35mm adapter - help the neophyte

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dstevens

Well-known member
My question is simple -

Can anyone give me an explanation of what a 35mm adapter does for you, used with a dv format? What does it let you do with your dvx that you could not do without the ada[ter?

When do you use it? All the time?

thanks!
 
yeah wow, I'm too a newbie and don't know anything about how the adapter works or what lenses to use, but what does it do? You obviously havn't investigated at all.

Not that its a big deal. I'm just not going to bother explaining it. Check out www.redrockmicro.com and read what they say their product can do :)

Sry if we sound like pricks ;b
 
I have done a search on the board, and I didn't find a concise explanation. I've found discussions of different brands, results of different lenses with different cameras,etc.

Even just googling it, I haven't found a even a basic explanation.

The fact that you don't know either suggests it's not such a terrible question, and not such obvious information.
 
Also, if anyone just has a website that would probably have such an explanation, that would be a useful reply. I don't mind doing research, just for some reason, an explanation of this piece of equipment hasn't been easy to find.

I figure I'd throw out the question. My expectation was that people who didn't know the answer or didn't want to answer it could just ignore it.
 
Basically, it's a tool that gives you control over depth of field. It mounts on your camera and allows you to mount SLR lenses onto your camera. The SLR lens mounts onto a housing unit which connects the SLR to the ground glass. Your camera's lens becomes the rear lens, a shaded piece of static/spining (depending on the manufacturer) ground glass is right in front of your lens and is what the SLR image is projected onto. There are magnifying lenses within the housing that will magnify the image (depending on the manufacturer again on how those are installed) and voila. That's your basic 35 mm adapter.

There's a lot of information all over the web about it. dv-info.net has the most info on it, I believe. That's where one of the first adapters was created(the agus35), so there was a lot of questions about how it worked in there.
 
Thanks for the website from CheeseSailor and the quick summary (and website) from dj200423.

I knew it was kind of a silly question, but I figured the beauty of online forums is you can just ignore the silly questions. Plus, the many gurus who post here could probably rattle off 50 good sites while I hunted through adverts.
 
Well, actually... No, I know what depth of field is, but maybe this is a more intelligent question:

Barry's book/dvd on the DVX talks about how to get DOF type looks. But it is stressed that doing it in DV isn't easy. Does the adapter basically make it easier to get that effect, and better control?

I got on this subject watching macgregor's stuff with the Sony FX1 and a 35mm adapter, which I loved. If I could get that look I'd die happy. I was curious how much the adapter was part of it, and how much he was shooting in HDV?

Guess I'll ask him!
 
Check out the depth of field on my "The Backyard" piece here: http://www.changedcrocodile.com/Films/

Not all the shots, of course, but a lot of them, and especially the swallowtail butterfly ones.

That's all stock DVX. It's just a matter of controlling your aperature, focal length, and how close the camera is to the subject. Maybe not "easy", but not that difficult if you have control over the situation.

And, if you're planning on using a bigass and relative fragile adapter attched to the front of the camara, I'm guessing you're not out stealing shots in a hurry.
 
GenJerDan said:
And, if you're planning on using a bigass and relative fragile adapter attched to the front of the camara, I'm guessing you're not out stealing shots in a hurry.
Click to expand...

That's a good point. I'm starting on my first feature (why let my total newbie status stop me?) and I'd like to be able to use more sophisticated shots than in the shorts I've done. But I don't think I'll have too many furtive filmmaking episodes, but who knows.

Which leads to the usual indie dilemma - with all the equipment choices out there, how to spend my few, precious bucks? I know it depends on what you're trying to achieve, but of course I'm used to having to change plans based on financial reality.

I suppose the best idea is to plan the shots for what I think best serves the story, then figure out what I need to do it? If something proves impossible to pull off, then revisit the script ("What if instead of standing by the Grand Canyon, they were standing in a closet? I mean it's the same thing basically.") :)
 
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