35mm adapter newbie, suggestions?

[evolvnyc]

I've been shooting with the DVX for years and always get the "Wow, how did you shoot that, it looks like film!?" I've always been more than happy with the results using a few simple tricks. I'm helping a friend shooting his short film next weekend on my little production company's new hvx-200a and the director insists on shooting with an adapter. I've researched the heck out of them and think it will be a good opportunity for me to learn how to work with them.

Problem is, I only have a few hours prior to the pre-light to play around with both the HVX and the adapter for the first time. Can anyone suggest a tutorial about adapaters themselves? (I understand DOF, aperture etc) I want to know: How do I rack focus with an adapter? Will I need someone to follow focus if I'm on sticks and the subject is moving? Will I need an HD monitor to determine focus or can I use the LCD (As I always have on the DVX which has never failed me.)? Just something that will allow me to not look like a total idiot fumbling around with the camera and adapter in front of the crew...?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions, couldn't find anything so baseline in the forums here.

 

[trez]

How do I rack focus with an adapter?

You either turn the ring on the 35mm lens manually or with help of follow focus system.

Will I need someone to follow focus if I'm on sticks and the subject is moving?

Most probably - yes. The reason you wanna use the adapter is, I guess, shallow DOF. So pulling focus might be difficult. Even if you have an assistant is still can be hard with very shallow DOF. Some (vibrating gg - Letus, Brevis) adapters can't be stopped down too much (some people say their limit is f5.6, I can't stop mine further than f4.0 and the safe limit is f2.8 for me) because the ground glass grain becomes visible. Rotating gg adapters are more forgiving. Anyway - expect shallow DOF, so focusing is quite a challenge

Will I need an HD monitor to determine focus or can I use the LCD (As I always have on the DVX which has never failed me.)?

I've been using DVX100 with Letus for couple of months and focusing with the camera LCD has been hard. To determine the focus I was often zooming the camera lens in on the adapter ground glass (gg) as far as it goes, setting the focus with 35mm lens and then zooming back - this might be helpful sometimes. Generally speaking - external monitor is strongly recommended.

Just something that will allow me to not look like a total idiot fumbling around with the camera and adapter in front of the crew...?

Some quick hints:

1. learn how to focus the camera lens on the adapter ground glass - the good way to do it is to:
- turn the adapter gg rotation/vibration off,
- detach the 35mm lens,
- point the camera at the sky,
- open the camera lens (not 35mm lens!) as wide as it gets,
- zoom in, set the focus so that gg grain pattern is sharp and in focus, then zoom back
- set the camera lens aperture to ~f4.0 (for good edge-to-edge sharpness) and try to keep it so while shooting. Open it wide only if there's insufficient lighting. Use ND filters instead of stopping the camera lens down past f11.0 in if too much light. You want to keep your camera lens in its sweet spot.
- remeber the focal length of the camera lens, so you can quickly set it later (or lock your focus ring if you can)

2. how to set the frame size you're after - in other words which part of the ground glass should be shot. Zoom the camera lens in/out to achieve this. Be aware that some adapters (like Letus) have big gg - bigger than 35mm frame size. You can use its entire area, but the DOF will be even more shallow and some lenses will be vigneting. Do some testing before. And remember the zoom value (focal length) in case you touched the zoom ring by mistake while shooting.

3. if you're using vibrating gg adapter (Letus, Brevis) be aware that stopping down the 35mm lens can result in visible grain. Be careful when shooting clear and overcast sky as well as big, evenly lit surfaces. f4.0 should be your limit. Use higher f-stops carefully.

4. make sure you have fresh batteries in your adapter!

5. always check if adapter is running before the shot. it is not always easy to tell by looking at the LCD

6. if you use diffusion filters with your camera - you might not need them, as the adapter gg adds quite strong diffusion

7. expect severe light loss - you might need much more powerful lights

hope this helps

 

[evolvnyc]

Wow, that's tremendously helpful, thanks!

 

[evolvnyc]

so I'm trying to line up the Ultimate as instructed in the book, is it really as basic as making the lines parallel in the niewfindr and zooming in just past the edges? I feel like it's not precise and is going to be slightly crooked even if it looks right to me in the lcd... Is this really all you do? line it up as best you can, zoom in past the edges and focus on the GG?

 

[Huy Vu]

To determine the focus I was often zooming the camera lens in on the adapter ground glass (gg) as far as it goes, setting the focus with 35mm lens and then zooming back - this might be helpful sometimes.

Bad idea, do not do this. It doesn't work the same way as a regular camera lens. The more you zoom into the GG the more sharpness suffers. Trying to focus at that point and then zooming out will give you a soft image. Do not touch the zoom at all, you're just gonna have to do your best focusing by eye.