Manually focusing

S

spotlightpro

Active member
I have been playing around with my DVX100 for a couple days now, and have yet to really learn to use the manual focus properly. I can get a clean image with it. But I am trying to find two images at 2 different depths and focus one while blurring the other, and vice-a-versa. I have often seen in films when two people are talking and while one person talks they are almost brought forward into clarity while they talk, and then when it switches dialogue, the other is "brought forward" in clarity. I don't know if there is a specific technique and settings needed for this. But when I have tried this effect, there doesn't seem to be much contrast between the two.

In summary, is there a correct technique to using the manual focus.

Thanks for your help. I love this forum!!!!
 
Re: Manually focusing

its called a rack focus.

Open the aperture all the way, flip on a nd filter if things are too overexposed, zoom all the way in, and frame your subject. Now you should have some shallow depth of field to work with.

Mike
 
Re: Manually focusing

While the answers above are good help, I am not sure that's what spotlightpro meant.

It's all about how you RACK focus from one subject to another. Most of us don't have a follow focus (including myself), and find focus racking rather challenging (including myself).

What I do, with limited success, is to use the techniques above to determine the two different focus points as precisely as possible (use a sharpness/focusing pattern if you can), and note the corresponding MF numbers (say, 52 and 75). Set focus on 52, start the take, and rotate the focus ring until you get MF75.

It takes a little practice, but it's not too hard. The hardest thing is to get the right rotation speed, and then stopping at the right moment. I haven't tried putting marks on the ring, but that should also work, I've heard.

Jerry
 
Re: Manually focusing

Good advice. I just thought he was having a problem with EVERYYTHING being in focus. It took me a while to figure that out myself, but I wanted to be able to do it since it is one of the signatures of a "film look"
 
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