adapter abuse

jambredz

jambredz

Veteran
i've seen alot of footage where adapters are used and IMO not needed as it doesnt look as if an adapter is on. Its used to get a shallow DOF no?! so my question is...does having an adpater and using say a 28 or 24mm lens any different from just using the camera's bare lens. Does the adapter add to the image in some way apart from DOF. ...cuz sometimes i really dont see a difference and if they hadnt included the fact that it was shot with an adapter in the description, i wouldnt have known. Clearly i exclude the other end of the lens because thats where the shallow DOF comes into play where i def see a difference..and know its much easier to put things out of focus.
 
Depends on what you are shooting. There will be instances where popping the adapter off for wide shots will be the best option. There is no concrete rule.

And a 24mm lens will definitely have different characteristics then the wide 4.5mm lens on a DVX/HVX/what have you even if their FOV is similar.
 
When I use my 24mm the image is a little soft, but overall the adapter just has a nice look. And there will be DOF as long as you are close to something
 
Unless you're using 2 cameras its much easier to put on a wide lens than taking the whole thing apart and re-rigging it. Consider the fact that you then have to put the adapter back on again and make sure it's clean (on set, not always possible to keep it airtight) and then you have more problems by having to switch. Sometimes depending on the shoot it's a case of doing what's necessary to stay on schedule and get more shots off.
 
popping off an adapter during a shoot does suck. For all the reasons rodney said and more! Plus matching the footage then becomes and issue because even though there is virtually no DOF wide the adapter still gives off a unique look that may be hard to match in post.
 
putting a 12mm lens or so i think also gives you a wider image than the one you would have with the camera's stock lens.
And when you're on a job nobody likes to wait around for you to play with it and calibrating it. And with those "nonindustry standard" adapters and by industry std i mean P+S I wouldn't go around taking it down and putting it back up too many times as this puts stress and wear on it's locking mechanism.
 
Gogu said:
putting a 12mm lens or so i think also gives you a wider image than the one you would have with the camera's stock lens.
And when you're on a job nobody likes to wait around for you to play with it and calibrating it. And with those "nonindustry standard" adapters and by industry std i mean P+S I wouldn't go around taking it down and putting it back up too many times as this puts stress and wear on it's locking mechanism.
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Personally I try to only take the adapter off my camera only at the end of the shoot unless something needs to be cleaned. Or unless there's a HUGE location change that requires the camera to be stowed away safer than buckled into the back seat of a car. I have the Brevis and the wear and tear on the threads is something I really want to avoid.
 
It's funny: I was actually weighing the benefits of shoot with the stock lens for my Monsterfest entry as opposed to heavy adapter use. I've come up with the solution of storyboarding all of my shots for the stock lens, mostly wide shots and mediums. Then at the tail end of the scene i would do all of my coverage with the adapter and my 85mm and 135mm. Really just use the adapter for the beauty shots and ones where it makes most sense. it's a stylistic choice right now that and it's really the only way I can see using the stock lens instead of the wide.
 
Rodney V. Smith said:
It's funny: I was actually weighing the benefits of shoot with the stock lens for my Monsterfest entry as opposed to heavy adapter use. I've come up with the solution of storyboarding all of my shots for the stock lens, mostly wide shots and mediums. Then at the tail end of the scene i would do all of my coverage with the adapter and my 85mm and 135mm. Really just use the adapter for the beauty shots and ones where it makes most sense. it's a stylistic choice right now that and it's really the only way I can see using the stock lens instead of the wide.
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It's funny...this is exactly what I'm doing on a feature right now, except with two cameras. We're using a stock HVX for mostly wides and mediums, and a DVX with an adapter and a 50mm 1.8 for alot of the closes....of course that isn't a set in stone thing and we've mixed it up quite a bit, but this two camera approach has prooved to really speed up the process, and in fact we've been ahead of schedule every single day except for one...when we had some serious prosthetics problems....just one of those days :grin:
 
How is the footage matching up so far? I'm about to do a test shoot tomorrow to see what we can do in post to color match, but curious to your results so far.
 
I do both. On the feature I'm doing now I would say 70% Letus 30% stock. I don't take it off during shoots since I already know what scenes I'm doing and if the adapter will be used. I Never do naked and LEX in the same scene.
 
Rodney V. Smith said:
How is the footage matching up so far? I'm about to do a test shoot tomorrow to see what we can do in post to color match, but curious to your results so far.
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I havn't seen any rough material yet...only a little of the HVX material, as it's available so quick, and we have a VERY small crew.....in other words not all of the DVX footage has been captured yet.

I do believe that some of the HVX footage will be fed through Neat Video, and some Magic Bullet Looks....other then this basic info, I'm unsure of how well it will cut together...I'll definitely post about it here once I know more, and perhaps ask for some screen caps.
 
pmark23 said:
Why not? The reason I bought at adapter was to shoot wider than the stock lens.
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Decent wide angle glass can be expensive for....lets say the HVX. You'll spend the same or possibly less for a 14-16mm wide as for an adapter...and you have the added benefit of using this lens on a still camera.
 
It all depends what type of genre your trying to establish. In my upcoming short..I plan to use my A1 with the 35mm adapter and then also shoot using a hv20 with a raynox 66mm wide angle adapter for my wide shots in tight places, and for establishing masters shots.
 
pmark23 said:
Why not? The reason I bought at adapter was to shoot wider than the stock lens.
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Because, if you're shooting wide, depth of field (as in - shallow) isn't part of the necessary equation and I've yet to see footage shot with wide lenses on an adapter that wasn't noticeably soft on the perimeter of the frame.

Why waste sharpness and stop when you don't have to? I shot a feature last July and routinely installed and uninstalled the adapter as needed. It's really not that hard or even time consuming.

Also, the lens on the HVX200A is actually pretty wide. I haven't really found myself wanting or needing to be wider.

.
 
Chris Santucci said:
Because, if you're shooting wide, depth of field (as in - shallow) isn't part of the necessary equation and I've yet to see footage shot with wide lenses on an adapter that wasn't noticeably soft on the perimeter of the frame.

Why waste sharpness and stop when you don't have to? I shot a feature last July and routinely installed and uninstalled the adapter as needed. It's really not that hard or even time consuming.

Also, the lens on the HVX200A is actually pretty wide. I haven't really found myself wanting or needing to be wider.

.
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I think in the end this is a difficult discussion, as it's a discussion about how we as artists create our art. While I see the need to remove the adapter for some shots, I have to admit that putting on a different lens is faster then removing the adapter. You'd need to remove the adapter, make sure the rods aren't in the shot, put back on the adapter, and then set the back focus....while I admit this only adds 2 minutes at minimum.....if the rods are in the way it adds MUCH more time.

Personally I would rather have all the 35mm lenses....not only for speed, but for the look......I may seem to contradict myself, but I don't think I am.....I take speed into account, but I take image quality into account FIRST......UNLESS the client expects otherwise.
 
Chris Santucci said:
Because, if you're shooting wide, depth of field (as in - shallow) isn't part of the necessary equation and I've yet to see footage shot with wide lenses on an adapter that wasn't noticeably soft on the perimeter of the frame.

Also, the lens on the HVX200A is actually pretty wide. I haven't really found myself wanting or needing to be wider.
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Okay, I understand.

I'm not too concerned with shallow DOF (and am not a fan), but the HVX lens isn't wide enough for me.

The adapter (Brevis) and lens (Tamron 17mm f2.4) is sharp all around the frame for me, but I stop down quite a bit.
 
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