T2i Lens not holding focus through zoom range

- EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM
- EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
- EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM , EF 28-70mm f/2.8L USM
- EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM , EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
- EF 70-200mm f/4L USM , EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM
- EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
- EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM
- EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III
- EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM
- EF 90-300mm f/4.5-5.6

source: http://135mm.multiply.com/journal/item/9
 
boulder said:
A winner!

Usually a zoom is used to simulate quick handheld footage, present a voyeristic feeling or make the viewer aware of the camera. My point is when I usually see zooms (and I see lots) in non professional productions, they are more often than not misused...zoom shots are the bane of the amature cinematographer. They should be used wisely and sparingly
Click to expand...

I'll still maintain that they're used a lot more often than you think, and not just for the mockumentary type stuff.

But you are right that it's something that amateur filmmakers completely overuse.
 
boulder said:
Usually a zoom is used to simulate quick handheld footage, present a voyeristic feeling or make the viewer aware of the camera. My point is when I usually see zooms (and I see lots) in non professional productions, they are more often than not misused...zoom shots are the bane of the amature cinematographer. They should be used wisely and sparingly
Click to expand...
The zooms in those cases are distracting to me, BTW. In fact, I mainly remember them because they were distracting. Perhaps handsome pete is right; maybe most zooms nowadays are so well done that they escape notice and memory.
 
ydgmdlu said:
Perhaps handsome pete is right; maybe most zooms nowadays are so well done that they escape notice and memory.
Click to expand...

One example that comes to mind is this shot in Goodfellas.


Goodfellas_Dolly_Zoom.gif


I didn't even remember this until I saw it on Wikipedia while trying to find out if there was a technical term for the dolly zoom/vertigo effect.

The ability to zoom still has a lot of practical uses. But of course it can be abused much like any other stylistic choice in this industry. Is it absolutely necessary? Nope. Is it nice to have the option? Sure is.
 
But don't confuse the zoom/dolly/vertigo effect with a standard zoom shot...very differant implications. The vertigo implies vertigo, sudden realization of something important or a decisive moment of clarity.

In the GF shot you point out he has just realized that DeNero plans to kill him...moment of clarity.
 
I think its worth mentioning that a gently dolly in will give a totally different feel to a creeping zoom in, if you are at short foal length.

This is not the case with longer focal lengths.

For this reason I think a creeping zoom shot can carry the feeling of gravity on an actors words much better than a dolly in
(which will make the audience feel like they are traveling in the space when at a short FL)
 
Actually I have used zooms in post..they create a really distinct mechanical look that is kind of a throwback to earlier films:

 
boulder said:
But don't confuse the zoom/dolly/vertigo effect with a standard zoom shot...very differant implications. The vertigo implies vertigo, sudden realization of something important or a decisive moment of clarity.

In the GF shot you point out he has just realized that DeNero plans to kill him...moment of clarity.
Click to expand...
watch any oceans film, you'll see tons of zoom shots, especially in I think 13, where they zoom from wide, to a closeup of brad, or George
 
handsome pete said:
One example that comes to mind is this shot in Goodfellas.


Goodfellas_Dolly_Zoom.gif


I didn't even remember this until I saw it on Wikipedia while trying to find out if there was a technical term for the dolly zoom/vertigo effect.
Click to expand...
Yes, I remembered the dolly-zoom from several other recent movies, including LOTR, but I didn't mention that specifically because I thought that boulder wanted examples of regular zooms.

I always notice dolly-zooms, BTW. I tolerate them better than blatant zooms, but they still strike me as a very self-conscious stylistic choice.
 
Speaking as an avowed amateur I HATE zoom-in-shot, and never use it myself. The dolly-zoom (As in FOTR wooded road, and ROTK Shelob's lair, paths of the dead) is ok if used sparingly and for effect.
Back OT, it is the advent of autofocus that has made still lens designers lazy with their parfocality, especially wrt cheep zooms and those of extended range. I mind the time, when I were a lad ( :laugh: ) when no self-respecting designer would let a non-parfocal ramping aperture lens off his drawing board. mind you the maximum range was usually 3x and wide-tele unheard of (Well ok, 35-105 but that's hardly extreme).
So, ironically if you want a parfocal zoom of constant aperture then you should look to older manual designs, or else something from leica "R" glass perhaps.
Dave
 
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