HV20 Aperture question
 

I shoot alot of macro videos and I want a camera with aperture control so I can get the most DOF. My Sony HC3 does not have aperture control.

Im wondering would the HV20 allow me to adjust the aperture?

Could someone possibly post video captures of some thing like a coin standing on a table at min/middle/max apertures to see if it make a huge difference in DOF using HV20

Thanks

Joey

I think the highest aperature is F8, at least in manual mode. So, I am thinking that does not bode well for deep depth of field. I will do some shots to give you an idea.

One thing to note is that the 35mm adapter people Cinevate are indicating that an achromat for close focusing is definitely needed, so that may be an issue to.

I will let you know when I post a grab.

The HC3 does have an iris control wheel, but the auto internal ND filtration tends to stop it closing beyond f/4 because of the adverse effects of diffraction on a camera with such a small chip and short focal lengths.

If I were you I'd opt for wide-angle to get huge DOF, because shooting at small apertures such as f/8 will seriously effect the image sharpness in HDV.

tom.

Thanks Tom, I have tried AE shift and other settings but like you said it doesn't seem to give me more DOF. Here is the type of stuff Im shooting.
http://lucasberg.com/home/index.php?...d=38&Itemid=27

There is an aperture priority mode called AV which gives you full control over the aperture. You can also usually get some aperture control through other modes by adjusting the exposure. You can get a pretty shallow DOF and you will get an insanely shallow DOF by opening the aperture all the way and shooting macro.

Here's a frame grab from a macro shot

Here's a digital still that is zoomed in a little for more shallow DOF

Nice shots Wes, Thanks for posting them . Do you have a shot of something at F8 at maximum zoom ?

I think I may just be out of luck with what I want. Im shooting bugs that are a few millimeters in lenght at near full frame which just doesn't allow lots of DOF.

Joey:

Here are two coin shots at F8. The lighting isn't that great, just shot on my desk. One is at wide angle, the second is wide with an achromat attached. To allow closer focusing. It is the Cinevate achromat. I've got to get a mini SD to take photos, so these are grabs from live video shot, converted from tif to jpg.

Thanks Chis
 

Thanks Chis those pictures helped alot. Is the achromat like a close up filter ?

Yes, except it had two elements and is multicoated to reduce aberations. About $250.00 at Cinevate.com