Dof?

[Stu Siegal]

Seeing so many posts on 35mm adapters, I'm wondering - aren't people getting reasonably good DOF just by shooting as open as possible and using ND's? I understand the many advantages of these adapters, but I also know that for the past 3 years I've been getting amazing DOF w/ my DVX. Should I expect any different from the HVX? If anything, because it's about a stop slower, I would expect to be at least as open. Caveat - I don't do narrative, primarily run & gun doc stuff, so my lighting setups are either available or minimal, perhaps this is more of an issue for lit sets, narrative shooters, etc.

[janusz]

Shallow focus has been a great story telling tool for years. many dir's and DP's like it because, 1) it adds depth to the physical properties of their images, creatinga third dimension to a 2D presentation, and 2) it adds to emotion, allowing characters to be isolated, etc.

I'd agree with saying that shallow focus is perhaps more of a narrative tool than a doc tool.

also though, with the adapters, besides DOF, the optics themselves (whether they are cine primes or SLR primes) enhance the filmic feel, also, the ground glass in the adapters add to the film look.

I've also had great success with DOF with the stock lens, zooming in and NDing, but with the stock lens you can only go so far.

Depends on budget and preference I guess.

[Stu Siegal]

The DOF is one of the best things about the DVX, and combined with Panasonic's look, very close to s16. Maybe the brevis might be a reasonable addition in some doc style shooting situations.

[TimurCivan]

shdof is just pretty...... it reminds me of all the stills ive shot over the years.....