Re: Will the Lens adapter degrade the Film Out?

first time posting in this forum, and let's get this straight I'm a post guy, but before that, I was a Photographer, an experimental one at that, So i know some things about lenses.

but what are you tossing this on, you say a film out, but are you going from HD, something like an HVX?

I've seen A LOT, and i do mean that. Like hundreds of hours of hvx/hdx footage, been on set and messed with these things too.

Yes they add amazing DoF, but they DO add a lot of grain. to the point of issues with chroma keying in several incidents. Part of the problem is adding a length after your lens, and what ever any one says about back focus, the lens on the camera isn't putting the image at the exact point it was manufactured to put it.

Any one whose taken basic physics will tell you the more objects light passes through the darker the light. And with the lower end, like the red rocks etc (less so on the psT) it's pretty severe. So much so that I've shot wide open an entire shoot running a FULL grip truck. low light ADDS grain. So if you are using a lowend/home brew version good glass will help, but these issues are all things that cause grain.

Adding length to a lens further distends the light, further creating a darker image. Not to mention the ground glass which is made to 'distort' the image.

All of these factors add up to noise on a ccd. Whats really interesting is tossing a adapter on say an SI camera, something that is nearly grainless, and seeing what it does. it does add grain in a filmic way, but it adds noise too. I had a test clip shot on a set with the exact same camera and lens set up matched frame for frame, the amaount of actual noise on the 1080p image is rather astonishing.

A lot of it is just adding something in between 2 perfectly calibrated pieces of tech. 2 items which are never identicle to any 2 others, though still being calibrated perfectly to work together, so adding something (say a psT) is just adding so many variables into an equation thats already full of them.

In short, there will be a noise difference between a normal hd transfer, and one with a GG adapter. that amount really depends on your ccd, your camera, the adapter, the glass, and about a dozen other things.

the best way to know if it will effect you is to try it.