DoF' 35mmm adapter plz help

IM SO CONFUSED THIS QUESTION HAS BEEN KILLING ME FOR WEEKS! Ok I thought I knew what I was talking about but apparently I do not. First, what the hell is a 35mm camera? Is that just a big pro camera with tape that has to be developed elsewhere unlike minidv cassets? Like would an xh a1 be a 35mm camera because a guy on another forum said he didnt have $1000 to spend on a camera. $1000 can barley buy you an hv30 "new".

Also since Im planning on buying an XH A1, apparently it is not a 35mm camera, I want to by a Dof apperatus thingie. Now, is a letus35 a DoF thingie or not? Its just a way to put it on a regular non 35mm camera right as in it doesnt do anything but attach your DoF thing. So would buying any adapter matter? And where do I get the lese thing or whatever you use for DoF?

OK just editing this post but I think I understand now but if you can answer plz do. So, if I buy a letus35 is that all I need to get a DoF for my productions? Would it work on an hv30/ xh a1?
 
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I find myself in a similar situation you are in and this is what I have learned about DoF and adapters. DoF can be manipulated to some degree without an adapter. I own a Canon XL-2 and I achieve this by zooming in about half way or three quarters of the way in on the camera. (depending on what I'm shooting) and moving the camera closer or further away to the subject to get the desired effect I want for the shot. An absolute must is that you turn off the autofocus. Place the camera where you want it and manually focus on the subject, this will place objects in the back ground and foreground out of focus while leaving the person you are shooting in perfect focus.

Now to my understanding, using a 35mm adapter will allow you to attach lense to your camera. The benefit of this is better quality glass and manual focus from the lense you are using. The adapter also helps to "soften" up the image via a ground piece of glass that you zoom in on with your camera's zoom. The ground piece of glass either spins or vibrates (depending on the model of adapter) to achieve a "flicker" effect in an attempt to emulate fillm. Once you have zoomed in on the ground glass with your camera's zoom, you now control your zoom and focus from the "New" lense you have attached to the end of your camera.

I hope this has helped and as previously stated I'm still new and learning and hope I didn't further confuse your or give any misinformation. Nothing like the blind leading the blind. ;)



-Mitchel
 
That is pretty much it. Although, the ground glass moves so that it isn't seen on the video. There shouldn't be any flicker. The biggest advantage to using a 35mm adapter is control. You can control exactly how much DOF you get for a shot. You use 35mm, manual focus, SLR lenses, usually nikon, which are not crazy expensive.

The downside is light loss. You can lose upwards of 2 stops of light with the adapter and lens attached. Which means a lot more lights if shooting inside. If you want a normal looking DOF you have to stop the manual lens down to f4, that is even more light that you need to get the shot. You can always use the adapter for specific shots that need shallow DOF and take it off for the other shots. Shallow DOF should be used as a story telling tool and not for an entire project.

Hope this helps,
Dave
 
I wouldn´t suggest to use a camera with and without an adapter during the same project. It is possible that the pictures are that different that cant be matched in post.

What a real 35mm also has is a much wider dynamic range. It all depends on the film stock but usualy it is said to be 16-18 fstops. A usual HDV has something bellow 10fstops.
 
IM SO CONFUSED THIS QUESTION HAS BEEN KILLING ME FOR WEEKS! Ok I thought I knew what I was talking about but apparently I do not. First, what the hell is a 35mm camera? Is that just a big pro camera with tape that has to be developed elsewhere unlike minidv cassets? Like would an xh a1 be a 35mm camera because a guy on another forum said he didnt have $1000 to spend on a camera. $1000 can barley buy you an hv30 "new".
A 35mm camera is a camera that uses 35mm film. Essentially you’re
right - the big pro cameras like Panavision shoot film. Film that
needs to be developed in a lab. And no, a Canon XH-A1 is not a
35mm camera - it’s a video camera.

This “DoF thingie” is an lens adaptor that many people add to
their video camera. It allows you to use different lenses in
front of the lens already on your camera.

“DOF” means “depth of field”. It means the area of a shot that is
in focus. Video cameras all have lenses that provide a very
large DOF. Meaning that everything will be in focus from the tree
in the background to the actor in the middle to the fence post in
the foreground.

An adaptor will allow you to add a lens onto your camera that will
have a much narrower DOF. Meaning you can have the actor out of
focus and the fence post in the foreground in focus.
 
I'm glad I could help.

I'm heading off to work right now so I don't have time
to find links - but if you type "letus35" from your first
post into Google, I bet you'll find plenty of places where
you can buy it and get a price quote.

If you don't find what you're looking for, I'll research some
places for you this evening.
 
Ok thx. Now say I buy a letus 35 ok for my xh a1, what now? Don't I have to go out and buy more lens's? Cause just buying letus 35 isn't going to do anything right, I have to buy things to put infront of it to actually make it work?
So would I have to buy a DoF lens and what esle because I see people with massive massive cameras that have loads of lenses attached but what do they do?
 
Yes the adapter is just the first piece you need. You will have to buy or rent any other lenses you want to shoot with. Also make sure if you buy a 35mm adapter that it has a rail system with it. This is attached to the bottom of your camera and extends out past the newly attached lens via rails in order to give you stability and takes the strain off of the connecting rings that connect the lens to the camera.
 
The number of lens you will need will vary depending on what your filming and how you want to capture it. I don't know specifics on lens but I would say you could get it done with one lens but maybe as many as three. You would have to ask the other for specifics. If I were to guess I would get a lens for wide angles, one for close ups, and one for medium shots, but I'm just taking a stab in the dark. I hope this helps.
 
Sorry, hadn't responded cause I though Jones had locked it down. It depends on what you need to shoot. In evil dead, they sat with an 18mm lens for most of the shoot to give that weird bowed out look. In the 70's, they did lots of two shots with super long 300mm lenses to compress the space. It depends on what you're shooting and the only way to learn what you need is to have a variety and know how to use them.

The photographer's workhorses are a 28mm and a 35mm. the 28mm lens on a 35mm camera is the closest to actual human vision... the 35mm on a 35mm camera is just slightly more spatioally compressed, so gives just a little less clarity to the backgrounds.
 
What exactly is a 35mm Depth of Field Adapter (aka DOF adapter)?

It’s used to achieve shallow depth of field on a video camera whose sensor size is not adequate to achieve it natively. A DOF adapter could theoretically be used on a multitude of platforms, although it is most useful on prosumer digital camcorders where high resolution is a capability but the sensor size is still small enough to elicit use of the adapter. The term 35mm adapter is common, since most designs use a focusing screen the size of a 35mm film frame (24×36 mm) and interface with lenses designed for 35mm cameras.

Do you need one to get Depth of Field?

The term is a little confusing, let me define it first: DOF is the distance in front of and behind a certain object that is considered imperceptibly in focus - everything else would be considered out of focus (you may also want to check out Konvas.org’s “What does “Depth of Field” mean?“).

Now, with that said, a 35mm Cinema camera can give you a much shallower Depth of Field than any 1/3″ CCD camera can. People often call it “The Film Look.” You can get shallower depth of field with a video camera by opening up the aperture all the way, but you will not get the shallow DOF that a 35mm Cinema Camera can give you. That’s until you add a 35mm DOF adapter.

Other than a shallow depth of field, what else can the 35mm DOF adapters offer?

They can help to limit the amount of light hitting the CCD, so hot spots aren’t as hot. This really helps when shooting outside - since shooting outside is often video’s weaker area.

What are the cons of using a 35mm DOF adapter?

There are plenty of cons to using a 35mm DOF adapter.

1. They lose light - 1 to 2 stops, and that’s not counting the added lens!
2. They can take a while to setup.
3. They are often expensive - the better the quality, the more expensive.
4. They are bulky and can add inches/feet to the overall length of your camera.

Should I get a 35mm DOF Adapter?

Yes. But, that doesn’t mean you should use it on every shoot! Similar to using a wide-angle lens on the front of your video camera, 35mm DOF adapters should only be used in the right places.

Think of the DOF adapter as a great addition to your video arsenal and you won’t go wrong. It makes for a great “film look” and allows you to use cinema lenses. Perfect for shooting with a low-budget, when someone wants a higher quality than they can afford…
 
Thx but if I got n adapter, i would then have to get the DOF adapter right. Cause the 35mm adapter only alows me to use these lenses but i would have ot then buy t lenses
 
Yes, to be clear, there are two types of adapters - the kind that simply allows you to use 35mm lenses on your camera (sometimes it is built into the camera to make for interchangable lenses). The other kind produces a shallow depth of field effect by essentially replicating a film camera's optics and then filming the ground glass, or whatever imaging plane there is.

The issue of all of the different types of 35mm DOF adapters and their results is very technical, so I would suggest simply typing "DOF adapter" into google, reading about the theory, and then reading about the available models.

For whether you have to buy the 35mm lenses - yes you do, thats the whole point. But depending on the mount you get, instead of on a Arri 35mm camera using a PL mount and having to use Cooke or Zeiss cine primes which are very expensive, you can actually use Nikons, Olympus, or Canon lenses for still cameras which are much much less expensive.
 
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