but didn’t have time to shoot them on the Z7 afterwards. So if I was to do an edit of just the 5D footage it would be slightly different.

Over and out,

Luke