more depth of field? at DVinfo.net

Juni Zhao · June 29th, 2007, 10:03 PM

A1 doesnt seem to give much shallow depth of field. Is there any trick to make the background more blurry?

Juni Zhao · June 29th, 2007, 10:05 PM

well, I really meant shallower depth of field, more blurry back ground..

Sam Ren · June 29th, 2007, 10:22 PM

Lots of other threads about this just search for DOF or Depth of field... but a good way to get good DOF is to go further away and zoom in all the way or as much as you can and leave room between what your shooting and the background.. also open up the iris as much as you can.. use the nd filters on the cam and you can even add another one on top of that to be able to keep iris all the way open..

-Sam~!

Mike Gorski · June 30th, 2007, 07:16 AM

IMHO coming from the AG-DVC30 which was a three CCD 1/4" camcorder the DOF on the A1 is superb improvement due to the larger sensors. I've had really great results thus far but the DOF is most obviously more noticeable at longer telephoto shots.

Kyle Prohaska · June 30th, 2007, 08:39 PM

The trick to get the most the camera can get is:

Zoom in as far as you can
Keep the Iris open as much as possible

This means you'll probably have to move very very far back from your subject.

- Kyle

Juni Zhao · June 30th, 2007, 10:32 PM

yeah, I knew about the zoom and large aperture. But i was hoping to find some miracle like an add-on lens or firmware upgrade kinda trick to enhance DOF....

Sam Ren · June 30th, 2007, 10:58 PM

theres the brevis35, letus35, redrockmicro m2.. tons more just do some searches for 35mm adapters...

Cole McDonald · July 1st, 2007, 11:01 AM

approximate film equivs for DoF rendering:

1/3" chip ~ 8mm
2/3" chip ~ 16mm
1.3" chip ~ 35mm

No magic, physics. Iris and capture plane size.

Petri Kaipiainen · July 2nd, 2007, 02:52 AM

If you look at the equations governing DOF you'll notice that focal length plays the biggest role (it is squared in the equation). Bigger sensor/film counterplays this a bit as the enlargement is less with bigger picture and you can have larger circle of confusion. Example from film world: 50mm lens with 35mm film has less DOF than 50mm with 6x7 (would be a wide-angle with 6x7) because with 35mm film CofC must be smaller. 50mm with 35mm has more DOF than 105mm lens with 6x7 (same angle of view) because doubling the focal length quadruples the FL part of the equation and doubling the CofC can not compensate.

Safe to say that bigger sensor sizes have less DOF because longer lenses are used with those, larger sensor size in itself makes DOF less...

This is purely an optical thing, basically nothing can be done to it. Exept an optical trick of using a rotating tilt lens...

With steady subjects selective softening can be done in post.

June 29th, 2007, 10:03 PM	#1
Juni Zhao Regular Crew Join Date: May 2007 Location: North Andover, Ma Posts: 102	more depth of field? A1 doesnt seem to give much shallow depth of field. Is there any trick to make the background more blurry?

June 29th, 2007, 10:22 PM	#3
Sam Ren Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 40	Hmm Lots of other threads about this just search for DOF or Depth of field... but a good way to get good DOF is to go further away and zoom in all the way or as much as you can and leave room between what your shooting and the background.. also open up the iris as much as you can.. use the nd filters on the cam and you can even add another one on top of that to be able to keep iris all the way open.. -Sam~!

June 30th, 2007, 08:39 PM	#5
Kyle Prohaska Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Ransomville NY Posts: 239	The trick to get the most the camera can get is: Zoom in as far as you can Keep the Iris open as much as possible This means you'll probably have to move very very far back from your subject. - Kyle __________________ Online Portfolio \| Feature Film on XHA1

June 30th, 2007, 10:58 PM	#7
Sam Ren Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 40	35mm adapters theres the brevis35, letus35, redrockmicro m2.. tons more just do some searches for 35mm adapters... __________________ Canon XHA1, HV10, Bogen 3058+3066, 680B, Lowel dp4 Kit, Sennheiser G2 Lav+K6+ME64+ME66, PPro2, Vegas 7, AE 7, Maya 6.

July 1st, 2007, 11:01 AM	#8
Cole McDonald Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Sauk Rapids, MN, USA Posts: 1,675	approximate film equivs for DoF rendering: 1/3" chip ~ 8mm 2/3" chip ~ 16mm 1.3" chip ~ 35mm No magic, physics. Iris and capture plane size. __________________ Web Youtube Facebook

June 29th, 2007, 10:05 PM	#2
Juni Zhao Regular Crew Join Date: May 2007 Location: North Andover, Ma Posts: 102	well, I really meant shallower depth of field, more blurry back ground..

June 30th, 2007, 07:16 AM	#4
Mike Gorski Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Hermosa Beach, CA Posts: 163	IMHO coming from the AG-DVC30 which was a three CCD 1/4" camcorder the DOF on the A1 is superb improvement due to the larger sensors. I've had really great results thus far but the DOF is most obviously more noticeable at longer telephoto shots.

June 30th, 2007, 10:32 PM	#6
Juni Zhao Regular Crew Join Date: May 2007 Location: North Andover, Ma Posts: 102	yeah, I knew about the zoom and large aperture. But i was hoping to find some miracle like an add-on lens or firmware upgrade kinda trick to enhance DOF....

July 2nd, 2007, 02:52 AM	#9
Petri Kaipiainen Major Player Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Espoo Finland Posts: 380	If you look at the equations governing DOF you'll notice that focal length plays the biggest role (it is squared in the equation). Bigger sensor/film counterplays this a bit as the enlargement is less with bigger picture and you can have larger circle of confusion. Example from film world: 50mm lens with 35mm film has less DOF than 50mm with 6x7 (would be a wide-angle with 6x7) because with 35mm film CofC must be smaller. 50mm with 35mm has more DOF than 105mm lens with 6x7 (same angle of view) because doubling the focal length quadruples the FL part of the equation and doubling the CofC can not compensate. Safe to say that bigger sensor sizes have less DOF because longer lenses are used with those, larger sensor size in itself makes DOF less... This is purely an optical thing, basically nothing can be done to it. Exept an optical trick of using a rotating tilt lens... With steady subjects selective softening can be done in post.