From IMAX 15/70 to Micro Four Thirds: A Technical Comparison

To help me compare various current cinema formats, I created this handy document for myself and thought I’d share it with a bit of history lessons and a bunch of snarky commentary.

Let’s start with the frisky Canadian invention of 70mm IMAX 15/70 format, which debuted in 1970 and only got to be seen in certain special theaters and museums around the world. However, Christopher Nolan has used it more and more frequently in his films starting with a few exciting sequences in his Batman films, then Dunkirk and Tenet, but now most recently to shoot the entirety of his 2026 epic The Odyssey with the new camera developed over two years by IMAX, with Nolan and Odyssey cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, named IMAX Keighley. IMAX 15/70 is so-called because each 70mm frame of film is 15-perfs wide. That’s why a standard mag of Kodak 15/70 film only lasts three minutes.

IMAX

IMAX 70mm film (“15/70”)

69.6 mm x 48.5 mm

1.43:1

Large Format

The original major large format was Todd-AO invented in 1954 by Mike Todd and Robert Naify in partnership with the American Optical Company. Panavision’s version of Todd-AO’s process, Super Panavision 70, was introduced in 1959. The anamorphic version, Ultra Panavision 70, followed in 1962 — itself originally developed by MGM in 1956 as Camera 65 and famously used on William Wyler’s 1959 epic Ben-Hur.

Super Panavision 70	52.63 mm x 23.01 mm	2.20:1
Ultra Panavision 70 (anamorphic)	52.63 mm x 23.01 mm	2.76:1

Digital Large Format Cameras	Sensor Size (mm)	Resolution	Aspect Ratio
Arri Alexa 65	54.12 x 25.58	6,560 x 3,102	2.12:1
Blackmagic URSA Cine 17K 65	50.8 x 23.3	17,520 x 8,040	2.20:1
Fujifilm GFX Eterna 55	43.8 x 32.9	3,840 x 2,880	1.33:1 / 4:3
RED V-RAPTOR XL [X] 8K VV	40.96 x 21.60	8,192 x 4,320	1.90:1 / 17:9
Arri Alexa LF	36.70 x 25.54	4,448 x 3,096	1.44:1 / 3:2

VistaVision

What the kids call “full-frame” nowadays for some reason; thanks, Canon. Created in 1954 by Paramount Pictures, VistaVision takes standard 135 Format film used in both 35mm stills photography and Super 35 motion picture cinematography, and runs it horizontally through the camera like in a stills camera. It makes 4-perf Super 35 8-perf VistaVision and effectively doubles the resolution of the image and halves the grain. Famously used by ILM for the visual effects of the one good Star Wars trilogy, and, better, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 thriller North by Northwest.

VistaVision / 135 Format (“Full-Frame”)

36 mm x 24 mm

1.44:1 / 3:2

Digital VistaVision Cameras	Sensor Size (mm)	Resolution	Aspect Ratio
Sony FX5	35.9 x 24	4,992 x 3,328	1.44:1 / 3:2
Canon EOS 6D Mark II	35.9 x 24	1,920 x 1,080	1.77:1 / 16:9
Sony VENICE 2	35.9 x 23.9	8,640 x 5,760	1.44:1 / 3:2
Canon EOS C50	35.9 x 23.9	6,960 x 4,640	1.44:1 / 3:2
Nikon ZR	35.9 x 23.9	6,048 x 3,402	1.77:1 / 16:9
Panasonic Lumix S5IIX	35.6 x 23.8	6,000 x 4,000	1.44:1 / 3:2
Blackmagic PYXIS 12K	35.64 x 23.32	12,288 x 8,040	1.44:1 / 3:2

Super 35

The absolute gold standard of motion picture formats since 1980. I guarantee most every one of your favorite movies was shot in Super 35. Here’s a list of some ten of my favorite films of all time and only one of them wasn’t shot on Super 35, and seven of those are anamorphic.

Super 35

24.89 mm x 18.66 mm

1.33:1 / 4:3

Digital Super 35 Cameras	Sensor Size (mm)	Resolution	Aspect Ratio
Arri Alexa 35	28.25 x 18.17	4,608 x 3,164	1.46:1 / 3.2
RED Komodo	27.03 x 14.26	6,144 x 3,240	1.90:1 / 17:9
RED Komodo-X	27.03 x 14.26	6,144 x 3,240	1.90:1 / 17:9
Sony FS7 II	24.6 x 13.1	4,096 x 2,160	1.90:1 / 17:9

small digital formats

Small Digital Formats	Sensor Size (mm)	Aspect Ratio
APS-C (Nikon, Sony)	23.6 x 15.8	1.44:1 / 3:2
APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9	1.44:1 / 3:2
Micro Four Thirds	17.3 x 13	1.33:1 / 4:3

Small Film Formats

Super 16	12.52 mm x 7.41 mm	1.66:1
Super 8	5.79 mm x 4.01 mm	1.36:1

Just to be cheeky, and to add perception, here are a few popular digital medium format stills cameras for comparison.

Large Format Digital

Camera	Sensor Size (mm)	Resolution	Aspect Ratio
Phase One XT	53.4 x 40	14,204 x 10,652	4:3
Fujifilm GFX	43.8 x 32.9 (“44×33”)	3,840 x 2,880	4:3
Hasselblad X	43.8 x 32.9 (“44×33”)	3,840 x 2,880	4:3

And just for fun, here are the common classic large and medium film formats to illustrate how small the bonkers cinema definition of “large” format really is. Hint: one is typically measured in inches.

Large Format Film

Large Format (inches)	Large Format (mm)
4×5	102 x 127
5×7	127 x 178
8×10	203 x 254

Medium Format Film

Medium Format	Medium Format (mm)
6×4.5, “645”	56 x 41.5
6×6, “square”	56 x 56
6×7, “ideal”	56 x 69
6×8	56 x 72
6×9	56 x 82

Conclusion

With all of these modern digital and analog options making “large format” cinematography available to almost anyone, it’s certainly an exciting time to be alive and a filmmaker.