What is Breathing Compensation on Sony FX6? (Explained)

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Breathing compensation is a function that corrects the phenomenon in which the angle of view changes. If your camera and lens support this function you can use this feature too. Simply Breathing Compensation applies when the angle of view changes according to the focusing distance during recording.

The first camera that has this feature is the Sony Alpha A7 IV full-frame mirrorless camera. And the Sony FX6 is the second one to have this feature. Sony successfully put this feature through a firmware update. 

But what is breathing compensation on Sony FX6 and why is this useful? Here I will be talking about this in detail. 

Breathing Compensation

The breathing Compensation feature is highly helpful for videographers who do not use dedicated breathing-corrected cine lenses. 

As it electronically changes the size of the frame by applying a specified percentage of the crop to reduce lens breathing while altering the focus.

This is a complex thing to show in pictures. But you can have a clear idea by watching this video. 

What is Breathing Compensation on Sony FX6? 

As I already discussed the breathing compensation I suppose you have a clear idea of what breathing compensation is. 

The Sony FX6 is a full cinema camera that costs around $6000. It is fully packed with new features like SDI, BNC timecode, variable electronic ND, and the ability to load up user LUTs. You won’t find all of these features together in any other cinema camera.

The Breathing compensation is one of the features that the FX6 has. 

It is really hard to show the real effect of breathing compensation with pictures but I am giving you an idea of what it does. 

This is normal footage of FX6.

This is footage with breathing compensation off. You will see when the subject came closer to the camera; the camera crops a fraction out of the footage. 

This is where you need breathing compensation. 

To know what breathing compensation on Sony FX6 is in detail with the video example. You will have a concrete idea about the topic. 

To know more, watch this video. 

Do you need the Breathing Compensation?

Well if I am being very honest with you It is a new technology that Sony came up with. There are only two cameras in the market which have this feature. 

I suppose many cinematographers don’t know about this feature.  Appling it everywhere and seeing the real works using this feature is a long future. 

I don’t think spending money only to get this function won’t be worth your money at all. But yes if the camera manufacturer updates the cameras with firmware updates and packs the feature in your regular camera, it is nice to have. 

Also, you cannot use the feature with regular lenses. You will need High-end lenses from Sony to use it flawlessly. 

Lastly, I can say that you won’t need it unless you want it. 

FAQs.

What is autofocus breathing?

Answer: The term Autofocus Breathing is also known as Lens breathing. It relates to lenses and how they magnify pictures at various focusing distances.

What is lens breathing correction? 

Answer: The lens breathing correction describes how a lens’ focal length alters as the focal distance does.

Can you fix focus breathing in the post?

Answer: Focus breathing can occasionally be resolved by slightly increasing the distance between the lens and the camera sensor to reduce the issue. You can fix the focus breathing after the shooting by software. However, this approach is not always successful.

Conclusion

I think this wrap everything up about the breathing compensation on Sony FX6. I have tried to show you the sample footage and the real-life experience of the function. 

I can say that in the future every camera will have the feature built-in as it has significant use in cinema. And hope we will see more improvement in cinematography using features like this. 

Hope now you what breathing compensation on Sony FX6. 

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