To use a 35mm adapter, or not to use one...

Finnegan

Finnegan

Well-known member
I'm preparing to shoot a documentary in the Philippines, but I haven't yet decided whether I'm going to bring along my SGblade rig. On the one hand, I've grown attached to the incredible imagery the rig is capable of producing, but on the other I'm not sure a great looking cinematic bokeh and shallow depth of field are aesthetically important for documentary films, which at least in my experience, tend to be far more oriented toward subject matter and content than visual style.

Practically, this documentary is about a medical mission in a poverty stricken area of the Philippines which means that I'm going to be in low light situations and mobile more often than not - making even the smallest and most portable of 35mm adapter rigs a little bit of a burden.

What do you guys think? Pros/cons?
 
Would it be an issue to bring it and keep it somewhere off your setup? That way you'd have the option to use it for interviews and stuff you have time to setup for. Otherwise I'd agree with your second thought, hard as it may be to leave behind cool stuff. A decent shot recorded without your other lenses is going to be a lot better than a great shot you didn't have time to get on the camera.
 
I'm visiting remote areas of Australia later this year to produce a documentary, and I've considered the exact same thing, except that it's a Letus35.

I concluded that I'd plan to use stock camera without the adapter, so I could setup for shoots quickly and not worry about getting important subjects in focus or not. Then if I wanted to get scenary stuff on the side, I'd have the adapter with me.

If luggage is an issue, perhaps just take the camera?
 
The portability issue is that I can't really cary things around with me, like cases and lenses and stuff. There isn't a place to set it down where it wouldn't get stolen.
 
After doing several docu-films, with adapter and without and reviewing the shots back in a post.
I am boldly confident you can say what you need to say in this doc with just your cam without adapter. If you are shooting 24p 1/48 shutter it will already look somewhat filmic, and you could zoom in for interviews so you can get a shallow depth of feel. Bring a good sound set up though.

When i went to the Amazon, my lenses and extra gear sat back in the hotel unused, while i panicked about having them nicked! Of course i would still bring polarizers, sunset grads, and even a matte box. But you can stick that in one bag, i don't think you will have the set up time and light for an adapter. It will slow you down, the content is the prize. Good luck, it sounds exciting!
Cheers
 
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I would say leave the adapter at home. You can still achieve some depth of field by keeping your distance from the subject and zooming. Adapters slow me down when i'm doc shooting. imo.

good luck
 
if it's a doc where events are unfolding in front of the camera - leave the adapter at home - you can't shoot run and gun with shallow DoF. And even if you somehow do manage to pull it off it will look staged.

if it's a doc where people get interviewed and you shoot a lot of b-roll then using an adapter is feasible. But the "pretty pictures" aesthetic can backfire, esp with weighty subject matter.
 
I'm right here, thinking about the same issue on a doc I'm about to start, so thanks for the voice of experience.
 
Shallow focus is used to guide the audience's eyeballs. If your BG is distracting using shallow focus is perfectly acceptable to isolate the foreground. Deep focus allows your BG to play a part by connecting the forground subject and having a visual connection/ or contrast between the two. The best method is to use appropriately both types of focus for guiding eyeballs so the viewer gets the message. This is basic visual communication technique.
 
vic777 said:
lose the adapter ... in your documentary ... tell the truth.
Click to expand...

Oh, it still needs to be your craftsmanship behind telling the truth though, adapter or no adapter. You have to be true to your style in telling this amazing story, allowing more people to be drawn in by the way it is shot as well as the subject matter.
It's your decision as a filmmaker to choose the tools you know you will need to tell the story the way you need to tell it.
Cheers
 
vic777 said:
lose the adapter ... in your documentary ... tell the truth.
Click to expand...


I could write (and have written) a whole paper on this but EVERY aesthetic decision you make impacts your audience and the "truth" you present to them.

The idea that a video-y look is more a representation of objective reality is a fallacy. Well, for that matter the concept of objective reality is.
 
pwyll said:
if it's a doc where events are unfolding in front of the camera - leave the adapter at home - you can't shoot run and gun with shallow DoF. And even if you somehow do manage to pull it off it will look staged.

if it's a doc where people get interviewed and you shoot a lot of b-roll then using an adapter is feasible. But the "pretty pictures" aesthetic can backfire, esp with weighty subject matter.
Click to expand...


I went all over India shooting a doc with my Brevis...However I only used it for locked off interviews or staged shots (which were very rare.) Rest of the time I had my HVX200 stock lens doing all the work. Really for run n' gun you need to be able to set up your shot quick. Glad I took it for the interviews though.
 
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