Using +2 Macro Lens for Shallow DOF

W

wjm

Well-known member
Sorry for the cross post, but the original is lost in Edweirdo's "I'm Afraid I have another 35mm Adapter" thread, and I thought the results were interesting enough to show them here.

I am still waiting on my C.O. +7 (B&H was OOS, but Adorama will get one here by Friday.) but my Canon 500D +2 Macro did arrive.

What a nice piece of glass!

For fun, I played around with it on my DVX100 Classic™ and here is a clip. Sorry it's so large (40MB) but I uprezzed it for fun. Nice shallow DOF from this macro. Some color correction was done in FCP.

While this lens provides full zoom-through capability, actually using it can be tricky as the focus range varies significantly with camera zoom. I am just learning how to use it, as the following 24 sec. clip will demonstrate.

Enjoy.

Footage Here.
(RIght-Click and then 'Download Linked File' seems to work better.)
 
These shots are with the 72mm Canon 500D +2 only ($119.00).

My 58mm Century Optics +7 achromat ($204.95) will be here on Friday from Adorama.

Here are some screen grabs for those with slower connections.

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So it does that well with just that one piece of glass in front??? That looks as good as a 35mm adapter to me.. Show us some rack focusing if you could. I'm curious.
 
dof?

dof?

Does a macro lens actually give you a shallower overall dof, or only let you get closer to objects, there by pushing other objects further out of focus? That's what seems to make sense to me, only the 4th still down seems different from all the others in that it is further away from the subject. I am confused.
 
I don't know the physics behind it. With this type of lens, you are limited in how far away you can focus at any given zoom level. It's more a question of moving the camera closer or further, so you don't have a full rack-focus option. Objects beyond a certain distance will always remain out of focus, unless you are full wide.

Anyway, don't take my word for it - pick up a cheapie +2 lens, slap it on your camera and see if you like the results. THEN go and buy the good Canon glass.
 
wjm said:
Sorry for the cross post, but the original is lost in Edweirdo's "I'm Afraid I have another 35mm Adapter" thread, and I thought the results were interesting enough to show them here.

I am still waiting on my C.O. +7 (B&H was OOS, but Adorama will get one here by Friday.) but my Canon 500D +2 Macro did arrive.

What a nice piece of glass!

For fun, I played around with it on my DVX100 Classic™ and here is a clip. Sorry it's so large (40MB) but I uprezzed it for fun. Nice shallow DOF from this macro. Some color correction was done in FCP.

While this lens provides full zoom-through capability, actually using it can be tricky as the focus range varies significantly with camera zoom. I am just learning how to use it, as the following 24 sec. clip will demonstrate.

Enjoy.

Footage Here.
(RIght-Click and then 'Download Linked File' seems to work better.)
Click to expand...
Awesome quality! What settings and lens where you using? I am new here and my camer will be here next week. Looking forward to it.
 
FireFilms said:
Awesome quality! What settings and lens where you using? I am new here and my camer will be here next week. Looking forward to it.
Click to expand...


???? you just quoted all the answers to your questions. :violent5:
 
i have a macro for my vx2100 ( 58mm i believe ) and that only allows for close up and REALLY close up shots are you saying that you used a less powerful lens which allows you to get a shallower depth of field? I dont know how you could get infinisty focus with that on... or are you saying you can at full wide/ zoomed out?
 
thought I would pop in hear and clean up a little confusion. First let me say that the grabs look great, and there is definitly a nice asthetic that can be achieved by using a macro lens. Now lets get to the meat, shall we?

Adding a macro lens does not change the Depth of field, or the field of view of the lens when still using a 1/3" CCD. These shots have very shallow depth of field because that is the nature of macro photography, since you are focusing on objects of a very small size, other objects in the foreground and background appear out of focus. While this works well with very small objects, (remember the size of the 1/3" CCD when compared to a Gi Joe would be like shooting with a 8x10 camera with a human being). Therefore when shooting things that are of a very large size you are either going to showing a very tight area of that object, ie. part of a persons face, or your going to have a slightly longer telephoto range (if your lens allows you to focus to infinity) which will indeed give you a slightly shallower depth of field.

This is not comparable with 35mm adapters, as they change the field of view presented to the lens. A 45mm lens is always a 45mm lens, whether that be on a DVX (45mm=super telephoto) or on a medium format camera (45mm=wide angle). The depth of field characteristics of a 45mm lens are always the same, the difference between a medium format or a 35mm camera and the DVX are the size of the sensor that captures the image. 35mm adapters are currently the only way to get the field of view of a 35mm camera on your DVX.
 
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