N00b requests advice on camera + related equipment/accessories

T

Take1

Member
Hi,

Apart from being a complete n00b at this forum, I am also a n00b (aspiring) filmmaker if you will.

I am planning to embark upon my first short-film project and am badly in need of proper guidance with regards to camera (HD), 35mm adapter, lens(es) and all those tiny attachments and fixtures that come with them, explained in layman terms.

1. Things that I am pretty clear about:

- I would like to rent either the Panasonic HVX202 or the HPX502 (yes, PAL).

Yeah, well, that's the ONLY ASPECT I am not confused about.

2. Things I have no clue whatsoever about:

- Which 35mm adapter to buy? (Brevis35, SGPro, M2...aarrghh I'm going mad!)
- What the heck are these "mounts"? What's the difference between an SLR, PL and/or the OCT-19 mount?
- What lenses to buy? Again, what's the difference between SLR, PL and OCT-19 lenses? (My short script demands several extreme close-ups, hand-held movement, a soft diffused look and of course a nice feature film look to it :thumbup:)
- High speed/Fast and Low speed lenses, what are these?
- What are these F-stops, shutter speeds etc? All I know is I don't want my film to look bright and flat and definitely not too grainy regardless of whether I shoot during the day or at night.
- Achromat, FollowFocus, etc. Do I need to buy all those tiny rings and rods and attachments? How would I know what to buy?

I request members here to not get annoyed with my admitted ignorance with regards to this matter and help me out.

If it's too tedious for people in here to answer my questions then please guide me to an online resource where I can educate myself.

Thanks in advance.
 
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:D! I know what you mean but I want to learn hands-on. I just want to trip, fall down, get up, dust myself and start runnin' again.

Please help.
 
Hey. Welcome to the forum. Lots of questions here. And, since you said you are a noob to the forum, I would recommend taking a look at some of the stickies in the various forum sections here. In this case, since you are asking mostly about adapters and lenses, check out the 35mm adapter section. Lots of good stuff there.

PL and OCT19 mounts are cinema lens mounts. You probably wouldn't want to think about that at all as the lenses cost tens of thousands of dollars.

You would want to look at nikon F or Canon FD mounts (those being the two most popular). Most people use manual 35mm still photography lenses for their adapters.

Fast/Slow lenses, etc, have to do with the f stop range on the lenses. Fstop numbers have to do with how much light the lenses let in (or lose) adapters lose additional light. lenses lose additional light. the lower the f stop number (f1.4 for example) the "faster" the lens. The more "bright" it is... the more light it lets in... This is typically preferred over a slow lens (a lens with a high f stop number like f 5.6 or whatever).

Shutter speeds are on the camera (search around about this). Better yet, if you are going to get the hvx or hpx, get barry green's book, and you will learn a ton about the camera's as well as a lot of this more basic information about shutter speeds, exposure (fstops), etc, etc. Also, browse around on this forum and google these terms a lot.

Achromat is typically a part of the adapter you buy, not an additional component that you buy.

Follow focus consists of a "gear" that goes on your 35mm lens or HVX lens attached to more gears attached to a twisting knob that allows you to precisely "pull" focus. Focus. Not a requirement, but a good tool to have, especially (and beginning to boarder on requirement) when you are using a 35mm adapter setup.

You will also probably want to look at a rails setup if you are using a feature film type set up with 35 adapter and a set of lenses. Depending on the adapter, you can get buy without them on the shorter lenses (50mm and wider), but beyond that, you seriously need to consider a rails setup.

Popular lenses to start with for an adapter would be (as fast as you can afford them f1.4, f1.8, etc) 50mm as a first lens to get. 85mm and then something in the more telephoto range. an over 100mm lens... 200mm even.

You might want to consider working your way into the adapter world, but I'm not one to tell you how to spend your money. Spend the time with the camera by itself first. Get accustomed to it There are tons of settings, and your first footage will probably suck, and you will probably ask us about noise, etc. :) So, get to know your camera, read Barry's book. Then slap on a 35 adapter and a 50mm lens and start playing around iwth that. Focusing HD isn't terribly easy using an on camera LCD. If you are shooting 24p (film speed), and shooting features, you won't be auto focusing. So, get used to it with the bare cam first. a 35 adapter completely eliminates the possibility even of auto focus, so...

A good on camera monitoring solution becomes pretty much a must when using an hd cam and a 35 adapter. Not talking about a 400 dollar thing here. It has to have the res to allow you to precisely gauge focus. More like 1500-3000 for one.

Lights, lights, lights. HD cams need light. and if you are trying to make movies, half the battle in achieving a "film look" is in good lighting.

Hmm.... I guess that is a nice lengthy response for you :)

Welcome to the forums. Read, read, read. you have guided yourself to a great online resource, so take advantage of it. Browse around on the forum, learn some of the terminology and then search for it. Tons of info here, and most of it has been posted at least 50 times already :)

Take care,
Jason
 
Jason Ramsey said:
Hey. Welcome to the forum. Lots of questions here. And, since you said you are a noob to the forum, I would recommend taking a look at some of the stickies in the various forum sections here. In this case, since you are asking mostly about adapters and lenses, check out the 35mm adapter section. Lots of good stuff there...
Click to expand...

Thanks a ton, Jason Ramsey, for a very informative response. I couldn't have asked for a better one. :thumbup:! I am going to browse through the various sections of this forum extensively for answers for sure.

BUT, before that...

Jason Ramsey said:
PL and OCT19 mounts are cinema lens mounts. You probably wouldn't want to think about that at all as the lenses cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Click to expand...

They indeed are. However, say I opt for a 35mm adapter with an OCT-19 mount with a Panasonic HVX202/HPX502, can I use those relatively cheaper, mostly second-hand Russian Prime, Wide & Telephoto lenses available on rafcamera.com without any problem and get the desired effect that I have mentioned in my first post?

For example:
SGPro 35mm adapter + Oct-19 mount = ~$1200
300mm OKS1-300-1 lens (OCT-19 mount) = ~$300
150mm lens OKS1-150-1 for Konvas (OCT-19 mount) = ~$150
100mm lens OKS2-100-2 for Konvas, Kinor (OCT-19 mount) = $125
50mm lens OKS1-50-6 for Konvas, Kinor (OCT-19 mount) = $125
75mm lens OKS6-75-1 for Konvas, Kinor (OCT-19 mount) = $125
35mm lens OKS11-35-1 for Konvas, Kinor (OCT-19 mount) = $125
22mm lens OKS3-22-1 for Konvas, Kinor (OCT-19 mount) = $145
TOTAL = ~$2300

That ain't too bad, is it? And I ain't gonna go for every single lens listed above.

Also, for the kind of look and feel that I want my short film to have (mentioned in my first post), what's more preferred? A lens with a lower F-stop value or one with a higher F-stop value? With proper lighting, will those lenses be able to achieve that?

Thanks in advance.
 
I don't know anything about those lenses... if they are any good or not, so I can't really help you. Seem awfully cheap though.

The point of having a faster lens is to lose the least amount of light as possible, and then have room to stop down some on the 35 lens to find it's "sweet pot" the place where it is sharpest.

But, I would do some research in the 35 adapter section and read about the kinds of lenses people are using, etc.

Good luck.
Jason
 
Those Lomo's aren't going to be fast enough to use with a 35mm adapter, especially the long lenses. And if you find the faster wides, those are going to be much more money.

Since you are just starting out, but want to dive into the 35mm adapter world, listen to Jason and use the Nikons.
 
Take1 said:
- I would like to rent either the Panasonic HVX202 or the HPX502 (yes, PAL).
Click to expand...

Perhaps this is a silly question, but can you put an adapter on a rental camera? I mean, how much modification is needed to mount the adapter? As somebody who works in rental, that just caught my eye... :)
 
You need a step down or up ring depending on the thread size of the camera. It seems that the adapters mostly have 72mm ring size.
 
none. in most cases you just screw the adapter onto the end (with any necessary step rings, etc).

Anyways, Take1... again, welcome to the forum, but now I think it's time for you to get initiated the old fashioned way and get to browsing the forum :) 35 adapter section is a good place for you to start.

For the record, probably at least 90% of the people here use nikon or canon (or some still photog glass) with their adapter... either exclusively, or mostly. You will be fine with that glass, and it will be much easier on your pocket book. There are some great older lenses out there that you can buy used.

Later,
Jason
 
Thank you all for bearing with me. Special thanks to Jason Ramsey not only for the welcome but also for helping me out with all the information. As per your respective suggestions, I will dig through this forum for useful info and get back to you folks if I happen to have any doubts.
 
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