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How good is the image quality of
Bolex H16 camera converted to Super 16 format?
The quality of the digital image is directly
related to size of the film image area that is used for digital transfer. When
Super16 aperture format is used for 16x9 HDTV image transfer the available film
area is 31.38% larger over Standard 16mm for 16x9 aspect ratio. Full S16 frame
cropped to 16x9 aspect ratio the film area is 82.80sq.mm.
The Standard 16mm. frame for 16x9 aspect ratio the available film area is 56.84sq.mm. Super 16 format compared to
Ultra 16 the useful film area for 16x9 aspect ratio of Ultra16 frame is
13.43% smaller than S16 16-9 HDTV frame.
Note that for Ultra16 – 16x9 aspect ratio the
useful 9 side dimension can not be higher than 6.36mm (.250"), the distance in between sprocket
holes. The maximum width of (16 side) is 11.290mm. (.4444") so the maximum available film area is
71.69sq.mm. For calculations I used actual camera aperture size
and usable 16x9 aspect ratio. Some size
cropping may be required during digital transfer process, depending of equipment
used. The benefit of using Super 16 aperture format full frame or 16x9-HDTV
frame, the image area can be digitized to 2K file
size
which is standard for
HDTV viewing.
Do your home work, the Ultra 16 film
format does not seem to be as good as spoken for. Note: The cost of camera is
least expensive part of low budget film making.
The best possible image quality in 16mm film
format is achieved by using cameras that are made or modified for Super 16
aperture size and accept 16mm. single perforated film. This film format allows
the largest possible film area used for imaging, therefore the S16 format yields
the best possible image whether its viewed in film or digital format.
Image size reflects
the quality you have on the film image and what you get into digital image. Correct exposure and filtering can improve appearance of the
image, which is important to get as close as possible during the digitizing process.
All filtering functions with computer editing will degrade the image resolution.
Over digitizing to higher resolution may have adverse effects as the camera will add
more same color pixels resulting to the grainy effect. It also takes more storage
space and more time to digitize.
The benefit of shooting in higher resolution allows more computer editing,
yet maintains the image quality near equal to the original film image.
My observation is that the continuous tone image in
Super 8 frame size
does not contain more information that can not be stored into 1440 x 960 frame
size using (Normal) quality setting.
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