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varicam+pro 35 feature
Hi there! I’m new on the cow, I’m looking for all your wisdom on this!
I’m trying to find all possible knowledge on shooting with Varicam for a film out.
First of all we are using a P+S 35 pro film lenses adapter, and I’ve heard about some problems concerning white shading issues for film lenses, I’m using Zeiss Hi-speed lenses, but so far I haven’t noticed any problem concerning the use of any of the normal prime lenses (18,24,35,50,85,135) but I haven’t made any test to check this so, do you know any test I can do to check this out?
Second, in the film rental house they ofered to try to take out the “ground glass” on the p+s pro35 to take out this “grain” texture, does anyone knows anything concerning this?, I mean is this possible? any experiences on this will help a lot.
Third I’m looking forward to use a little diffusion in camera (I was thinking on SFX and or Black Promist) to get a little softness on the image instead of taking a little detail off the image (death scared of out of focus issues!) any other idea or experience?
Fourth: we want to perform some time lapses, one of them is the sun coming out in frame, but I’m a little afraid of the sun absolutely burning off the image (or not having any other detail except the sun) any filtration, grad filters, or technique for doing this on an appropriate way? otherwise I would have to do this on 35mm+Norris I guess
Fifth (and I promise last…at least now jeje) Any tips for doing fluent time lapses, I mean if I should run the camera on 24fps (10 frames at a time on an interval recording mode) or at 4fps??
Any advice on Varicam time lapse techniques and any of the other issues would be very, very appreciated, thanks all for your time!!Alberto Anaya Adalid
a.k.a M -
3 Replies
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[Mandaro] ”
Hi there! I’m new on the cow, I’m looking for all your wisdom on this!
I’m trying to find all possible knowledge on shooting with Varicam for a film out.
First of all we are using a P+S 35 pro film lenses adapter, and I’ve heard about some problems concerning white shading issues for film lenses, I’m using Zeiss Hi-speed lenses, but so far I haven’t noticed any problem concerning the use of any of the normal prime lenses (18,24,35,50,85,135) but I haven’t made any test to check this so, do you know any test I can do to check this out?
Second, in the film rental house they ofered to try to take out the “ground glass” on the p+s pro35 to take out this “grain” texture, does anyone knows anything concerning this?, I mean is this possible? any experiences on this will help a lot.
Third I’m looking forward to use a little diffusion in camera (I was thinking on SFX and or Black Promist) to get a little softness on the image instead of taking a little detail off the image (death scared of out of focus issues!) any other idea or experience?”I have not shot with the pro-35 adapter so take my opinion with some skepticism please.
#1 You will loose almost 2 stops of light sensitivity with the pro 35 adapter. So a 2K lamp will need to be a 10k lamp instead…
#2 You will have to shoot near wide open on your zeiss lenses so you will need a really really good focus puller
#3 You will be shooting a picture of a ground glass and some softening of the image will result. You should really shoot a test with and without the pro 35 and output to film to see if it will be acceptable. I have done this testing without the pro 35 adapter and found the result to be slightly softer than a 35mm optical print from the original negative but the test did look like it was shot on film though. The test was performed by e-film in hollywood and I was very impressed with their work.
I can’t imagine how the pro 35 will work at all without a ground glass.
#4 Personally I shy away from softening filters on the Varicam because the image is already soft enough, especially with the detail turned off. Sometimes I will use a Mitchell “A” diffuser for women’s close ups and it’s similar to the soft fx filters. I haven’t liked black promist as they raise the black level of the image and invariably, the blacks get pushed back down to black in post and makes for a more contrasty image than was the intent. Better to shoot in FilmRec mode and adjust the contrast with the dynamic level menu item.
Best of luck with your film and please post about what you decided.
Varicam/Steadicam Owner
Los Angeles, CA
http://www.brucealangreene.com -
White shading can be a big issue. If the camera is set up for a video zoom lens, using the Zeiss primes will produce a visible color abberation. Frame up a white card or a white wall that’s evenly lit. If the shading isn’t correct, you will see a color shift between magenta and green from the top to the bottom of the frame (horizontal). It’s very apparent. Refer to the Varicam manual for the proper procedures for shading the camera. It’s easy, but you must follow the directions exactly.
As far as diffusion, the adapter itself is probably more diffusion than you’ll need. Test it out and see for yourself.
I’m not sure how this ground glass removal thing will work, but from my understanding, the ground glass (target) is crucial to the functioning of the device. Worth a try, though.
The adapter does not handle heavy backlight well. Too much and everything will look mushy and flared out. If you’re going to do a time lapse with the sun entering the frame, I would suggest using a B4 mount prime (ie a Digiprime) or an HD zoom.
4 or 6 FPS is best for time lapsing on the Varicam.
Good luck!
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You would be better off using the best HD lenses you can afford to rent. The Fujinon E or C series would be my first choice. I personally do not think the Pro 35 is a good choice for a film print. Loss of light, ground glass artifacts, and a lack of depth-of-filed are the main problems.
High quality HD optics will generate a far superior image.
Chris Bell
http://www.christopher-bell.com
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