Acquisition & Format Selector
This feature is currently in development. Some functionality may be limited, incomplete, or partly inactive across the site.
What is it?
The acquisition and format selector is a brand new approach to being able to display the full extent of a lens's image circle and to simulate how a lens will render on certain sensors.
Source acquisition > match source> target format
The Acquisition and Format selector is broken up into three distinct parts.
1. Source acquisition
This is the source sensor we use to capture that particular lens. Some lenses have multiple different source acquisitions, such as was tested with a VistaVision sensor that was wider but not taller, but others are often taller but not as wide.
By default, it will always select the largest sensor we captured that lens with. Most lenses won't have multiple source acquisitions.
2. Match source
Match Source is a quick button you can push at any time to be able to show you the source acquisition, which will allow you to see the full sensor image captured with that particular lens.
This allows you to quickly toggle between the full imagery captured and what target format you've selected.
3. Target format
You then have target format. This allows you to crop in and expand out to simulate what that lens would render like with a particular sensor.
Where to Find It
The acquisition and format selector can be found anywhere where there is visual test data, in the Controls section on both the Lens Detail page, the Compare page, and our Discovery pages.
The settings you select also persist across the entire site, so you can quickly preview every lens with a particular target format you're intending to shoot with.
Available Formats
How it works and how it affects the data.
The way this allows you to work is you can select a target format that's applicable to you, but at any time you can click match source to then see the full extent of how it actually looks, for example, on a medium format sensor. So you can see just how bad the edges get and if it's going to be an issue for you or not.
Availability
Not every lens has multiple acquisitions, it depends on our testing schedule and the equipment available.
Every lens should be captured on a sensor larger than its image circle to show you exactly how bad things fall off.
Super 35 lenses are usually going to be captured in large format, while large format are usually going to be captured in medium format.