Behind the Lens

2.1Deep into Depth of Field: Understanding a “Filmic” Depth of Field

Achieving that “filmic” depth of field was a holy grail among digital shooters for a long time—giving birth to a plethora of lens adapters—but now that larger sensors are more ubiquitous and affordable, the adapters are, by and large, obsolete and digital cinematographers can mimic the look and feel of 35mm motion picture depth of field with a native large sensor camera.

A shot from Alone, a short film I directed, photographed by Jayson Crothers. Here we used very shallow depth of field to create a mood. Alone © Adakin Productions. Jayson Crothers, Director of photography.