Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New media
New media comments
New profile posts
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Learning
Videography
a little help with autofocus and my d5100
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="yauman" data-source="post: 368187" data-attributes="member: 15418"><p>First Lesson in Videography - Do NOT USE AUTOFOCUS.</p><p></p><p>Ok.. when it comes to video, here's the mantra - repeat after me... Turn OFF Autofocus... Turn OFF Autofocus ... Turn OFF Autofocus.. </p><p>Yes, please turn off autofocus - you cannot get away with using autofocus if you want your videos to not look like amateurish vacation videos. Even $100K Studio Video Cameras do NOT have autofocus because autofocus cannot be used for videos - so there's nothing wrong with your D5100. Just turn off the Autofocus when you are in video mode.</p><p></p><p>If you are videoing a stationary scene, the trick is to have a small aperture, thus increasing the depth of field. If say you are videoing 3 persons seated in line, you need to focus on the center person then set the depth of field so that the persons on either side are in focus. Better solution is to have the people sit in a slightly curved arc arrangement so that all the subjects are at equi-distance from the camera. Hope that makes sense. What this all means is that you need lots of light - lots of bright lights because with a small aperture to get huge depth of field, you will need to really light the subjects. Now you understand why there are so much hot lights in studios!</p><p></p><p>Now, with say 3 people, if you use auto-focus and locked in on the center person, if that persons head moves (people don't stay still when they talk, they bob their heads and turn their necks!), the autofocus will have to hunt - and if it picks up an object in the background, it will lock to it- now your subjects are out of focus. So, DO NOT USE autofocus when you video.</p><p></p><p>What about when you are videoing a subject that is moving - that's when you need to get a gadget call "follow focus" - to let you do a dry walk thru and then mark your focus points (literally with a marker or a paper clip) and when when you record, you can rotate the focus ring and not have to guess. "Follow Focus" comes in many different varieties, from cheap to really sophisticated rigs but that are all MANUAL Focus aids. Do NOT use AutoFocus! </p><p></p><p>I've attached some photos of follow focus rigs. Hope this helps.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH]118888[/ATTACH][ATTACH]118889[/ATTACH][ATTACH]118890[/ATTACH]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="yauman, post: 368187, member: 15418"] First Lesson in Videography - Do NOT USE AUTOFOCUS. Ok.. when it comes to video, here's the mantra - repeat after me... Turn OFF Autofocus... Turn OFF Autofocus ... Turn OFF Autofocus.. Yes, please turn off autofocus - you cannot get away with using autofocus if you want your videos to not look like amateurish vacation videos. Even $100K Studio Video Cameras do NOT have autofocus because autofocus cannot be used for videos - so there's nothing wrong with your D5100. Just turn off the Autofocus when you are in video mode. If you are videoing a stationary scene, the trick is to have a small aperture, thus increasing the depth of field. If say you are videoing 3 persons seated in line, you need to focus on the center person then set the depth of field so that the persons on either side are in focus. Better solution is to have the people sit in a slightly curved arc arrangement so that all the subjects are at equi-distance from the camera. Hope that makes sense. What this all means is that you need lots of light - lots of bright lights because with a small aperture to get huge depth of field, you will need to really light the subjects. Now you understand why there are so much hot lights in studios! Now, with say 3 people, if you use auto-focus and locked in on the center person, if that persons head moves (people don't stay still when they talk, they bob their heads and turn their necks!), the autofocus will have to hunt - and if it picks up an object in the background, it will lock to it- now your subjects are out of focus. So, DO NOT USE autofocus when you video. What about when you are videoing a subject that is moving - that's when you need to get a gadget call "follow focus" - to let you do a dry walk thru and then mark your focus points (literally with a marker or a paper clip) and when when you record, you can rotate the focus ring and not have to guess. "Follow Focus" comes in many different varieties, from cheap to really sophisticated rigs but that are all MANUAL Focus aids. Do NOT use AutoFocus! I've attached some photos of follow focus rigs. Hope this helps. [ATTACH=CONFIG]118888._xfImport[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]118889._xfImport[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]118890._xfImport[/ATTACH] [/QUOTE]
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Learning
Videography
a little help with autofocus and my d5100
Top
