F55: F55 shoot initial thoughts

oh don't get me wrong, the f5 is a great great camera. the f55 is better (GS, Internal4k, Slowmo, Color) etc etc.
it's just not so much a worthy upgrade from the F3 in my opinion as the f55 even at this higher price point...
resale value is also a consideration to me. i think that the f55 will hold it's value longer.
 
Even if you are shooting for the web only, don't underestimate the power of 4K for reframing shots, throw 4K into a 720 timeline, like we do with 1080 now and you get a wide, mid and CU in one shot with one camera!
 
Careful sconnor, last time I tried to explain the benefit of 4k for post (frame padding, stabilization, crop, post zooming, etc..) I was told to shoot better in the first place. :huh:
 
One of the problems of reframing is that while you can simulate the composition or field of view of a longer lens, you don't get any of the other characteristics associated with the 'simulated' focal length. DOF will remain as shot, space will not be compressed, the geometry of the face of your talent will not be effected etc.

It's a bandaid that should be used in a pinch, not as standard practice. There is a lot to be said for getting it right in the first place.
 
There are many highly paid, professional, and famous directors who would disagree with you, and in fact consider it standard practice to pad frames and use it in post for smoothening shots, etc.. We're talking 5-10% here, not 400%.
 
Anyone who thinks stuff isn't reframed all the time in tv and movies is just plain wrong. It is super useful.
 
txdp said:
Anyone who thinks stuff isn't reframed all the time in tv and movies is just plain wrong. It is super useful.
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Agreed. I actually use it as a selling point for shooting 4k. When shooting interviews on my epic, I usually make 2 passes on the transcode, one normal and one tighter so the editor can cut between the different sizes.
I've also reframed shots in commercials where I was running out of time, had a prime on the camera and needed to crop something out of the frame. Knowing that you can reframe later can save you time and money - producers like to hear this :)
That, for me, is a big selling point of 4k.
 
Harry Lime said:
One of the problems of reframing is that while you can simulate the composition or field of view of a longer lens, you don't get any of the other characteristics associated with the 'simulated' focal length. DOF will remain as shot, space will not be compressed, the geometry of the face of your talent will not be effected etc.
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Cropping is actually equivalent to zooming. Unless you crop to a corner of the lens with lots of distortion. DOF will be amplified etc.
 
maarek said:
Cropping is actually equivalent to zooming. Unless you crop to a corner of the lens with lots of distortion. DOF will be amplified etc.
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I thought that at one time, but No, I'm afraid not. An 85mm lens is an 85mm lens. The DOF remains the same no matter how it's cropped. True zooming does change the DOF, but that's because you're changing the length of the lens.
 
maarek said:
Cropping is actually equivalent to zooming. Unless you crop to a corner of the lens with lots of distortion. DOF will be amplified etc.
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That's simply not true, the DOF will be exactly the same. It shouldn't be seen as the same as zooming into a shot to reframe the shot.
 
If you change your camera position to match the same frame size when switching focal length, no, there is no change in DOF at same f-stop. ie. you throw on 50mm lens and do medium shot then throw on 100mm and back up far enough to match the same previous frame size. no change in DOF.

BUT - if you zoom and you didn't change your position then DOF does change when you start at 50mm and zoom into 100mm. ie. DOF get's shallower (as in narrower)
 
The discussion is around people cropping a 4K shot to change an interview shot (going from a wide to a mcu for example ) - cropping a shot however never effects the DOF.
 
FYI, New Media composer announced with, " Another new feature in Media Composer 7 is FrameFlex, which allows editors working in 2K, 4K or 5K to easily reframe or pan-and-scan the footage to HD resolution."

cheers
Morton
 
starcentral said:
If you change your camera position to match the same frame size when switching focal length, no, there is no change in DOF at same f-stop. ie. you throw on 50mm lens and do medium shot then throw on 100mm and back up far enough to match the same previous frame size. no change in DOF.
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That's a different situation, and even then the shots will not match. It's not just the field of view that's affected. The compression of the background will be very different. (I'd have to look at a chart and see if the circle of confusion is different. I don't remember.)
 
This guy says the DOF is always the same, but on a zoomed shot the background goes through a type of illusion that causes it to seem more blurry?!

http://www.film-and-video.com/dofmyth.htm

Like many I always believed that backing up and using a longer focal length resulted in "more DOF" but I guess the DOF (area of acceptable focus) stays the same and only the background gets softer.

But longer lenses will compress perspective more which is why I like them more than wides close to my subjects.
 
starcentral said:
This guy says the DOF is always the same, but on a zoomed shot the background goes through a type of illusion that causes it to seem more blurry?!

http://www.film-and-video.com/dofmyth.htm

Like many I always believed that backing up and using a longer focal length resulted in "more DOF" but I guess the DOF (area of acceptable focus) stays the same and only the background gets softer.
Click to expand...

As the DOF gets smaller the background gets more blurry. It's not a type of illusion, it's the circle of confusion, which is calculated and available on charts.

Using a longer focal length reduces the DOF so the backround is more blurred.

With a 50mm lens at f1.4 focused at 100' the DOF is between 75 and 149'
For a 100mm lens at F1.4 focused at 100' the DOF is between 92 and 109. A much shallower DOF.

Here's a chart:
http://www.dofmaster.com/doftable.html
 
Duke M. said:
Using a longer focal length reduces the DOF so the backround is more blurred.

With a 50mm lens at f1.4 focused at 100' the DOF is between 75 and 149'
For a 100mm lens at F1.4 focused at 100' the DOF is between 92 and 109. A much shallower DOF.
Click to expand...
In the above example the 100mm lens should be focused at more like 200' to keep the foreground object the same size. If it was, then the DOF would also be near identical.

If the size of the foreground image is maintained, then focal length alone doesn't actually change DOF. It's aperture that does that!

i.e.. when you pull back and use a longer lens to throw the background behind a person, you're not actually changing the DOF.
(I know it looks like you are - but that's a different effect)

(I realise this is off the topic of cropping a 4K frame, but it's the example used)
 
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