Practical Optics: Testing Different Sensor Sizes In the first in a series of introductory articles about optics, AC examines how camera position, sensor size, focal length and angle of view interact to contribute to the distinctive look of various formats. By Benjamin B *|* 90 April 2016 I must start with a disclaimer: I am by no means an expert on optics. I am merely a student of optics, and my goal is to explore practical optics by shooting simple tests that can be shared with fellow students. 1. The Subject: Perspective and Sensors There is a current trend toward shooting with sensors larger than the Super 35mm standard, with cameras such as the Red Dragon and the Arri Alexa 65. The goal of the tests presented here is to explore how a different sensor size might change the look of a given composition, and in particular its perspective and depth of field. The idea was to devise a testing approach that students can easily replicate to reproduce our results and perhaps continue their own research. To keep things simple, we used a single full-frame camera and then framed for cropped images American Cinematographer