Achromatic Diopters & ECU's

Carrington Benz

Carrington Benz

Well-known member
Im new at all these len's attachments etc - I just read a little on these diopiters & found myself very curious about them.
Does anyone here own these macro attachments ?
Im wondering if they would produce very ECU's like the skin grain / or hair pods on a hand for instance ?
I made a little short entitled ' tea ' recently which concerntrated on close up stuff but these diopiters have got me thinking on extreme close up action like microscopic action - isit possible with these diopiters ?
Does anyone have any footage samples or grabs on how close we can go with these ?

Maybe Im wrong here - so please correct me if Im wrong - any feedback or info is greatly appreciated on this.

I have only seen the century optics ones by the way maybe there are other makes ?

cheers ;)
 
Re: Achromatic Diopters & ECU's

the Achromatic Diopters let you get closer to the subject and reduce depth of field. so you can get those really nice CU's and have the bg go out of focus sooner. the Achromatic Diopters come in different strengths and you can stack them to add to the power. i have a set of them and they are pretty sweet. i will take a few images today and upload them so you can see the results.

also...another cool thing that i found with the diopters is that if you turn them around, so that front is now facing the lens. you get some seriously cool smearing on the edges of frame. its pretty cool looking. theres no threads to mount them that way, but you can certainly tape them on. i will snap a few like that too.

peace
 
Re: Achromatic Diopters & ECU's

The diopters will definitely let you get those super-close-ups. I have a Nikon 5T and 6T, they're quite inexpensive (like $45 each) although they need a 72mm->62mm step-down ring. The thing about them is, they let you zoom in and still focus much closer. With the DVX you can focus down to the surface of the lens but you have to be zoomed out, so the picture isn't very magnified. With the diopters in place you can focus down to the surface of the lens, and then zoom in. So you can get extremely close macro.

They can also help get the shallow DOF effect in tight quarters, because you can be closer and still zoom in. Only really useful in those circumstances for ECU's (or at least CU's) but, hey, a nice tool to have in the bag.
 
Re: Achromatic Diopters & ECU's

Hey Rich cheers again for your knowledge mate ;) I'll look fwd to those images - nice one !

Barry as always very informative & generous with it :)

So where's the best place  to get these things & what should I go for ? Nikon or Century ?

Will they fit over a century op wide lens .7x ? by the way - Im guessing not but I'll ask anyway ?

So you can buy a few & actually stack them ? thats pretty awesome - if so - how many are stackable at once & what the hell kinda ECU is that gonna produce - bacteria shots ?! ;D
 
Re: Achromatic Diopters & ECU's

I don't own either, so I don't know if it's possible to mount the achromatic on the wide, but yu wouldn't want to even if it were possible. These are going to be very tight shots, they shouldn't be wide.
 
Re: Achromatic Diopters & ECU's

Higher the diopter number (ie. +4) the closer you will be able to focus.

The higher the diopter number the more likely you will have noticeble color fringing.

Achromat diopters have two elements cemented together instead of just one. The result is a video without noticeable color fringing. Stay away from cheap single element diopters if your interested in quality video.

You can stack diopters to increase their power. Adding up their powers gives you their combined power.

Diopter DO NOT reduce DOF. They may give the appearance of doing so but in reality they are only reducing your cameras minimum focus ability and thus close objects will have shallow DOF just by the normal laws of optics. You can varify this by focusing on objects at normal distances away. They will not have shallower DOF.

Hoya makes a achromat diopter +10 for roughly $50 making it the strongest achromat available and definately the best value. Nikon's diopters are great quality but not nearly as strong and Century is somewhere between the two in power but they are well know for their quality but infortunately not their prices. None of these diopters are 72mm so you'll need a step down ring to make them work for the DVX. This means you also have to zoom in a bit so the step down ring doesnt show in the video but if your using a diopter your probably zooming in anyways. Good luck.

-Brett Erskine
www.CinematographerReels.com
 
Re: Achromatic Diopters & ECU's

Brett's knowledge of optics is intimidating, so it is with great care that I correct him... Century does make 72mm achromatics. They have a +2 and a +3.5.
 
Re: Achromatic Diopters & ECU's

here are a few quick grabs.

290144250.jpg

stack of coins full wide with 1+,2+,4+ stacked.
290144301.jpg

stack of coins full zoom with 1+,2+,4+ stacked.
290144707.jpg


290144744.jpg

full zoom with 1+,2+,4+ stacked.

lighting becomes even more of an issue here. you get way more of the blue fringe...especialy when stacking the diopters. so you have to play around more with the iris and the nd's. fun stuff though!
 
Re: Achromatic Diopters & ECU's

Those are great Rich. Where did you get that set?
 
Re: Achromatic Diopters & ECU's

i got them at samys camera in LA. the 1+ 2+ 4+ tiffens for like 50 bucks!
 
Re: Achromatic Diopters & ECU's

Geez, I gotta call them and see if they can ship me some. I'm not down to pay $329 each for the Century ones.
 
Re: Achromatic Diopters & ECU's

yikes! why were mine so cheap? maybe they are crappy ones? i dunno...they are made by tiffen though, i thought they made the good stuff...i was buying some batteries and noticed them, and they guy was like 50 bucks...and i was like....OK!...i dont use them very often, or know much technicley about them...but the sure are cool.
 
Re: Achromatic Diopters & ECU's

Astounding Rich - exactly what I was looking for when stumbling across these attachments - now I know how they do that - wow!

So Rich how about the step down ring that is mentioned - what make & where ?

cheers for uploading those grabs - really appreciate it man - I know your mad busy with your video so thanks again for the effort :)

cheers
 
Re: Achromatic Diopters & ECU's

Rich,


Hey this is Rob, Hey I looked on samys camera site, but couldn't find the Achromatic Diopters. Do they go by a different name.

Barry,

I also looked for nikon stuff couldn't find them..

Can you point me to the right place..

Rob
 
Re: Achromatic Diopters & ECU's

Here's the Nikon 5T:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=37297&is=REG

It has a stronger-magnification cousin, the 6T, also.  If you're wanting to do macro work, look at the higher-magnification diopters.  If you're looking to use it to reduce DOF in close-quarters situations, I find the 5T much more useful than the 6T for that work.

The Nikons are only available in 62mm thread so you'll need a 72mm->62mm step-down ring to use 'em, and you'll have to zoom in past Z60 to avoid vignetting.  But the Nikon is high-quality glass at a dirt-cheap price.

Another achromatic diopter to look at would be the Canon 500D, which comes in 72mm thread size.  They're twice as expensive as the Nikons, but they don't need step-down rings and they probably don't vignette at all.
 
Re: Achromatic Diopters & ECU's

Just so you know before you go out and buy one of thoughs cheap +1, +2, +4 diopter sets if its clear video your after they wont give it to you. Its harder to notice the color fringing in a frame grab like the ones pictured but its very much there. Look at the corners of the picture. Notice either a blue or orange edging happening on objects.

Its not too bad in a still picture but put it in motion when you see it on a video and the fringing will change and coming in and out and it could be noticed.

Single element diopters should only be used if your on a real tight budget or your project doesnt demand full clarity.

Just a lesson learned, bought a cheapo early on and then had to buy a good one.

-Brett Erskine
www.CinematographerReels.com
 
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