That neutral DOF look?

KyleProhaska

KyleProhaska

Veteran
Everytime I see people 35mm adapter footage I see very stylized very very shallow DOF. You'd say "of coarse you idiot, thats what we bought it for!" I see that footage and I can't seem to find it comparing to a movie ide see in a theater. They have nice DOF but its not super stylized DOF where the focus range is barely past the actors ears. What would I need to pull off that neutral DOF? I know my Canon A1 can give me that look but not in all situations, often its sharp all around and only if I backup and zoom in can I get it where I want it....but it does depend. So if I bought a 35mm adapter...what lens would give me that standard look? I like a clean, neutral plate, like you'd see in a movie in the real world, where nothing is over the top but just like your eye would see I guess. 35mm lens on the 35mm adapter? 50mm? Whats the best nuetral lens size and do I even have the right idea? lol. I do know some stuff about it but not as much as someone who owns one.

Whats your take?

- Kyle
 
i read that 50mm is what your eyes sees. also if it is a zoom lense you can try zooming out if it is just a prime, then try changing the distance between the camera, the subject and the background.
 
I agree with the author. We drool over the endless 35mm footage links. But many of them are way over-stylized, suitable only for dream or flashback scenes, and not terribly useful. I have seen 50mm look spacey too...do some adapters cause more DOF distortion/softening then others?
 
35mm adapters can do that, but people have to configure them properly. Most adapters seem to be trying to go for the most extremely shallow DOF they can get, which leads to the problem you elucidate.

If you just set your field of view to match a 35mm movie camera appropriately, the rest will take care of itself regardless of which lens you're using.

The easiest way to do this and get in the ballpark is to tape a sheet of 8.5x11 paper landscape-wise on the wall, and put a 50mm lens on your adapter, and put the lens about 2' away from the paper. Then frame up the paper in your VF, and set your zoom so that the edges of the paper are just being cropped off.

That should get you basically the same field of view as a 35mm movie camera. Then, it's also up to your f-stop; shooting at f/1.4 or f/1.2 is going to yield DOF much shallower than you'll typically find in the movies. Lots of cinematographers seem to aim for f/2.8 or f/4; lenses usually perform sharpest and best a stop or two down from wide-open anyway so f/2.8 is probably a good place to be.

So shoot with the proper field of view, at a 2.8, and you should get movie-style DOF.
 
The easy answer: go wide. The wider you go, the deeper your DOF. I like shooting with wide lenses the best, actually. I still get a much more filmic look than straight DVX footage, but without going nuts trying to keep things in focus. The "best post ever" link in my sig links to a thing I shot with a 20mm on my Brevis.

Also, what Barry said. :)
 
Barry thats a great idea...thanks. I dont even have an adapter yet but knowing that is possible is a great help. I'll use 50mm most of the time, set the zoom and lock it down and try and keep the F around 2.8....then anything else will depend on me. Keeping things exposed properly using w/e I can. Thanks for the replies guys...big help

- Kyle
 
Actually the nature of the dfiffusing screen on these adapters seems to affect the DOF quite a bit so that on some the DOF I suspect is much shallower than it probably is in 35mm film.

For example the Brevis CF1L screen has much more depth of field than the Brevis CF3L which is similar toi the redrock. They each have their uses. The CF1L is actually quite normal in feel while the others may seem like exagerratedly low DOF - though that can be way pretty when you want it. It can be another tool.
I don't now about the SGPro or the Letus, etc.

Lenny Levy
 
DOF is made mainly through aparture. The higher the aparture (lower number, more light), the shallower DOF. So, if you want the actors whole head in focus at a normal range with a 50mm, you have to go to around f4 or above.
Still photographers use f8 many times because it gives you the sharpest image at the whole range (most lenses anyway). On top of that you can use wider lenses instead of tele or normal. But if you work with wide lenses, shoot with a wide open aparture, or else you will loose the DOF effect all the way.
It's also very nice to see a wide lens with an open aparture, especially when you go to around F1,4 like on the Canon L serie wide primes.
 
Barry_Green said:
That should get you basically the same field of view as a 35mm movie camera. Then, it's also up to your f-stop; shooting at f/1.4 or f/1.2 is going to yield DOF much shallower than you'll typically find in the movies. Lots of cinematographers seem to aim for f/2.8 or f/4; lenses usually perform sharpest and best a stop or two down from wide-open anyway so f/2.8 is probably a good place to be.

So shoot with the proper field of view, at a 2.8, and you should get movie-style DOF.
Click to expand...

Some people even light to T5.6, or T 8.0...... thats alot of light though... but it looks awesome.
 
Thanks for all the comments guys, you definetly got me thinking. I do have one question though since im NOT looking for the super stylized DOF, what would you suggest I purchase?

To me the M2 is out of the question because I really dont have the money for all the lights ide need for the thing, it eats light, takes a longtime to setup, etc. Not really interested.

Brevis is lightweight, light loss is minimal, no rails needed for smaller lenses, easy to setup, image seems great from what I see.

Letus FE flips the image (thank God), light loss is minimal as well, easy to setup from what I hear, image is great, but it might not hold up to constant use on a feature which is what I need.

The new Letus Extreme is also expensive, more so then the M2 HD Packages and the Brevis + Achromat.

What should I do? Brevis kinda sounds like the winner, with Letus FE being the close 2nd possible choice. Since you know now what ill be using it for, is it easy to suggest one? I also don't think ill need many lenses, at most 2, a 50mm for most shots and maybe towards a 135mm in case I really really want some nice close ups with the shallow DOF like others get.

Anyone?

- Kyle
 
The Brevis has the most control I think with the DOF. You definitely can get that super shallow look but you can also have 30 feet of it also by changing the diffuser. When the Brevis first came out people complained it was not shallow enough but like you, I didn't want to have to make actor sit still to stay in focus and not be so stylized.
 
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