Frame Sizes With Fixed Focal Length Lenses…
On September 4, 2014
- TV History
Frame Sizes With Fixed Focal Length Lenses…
In the days before Zoom lenses, cameras had rotatable turrets which usually held four fixed length lenses. Here is a scene that shows the difference between the frame sizes each lens gave.
In those early days, cameraman and technical directors would go over the lenses needed for a production on each camera. Part of the set up process was manually adjusting the F stops on each lens. Enjoy and share! – Bobby Ellerbee
Directors used plexiglass triangles (Bretz triangles) on a floor plan to decide on camera position and lens selection. I even had a Bretz box, which was a primative director’s finder with holes cut on the four sides to simulate the field of view of standard lenses (1,2,3,8.5in)