lens adaptor for Sony HVR-V1E ?
 

Sony HVR-V1E

Im loooking for a suitable lens adaptor that will allow me to attach a normal 35m lens from a photo camera. I thought I had found one from a company in Finland but they said it was only for domestic type camcorders and not my model.

I want to achieve film like - depth of field.

Can anyone provide any advice on anything they have used.

Thanks

Jamie in UK

Letus 35 Letus Corporation - Manufacturer's Website

You can get the right ring to fit the front of the V1. I have shot a feature with it earlier this year and it is a good adapter.

They are one of the best as far as build goes and they are reasonably priced compared to other adapters......

Personally I'd just spend a bit more and get a 7D. You won't have all the light loss issues that the adapters have and it will be sharper.

Do you mean a whole other camera, the canon 7D? Or am i missing something...

Yeah - the Canon 7D. It's 1,000 times better than adding an adapter.

Logan, do you use a video camera also or do you shoot everything with the 7d?

Pretty much use the Canon 7D for everything now unless its tied up. The real slow mo and shallow depth of field are great.

The only thing I miss is the lens on the Sony V1.

My 7D was tied up the other day when I was going to shoot a short film so I used the V1 instead. No adapter or anything else. Came out really well.... YouTube - The Battle For Crete (ep 1) || New Zealand WW2 Series

Sony V1
 

Logan

Thanks for your advice. I have looked at the 7D and agree its good but can I ask you... How do you handle sound as Im assuming that the 7D does not cover this?

I looked at the film you made with the V1, its impressive. The depth of field shot like the photo closeup with the blurred background, is that from the basic V1 with no lenses. Is it a macro shot? Im trying to get depth of field shots to simulate the 35mm effect for the film feel but cannot stretch to the lens adaptor. Its just to expensive for what I want to do. So can you offer me any advice to get that feel with the Sony HVR-V1e ?

I have the camera but just havent used it to its full potential yet. Basically because I dont know how to :-)

Jamie,

I've manged some good DOF with the V1, but you have to mess around to get it. It works particularly well if you have something in the foreground and a distant object - I used it a few times in my UWOL#15 entry.

It works well in bright light. Get the iris open as far as possible (f2 or lower). The picture will be too bright, so use the ND filters. My best efforts were in sunlight with ND2 on the camera and an extra 0.6 ND filter on the front of the lens.

You can manage this with an interview subject, for example, by placing the camera further away, zooming in and using the same trick. The subject has to be further away from any background or backdrop, or it won't work.

If you can't manage this, or lighting isn't good... well, it won't work.

It isn't perfect, but until you can splash out a grand on a lens adapter (before lenses!) it can be useful. A bit of searching around this forum should yield some more scientific explanations than mine.

As for sound for the Canon 7D - we use a portable hard drive recorder / mixer and a sound op - thats only if the sound is important to capture in the field.

I shoot a lot of music videos so sound isn't an issue for that and therefore the 7D by itself is great.

Mikes comments above are exactly how I shoot with the V1. Open the iris up as much as possible. Use the built in ND filters if required. And shoot on a zoomed lens with as much distance as possible between your subject and the background.


Am going to be shooting a western style music video next week and probably will use the Sony V1 due to it's long zoom lens. And I can change between a big zoom and a wide shot without having to swap a lens over.

I look forward to seeing that Logan.