Controlling Focus

So, how can you use focus to your advantage? First off, you need to have control. That was never a problem as long as movies were shot on film. It really wasn't until digital video and it's big brother HD became more accepted as movie recording media that issues began to arise. Because CCDs are much smaller than 35mm film (although that is changing in some of the higher end HD cameras) the images they create result in a long Depth of Field DOF (see the related article on Depth of Field). With the extended DOF, more of the screen appeared to be in focus. That limited the filmmaker's ability to guide the viewer's eyes. With the introduction of devices like the Micro35, filmmakers can take advantage of both the inexpensive recording media of videotape and the focus control of 35mm film.

Below are examples of images shot through the Panasonic AG-DVX100A camera's lens set to full wide zoom (Figure 1) and through a Micro35 with an 18mm prime lens (Figure 2).

Figure 1 – full wide zoom using standard DVX100A lens (no 35mm lens attached)

Figure 2 – DVX100A with micro35 and 18mm prime lens

You will notice that while the 18mm lens does not dramatically throw the background out of focus, your eyes are still drawn to the headlight on the motorcycle.