ARRI ARRIFLEX D-21, Brochure & Specs, Page: 10 / 24

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 cinema-
tographers, 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 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 is compatible with all those lenses thanks to its industry
standard PL lens mount. Since the D-21 is the only high-end digital camera with a
4x3 aspect ratio like 35 mm film, it is also the only digital camera that can take full
advantage of the unique CinemaScope look of anamorphic lenses.
Further enhancing the film-like quality of D-21 images is the camera’s 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 D-21 PL mount. Inside,
the sensor is visible on the
left, and the half closed
mirror shutter is visible
on the right. The ARRIFLEX D-21 is the only digital high-end camera 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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