On 07 Feb 2001 02:38:46 GMT, mveach@cs.stanford.edu (Marshall Scott Veach) wrote:

>I am getting ready to go into production on a short 16mm project, and
>had a couple of questions, on some random topics:

>I am thinking about renting a macro lens from a rental house -- how
>can I get depth of field charts for such a lens? For example, they
>have lens' that can focus down to 1 inch -- but none of the standard
>DOF charts I have go that low? Any advice?

DOF at high magnifications is nearly non-existent, and the
figures would be useless...

>Also, does a Macro lens have any other properties (besides being able
>to focus close) that I should be aware of? any reason why I wouldn't
>want to use it for my normal shots?

Probably not - often they are "slower", and sometimes their
best correction for field-flatness is in the macro range,
making them look "so-so" for distant focus (but sometimes
they are first-rate at any focus distance). BTW, as an
earlier poster noted, close-up lenses (and the
better-quality two-element "achromats") work very well on
some non-macro lenses, especially long-focus ones. I use
these often on video camera zoom lenses - and on tele
still-camera lenses (high magnifications can be had, with
good results).

>I am tempted to get some kind of matte that would give my image a more
>rectangular frame something like 1.85:1 --- I really dislike the
>1.33:1 shape --- any thoughts on this ... potential problems? do they
>make a standard matte for this that I could buy or rent?

If you use a matte, it is likely to vary in edge sharpness
with aperture/FL/focus-distance, so it is probably not
a good idea...

>In general, I know that by slightly overexposing my image and having
>the lab print down will increase the saturation of my colors --- i am
>wondering how much to overexpose ? I am using Kodak Vision 200T, can I
>rate it 2/3 of a stop slower and get good results? In general,
>besides increased saturation what other impact does overexposing and
>correcting have on the final image?

It is a trick we still photographers use to good effect
(finer-grain, better coverage for non-standard light color
and for exposure misses) - I like 2/3-to-one-stop over
exposure...