In cinematography, full frame refers to an image area (today most commonly on a digital sensor) that is the same size as that used by a 35mm still camera.[1] Still cameras run the film horizontally behind the lens, whereas standard 35mm motion-picture cameras run the film vertically. Thus a 35mm still camera's image is significantly larger than that of a standard 35mm motion-picture camera.
35mm still frame35mm motion-picture frames
Specialty motion-picture formats have used film running horizontally, notably VistaVision (which produced a "full-frame" image) and Imax.
Historically, most digital cinema cameras have used Super-35-sized (similar to APS-C) sensors,[2] largely to maintain compatibility with existing lenses and to produce traditional "cinematic" depth of field and field of view.
Full-frame cameras require lenses with larger optics, and produce shallower depth of field than conventional 35mm cinema cameras.[3]
