Post by spiderwort on Sept 17, 2017 14:49:23 GMT
Glad to be of help, Flynn. And you have everything right except for one thing. The DP lights the dark and the light parts of the scene so that the aperture does NOT have to be adjusted; that would be a virtual impossibility anyway - barring, of course, doing it intentionally for some special effect. The change in depth-of-field would be obvious, to say nothing of the fact that the camera assistant wouldn't be able to time it perfectly. As hard as it is to grasp, the f-stop is set and works for both parts of the scene. It's all in the lighting the DP does for both in the beginning. (I know this may be hard to fully grasp; I can only tell you that it's true.)
As for the cameras being bigger, that makes no difference as to the amount of light received. 16mm cameras and even super8 and 8mm let in all the light their aperture will allow. F-stop changes and lens size choices in 35mm and 16mm (where you have those options) are the only ways to regulate or vary that.
As for hand-held, yes the wider angle the lens is the less shake you get, though you will get some (not a flutter, as you may be thinking - just a shake from the operator's handling). If you want no shake at all, then you have to use a steadicam or put it on a tripod - or, as I've seen, have a great operator, using a wider angle lens, who can hold the camera as steady-as-a rock. That's not easy to do and not done often or for long. Sometimes the hand-held look is intentionally shaky (i.e. "shaky-cam" - if motivated I find it interesting; if not I hate it).
Again, I hope this helps. I've looked for sites on the web to give you more information, but everything now is about digital. The two are growing closer in terms of lens options, but there are so many other variables that would just muddy the waters when it comes to the questions you're asking.