Breathing originally referred to any geometric change in field-of-view by a camera lens when changing the focus distance of that lens. Even if the angle-of-view is constant, distortion changes will cause visible breathing. More recently, the term has been used by photographers to describe changes of
focal length
The focal length of an Optics, optical system is a measure of how strongly the system converges or diverges light; it is the Multiplicative inverse, inverse of the system's optical power. A positive focal length indicates that a system Converge ...
of a
lens
A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...
when adjusting the
focus
Focus (: foci or focuses) may refer to:
Arts
* Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in East Australia Film
*Focus (2001 film), ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based on the Arthur Miller novel
*Focus (2015 ...
. Breathing is sometimes used for the suction and expulsion of air from within the lens as its internal volume changes. A lens with a constant focal length will exhibit narrowing of the angle of view at closer focus, and conversely, maintaining a constant angle of view requires a precise reduction of focal length as focus is decreased,
which some, often higher-quality, lenses are designed to do. Lens breathing does not prevent one from
racking focus
A focus puller or first assistant camera (1st AC) is a member of a film crew's camera department whose primary responsibility is to maintain the camera lens's optical focus on whatever subject or action is being filmed.
"Pulling focus" refers t ...
or
following focus with this lens, but it lessens the desirability of any type of focus adjustment, since it will noticeably change the composition of the shot.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breathing (Lens)
Film and video terminology
Photographic lenses