35mm converter vs. Tele converter lens

[Rennie Klymyk]

[Eric Hansen] “as i understand it, shallow depth of field is a function of the focal length of a lens”

This is a common misconception. Depth of field (DOF) is dependant on the apature and the film or CCD size. The smaller the imager the greater the DOF.

35mm converters typically have a macro lens that attach to your camera lens which focuses on a ground glass the size of a piece of 35mm film. You then use 35mm lenses to focus on that ground glass.

It’s all relative to the creatures and objects we see and film in our world and size of the capture device (CCD or film) and apature we use to record their images. In our world if you filmed the same object with a variety of cameras with different sized imagers at a given apature so that you fill the entire frame DOF will be like this:

A 1/3rd” CCD at F:2.8 = DOF—– [_____________________________________________________]
A 2/3″ CCD or 16mm film = DOF [___________________________________________]
A 35mm Film = DOF —————-[_____________________________]
Panavision + 70mm film = DOF -[________________]

[Eric Hansen] “also it seems like a tele converter lens would be a lot easier for hand held work as it seems that all 35mm converters need to be put on a tripod with rails or a follow-focus system.”

You would need to get back farther in order to frame the subject and in some interiors this may not be possible. Also don’t forget, to hand hold a camera the shutterspeed must match the reciprocal of the shutterspeed. A 50mm lens should have a speed of 1/50th sec. (using this old film rule you can still judge when to hand hold a video camera at a given focal length). Hand holding a 150mm lens is not such a great idea. Also the fact that a 150 will flatten out a subject. A persons head looks wrong, the ears seem to be 1″ past his eyes. A telephoto compresses distance while a wide angle exagerates distance. While a 50mm lens on a 35mm camera is reffered to as a “normal” lens and thought to replicate our preception of distance and perspective, due to our binocular vision an 85mm lens on a 35mm camera more closely matches a natural, realistic image of a person’s head.

To get less depth of field you will need the 35mm converter or you could buy a RED and shoot real 35mm video!

“everything is broken”

[Eric Hansen]

thanks for the clarification. i’m actually trying to find an alternative to shooting the Red or another 2/3″ CCD camera. as much as i would like to drop in on a Red, F900 or Panasonic’s new 2/3″ P2 HD camera, i dont really have the budget. but i’m looking to get a similar short depth of field effect as the F900 with a good long HD lens, on the HVX200. it looks like a 35mm adapter like the Redrock could be the way. although the loss of light is a bit concerning to me.

e

[Gerardo Flores]

Hi Eric

Im really curios if you find other way another way to make that 35mm effect with your camera?

Im a photographer who feel very attracted to the film world in the last months
Im thinking now to get my first video camera and some jib or dolly to make some footage

But I don’t know if with a normal video camera I will be able to make this 35mm effect
camcorder like this

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/684199-REG/Canon_4457B001.html
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/606877-REG/JVC_GY_HM700UXT.html

as I do in photography I use a large lent and center the focus in one specific object
but as the colleague before said sometimes you have very small space where to play and there
will be NOT possible to make this, but in open spaces yes

Please did you find other solutions? as a photographer I will feel very bad if my camcorder is not able to
make effect

best regards

Gerardo

learning after effects

[Eric Hansen]

hey Gerardo

you’re jumping into a thread over 3 years old. you’re also asking about a certain aspect of cinematography that has jumped by leaps and bounds over the last 3 years. i could get into this, but many people in your budget range are buying video DSLRs to achieve 35mm depth of field, such as the Canon 5D and 7D. the cameras you link have 1/3″ sensors, which won’t give you the 35mm depth of field.

e

Eric Hansen – http://www.erichansen.tv

[Gerardo Flores]

Hi Eric

That was a very quickly answer for such an old thread: thank you for that
It is nice to hear as well that this issue has improve in the cinematography on the last years

I saw some vides done whit cannon 5D and they look pretty decent but maybe sound and the light sensibility will be a big problem whit this cameras or not? I mean the video camcorder are better to work in LOW LIGTH environments or am wrong ??? I love to work with natural lighting

Eric you say that new camcorder are much better for this aspect of the cinematography and I will like to ask you ¿ from your point of view and your needs, which camcorder will you wish ?

what do you think about those new panasonic camcorders
https://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/af100/index.html

and what from your point of view will be the best indi option for a camcorder that allow you to play with
focusing to make this 35mm movie effects, play with the aperture of the lents and with a decent sound?

thank you a lot for your comments I really appreciate your opinion.
I wish you a lot of success in your work

Best regards
Gerardo

learning after effects