From Super 16 to 65 mm

Current cinema camera sensors drawn to true scale and centred on the same lens axis, smallest at the core, largest on the outside. Film gauges from Standard 8 to IMAX can be laid over them for comparison.

Digital

    Film

      Hover a format to preview it, click to pin its outline.

      Sensor dimensions

      FormatCameraWidth mmHeight mmDiagonal mmMax resolutionAspect

      Depth of field equivalence

      For the same framing from the same camera position, depth of field matches when the stop scales with sensor size. Pick two sensors, set a T-stop on the first, and see what the second needs.

      Match framing by

      Sensor A

      Sensor B

      Set the lens to
      T2.5

      What it means

      Check it with real numbers

      Sensor A and sensor B side on, each with its lens and entrance pupil drawn to the same scale

      Every sensor at once

      CameraSize factor vs AExact stopNearest ⅓ stopStop differenceSame-framing focal

      A focal reducer (speed booster) shrinks a larger lens image onto the sensor: focal length and T-stop at the sensor are both multiplied by the reducer factor, so a 0.71× reducer turns a 50 mm T2 into 35.5 mm T1.4. The calculator converts everything to sensor-side values, then back to lens markings. Assumes the same subject distance and the same field of view. Depth of field follows the f-number; T-stops are close enough to f-stops on cine lenses that the comparison holds. The circle of confusion is set to diagonal ÷ 1500 for each sensor, so every format is judged at the same viewing size.