Achieving shallow depth of field at DVinfo.net

Shaun R Walker · April 13th, 2008, 01:00 AM

Coming from an ENG/Sports background I have had no experience with 35mm Prime lenses. I understand how to gain shallow DOF with a zoom lens, but is it possible to achieve the types of shots that Tom Guilmette (www.vimeo.com/868799) and Phillip Bloom et al get on their films by using the EX1 without a Letus and primes? Alternatively can I achieve the same looks in post?

George Kroonder · April 13th, 2008, 05:05 AM

The short answer is: No.

However, the EX1 has a shallower depth of field than most camera's in it's pricerange, but nowhere near what you can achieve with a 35mm adapter. The same will hold true for the EX3.

In post you can use blurring and vignetting effects to selectively 'focus in' on parts of your footage and create an effect that may look similar to DOF, but this lacks the finesse and control you have over the DOF when shooting.

You don't need to use primes with a 35mm adapter, any lens will do. Primes however can be faster and are more common in (film) production, which is what you try to emulate.

George/

Bruno Demeocq · April 13th, 2008, 06:35 AM

George is right but u can change your shallow depth of field playing with the ND filter and gain (in certain light conditions) :

George Kroonder · April 13th, 2008, 07:13 AM

As Bruno points out, using a bigger aperture results in shallower/shorter DOF. So does using larger focal length lenses, although the result looks quite different between wide and tele lenses.

George/

Randy Strome · April 13th, 2008, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaun R Walker

Coming from an ENG/Sports background I have had no experience with 35mm Prime lenses. I understand how to gain shallow DOF with a zoom lens, but is it possible to achieve the types of shots that Tom Guilmette (www.vimeo.com/868799) and Phillip Bloom et al get on their films by using the EX1 without a Letus and primes? Alternatively can I achieve the same looks in post?

The excellent trick of these adapters is NOT that they allow attachment of an alternate lens, but that they effectively change the "film size" in the DOF equation. The add on lens is positioned to produce its image on the adaptor's large ground glass, not the sensor. The attached lens is focused on that ground glass image. Thus you achieve the DOF from the larger "image". The same lens can not produce the same result directly to the smaller sensor. Clever.

Dave Morrison · April 13th, 2008, 11:28 AM

You can also achieve more of the shallow depth of field "effect" by moving your subject farther away from the background. For instance, in Bruno's shot above, if he had moved his subject farther away from the background foliage but kept his zoom out and the iris open (using ND filters), he would have blown the background out of focus even more.

April 13th, 2008, 01:00 AM	#1
Shaun R Walker Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Central Coast, NSW Australia Posts: 119	Achieving shallow depth of field Coming from an ENG/Sports background I have had no experience with 35mm Prime lenses. I understand how to gain shallow DOF with a zoom lens, but is it possible to achieve the types of shots that Tom Guilmette (www.vimeo.com/868799) and Phillip Bloom et al get on their films by using the EX1 without a Letus and primes? Alternatively can I achieve the same looks in post?

April 13th, 2008, 06:35 AM	#3
Bruno Demeocq Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Dakar, Sénégal, West Africa Posts: 30	Play with the filter George is right but u can change your shallow depth of field playing with the ND filter and gain (in certain light conditions) : Attached Thumbnails __________________ Dakar - Sénégal - EX1- Nikon D7000 - HVRA1 - H4 - FCP 6.0.6 / http://brunodemeocq.viewbook.com/ bdeme@mac.com

April 13th, 2008, 05:05 AM	#2
George Kroonder Major Player Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Utrecht, NL \| Europe 3rd Rock from the Sun Posts: 612	The short answer is: No. However, the EX1 has a shallower depth of field than most camera's in it's pricerange, but nowhere near what you can achieve with a 35mm adapter. The same will hold true for the EX3. In post you can use blurring and vignetting effects to selectively 'focus in' on parts of your footage and create an effect that may look similar to DOF, but this lacks the finesse and control you have over the DOF when shooting. You don't need to use primes with a 35mm adapter, any lens will do. Primes however can be faster and are more common in (film) production, which is what you try to emulate. George/

April 13th, 2008, 07:13 AM	#4
George Kroonder Major Player Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Utrecht, NL \| Europe 3rd Rock from the Sun Posts: 612	As Bruno points out, using a bigger aperture results in shallower/shorter DOF. So does using larger focal length lenses, although the result looks quite different between wide and tele lenses. George/

April 13th, 2008, 11:28 AM	#6
Dave Morrison Major Player Join Date: May 2002 Location: West Central Florida Posts: 762	You can also achieve more of the shallow depth of field "effect" by moving your subject farther away from the background. For instance, in Bruno's shot above, if he had moved his subject farther away from the background foliage but kept his zoom out and the iris open (using ND filters), he would have blown the background out of focus even more.