Basically I am very new to filmmaking with "Film" I have a Elmo Super8mm Cine Camera. It is a beautiful camera and will be shooting a short silent movie next year. One question that I have which is strange and probably a stupid question, but "If you don't ask, you don't get"
When shooting with mycamera. You have o be around 2 metres from your subject. I understand this. But, If for example, the subject was say, 15 meters away and I was zoomed in so the subject was very close, would it remain in focus. I am unsure because what's seen in the viewfind isn't exactly what will be seen on film. I am used to working with DV so know all about Shooting and focusing with DV. Just not sure if the same applies to film.
Thanks
Filming for the first time.
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Kay O. Sweaver
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2004 1:42 am
- Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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Your zoom will have no impact on your focus at all, the two are largely independent (technically your depth of field will change slightly when you zoom but the actual focus plane remains the same). In fact when focussing you should zoom in as close as you can, then zoom out to your desired focal length. You'll get sharper focus this way.
Mind you I find that many super 8 cameras have very poor TTL focusing if they have it at all. I typically trust the markings on my focusing ring more than I trust the viewfinder.
Best of luck! Don't hesitate. Shoot something today!
Mind you I find that many super 8 cameras have very poor TTL focusing if they have it at all. I typically trust the markings on my focusing ring more than I trust the viewfinder.
Best of luck! Don't hesitate. Shoot something today!
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craighaylett
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2004 8:01 pm
thanx
Thanks for your help. It is much appreciated. Also one other thing if you don't mind.If I point my Super8 Camera to the sky the exposure needle rises to 22. If i point it to somewhere very dark it shoots down t0 1.8. But if i point it to somehere that has plenty of light, but not too bright the pin settles to 5.6. Now does this mean that 5.6 is the number that I should always aim for for exposing correctly, unless obviously I want to over or under expose?
Thankyou again for your help.
Craig Haylett
Thankyou again for your help.
Craig Haylett
Re: thanx
I would also like to know this.craighaylett wrote:Thanks for your help. It is much appreciated. Also one other thing if you don't mind.If I point my Super8 Camera to the sky the exposure needle rises to 22. If i point it to somewhere very dark it shoots down t0 1.8. But if i point it to somehere that has plenty of light, but not too bright the pin settles to 5.6. Now does this mean that 5.6 is the number that I should always aim for for exposing correctly, unless obviously I want to over or under expose?
Thankyou again for your help.
Craig Haylett
http://www.sufianahmed.com
one twenty - short film on super-8 watch online.
I, Punjabi - showing 31st July, Vue Cinema, Leicester Square, London.
one twenty - short film on super-8 watch online.
I, Punjabi - showing 31st July, Vue Cinema, Leicester Square, London.
The built-in light meter averages the brightness over the whole field of view. With a scene of normal composition, the average will allow a normal mixture of dark and light items to be exposed correctly.
When you point the camera at the sky, you are effectively showing the camera a uniformly bright scene so it sets its exposure accordingly.
The system falls down if the range of brightness in a scene exceeds the norm: such as a bright light in an otherwise dull scene. A common example is where you are trying to film an object against a sky background. In that case the object will come out almost in silhouette. This is known as backlighting: the usual solution is to open the camera manually a stop or so over the automatic setting.
The first thing is to check the camera internal light meter by running a film through. Try to avoid very contrasty scenes. For tricky lighting situations, use an exposure meter i the same was as with a still camera.
Hope this helps.
When you point the camera at the sky, you are effectively showing the camera a uniformly bright scene so it sets its exposure accordingly.
The system falls down if the range of brightness in a scene exceeds the norm: such as a bright light in an otherwise dull scene. A common example is where you are trying to film an object against a sky background. In that case the object will come out almost in silhouette. This is known as backlighting: the usual solution is to open the camera manually a stop or so over the automatic setting.
The first thing is to check the camera internal light meter by running a film through. Try to avoid very contrasty scenes. For tricky lighting situations, use an exposure meter i the same was as with a still camera.
Hope this helps.