best lenses and method with A7sII to achieve 60 minutes style look...shallow DOF?

N

Nicholas Natteau

Veteran
Can anyone advise me on what lenses would work best with the Sony A7sII for talking head sit down interviews (60 minutes style) where the interviewee can be tack sharp but the background is very much out of focus?

What f stop number should I not go below? In order to give the subject sufficient room to move around slightly in the chair without the camera losing focus. Is there a general rule of thumb? Not going below say f 5.6 or 4 or 2.8?

Thanks in advance for any advice on lenses, f-stops, and recommended distances for achieving the shallow DOF "60 minutes look".
 
There is no rule of thumb because different focal lengths effect DOF differently. A longer lens will let you stay in the sharper aperture range without losing shallow DOF. There are lots of DOF calculators out there and apps for phones. Just look at your location and figure out how deep of focus you will need for your interview subject to move around. Unless very animated most people don't sway more than 2ft.

A favourite stills lens of many interview shooters if there is the space is the Canon 70-200 2.8IS II. I'll often use an 85mm prime also if I don't need to change FOV mid interview.
 
There are DOF calculators that can tell you exactly what is going to be in focus at various settings.
I use a "visual dof pro" app for my android device.
 
pCAM is also a nice smartphone app for determining DOF, as well as a boatload of other tools available for work. Well worth the money.
 
Regarding the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, I have that lens but I'm not able to control aperture when I connect it to the A7s2. Is it not possible to control aperture when connecting Canon lenses to the Sony A7s2?
 
Nicholas Natteau said:
Regarding the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, I have that lens but I'm not able to control aperture when I connect it to the A7s2. Is it not possible to control aperture when connecting Canon lenses to the Sony A7s2?
Click to expand...
With an electronic adapter, you can (plus, there are other contraptions).

BTW, one can also blur the background in post. I suspect "60 Minutes" is shot with a small sensor ENG camera that sits inside a rather large studio, giving enough space between the interviewer/interviewee and the back wall, for example.
 
Nicholas, it's possible you are not set to manual exposure. It's under the first menu on the 7th page called "Movie HFR". You need to set it to Manual exposure to be able to change your aperture when filming in movie mode.
 
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