======Lens Questions======
Written by Sam Page: https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/sampage
=====What am I seeing when I assign a lens to a viewport?=====

When you assign a lens to a Rhino viewport using ViewportProperties, the resulting image you see is what that lens looks like on a standard SLR 36mm x 24mm film gate camera. If the viewport is not in a standard 1.5:1 aspect ratio, the minimum dimension is always 24mm. Calculate the major dimension by multiplying the minimum by the aspect ratio.

=====Why do different sized cameras result in different angles of view with the same size lens?=====

Lens length is the distance from the focal node to the film plane. So with a 50mm lens, the focal node of the lens is, you guessed it, 50mm from the film plane. So with our standard Rhino viewport (and a SLR camera) the resulting view angle in plan view would be 39.6 degrees:

{{:legacy:en:SLR.jpg}}

Now, if we pop that same 50mm lens onto a motion picture camera, the film plane size changes to 24mm (this format is called Super35):

{{:legacy:en:Super35.jpg}}

So although you are keeping the same lens length, by changing your film size, you change your field of view.

=====So how do I get the view angle I want when using a "non-standard" camera?=====

There is now a script to do the heavy lifting for you: http://en.wiki.mcneel.com/content/upload/files/Cam_Lens_090120.zip

For the nitty gritty of what the script is doing, read below:

The first thing you need to do is to figure out the aspect ratio of your viewport. The easiest way to do this is to use the command ViewportProperties with a "-" in front of it. From there you can select the **S**ize option. The width divided by the height will be your aspect ratio, so a 2400 wide by 1000 high viewport would be 2.4:1, or for a viewport 300 wide by 500 tall, the aspect ratio will be 1:1.67

Now that you know your aspect ratio, you can figure out the film size that Rhino is showing you. Using our 1:1.67 aspect ratio, we know that the minimum aspect dimension in a Rhino viewport is always going to be 24mm, so the film size Rhino is showing me in a 1:1.67 viewport is 24mm by (24 * 1.67), or 24mm x 40mm.

So if you were trying to see what your view angle would be with a camera with a 3" x 5" film size (76mm x 127mm), you need to figure out what your crop multiplier is, the difference between Rhino's film plane size and the film plane size that you want. The film size I want is 127mm. Rhino is showing me 40mm. 40mm/127mm = 0.315. This is your crop multiplier. So if you wanted to see what a 150mm lens on a 3" x 5" camera looks like in Rhino, you have to specify a 47.25mm lens in Rhino's ViewportProperties.

Another example: You want to know what a 21mm lens looks like on a Super35 camera in 2.40:1 aspect.

Call ViewportProperties, make your viewport 720 x 300 (2.4:1). Again, we know that the minimum Rhino aspect film size will be 24mm. So with my minimum dimension at 24mm, my maximum = 2.4 * 24mm = 57.6mm. To get your crop angle, it's (what Rhino gives you)/(what you want) Super35 film width is 24mm, so 57.6mm/24mm = 2.4. So now I know my crop multiplier, so if I want to see what a 21mm looks like, I have to put in a (21mm * 2.4) = 50.4mm lens.