D.O.F. Test

Jason Ramsey

Jason Ramsey

Admin
Nothing fancy. I was just screwing around the other day to see what kind of shallow depth of field I could simulate using a stock HVX. Thought I would post some of the results.

Most of this was done at full zoom w/ the iris at around 2.8 or faster.

I was thinking of doing some tests and laying out the results of what type of depth of field you can simulate at different zoom ranges and iris settings, etc. If there is any interested I may still do this. Anyways. It's fairly highly compressed. 35 megs or so.

www.ramjetfilms.com/DOFtest.mov

Later,
Jason
 
the drop off is so sudden and sharp, im not a fan of that DOF really. Unnatural looking to the eye, un appealing.
 
I would tend to agree, but that's what everyone seems to go after with their 35mm adapters. Well, not everyone, but you know. I just thought it was kind of interesting to be able to simulate something like that using the stock lens...

Thanks,
Jason
 
Cynic821 said:
the drop off is so sudden and sharp, im not a fan of that DOF really. Unnatural looking to the eye, un appealing.
Click to expand...

Clearly, it was deliberately taken to an extreme as an example of shallow DOF capability for the HVX, which is notably limited in its ability to achieve such effects using more conventional focal lengths. I was impressed.

As to real-world use, shallow DOF is just another tool of the trade. I agree that overuse of it is often quite distracting and annoying. The TV show "24" likes to dance on the edge of this, and I find it can sometimes take my attention out of the story and into the camerawork, which is almost never a good thing.

Used artfully, defocusing the background and/or foreground can create a nice "impressionistic blur" effect around the subject or direct the viewer where the filmmaker wants.

With little or no zoom, cameras like the HVX have innately long DOF, so everything's in focus too much of the time, which, again, can distract the viewer from what matters in the shot. A two-shot of actors takilng in the foreground, for example, may be substantially undermined dramatically by lots of activity in the background across the street. A good measure of DOF reduction can solve that nicely.

Jason's test was a great example of to what extreme the effect can be achieved on an HVX without aftermarket/35mm lens kits. I think very few filmmakers would ever go as far in their use of it.
 
Cynic821 said:
i see you quoted me, but was that directed to me?
Click to expand...

I should have linked to your site before I talked to to you like you were a novice. The simple wording of your comment lulled me into a false impression that you were.

Perhaps my remarks will be still useful to those who actually are novices!

My apologies.
 
I'm not a huge fan of extreme shallow DOF, but it is nice to know that you can get those kind of shots. I have done numerous DOF tests with my DVX, and I get the impression from that footage that the HVX is capable of a shallower DOF. Is that correct?

Nicely done.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top