How to shoot widescreen (16:9) video
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3. Using the fake 16:9 mode in 4:3 cameras
This is known as "fake" widescreen mode because in this mode the 16:9 aspect ratio is achieved by masking the top and bottom of the 4:3 frame rather than by increasing the angle of view horizontally. With cameras that have true 16:9 CCDs, on the other hand, the angle of view widens when the 16:9 mode is engaged.
In theory shooting in the fake 16:9 mode should be no different to shooting in 4:3 and cropping to 16:9 in post-production, but there is evidence that in some cameras the fake widescreen mode results in slightly better images than shooting 4:3 and cropping to 16:9. This might be due to the fact that the camera is allocating the same number of compression blocks to a smaller number of pixels.
Be that as it may, the resulting footage must be anamorphized (vertically stretched) in post production if an anamorphic master is required. If the target is 4:3, no manipulation is required as it is already letterboxed, but if you are releasing a widescreen video on DVD you should always anamorphize it, to make sure that it plays in the correct aspect ratio regardless of the TV screen's aspect ratio. (This is one of the major advantages of DVDs over tape formats.)
The most significant disadvantage of this method is that 25% of the vertical resolution is lost, so the images will have less detail than if they had been filmed using a native widescreen camera or a 4:3 camera with a widescreen adapter.
Furthermore, for a given framing and camera-subject distance, a wider focal length has to be used than if you use a widescreen adapter, so the depth of field will be greater, which is not conducive to achieving a high-end look.