first short on my new camera

glad u liked it guys :)

the real pain in the butt was to get the camera close enough for action figures to be visible, and still keep it in focus! I borrowed my friends 50mm f1.4 lens (i never used camera with detachable lenses in my life!), and found out that the closest focus point i could get to an object was about 1.5 feet!

so much to learn..
 
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That was cute. :P And the picture looked great. Maybe it was just me, though, in that I think you weren't quite nailing the focus on the figures. At times it looked like the bag was in focus with the guy being a little soft.

For getting a more 'close up' shot, I think you'd want to go with like a 85mm or 100mm. You'll be putting the camera way farther away, but the shot will be tighter on your subject. But I'm sure others who know more than I will come and elaborate further.
 
I watched it again and Dready is right. What were you using to check your focus? Im guessing there was no monitor or z-finder. In which case, i would advise you to get more shots and start doing some calculations based on the lens, the distance, using a measuring tape etc etc. There are websites which will help you do that.
And as im sure you know, If you want more distance, use a longer lens.
If you want a wider dof, use a smaller aperture.
 
Dreadylock - for the opening shot I wanted to have the "machine thingy" to be farther away from GI Joe, and get a close up of GI Joe's face.. Would I need to use smaller lens for that?? I think that if I'll be using 85mm or 100mm, that will make "Machine Thingy" even closer to GI Joe, which is an opposite of what I wanted to do..

Ernest - I was just looking at my screen for that haha. Now I know that I should probably measure the focus with the ruler, and go off from that.

This short was my literally first think I shot after turning on the camera haha. Deffinately need to explore this beautiful device in deeper details.
 
I hope Dready doesnt mind if i answer for her.

You can play around with the standard lens you have and combine placement of objects and aperture and camera distance to get close to the look you want, which you were already doing i think.

As far as just the focal lengths are concerned, you are interested in extension distortion and compression distortion. Wider lenses will make the distances seem larger than they are (which is what you want) and longer lenses will make the distance seem smaller.
 
Cracker Funk said:
Whoah, man, you don't need to do any complicated math to focus with the T2i, and you sure as hell don't need a ruler. Nor do you need to use a monitor or a Z-finder. All you need to do is read the following tutorial (focus is addressed towards the end).

http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=25092
Click to expand...

I did forget to mention using the zoom feature. CF is right, check out his blogs, ull find a lot of good info there all in one place. This is the quickest way to focus. Although it can still end up being a little soft.

I didnt say ruler, i said tape measure for pulling focus. A tape measure is standard and if there is going to be movement and you need to pull focus it will help you out. I recommend having one at all times.

And the calculations can be used to get his plane of focus.
 
Ernest Worthing said:
I did forget to mention using the zoom feature. CF is right, check out his blogs, ull find a lot of good info there all in one place. This is the quickest way to focus. Although it can still end up being a little soft.

I didnt say ruler, i said tape measure for pulling focus. A tape measure is standard and if there is going to be movement and you need to pull focus it will help you out. I recommend having one at all times.

And the calculations can be used to get his plane of focus.
Click to expand...

Yes, yes. I don't think our advice disagrees with each other, but one is just slightly more advanced and learned than the other (uhh, that'd be your advice; mine is more "filmmaking for dummies").

Also, I should clarify, that when I said you don't need a Z-finder or monitor, well, that's only if you don't plan on doing a bunch of follow-focusing (or rack-focusing). For either of those, the on-cam viewscreen won't do the trick (I've tried), and since the T2i won't monitor in HD, I'd think Z-finder is the best tool (though, to be honest, that's a guess -- I've never seen or used the T2i with any kind of monitor).
 
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Cracker Funk said:
Yes, yes. I don't think our advice disagrees with each other, but one is just slightly more advanced and learned than the other (uhh, that'd be your advice; mine is more "filmmaking for dummies").

Also, I should clarify, that when I said you don't need a Z-finder or monitor, well, that's only if you don't plan on doing a bunch of follow-focusing (or rack-focusing). For either of those, the on-cam viewscreen won't do the trick (I've tried), and since the T2i won't monitor in HD, I'd think Z-finder is the best tool (though, to be honest, that's a guess -- I've never seen or used the T2i with any kind of monitor).
Click to expand...

Its cool, CF. You know i just always want to clarify just in case someone learning gets confused or something.

And you're the one who mentioned the zoom option, which is the first thing anyone should say when answering his question. I've been dead tired for the last few hours and my mind is simply not functioning. In fact i think ill go to bed now.

:)
 
Ernest Worthing said:
I did forget to mention using the zoom feature. CF is right, check out his blogs, ull find a lot of good info there all in one place. This is the quickest way to focus. Although it can still end up being a little soft.

I didnt say ruler, i said tape measure for pulling focus. A tape measure is standard and if there is going to be movement and you need to pull focus it will help you out. I recommend having one at all times.

And the calculations can be used to get his plane of focus.
Click to expand...

A tape measure might be useful for calculating depth of field, but it's not much use for actually focusing with EF lenses, as the distance markers aren't all that accurate… it's even less useful on the kit lens, as there are no distance markers at all.
 
Cliche - thank you :)

CF - Oh come on.. little math won't hurt anybody! (says super nerd dlevanchuk, who majors in math and physics).. :-D I'll definately read your blog later tonight, after i'm done with editing another short :) Telling ya, these films pop out like babies after WW2!
 
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