Depth of Field / ND filters

J

joeyramone1975

New member
Sorry if this question has been hammered to death. It seems like it has to have been addressed, but I can't seem to locate a thread (but managed to kill three hours reading several other threads...where do you people learn all this stuff?)

It seems there is no shortage of discussion about all the 35mm adapters out there. I have seriously considered buying one, but keep coming back to the same conclusion: I'm not a huge fan of seriously shallow depth of field. That said, I would love a little control over what is and is not in focus. To my question: what are the implications of stopping down the HVX with ND filters so you shoot wide open all the time? and then shoot on the long end of the lens? I'd love to know what experiences people have had with such a thing.

best,

Joseph
 
a lot has been said about this. it is way easier to handle, but as you say works best on the long end of the lens. an adapter will allow shallower DOF also on wider shots. if and how you want the look is up to you. mostly we get away with the NDs, but well done adapter shots look better to me. but again, much tougher to handle, a lot of light needed etc
 
One great thing about using cinema adapters is that is forces you to become a "camera" person "first"....if you weren't already. Surprisingly, many of my friends (and of course "me" at one time) don't have a fundamental understanding of a camera. That's probably an oversimplification so forgive me but I'm just trying to shake the tree a bit for those who ignore the "glass".

DOF is a completely controllable facet of film making. Many people simply think that you either "have" a narrow depth of field or you don't....like an on-off switch. But one can choose how "deep" they want their field to be by use of the iris and focal length...and "yes", if you do want a narrower DOF and you have enough light (For proper exposure), you can use the ND filter to allow you to open the iris up.

Now of course if you're familiar with an M2 or Brevis, etc., you can radically narrow your focal field compared to a "stock" video cam.

When I approach a shot in a scene, I choose my DOF in advance. If I do not want the background to distract from my viewers' eye, then I narrow it accordingly. If I want both my person in the foreground "and" the cars in the BG to be in relative focus, then I set up for that. So in essence, I choose whether I want 6 inches of DOF or 60 feet. You can see all the variations by using a focus chart like http://www.dofmaster.com/doftable.html

I've been an M2 user for a while now and love its effect. I've also done a lot with "matching" my stock HVX with my M2 HVX and found they can work very nicely together in the same timeline. The stock HVX is great for a lot of what I do but when I need the tools that an M2 type product offers, it's cool to have that control.

Good luck to you!!
 
Thanks for the help on this. The depth of field chart is great! I have been reconsidering a bit on what I want to do. Especially since I'm sitting on some good Canon EF lenses. Now to figure out which adapter is the best fit for my needs and budget...
 
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