What does an adapter do for a camcorder?

Question

Such as a 35 mm adapter for a Canon HV20

Answer 1

The 35mm adapters, such as those made by Redrock Micro, Letus, and Cinevate, are used on digital cameras, such as the Canon HV20 to create a "cinematic look", similar to that of 35mm film used on big movies. Now you may be thinking: well isn't that what 24p is for? Well, yes, 24p (24 Progressive Scan) is a feature that gives you that smooth, artsy, and grainy texture of film, which is a great tool for indie filmmakers. However, 24p can't do everything. So, when used in combination with a 35mm adapter, your footage will look even more like film (not perfect though). But what does it do??? Well, to get to the point, 35mm adapters give your footage that cool narrow depth of field seen in movies, a true characteristic of film. A narrow depth of field means that less of your image will be in focus; it gives your footage that artistic edge. For example, if you wanted your subject, who is about 10 or so feet from the camera in focus, but you want the background soft and out of focus, a 35mm adapter could do that. Consumers usually prefer a large depth of field so they don't have to bother with focusing, but the pros love it. The 35mm adapters are small modules that connect to your camera lens, and the other end has a lens mount for your choice of inexpensive 35mm photo lenses (remember those things?) or the pro film lenses with a PL mount (but they cost a lost) But is it reasonable to buy a $1,000 adapter just so the background can be fuzzy? Well, I'd say not so much, especially on a low budget with so many other things to buy, but if you have money to burn, and if you desire fancy tools used by pros, go for it! It will definately up your cool in your videos. But if it's not in your budget, you don't need it too badly, and in some cases, you can achieve the same effect without it by setting your camera aperture to manual, or aperture priority maybe better, then set your camera aperture to a LOW f-stop, such as f-2 or something. Then, just place the camera further away from your subject and zoom in (the more you zoom in, the less of your image will be in focus). I urge you to try it sometime. It's completely doable on the HV2 its a great camera :), then you can decide if the 35mm adapters are neccessary.

Now, if you decide you really want a 35mm adapter, I'd recommend the Letus Extreme ones. Many people insist the Redrock M2 is better, but they are usually the hard core Redrock fans who love Redrock just for the heck of it. Redrock is probably the most popular brand, but when using it, your footage suffers considerable loss of light, and the footage is upside down. Of course, you could re-flip the image in post production....either that or shoot with the camera upside-down, which is kinda silly. Now the Letus Extreme has the least amount of light loss and actually re-reflips the image so its right-side up.

http://www.letusdirect.com/

http://redrockmicro.com/

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controll...

Well, I hope that helps, so have fun and good luck!

Answer 2

charge the camcorder

Answer 3

this model allows interchanging of lenses? http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/contro...