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Hey all;

I am going to be doing a shoot later on this month, 35mm 435 with Ultra Primes and Macros/Diopters/ 5219.

I'll have a great 1 and 2 AC and a good crew behind me, but I wanted to know what if anything I should look out for?

 

It's all pretty basic shooting; but I am worried about any exposure compensations ect when it comes to diopters and macro shooting and any issues that may come up with shooting off speed around 120~150 FPS.

 

Thanks All!

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I think the macros are marked as to the exposure compensations, but if not, I'm sure the info is online somewhere. I don't recall having to adjust exposure for a diopter filter.

 

The main thing to watch out for... bumping the object with the front of the lens! ;) Often it is hard to use a matte box because the object is so close to the front element.

 

Don't be afraid to work at a deep f-stop, it's still going to look very shallow-focus no matter what.

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What's the project, Adrian, can you say? Anything fun?

 

Hey Tim;

Dunno if i'd call it fun, but it's a short which parallels the mechanics, really, between a painter and an Olympic weight-lighter-- hence all the Macros and the like.

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Thank you David and Simon, puts my mind at ease a bit.

 

As for lighting, sadly I don't have what I want and need but then again, the location only have a 20A breaker.... yes... one (renting a tow genny) .... So it should be interesting.

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Thank you David and Simon, puts my mind at ease a bit.

 

As for lighting, sadly I don't have what I want and need but then again, the location only have a 20A breaker.... yes... one (renting a tow genny) .... So it should be interesting.

 

I shoot a huge amount of macro, watches & jewellewy. At 1:1 you loose 2 stops of light due to bellows extention. I generally use 150W dedo lights, my ideal stop as marked on the lens is in the 2.8-4 range. I also use the wideest possible lens. If you stop down to T11 & use a long lens everything starts to loot flat & ordinary. Diopters don't have any stop loss & have the HUGE advantage for the focus puller V a macro lens as the complete range is from 50cm (infinity) with a +2 diopter. Once you start stacking diopters the quality starts dropping off, however I have got away with +4 to 7 on lower budget industrial films.

 

For closer than 1:1 reverse a prime or Zoom lens, the wider the lens the bigger the magnification, which will surprise you till you try!

 

Any questions please ask.

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Sounds awesome Stephen, thanks!

I'll know more about specific shots (and hopefully how many lights on my wish-list) we've gotten this friday, and certainly will update with what we're doing.

I don't think anything will be too too complicated-- a lot of it, honestly, is very similar to the Arri Master Macro promo video-- or at least it was until I informed the director that, well, his ideas were just 'bout the same.

 

We've got some ECUs of eyes/irises, some paint falling onto a pallet, and of course, some close up brush strokes, as well as calloused hands and the talc you put on when about to lift. I'd also like to get some Chalk on the ground for marking out where to lift and a lot of musculature with a slicked look (Vaseline) at higher speed during the lifting/painting parts. I am pretty certain we can knock it all out with Diopters-- but my question here is this, how do I know which one to pick?

I mean, i could just put them on and look, of course, but there has to be a smarter way and my ACS manual is coming up kinda short. We've got the 100 and 180 Ultra primes-- so i figure, or at least what makes sense to me, would be to try our diopters thereon? But again, how will I know (aside from experience) when to call for a 1 or a 2 ect? Is there some magic?

 

IN terms of the Macro-- I asked for the 100, we got the 50 T3.0 I am assuming the "T" account for light loss as David mentioned, but any other pointers on this particular lens?

I grabbed a Nikkor 60mm Macro to play 'round with on my NIkon FM; and of course promptly found out that camera gave up the ghost... so looks like I'll have no real time to test out anything... which sucks.

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Sounds awesome Stephen, thanks!

I'll know more about specific shots (and hopefully how many lights on my wish-list) we've gotten this friday, and certainly will update with what we're doing.

I don't think anything will be too too complicated-- a lot of it, honestly, is very similar to the Arri Master Macro promo video-- or at least it was until I informed the director that, well, his ideas were just 'bout the same.

 

We've got some ECUs of eyes/irises, some paint falling onto a pallet, and of course, some close up brush strokes, as well as calloused hands and the talc you put on when about to lift. I'd also like to get some Chalk on the ground for marking out where to lift and a lot of musculature with a slicked look (Vaseline) at higher speed during the lifting/painting parts. I am pretty certain we can knock it all out with Diopters-- but my question here is this, how do I know which one to pick?

I mean, i could just put them on and look, of course, but there has to be a smarter way and my ACS manual is coming up kinda short. We've got the 100 and 180 Ultra primes-- so i figure, or at least what makes sense to me, would be to try our diopters thereon? But again, how will I know (aside from experience) when to call for a 1 or a 2 ect? Is there some magic?

 

IN terms of the Macro-- I asked for the 100, we got the 50 T3.0 I am assuming the "T" account for light loss as David mentioned, but any other pointers on this particular lens?

I grabbed a Nikkor 60mm Macro to play 'round with on my NIkon FM; and of course promptly found out that camera gave up the ghost... so looks like I'll have no real time to test out anything... which sucks.

 

 

 

Diopters increase magnifaction but reduce focusing range so a + 1 focus at infinity is 1m away, +2 makes infinity 50cm away, +4 makes infinity at 25cm. There is very little range by +4 or above. Just put on a + 2 & go from there, it's very easy to see what you get.

The DigiDiopters are 95mm & fit the ultra primes, VERY good quality! I find the most useful lens is 50mm as any movement is way more dynamic than 100mm plus. If I have time then mayne a 35mm or even 24mm, but then lighting gets VERY difficult.

 

I had a client who wanted to shoot macro of an mobile phone with an 18mm, he knew I had the patients....... TBH a waste of time a 24 or 35 would have been a better choice. It was an interesting shot (for educational reasons) but I would never put it on a showreel!

 

If you want to track out of an Eye, then the easy way is a Cooke 20-100, with or without a + 1 dioptre, track & zoom at the same time.

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Stephen, awesome, thanks. That's actually makes plenty of sense-- and also makes it nice to have a double metric and us tape measure.

 

I'll let you guys know how well it goes, and hopefully come away with something more valuable than a cool shot for the reel.

 

P.s. not sure if i ever told you; but I have checked out your work on more than one occasion and I always enjoyed your macro shots-- so hearing from you is very appreciated.

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Hey Tim;

Dunno if i'd call it fun, but it's a short which parallels the mechanics, really, between a painter and an Olympic weight-lighter-- hence all the Macros and the like.

 

 

 

I'm working out my schedule but was thinking of taking some kind of road trip this summer. Depending on timing, I could bring some lights with me and give you a hand for a couple of days.

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It's hard to fill a frame with an eyeball with a 100mm let alone a 50mm - even with a 100mm the front of the lens will only be maybe four or five inches away from the eyeball. I usually use a zoom that goes to at least 200mm for those kind of shots just so the actor doesn't have to be so close to the lens. But it can be done with a 100mm macro.

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@ David- looks like it'll be Diopters for that!

 

and Tim, I'd love to have you down if you want. Lights we got a good deal of it seems-- but with 1 20A breaker in the location, I'm much more worried about powering everything. I'm pushing for a 500A tow genny, but looks like i'll only be getting a 167. Oh these are tragic days ;)

 

Shoots @ the end of the month 27 pre rig and 28/29 shooting. If you wind up in Phila, certainly drop on by!

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It's hard to fill a frame with an eyeball with a 100mm let alone a 50mm - even with a 100mm the front of the lens will only be maybe four or five inches away from the eyeball. I usually use a zoom that goes to at least 200mm for those kind of shots just so the actor doesn't have to be so close to the lens. But it can be done with a 100mm macro.

 

The problem with a 100mm macro is you have to track back a long way to get a half body shot & there is a good chance things will shake because of the speed of the movement. By using a 20-100 Zoom & zooming back to say 40mm during the track significantly reduces the amount of travel needed. Generally the into the 'eyeball' bit will be a 3 D take over as on a S35mm sensor it's bigger than 1:1. You won't fully get there with a macro lens, unless focus is achieved with a bellows on the camera, with the camera moving backwards to focus & the lens static! The focus direction actually changes when you hit 1:1, which is probably why it's sort of 'impossible' on a normal lens.

 

For 1:1 & closer reversing a prime lens or even a zoom will get yot there, the wider the lens the bigger the close up will be! Canon have come out with a Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5X Macro Lens, it's basically a 5:1 zoom lens mounted backwards.

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