[lithedreamer]

Hi everyone,

I have to record a video of myself receiving tea for my Japanese Culture class and I'm wondering which lens to use for it. I'll be indoors and sitting on the floor with less than perfect lighting and I figure my K-30 is my best bet for shooting this thing. I have a DA* 16-50 and a 50-135, a 40 Ltd and 35 Ltd, but I'm not quite sure what focal length to use. My house is pretty small (and kind of messy) so I don't want something too wide. Any tips for getting the focus right when you aren't behind the camera?

[ramseybuckeye]

The focus part should be easy, set a lamp or something on the floor as a stand in for you, and get that in focus, mark the floor with tape, Or better yet have another person stand in for the focus. You'll want to try to get enough light so that you don't have a narrow focus slice. Take a couple of quick practice videos to make sure. The 35 or 40 should both give you a normal and narrow enough view to not show a lot of background. Good luck!

[Steve.Ledger]

Just practice. Much faster than posting on forums and waiting for responses which might even lead you astray.

[grispie]

next thing you know, people will start suggesting you to buy a new and more suitable lens for this.
I'd opt for DA31 ltd :-)

[altopiet]

Just practice. Much faster than posting on forums and waiting for responses which might even lead you astray.

Amen....some things you just have to try yourself. I usually try everything, until I really don't see any other way, before I ask on the forums, when I do that and get some help from somebody here, I remember that advice in the future...

[AquaDome]

DA*16-50 has the wide angle and image quality.
My next choice would be the DA35 Ltd.
Scout your location and see what focal length is going to get the point-of-view you need, then check light levels.

[PiDicus Rex]

next thing you know, people will start suggesting you to buy a new and more suitable lens for this. I'd opt for DA31 ltd :-)

You're right on suggestions, but I'd go with a KA 24mm f2.8 SMC Prime - wider view will be more useful, and for a 'beginner' video, the ridiculously short hyperfocal distance will help keep the subjects in focus, and you can Sneaker-Zoom in to get close ups.

[Na Horuk]

I think practice, as suggested, is the most important part. Any of those lenses should be able to "do the trick" - the question is what you want. The DA* 16-50mm zoom is the most flexible, so you can adjust the framing on the spot. Other than that, I would suggest the DA 40mm because it will have nice bokeh and be fairly sharp, but it might be too long. This is why you need to do a dry run with estimated dimensions, so you can see which lens works. If you need 20mm to capture it all, no sense thinking about the other lenses.
Another thing I suggest is that you look at videos of similar ceremonies online, and think about the camera placement. How tall is the tripod? Where are the light sources? What has to be in the frame?
Can't help you more than that, as I don't have any experience with such ceremonies. Sounds cool, though. Good luck!

[lithedreamer]

I ended up shooting a lot tighter than I originally expected to and the 16-50 ended up working great. I'm competing with potato quality smartphone cameras (presumably without tripods), so I'm not too worried about the high amount of grain that ended up in the video. It was a little disappointing, though hard not to expect at 1600 ISO (f4, 1/60).

I was able to hijack my 'Pixar-style' desk lamp so lighting wasn't an issue. It took a few takes and I was really happy to have had a remote control on hand. I ended up using a dislocated tabletop (to simulate a wood floor) and my tea bowl for framing.

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

[Na Horuk]

Seems like you pulled it off quite well! Quickly adjusting is a good skill for a photographer to have