Hv40 Lens adapter

[StogerStudios]

Hi
I was just wondering where i can purchase A lens adapter for the canon hv40. I need one so that i can use dslr lenses on the camcorder for better depth of field.
Thanks

[antman]

try ebay, their a dime a dozen now. Dont get anything but a spinner, the vibratring type blow. they totally limit your ability to stop down the lens when you need to. Look for a "Handy35, sgblade, or redrock m2 encore, or redrock m3, which is the best on the market right now. The p&s, and movie tube are way to expensive for their image quality, their no better looking than the list I gave you.

[StogerStudios]

Wow, thanks

[drapeama]

I was just wondering where i can purchase A lens adapter for the canon hv40. I need one so that i can use dslr lenses on the camcorder for better depth of field.

Hi and welcome!
May I suggest you to read here and here, then decide if you need one, or not?
That being said, be sure to read a lot about using adapter, so you will know exactly what's needed to get a decent picture quality out of them (read: lights!).

[Unframed Obituary]

Hi and welcome!
May I suggest you to read here and here, then decide if you need one, or not?
That being said, be sure to read a lot about using adapter, so you will know exactly what's needed to get a decent picture quality out of them (read: lights!).

I've done a decent amount of research on them but haven't seen anything about more than usual lighting, care to elaborate?

[antman]

I've done a decent amount of research on them but haven't seen anything about more than usual lighting, care to elaborate?

I dont undedrstand your question?

[Unframed Obituary]

He mentioned getting good image from the adapter then mentioned lights, I was curious what he meant by the lights reference. It's possible my question was poorly phrased as I am using a phone to post.

[antman]

He mentioned getting good image from the adapter then mentioned lights, I was curious what he meant by the lights reference. It's possible my question was poorly phrased as I am using a phone to post.

no worries, One of the biggest issues with dof adapters, is that they consume lots of light. The reason is because of the light transfer through all the layers of glass.

Typically you will be transmitting the image through the 35mm lens-through the ground glass-through a condensor lens-then through the achromat-then through the camcorder lens. So your looking between 4 and 5 extra layers of glass to go through. The resulting issues are soft images and light loss.

The light loss being the bigger concern, the soft images can be dealt with easier by shooting HD, and with decent glass. I personally like the look of the dof adapters, it's softer image looks a lot like film, and to be honest, shooting with a dof adapter is what really taught me how to properly light a scene, not because I wanted to, but because I had to, in order to make a decent image. Now with dslr's many dont bother, they use available light and it shows, resulting in a flat, one diminsional image.

[Unframed Obituary]

Thanks for that. Very informative, i'll hve to try some different lighting methods out when I get one, not that my current project benefit too much from it.

[antman]

not that my current project benefit too much from it.

They will in time , believe me. When looking at adapters, there's three main types as Im sure you know after doing some reading. But I will tell you anyways, just incase you have any unanswered questions.

First**The best being the spinners, they will give you most flexability with your 35mm lens. and the best image.The ability to stop down without to much grain is HUGE when using these. Thats not to say you can't stop down with a vibrating, or static model, just not nearly as much. Vibrators start showing grain patterns around f-4-5.6, as where I have stopped vibrating adapters down to f-16 and with good results.
Second** is the dust and dirt issues that plague dof adapters. Again, the spinners excel in this as well because of the spinning motion. The vibrators still have a tendency to show dirt even when vibrating at high speed. The static are the worst in this scenario for obvious reasons.
Third** you have noise issues (audio) the vibrators can be very noisy when turned up enough to get rid of grain and dirt. The spinners are much more quiet, and last, the static being noiseless, again for obvious reasons.
Fourth** Price for spinners will usually be higher than the other two, it's more time consuming to make a spinner than the others.

There is a static adapter thats sealed so you will not have to worry about dust, and the grain is so tight that it looks great. probably like a 2 or three micron grind. it's the cinemek, which is the best static model there is.

[drapeama]

no worries, One of the biggest issues with dof adapters, is that they consume lots of light. The reason is because of the light transfer through all the layers of glass.
[..] I personally like the look of the dof adapters, it's softer image looks a lot like film, and to be honest, shooting with a dof adapter is what really taught me how to properly light a scene, not because I wanted to, but because I had to, in order to make a decent image. Now with dslr's many dont bother, they use available light and it shows, resulting in a flat, one diminsional image.

Learn to light your scene will be very usefull, trust me. Even if you don't need it, it can be great to see how good it looks with a little attention on the lighting. Can change a scene.
Adapter vs DSLRs...organic vs sterile...two different looks, your call. No matter how good the low-light performance of your camcorder/camera is, learn the basics. I thought exactly the same 2-3 years ago:"Don't need all that hollywood stuff (read: lights, deflector, boom pole...name it) I can make it on my own" then when you see everything that it involves (making a movie)...you see all the little advantages (time saving) of using everything you thought that wasn't necessary before. Check here for more infos. BTW, many user won't recommend you not to use halogen work lamps: I'm not one of them and I can tell you that if they're well manipulated, they can produce a great lighting too. Like anything else, you must be able to play with/tweak it.

They will in time , believe me.

Exactly. Even if you don't really need lights, having more will only make your image noise-free (the more light there is for the sensor, the less grain there'll be) and it can create a nice mood like that :

shot with a spinning adapter, a 500w halogen lamp on the left facing the wall and a DIY 600w CFL lights on the right.

...before looking too artificial and hollywood lit like that:


Just watched this movie yesterday and there's so much "artificial lighting" scenes that it becomes distracting (to me).

[TLTD]

I tried the Jag35 thing and it was just too much work. I sold it and got some conversion lenses (raynox HD7000/Opteka HD Super Fisheye) that have worked wonders and for DOF shots I just use DSLR.

Everything was so grainy compared to regular ole DSLR I recommend just investing in another camera and using both. I will never try the DOF adapter thing again. To me it's just never going to be right and there's so much you will have to get along with that adapter to make good shots let alone the lack of light getting to the sensor, a spec of dust always shows up and looks like a giant greasy fingerprint (I even had the vibrating model).

With a DSLR, you can throw on a prime lens and use any kind of light and it looks great and there's so much you can get for them now.

[TLTD]

Sorry I had one more thing to share and I don't see it but whatever you do, check out the Neat Video noise reduction plugin (I use it with VirtualDub which is free). Every so often, I get a shot with some noise but let me tell you it will improve your footage even if it already looks good. It will take out noise and even be able to sharpen details at the same time. A MUST HAVE!