What Does “Depth of Field” Mean to Filmmaking?
Jag35.com makes 35mm adapters for digital cameras.
With the advent of digital cameras, one issue has been, “they’re too good!” In other words, everything in the viewfinder or frame is in focus.
Depth of Field Example - Logan Parks
There is a quality to film and film cameras where things at a certain distance are in focus and other things at other distances are out of focus. That band of in-focus area is called the “depth of field”. It can be narrow or wide.
Most digital video cameras have a very wide depth of field. This means that most everything you are seeing in the shot is in focus.
With a narrow depth of field, you can concentrate the viewers attention on what you want in the frame. Some independent filmmakers cheat by zooming all the way in, which narrows the depth of field, and actually moving the camera back and forth to pull off a movie-like effect.
Other digital filmmakers go a step further and use a DOF adapter or 35mm adapter. This is a device that allows you to mount lenses from still cameras to your video camera. This allows you to adjust the focal plane to whatever subject you like within the video picture. These adapters can be very costly, some cost more than the cameras themselves. Jag35.com a local manufacturer in Rancho Cucamonga, has created a line of inexpensive 35mm adapters to help the budget-minded filmmaker.
Jag35 will be demonstrating the use of 35mm adapters and other helpful products at the March 17th meeting of the Independent Filmmakers of the Inland Empire.
Details of the meeting can be found here: http://www.meetup.com/Independent-Filmmakers-of-the-Inland-Empire-Meetup-Group/