35mm depth of field look with Canon Vixia HF-R400?

[BinarySolo]

Hi everyone,

I decided recently to try my hand at directing a short film. I have a consumer-level Vixia HF-R400 that I have only previously used for a documentary short and therefore not needed help with until now.

I ran a few focus tests the other night and found a potential problem -- when I zoom in close on a subject, the background stays in sharp focus, which tends to distract from the main object of the shot. I tried switching to manual focus but no dice.

To solve the problem, I looked up shallow focus methods and found several 35mm adapters available for a cheap price, then realized my model of camera didn't allow for lens modifications.

Does anyone know how to achieve cinematic depth of field with this kind of camera?

Thanks!

 

[Will Vincent]

I've got a letus 35mm adapter with image flip that should work for your camera that I'm looking to sell. it will allow you to use Nikon F-mount lenses with your camera.

 

[brunerww]

Hi BinarySolo - Will's Letus adapter should work, but you're going to have a challenge with your camera's lack of filter threads.

Here's a possible solution (a variation on what a lot of people did before the DSLR era):

• Sand down and epoxy on a $3 30.5mm to 37mm step up ring like this guy did: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhKrv-NOd7E
  
• Screw on a $3 37mm to 43mm step up ring
  
• Screw on the Letus (either used from Will or $419 new for a Letus Mini from Amazon)
  
• Add an inexpensive Nikon AI lens

To quote the Letus site:

"This adapter was designed for owners of smaller cameras who are looking for the same 35mm depth of field produced in Hollywood. Although there is a growing trend for beginners to start with DSLR cameras for depth of field, there is still a large market of users who would prefer to have a true video camera and all of the benefits that comes with it over the limitations of shooting with a DSLR.

The Mini allows you to achieve full frame, 35mm depth of field without sacrificing the functions of a true video camera. Simply attach the Mini when you want to obtain 35mm footage and remove it when you want to use all of the features of your video camera. This is truly the most versatile setup you can have for consumer and pro-sumer level cameras."

Your setup would look something like this (Amazon customer image):

All of that said, unless you really really love your Vixia, it might be a little less time, trouble and expense to buy a $350 large sensor Canon EOS M with a 22mm f2 lens, plus a $60 EF to EF-M adapter so you can rent or borrow standard Canon EF glass.

With this camera, you can get shallow depth of field results like this (some of these clips are with Magic Lantern RAW):

Live music: http://vimeo.com/75122636#t=38s

Fashion: http://vimeo.com/72938179

Travel: http://vimeo.com/55604121

Skate: http://vimeo.com/80326419

Hope this is helpful!

Bill

 

[BinarySolo]

Thanks! Also wondering if there's any possible way I can get the effect without having to purchase anything...

 

[Will Vincent]

Shoot from really far away and zoom in. That's about the only other option you have, and it's most un-fun.

I'll sell you my letus, and HV20 for $300. That's the best deal you're likely to find, and it'll keep you from having to mod your camera or buy other stuff, you know besides lenses.

 

[Dreadylocks]

Since the others have already mentioned 35mm adapters, I'll address your second question.

So the answer is yes and no. Under certain circumstances you can achieve the shallow dof 'effect' in camera. The principle being that you want to have your subject far away from the background and the camera far away from your subject. Then you open up the aperture as much as you can and zoom in all the way and will create soft background. The farther the distance between subject and background, the more blurry you'll get.

Unfortunately there are few circumstances were there is enough room to do this consistently, though deep dof is not always bad and you can pepper in the shallow dof shots to add to production value.

Also, if things aren't moving around a lot, you can create adjustment layers in After Effects and add a lens blur effect to your shots. Most viewers don't really scrutinize that much so, imho, I think there is a lot you could get away with in that way.

 

[knightly]

Shoot from really far away and zoom in. That's about the only other option you have, and it's most un-fun.

Or really really close with a wide open aperture on either option. Focus is a distance of function. Zooming in blows up the out of focus background so the out of focusness is more obvious. Lots of distance between your subject and the background helps as well.