Wide angle lens and DOF

[Down&OutDesigns]

I'll be soon buying the Raynox 6600..

having a wide angle lens on, does it change the DOF at all??

[Erik Bien]

having a wide angle lens on, does it change the DOF at all??

Technically speaking, no (but in practical terms, yes).

Here's an article that may help you decipher that ...

I know how daunting it can seem trying to learn everything from Photography 101 to the effects of camera settings and framerates to editing and rendering for different outputs all at once. You might happily ignore most of that, leave the camera on 'auto,' use a simple editor such as Windows Movie Maker or iMovie, get lucky and end up with good looking footage. Then again, too little light (or too much of it) might combine with unfortunate camera settings to bite your face off leaving you with grainy or blown-out footage.

At that point (once you've stopped sobbing) the general tendency is to do a bit more research to figure out what went wrong, then, armed with new tactics to try, shoot some more under similar circumstances to see if you've solved the problem. Lather > rinse > repeat and pretty soon you have the technical chops to get footage as nice as your circumstances will allow (but I'd wager most of us around here would agree, the learning never really ends).

Then, you can concentrate on framing/composition, lighting and sound ...

[Down&OutDesigns]

thanks for that link.. deffinately gonna read that...

and i totally understand what your saying about the learning never ending...

i think im just trying to soak up WAYY to much all at once..

[Unhollywood]

Google things like "Aperture and Shutter Speed tutorials". You can learn how aperture affects DOF. Learn how to lock the exposure settings on your camera and see how light affects your shot at different exposures. Then see how filters and light kits can be used to manipulate your environment so you can get the results you want.

A wide angle lens can be a good investment but it only makes sense to know exactly why you would want one before spending the money on it.

[CycleWriter]

thanks for that link.. deffinately gonna read that...

and i totally understand what your saying about the learning never ending...

i think im just trying to soak up WAYY to much all at once..

And posting way too much. It would be appreciated if you did some searches and then posted to a relevant existing thread instead of starting a new one every time a thought pops into your head.

[Down&OutDesigns]

Well I'm getting my WA lens for the extra bit of view...

A lot of the stuff ill be filming for bands is indoor at a venue... Low light situations... And being on stage with them I need as much viewing area as possible...

I didn't learn about locking exposure till about 5 days ago... But I'm still having a problem with grain when I'm shooting... So I need to figure all that out as well...

[scotthampton]

I'll be soon buying the Raynox 6600..

having a wide angle lens on, does it change the DOF at all??

I guess a good thing to consider is what you want to do with DOF adjustments. Do you want to increase it, decrease it, keep it consistent?

Whatever the case, make sure you understand what you're looking to do. The Raynox is a good lens (not great), but you'll find yourself dealing with other things (like some barrel distortion, color fringing, and lens flare) when you start filming with it. You'd do well to get a lens hood for the Raynox to help alleviate the lens flare issue. Cavision makes a nice one. You can purchase from B&H. Try this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...2685/KBID/3590

Wide angle lenses generally increase the depth of field and apparent space between picture elements, whereas telephoto lenses decrease DOF and compress the space between elements at different planes in the picture. Just some things to keep in mind as you begin working with your gear.

[Down&OutDesigns]

I guess a good thing to consider is what you want to do with DOF adjustments. Do you want to increase it, decrease it, keep it consistent?

Whatever the case, make sure you understand what you're looking to do. The Raynox is a good lens (not great), but you'll find yourself dealing with other things (like some barrel distortion, color fringing, and lens flare) when you start filming with it. You'd do well to get a lens hood for the Raynox to help alleviate the lens flare issue. Cavision makes a nice one. You can purchase from B&H. Try this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...2685/KBID/3590

Wide angle lenses generally increase the depth of field and apparent space between picture elements, whereas telephoto lenses decrease DOF and compress the space between elements at different planes in the picture. Just some things to keep in mind as you begin working with your gear.

well i know there is plenty of talk about different WA lenses.. but the one i see the best reviews about is the Raynox 6600 52mm with 43mm to 52mm adapter for the HV20/30.. which is what im getting..

then lunchbox gave the idea in a thread about getting the Canon XH-A1 lens hood, so i'll be buying that one directly from canon..


as far as what i wanted to change about DOF...

i wasnt sure.. i just want to have as many options while i shoot as possible, which will ultimately result in giving me a wide range of artistic expression once i can figure it all out

[lalegator]

And posting way too much. It would be appreciated if you did some searches and then posted to a relevant existing thread instead of starting a new one every time a thought pops into your head.

and it seems that you are popping your posts numbers with this kind of non helpful posts. everything can be found on google, so you can close this forum on your logic. and as you can see the discussion is on the way, and has some nice thoughts and links.

[scotthampton]

Well I'm getting my WA lens for the extra bit of view...

A lot of the stuff ill be filming for bands is indoor at a venue... Low light situations... And being on stage with them I need as much viewing area as possible...

I didn't learn about locking exposure till about 5 days ago... But I'm still having a problem with grain when I'm shooting... So I need to figure all that out as well...

The HVs aren't the best low light performers, although they do a reasonably good job. If you can get a good exposure from something on stage and then lock it you should be able to avoid being mired in the grain issue.

You're shooting with one camera? If you're only getting the widest area, then you're missing out on medium shots, closeups, extreme closeups, etc...

There's tons of low light exposure lock posts on here. As a matter of fact, I have one on my Vimeo page: "Low-Light Test 4". That's a good idea of what can be done by a newbie

[scotthampton]

well i know there is plenty of talk about different WA lenses.. but the one i see the best reviews about is the Raynox 6600 52mm with 43mm to 52mm adapter for the HV20/30.. which is what im getting..

then lunchbox gave the idea in a thread about getting the Canon XH-A1 lens hood, so i'll be buying that one directly from canon..


as far as what i wanted to change about DOF...

i wasnt sure.. i just want to have as many options while i shoot as possible, which will ultimately result in giving me a wide range of artistic expression once i can figure it all out

I don't do concerts, but I'd imagine that you'd want the basic wide shoe and a series of different crops to punctuate the main footage. If you use a telephoto lens to zoom in on the action, and have a good exposure, you could get a closeup shot with a short (shallow) depth of field, where the background is blurred. You need a lot of light and space between subjects to really get a good, shoort depth of field. In a low light setting you're asking for, perhaps, too much.

There will be tradeoffs while filming, so do some planning first. Look at some old concert footage to see what can be done. Ii hear that Led Zep at MSG was one of the best concerts ever, so it might be a good idea to check that out...

[Down&OutDesigns]

thanks for the advice... deffinately gonna look into it all..