aener Posted July 14, 2010 Report Share Posted July 14, 2010 Was about to go collect some footage untill my battery died. I don't have a swanky camera. Hell - it's not even one of those cheaper HD models. JVC Everio 21E or something. I can't remember. Was just thinking it could be fun to play with some artsy shit, if it's not gonna be too expensive. Being that it's not a special camera, I'm not looking for a super good lens. Is there such a thing available that would enable this? I know probably not, and if there is, it'll be expensive - but I thought it worth a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krisboats Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 Was about to go collect some footage untill my battery died. I don't have a swanky camera. Hell - it's not even one of those cheaper HD models. JVC Everio 21E or something. I can't remember. Was just thinking it could be fun to play with some artsy shit, if it's not gonna be too expensive. Being that it's not a special camera, I'm not looking for a super good lens. Is there such a thing available that would enable this? I know probably not, and if there is, it'll be expensive - but I thought it worth a shot. Varifocal lenses are for glasses and really crappy manual-focus-only cameras. You already have a parfocal lens built into the camera so i'm not entirely sure what you're after. The main options are fisheye, wide angle, macro and telephoto. 30.5 is also a shite thread size so you'll need an adapter as 99% of lens manufacturers don't support 30.5. Which means whatever lens you do get it's best to get a larger thread size lens then use a step down ring to reduce barrelling (seeing the inside of the lens in the footage). 37mm is most common for handheld camcorders so most lenses will be 37mm with a step up or step down ring. Generally lenses are more expensive the bigger the thread size and you may find a 58mm lens to be twice the price of the same 37mm lens. I'm finding the same issue as mine is 30.5mm too. Luckily adapters are common as muck on ebay and nice and cheap too. A good trick is to type your camcorder model then whatever lens you're looking at getting into youtube so you can see if anybody is using it and whether you're okay with the amount of distortion or barrelling. If you just want a cheap lens though, ebay is your best bet. Should be able to find an adequate wide angle or telephoto/macro combi for around £20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aener Posted July 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 :$ I just took a guess at what it'd be called. Heh. One that gives a much greater depth of field, is what I was after - so that something in the foreground will be in focus, but stuff behind dead blurry. Whatever that'd be called At the minute, it manages to just have everything in focus, all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revolver Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 What I've heard is that good depth of field isn't something that features on many camcorders, and to get a camcorder that does it costs quite a lot. The reason videos like the Tarty guys and TRA have depth of field is because they're using DSLRs with video capabilities, and DSLR lenses are great for depth of field tricks. Sorry I can't actually help though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mat Tea Why Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 :$ I just took a guess at what it'd be called. Heh. One that gives a much greater depth of field, is what I was after - so that something in the foreground will be in focus, but stuff behind dead blurry. Whatever that'd be called At the minute, it manages to just have everything in focus, all the time. You want a shallower depth of field Most camcorder sensors are far too small to acheieve a shallow depth of field. You'd want a depth of field adaptor for that, but a decent one can be quite pricy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aener Posted July 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 You want a shallower depth of field Most camcorder sensors are far too small to acheieve a shallow depth of field. You'd want a depth of field adaptor for that, but a decent one can be quite pricy. God damn it! I really don't know what I'm talking about Revolver - I know that about the cameras - I was asking if there was a lense I could screw in to mine that'd give a similar result. Mat - when you say decent ones are pricey, how much are no-so-decent ones, and how bad are they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revolver Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 http://www.google.co.uk/images?um=1&hl=en&q=camcorder%20depth%20of%20field%20adaptor&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi Look at the size of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krisboats Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 Mat - when you say decent ones are pricey, how much are no-so-decent ones, and how bad are they? http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2007/10/15/daniel-schweinerts-3.html You'll basically need to buy some glass, a set of macro rings and an SLR lens. Then get building following those instructions. Have you tried just using some basic camera angle techniques? If it's just for a mess around you won't get quite the same effect as the TRA vids but you may possibly be able to use manual focus on your camera and focus primarily on an object nearby, then with the right angle you can have the background largely shown with "bokeh". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aener Posted July 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 Haha. They look rediculous I had a feeling this might be the case - so Ill just leave it. Maybe I'll get a good camera later in life when they'r echeaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krisboats Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 Haha. They look rediculous I had a feeling this might be the case - so Ill just leave it. Maybe I'll get a good camera later in life when they'r echeaper. That should be fairly soon. The new lines of HD cameras have just come out with some newer revisions on the way and so if you were wanting pro features you could pick up a SD camera with decent features for quite cheap off ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mat Tea Why Posted July 15, 2010 Report Share Posted July 15, 2010 (edited) God damn it! I really don't know what I'm talking about Revolver - I know that about the cameras - I was asking if there was a lense I could screw in to mine that'd give a similar result. Mat - when you say decent ones are pricey, how much are no-so-decent ones, and how bad are they? Its not really worth getting one unless its high end. You will have to spend a fair bit buying lenses for it, and most cheap ones are static which don't usually look good. Your best bet is to wait a while and try and pick up a dslr video camera second hand. It will cost a fair bit but you'll pretty much be able to do anything with it. Edit\\ Actually just do what Krisboats says, I know nothing about these new cameras Edited July 15, 2010 by Mat Tea Why Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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