Working around static grain and focus control

[Mike Dulay]

Hi guys,

1) Does anyone have tips on working with static adapter grain? My static to vibrating conversion isn't working out so well with the Nikon F3 Type D (mount too heavy vs motor size, insufficient clearance in tube) so I'm going to use it as a static for SD. On a bright morning, the grain doesn't seem apparent below f/11. And only when you don't have a one color background like the sky. Indoors with a 60-watt bulb and f/2.0 the grain starts to show on the dark edges. I'm doing all this on a 1/6" 1-chip interlace camcorder on automatic. It has AE (up to +2.0) and generic shutter programs. If you've got some tips on shooting settings or conditions that wouldn't be obvious to a complete beginner it would help me alot.

2) Canon's LCDs can be deceiving. I usually turn off the backlight but even then the brightness on that screen isn't what you see extracted. And with the small size, what looks like good focus may not be. Aside from hooking up a 7" external monitor, are there tricks that help you figure out correct focus? So far I do two things: spray and pray focus hunting by going high then low and hope the focus is right. The other, I guesstimate distance to the object and use the distance markers on my nikon lenses.

Thanks in advance! Meanwhile I'll need to work on my spinner and vibrating unit v2.