DIY 35mm adapter settings---

S

s4manturbo

Active member
Just wondering what everyone is using for 35mm adapter settings?

Do you zoom in to frame, then focus the camera, then focus the lens?

Also what scene setting do you use?

Im playing with mine at the moment, and just wondering what you guys were using.
Thanks in advance

:dankk2:
 
The #1 problem I see with these adapters is that people don't seem to understand what the goal should be, as far as frame size.

You want to ideally zoom into the ground glass to the point where your camera is imaging a 22mm x 12mm area off the ground glass. Any wider than that and you'll be getting excessively shallow depth of field, vignetting, losing edge-to-edge sharpness, you'll have hot spots and uneven illumination, etc.

If you want your footage to look like a 35mm movie camera's, set your framing on the ground glass so that it emulates a 35mm movie camera's film frame size.

Easiest way to do that (or at least get in the ballpark) is mount a 50mm lens on the adapter, and frame up an 11" x 8.5" sheet of paper landscape-wise so that it's about two feet away (preferably about 2.25 feet) and then zoom in on the ground glass until the edges of the paper just barely get cut off. At that zoom and distance, you should be properly emulating a 35mm cine camera's field of view.
 
Barry_Green said:
The #1 problem I see with these adapters is that people don't seem to understand what the goal should be, as far as frame size.

You want to ideally zoom into the ground glass to the point where your camera is imaging a 22mm x 12mm area off the ground glass. Any wider than that and you'll be getting excessively shallow depth of field, vignetting, losing edge-to-edge sharpness, you'll have hot spots and uneven illumination, etc.

If you want your footage to look like a 35mm movie camera's, set your framing on the ground glass so that it emulates a 35mm movie camera's film frame size.

Easiest way to do that (or at least get in the ballpark) is mount a 50mm lens on the adapter, and frame up an 11" x 8.5" sheet of paper landscape-wise so that it's about two feet away (preferably about 2.25 feet) and then zoom in on the ground glass until the edges of the paper just barely get cut off. At that zoom and distance, you should be properly emulating a 35mm cine camera's field of view.
Click to expand...

This is all news to me. Thanks for the tip! So zooming in less is better, right? At least in terms of shallow depth.
Jgastelb
 
"better" in what way? You can get shallower depth of field by being zoomed in less, but it's not gonna look like a movie, it's going to look exceptionally exaggerated, and you run the risk of vignetting, hot spots, dark corners, uneven brightness, and uneven edge sharpness.
 
Barry_Green said:
"better" in what way? You can get shallower depth of field by being zoomed in less, but it's not gonna look like a movie, it's going to look exceptionally exaggerated, and you run the risk of vignetting, hot spots, dark corners, uneven brightness, and uneven edge sharpness.
Click to expand...

I guess I misunderstood then. I thought that when one zoomed in then one would have shallower depth such as in native cam. I thought this would apply to the adapters as well. I was interpreting that if one zoomed in less there would be a deeper focus. I'm just trying to understand. I usually zoom in all the way to avoid vignetting anyways.
Jgastelb
 
Doesn't work that way with an adapter. With an adapter the DOF is established at the ground glass, so whether you zoom in or out (on the camera's lens) it won't change that. What does change is the size of the frame you're recording, and the wider you zoom, the closer you'll have to move the camera in order to get comparable framing. Moving closer means you'll have to focus closer, and focusing closer means shallower DOF.

But people way overdo the amount of DOF shallowness that they should with the adapters anyway; it's usually very exaggerated on DOF adapters as opposed to an actual movie.
 
I appreciate the information. You're right! The exaggerated DOF is very common (me included). For me is mostly due to the lack of lighting and always having to have my iris open. But, that's another story. Thanks!
Jgastelb
 
Ok, thanks barry.

So from the moment that I set my dvx with the sheet of paper 2.25 feet away, I should control it all through my mounted lenses from that point on?
Thus the need for a 28mm/50mm lens etc---

It all starts making sense I guess.

Ok, now Im about to import and "flip" my footage to watch my test shoots. I have the letus 35 adapter and a canon 28mm lens at the moment. Still plalying with it, but so far Im liking what I see. The loss of light is bothersome- havent figure that portion out really just yet. Going back over to DIY to read the book and figure out whats going on there.
 
s4manturbo said:
Ok, thanks barry.

So from the moment that I set my dvx with the sheet of paper 2.25 feet away, I should control it all through my mounted lenses from that point on?
Thus the need for a 28mm/50mm lens etc---

It all starts making sense I guess.

Ok, now Im about to import and "flip" my footage to watch my test shoots. I have the letus 35 adapter and a canon 28mm lens at the moment. Still plalying with it, but so far Im liking what I see. The loss of light is bothersome- havent figure that portion out really just yet. Going back over to DIY to read the book and figure out whats going on there.
Click to expand...

I have the Letus 35a flip enhanced. Lots of light loss. Light it like you're the sun. Just kidding!!! It means you have to become better at lighting and also have a more powerful source for your keylight. I would like to see some of your test footage when you get a chance.
Jgastelb
 
jgastelb---yeah your telling me on the light loss...

I wasnt expecting it on the test shoot. I had two kino's and some pratical lighting in the room and I couldnt get it bright enough to do anything really. I dont mind having to light it....I have a few 5K lights that dont get nearly enough use!

I was actually worried I got a bad lens.....so hearing you say that actually makes me quite happy!

Im going to reshoot the footage in the days to come. Def by the weekend Ill throw up some footage for you to check out.
 
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