Which 35mm adapter for moderate DOF?

[Grug]

Hey Guys,

I'm just wondering which adapter people think is best for achieving a moderate DOF (i.e. stopping down the lens to achieve something like 3-6 feet of focus)? The idea being that my actors' faces aren't slipping in and out of focus everytime they move an inch.

I know this comes pretty much down to light-loss. I ran this past Philip Bloom and he thinks that the brevis is the go simply because it's so much brighter than the others. But he lives in gloomy ol' blighty and I think the extra sunlight we have down here in Australia perhaps opens up some other options.

Thoughts?

 

[TimurCivan]

Any adapter will do. thats a function of lens, not adapter.

 

[snodart]

I don't think that you need to worry too much with adapters like the SGPro, Brevis, M2, etc. My DIY adapter has comparable light loss and I have yet to come across a time when I wanted to close down the aperture more but couldn't. The Brevis has less light loss than the other adapters... so if that is you major concern then that might be the way to go.

I think one thing that people forget is the roll that the subject's distance plays in DOF. Even if you are on f/8 doing a close-up... there will still be some struggle keeping the actor/subject in focus because the subject is so close. A good telephoto lens will help to solve this problem. If you use a 100mm (or so) you can get the appearance of a very shallow DOF while also being closed down enough to keep the actor in focus. This works great for close-ups and medium close-ups when focus is a concern.

Keep in mind also that if you watch "blockbuster" movies very closely, many times the actor will move in and out of focus. It is often slight of course, but it does happen and goes unnoticed by the viewer.