Director's Viewfinder

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SomeRandomGuy06

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Does anyone know if a director's viewfinder (like the Alan Gordon Mark V: http://www.alangordon.com/s_camaccessories_markvb.html) does actually focus images, so that the out of focus elements look just like they will look on screen?

In other words, is it an afocal system -- does it focus light rays or not ?

People who have used other director's viewfinders have mentioned that it does NOT focus light rays (it's afocal), hence is useless to judge focus and depth of field -- what you see in it then feels completely different from what the image will look like on screen (although the framing is the same).

However, in the case of the Mark V Director's Viewfinder, the manufacturer's description (link above) mentions an "Adjustable Focusing Ring", so I'm not sure.

Has anyone actually used the Alan Gordon Mark V?

Thanks
 
Viewfinders are used for composing shots, and getting a visualization of what a shot will look like without having to move the camera, and actually compose the shot. No single lens could ever accurately replicate the bokeh produced by the huge amount of lenses available, especially those of anamorphic and aged glass. Also they do not reproduce the given DOF at a certain focal length at a particular f-stop. That is what a kelly wheel is for.
 
Okay, so a director's viewfinder doesn't give any information on what's in focus and what's out of focus.

Using 35mm-sized digital still cameras should work to judge the depth of field visually (a kelly wheel only gives numbers). Is it practical, do you know if people actually do that?
 
Yes, me personally, as well as many industry DP's use DSLR's on set to calculate an ESTIMATE of what the negative will look like, including DOF to some degree.
 
I have actually tried the Mark V director's viewfinder today in a store: as you said it is afocal. It does not focus the image on any ground glass, so you don't see any bokeh: it is just an afocal zoom system. And the image is rather small; overall it is difficult to judge the result, except to say "this object will be in the frame at this focal length".

DSLRs seem more practical. Do you know if there models/kits which are specifically adapted to motion picture frames, maybe with 1.85/2.35 markings on the LCD -- could you tell me what you personally use?

Thanks.
 
I don't use my DSLR for framing, I use it for lighting, because it is very close to the sensitivity of the stocks I generally shoot. But because you are matching the DSLR settings to your motion picture camera, if you shoot at relatively the same focal length, you can get a good idea of the amount of blur, bokeh, etc. I use a Nikon D80 with a 50mm 1.8 on set, along side a Sekonic 558Cine meter.
 
I don't shoot film or have an adapter, however I do know that any decent film SLR should have a DoF preview button on them so you can see what the f-stop will bring into focus. (make the image rather dark though on high f-stops)
 
The good thing about a regular digital SLR (not an expensive full-frame 35mm one) is that the width of the sensor is around 24mm (23.6mm for Nikon like the D80, 22.2mm for Canon), which is also the width of the the 35mm film in Super35 (21mm for 1.85, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/35mm_film#Technical_specifications). So for the same focal length/f-stop as a movie camera, a regular DSLR gives an accurate preview of depth of field and framing (at least horizontally).

Film SLR or full-frame DSLR have a sensor/film width of 36mm, so the framing is completely different.
 
I am confused. Some salespeople in stores keep telling me that a film SLR and a movie camera, for the same focal length, produce the same image. But 35mm for still photography is 36mm wide (36x24mm), which isn't the same as 22-24mm for cinema 35mm film. The same physical 35mm film is used horizontally in still photography and vertically in cinema, so there is no reason it should give the same result. Maybe I am missing something.

Is it true that standard DSLRs with APS-C sized sensors like the Nikon D80 give the same image (vertically cropped to 1.85/2.35) and approximate depth of field as a movie camera for the same focal length and f-stop?
 
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