I could be wrong but I think if you get a DV camera with a manual zoom and a telephoto lens you'll get what you want.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

when you talk about a manual zoom, do you mean like on a cannon xm2 where there is a 'zoom wheel' around the neck near the front.
and what sort of price range is this telephoto lense.
thanks for the info rjschwarz, you have been so helpful to me and everyone else on this forum. WOOT

Yes, according to the wikipedia on Canon XM2 it has a focus ring for quick or pull focusing. That's manual focusing and that's what you want. A camera that does autofocusing can be lots of fun while doing vacation footage but a pain in the butt for film-making.

The camera also has a fixed fluorite zoom lens. I'm not sure what that is but I assume it means that the camera does not have interchangable lenses. The fixed zoom lens may already be capable of doing the sort of thing you're looking for. If you don't have the camera already you might want to go to best buy and play around with it for awhile and see. In some cases you can even buy, try, and return later if it's unsatisfactory.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

Depth of field is always a tricky one with DV. The main reason is simple the distance between the lens and the focal plain. The smaller the distances the less depth the image will have. This is why when you use Zoom on your camera, you are increasing this distance and therefore increasing the depth of field. But this can be a problem, shooting long lenses to get this effect can leave you very removed from the events, and cause other problems. The longer the lens any movements from the camera point of view (hands held, etc...) is exagerated greatly.

Changing the apperature will change the depth of field, but once again, because of how small the focal plain is in a DV camera, this isn't going to cause a big difference, and you will also need more light to light these.

Some DV cameras, will support the use of 35mm lenses with an adapter, the name is based on the manufacterer P&S, Red Rock and so on. These will increase that distance and enable the shorter lenses to create that depth of field but there are trade offs. More glass means more light.

Another way would be to have it lit to remove any subject from the background, if you have control over the environment to a very high degree( and if you are using DV then possibly not) then you could remove the background by remove as much light from it as possibly or increasing the light on the subject, playing with this works well when inside, but it is still not as good as the real thing.

Another way is POST. Using Blur in post production is one way but very possibly a very time consuming and laborious way to get this effect. Even high end pro-sumer cameras suffer from this so it is really a choice for the director and DP to try and work out a way to do this. The most accurate results are from using a 35mm lens adapter on the camera, but not all cameras support this. Another way, if your camera support is, is the back focus. Be wary of this change and forgetting to change things back as it can really throw out your focus later if you are moving a shot and are using distances. But the back focus is the moving the last element in the focal plain, it is only moving veyr small amounts but can cause your picture, if not careful to be out of focus in an instant. So play with this, but remember to change it back (using a focus chart) when comeplete.

I hope this helps.

Thanks
Michael Rogers

Michael Rogers
McRogson

There are a few ways achieve this look with your camera. All require some form of manual focus which most DV cameras have.

Unfortunately video cameras are behind still cameras in this area. Digital SLR's now have the ability to manipulate aperture allowing them to manually control their depth of field. Unfortunatly this option is only available in more expensive pro-sumer level video recorders. The Canon XL2 and the Panasonic AG-DVX100 both have this ability, but both cost $4000 +.

A few of the tricks I use with smaller DV cameras:

1. Use a 35mm depth of field adapter. These are often expensive ($1000 +) but it allows you to attach lenses from 35mm still cameras to your video camera which is great becuase you can use different lenses (wide screen, telephoto etc), but more importantly you can alter your depth of field. I have been searching for a more affordable option ($300) for indy filmmakers. I'll know if this is a viable solution in a month or so. I'll keep everyone posted.

2. Set your camera up far away from your subject and zoom in. Then use your "manual focus" to focus on your main subject. This will blur the background behind your subject if the background is far enough back.

3. If you're shooting a smaller object, move your camera very close to the object and use your "manual focus" to focus on the foreground. If the background is far enough away, it will become slightly blurred.

option 1 is okay, but you will experience a loss of light, possible vignetting and possibly slight image distortion. Option 2 is great but you will need to use an off camera mic to capture good sound (due to the far distance from the subject). The main problem with this is that any movement in the camera or the subject will be exaggerated. It's not very practical for doing movement shots. But it does work well for interviews or motionless scenes.

Option 3 is fine as well but it's not great for framing the human body. You need to be very close to your subject. It works better on shots without people.

I hope this helps

Lights-Film-School
www.lightsfilmschool.com

You can also go to a photo supply store, and rent a "split feild daiopter" (a lens that is essentially a bifocal for your camera.) This will allow you to keep objects in the FG in focus, while also keeping the BG in focus.

The thing is, most of the optics on hand held vidcams these days are so good, you really don't need it. Just make sure the entire scene is well lit, and then shoot your scene. If you need to stop down the exposure, you should be able to do that in post using your editing software.