Hi. The average person doesn't catch this, but the moviemkaers do. In about every single film, the camera are focused immensely on the subject of the shot, and everything else is blurred out of the picture. Now, I own a GL2, and I the only way I can achieve that look is by zooming in a great deal first, and then manually focusing. Is there a way to get this look at no zoom? Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated............David.

this has been discussed many, many times before. but i'll answer this time.

The effect that you're referring involves a low depth of field. Depth of field is a term that refers to the area of acceptable focus in front of and behind your focus point. One third of the depth of field distance occurs in front of your focus point, and two thirds behind it.
There are a few factors that affect depth of field:
1) Lens focal length - the longer the focal length, the lower the depth of field, and vice versa. (thus when zoomed in all the way, the camera is at a longer focal length, and the depth of field is minimized)
2)imaging area - the smaller the size of the imaging area, the greater the depth of field. thus 35mm film can achieve lower depth of field, since its imaging area is much larger than your GL2 (which has an imaging area of 1/3inch)
3) circle of confusion - this doesn't quite apply to shooting digital, so I won't quite go into it here.
4) distance to focus point - since depth of field is a geometricly-related number, the farther away the focus point is, the greater the depth of field. the closer that the focus point gets to the camera, the smaller depth of field gets.
5)apeture - the smaller the apeture (the greater the fstop number) the higher the depth of field

So in short, no you cannot achieve that effect on a GL2 any other way than you are already. i'd reccomend using ND filtration and shooting wide open to maximize the effect.

If you're really wanting to splurge, this company P+S Technik out of Germany does make an adaptor for 35mm lenses which will allow you to achieve a lower DoF. this has been discussed before on the board. not sure if they work with GLs.

http://softscreen.us/

Expenisve and requires a lot of shot setup - but it does what you asked.

Using a prime lens would help as a zoom lens will flatten the image. However, on the GL2, you're stuck with what you've got. Wide open with an ND should at least give you somewhat what you're looking for.

Daydreamer Films

Yep its pretty much been covered. Prime lenses is the most common way this is achieved (in major motion pictures) case in point these stills shot with the DVX100 and prime lenses.

Youv found your only other option which is zooming in and manually focusing on your subject. The biggest draw back is it limits camera movment without a fluid head tripod since the cam picks up every tiny move when zoomed out.

It does provide a certain cinematic legitamacy to yourpiece though. As mentioned filters will also help limit the depth of field.
R. Michael

"Luck, is when opportunity, meets preperation." "There are 3 sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth, and none of us are lying" -Robert Evans
Tizzy Entertainment "Redemption" Hi-Def trailer

quote:

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Originally posted by TizzyEntertainment:
Prime lenses is the most common way this is achieved (in major motion pictures) case in point

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Tizzy, your use of the term "prime lenses" is misleading. A prime lens is simply one with a fixed focal length. In "major motion pictures" the low depth of field is not achieved simply by the use of "prime" lenses, but rather by the use of a format (35mm) with a larger imaging area. In fact, when working in 35mil the same low DoF effect can be achieved with a (non-prime) variable-focal length zoom lens.
Simply working with prime lenses attached to a XL1 or a DVX will not lower the DoF.

quote:

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Originally posted by reelbigfish:
Simply working with prime lenses attached to a XL1 or a DVX will not lower the DoF.

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No, simply working with the CORRECT prime lense and an enlarged imaging area via a rotating ground glass will achieve that look. Sorry for not being more specific. Im not sure of the exact number but there are many lenses of many focal lengths and yes of course just like with a video camera you can zoom in on a subject from a distance and get DOF on 35mm however that is not usually what you see on screen in "Major Motion pictures" unless the cinematographer or Director is going for a specific look such as stacked images and uses a zoom lenses accordingly.

The link above is to images from a DVX using prime lenses and an adapter that utilizes a rotating ground glass. The result is the shallow DOF.
R. Michael

"Luck, is when opportunity, meets preperation." "There are 3 sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth, and none of us are lying" -Robert Evans
Tizzy Entertainment "Redemption" Hi-Def trailer

Tizzy, what you're reffering to is the same adaptor that I mentioned in my first post. And yes, you are correct on that point.

But I want to reiterate: simply adding a "prime" lens onto the XL1 (swapping it with the original lense) or the DVX-100 (getting a special screw on type from Century or elsewhere) does NOT neccessarily change the DoF at a given focal length because the same imaging area is being used.

yes, the DoF increases with the larger P+S ground glass focal plane, not the ability to stack a prime lens ontop of the DVX100 zoom.
...and I'm sure Tizzy knows this, but just didn't quite articulate it.
...and there isn't a gl-2 P+S setup yet so it's sortof a moot point.

quote:

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Originally posted by TizzyEntertainment:
No, simply working with the CORRECT prime lense and an enlarged imaging area via a rotating ground glass will achieve that look.

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I think you missed the point. Reelbigfish is correct on the prime lense issue. The DOF difference between a prime and a zoom set to the same focal length is not great at all (Negligable for all practical purposes). Any slight difference is simply due to greater prime sharpness which would likely be negated on an SD video camera anyway (And it's not like people always rent nice S4's for the P+S adapter to begin with).

Unfortunately the P+S adapter only works with a few 1/3" CCD cameras (The Gl-2 is 1/4") so you're out of luck there anyway.

Nota "the mu-ing cat in the deep field" Mono

No I understood just my response wasnt clear. I wasnt saying he was wrong I was simply correcting my own statment. In otherwords i was agreeing the prime lens alone would not achieve that look and it was achieved greatly due to the rotating ground glass that enlarged the imaging area. Sorry for the misunderstaniding.

R. "shaves with a rotating ground glass" Michael

"Luck, is when opportunity, meets preperation." "There are 3 sides to every story. Yours, mine, and the truth, and none of us are lying" -Robert Evans
Tizzy Entertainment "Redemption" Hi-Def trailer

Sorry to harp on this Tizz , I just feel the need to make this point absolutely clear because it keeps coming up and people keep saying that using prime lenses will help their DOF.

quote:

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Originally posted by TizzyEntertainment:
the prime lens alone would not achieve that look and it was achieved greatly due to the rotating ground glass that enlarged the imaging area.

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That assessment isn't entirely innacurate, but close . It's like saying, "Tungsten lights alone would not achieve that look and it was achieved greatly due to the rotating ground glass that enlarged the imaging area." It's 99.999999% irrelovent.

Basically, ReelBigFish was saying the DOF benefit is ENTIRELY achieved by the rotating ground glass and NOT AT ALL by using a prime lense(Which is an accurate assessment for all intensive purposes). In other words, you can put a 35mm zoom lense on the front of the P+S Techniks adapter, and recieve the same DOF benefit as with a prime (Of the same focal length).

Nota "Isn't good at explaining this stuff" Mono

now I'm starting to get confused. But, I will go out a buy some ground glass to shave with. Sounds like a good idea.

jo-"isn't there a ground glass filter in FCP?"-ren

thanks for clarifying things, NotaMono.