Blowing out the background with the 18-85 lens?

G

Gregg

Well-known member
Do you guys think we will be able to blow out the background when using the 18-85mm lens when shooting at 5.6? I doubt it.

So I guess I would have to order the 300mm right? or would using a shorter lens (200 mm) be ideal?

It seems that people are saying the 300mm lens is more for sports and that they really won't need that much lens.

I certainly want to make sure I will have a lens that can blow out background like you see in most headshots.

Advice, comments?
 
Do you mean 'blur' out the background? Yes the 300mm is very shallow but you will still get nice shallow DOP at the end of the zoom. Even more so with less light or with use of heavy ND filters.

"Blow out" usually relates to exposure.
 
boothba said:
Do you mean 'blur' out the background? Yes the 300mm is very shallow but you will still get nice shallow DOP at the end of the zoom. Even more so with less light or with use of heavy ND filters.

"Blow out" usually relates to exposure.
Click to expand...


Yes I know you can blur the background a bit at the end of the zoom. I just want to get an idea of the lens we will need to get that "headshot look" where the background is completely out of focus at 5.6

I can't get that at 5.6 with my Nikon 70mm lens and 85mm is not much longer.
 
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Guessing here - but I'd say that most headshots in 'Hollywood' type films are shot between 75 - 150 mm. A 300mm would be used quite rarely for this unless you're Tony Scott. If you're shooting outdoor daylight you can bring your stop back down with ND filters (5.6 becomes 2.8 = shallower DOP). You could also get a doubler for your zoom.

Having said that the 300mm sounds very nice. :)
 
85mm T 3.2 framed chin to hair line should give you a out of focus b/g
but it's the 200mm that will do away with background ..

20fps = nikor 200mm T 4
26fps = nikor 200mm T2.2

1162189945.jpg
1162190281.jpg
 
donatello said:
85mm T 3.2 framed chin to hair line should give you a out of focus b/g
but it's the 200mm that will do away with background ..

20fps = nikor 200mm T 4
26fps = nikor 200mm T2.2

1162189945.jpg
1162190281.jpg
Click to expand...


Nice post! Now what are the drawbacks with the 300mm other than having to be further away from the talent and having less working room indoors?

I guess the problem with the 300 mm is that it will be so long that there will be problems getting a fairly deep depth of field even stopped all the way down.
 
300mm you have to have allot of room to move camera back and i find most location interiors don't allow it .. also the subject can't be 1ft in front of objects in b/g that you want out of focus .. if you have a 300mm c/u ( neck to top of head) forget any kind of deep focus ( even stop down to f16) .. if you want some DoF you'll need to frame head to toe..
drawbacks is FOCUS - get a experienced focus puller

200mm T11

1162190088.jpg
 
as laboprod put it. DOF depends on distance to subject. If you are pretty close up work using the 18mm part of the zoom lense yo can blu out eh background pretty well especially at 2.8. Look at an hollywood film you defentliy don't need telephoto lenses to get nice shallow depth of field from a sensor the size of s35
 
Having shot with 300mm lenses before in outdoor locations, A megaphone and dramatic gesturing is sometimes a prerequisite!
 
Gregg said:
Yes I know you can blur the background a bit at the end of the zoom. I just want to get an idea of the lens we will need to get that "headshot look" where the background is completely out of focus at 5.6

I can't get that at 5.6 with my Nikon 70mm lens and 85mm is not much longer.
Click to expand...

Don't forget that a 35mm still camera negative is bigger than a motion camera negative, because the frame covers the width (verses being length wise in still). This however doesn't influence DOF, but it does change what you see with a given lens length. An 85mm on a motion camera corresponds to a longer lens on a still camera. You can also use tricks, if the scene permits, such as having your subject farther away from your background. Otherwise, more light and open up, why do you want to use 5.6 ?

Cheers,
Damien
 
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