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Author
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Topic: Zoom-in vs. Wide angle
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Mr. Hutt
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posted 12-25-2000 11:19 PM
Recently, like in the last couple of months, I've been noticing how often in movies zoom lenses are used. Instead of getting up close to the actor for a close up, the cameraman will stand a little ways away, zoom in, and start filming. Not just in close-ups, either. A lot of movies I see nowdays have 50-70 percent of the shots filmed in this fasion. So you can understand how wide angle shots and zoomed shots look different, I've captured a few examples from my camcorder. 
This is a wide-angle shot. Notice how the background is just as in focus as the girl (my lil' sister). it's a good type of shot to use If you're emphasizing distance. 
This is a zoomed in shot of my sister in the same spot. Look how the zooming caused the background to get larger and blurrier, and sort of flattened out the whole image. The whole reason I'm posting this at all is that I've found it incredibly useful to know this stuff, because it helps direct the mood of the shot. Say, for example, you had a shot where your actor was walking up the steps of a huge office building, (just an example), and you wanted to show the sheer scale of the building in relation to the actor. In that case, it would probably be more effective to stand a long ways away from the building and then zoom in so that it fills the whole frame, and you can see this tiny little person at the bottom walking up the steps. If you had done it in wide-angle, the actor, being closer to the camera, would appear larger and the building smaller. It wouldn't be nearly as impressive or dynamic. Anyway, I'm rambling. I just wanted to post this because I've been using this in some of my movies, and the combo of wide-angle and zoom-lensed really makes them seem more professional. ------------------
Mr. Hutt -defender of neenerheads [This message has been edited by Mr. Hutt (edited 12-25-2000).] |
Prism
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posted 12-26-2000 02:42 AM
What kind of camera are you using? Those are nice shots.. cute sister, too. I have three of 'em.  Isaiah ------------------
Isaiah, "Sound Guy" Eyre
www.iEyre.com |
Pheral
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posted 12-26-2000 08:51 AM
I agree with Prism, Mr. Hutt, nice shots. You're right about longer lenses giving you less depth of field (I'm told that this effect is actually an illusion, that longer lenses only seem to give you less DOF than shorter ones, but I can't remember why; I'll look it up). Are you also aware that you get more or less depth of field depending upon how closed or open the iris of your lens is? The more open the lens is the less depth of field you get, and the more closed the iris, the more DOF you'll see. This effect is useful, because if means that if you have a shot where you need a lot of stuff at different distances from the camera in focus, you can pump up the light to give you a "higher" f/stop and more depth of field.[This message has been edited by Pheral (edited 12-29-2000).] |
eggy
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posted 12-26-2000 02:15 PM
Wide angle lenses also distort the area that's closest to the lens, so it's not the best thing to use on a closeup of someone. It will make whatever's in the center look bigger and whatever on the outside farther away. Kind of like a fisheye, but on a much less grand of scale. |
MarcArts
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posted 12-29-2000 01:16 PM
I plan to buy a new lens, so i am very intersested too. Where can i get more information about this sort of thing ? |
Smiley Films
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posted 12-29-2000 04:09 PM
u dont need to buy a lens. all there doing is haveing the camera zoomed in on the subjuct from a distance, and haveing it not zoomed in but just close to the person. |
Gamecat
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posted 12-29-2000 05:35 PM
Smiley, if you work with prime lenses you will need to buy a new lense... |
Smiley Films
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posted 12-29-2000 10:29 PM
i dont know what prime lenses are. Is it for film? cause he is talikng about a camcorder |
Pheral
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posted 12-29-2000 11:40 PM
A prime lens has a fixed focal length rather than the adjustable focal length that a zoom lens has. |
MarcArts
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posted 12-30-2000 10:44 AM
So why there are lenses which aren`t zoom lenses ? Would not zoom lenses be much cheaper and easier ? And if you have a camcorder with a wideangle lens on it and you zoom in, do you get more depth of field than with the normal lens ? I really dont know much this ! |
Pheral
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posted 12-30-2000 12:09 PM
Among other things you often get a better image from a prime lens. A lens is more than just a tube with one glass piece at the front and another at the back. It has several, or even many, optical elements which are precisely aligned to maximize image quality and which in turn may produce the flattening of an image (in the case of a wide angle lens) or the apparently shallow depth of field (in the case of a long lens). A zoom lens likewise has many optical elements, and when you zoom in or out, these elements must move back and forth within the lens body. Its a very, very neat trick but often these interior lenses aren't able or aren't even designed to align as precisely as those in a prime lens. A film camera may come with a set of prime lenses, of varing focal lengths, which can be swapped out quickly between shots.[This message has been edited by Pheral (edited 12-30-2000).] [This message has been edited by Pheral (edited 12-30-2000).] |
admiral
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posted 12-30-2000 01:37 PM
One thing that wasn't mentionned is that a wider shot gets more light (the same is true of photography, where the use of a telephoto lense requires a larger iris opening). So in very dark conditions it's better to use the camcorder's lens at it's widest settings.Other than that, close-ups do look better in a telephoto setting IMHO; the out-of-focus background is less distracting from the actor's features. | |
