Depth of Field

Ive recently joined a cinematography forum and have been researching the technical jargon associated with cameras, as brought up in my review. One thing that has interested me is trying to get that cinema look, where a background is highly out of focus whilst the object or character is sharply in focus. Having done some still photography for sometime now I know that this technique is produced using f-numbers, affecting the depth of field. The lower the f-number say f/2.8 the larger the aperture would be, this creates a shallow depth of field, giving that blurred background look. larger f-numbers would keep an entire scene in focus, ideal for long shots, however this would give a smaller aperture, therefor less light would enter.

Above is a picture of a redrockmicro system attached to what looks like a sony hvr-z1e, this allows 35mm lenses to be attached to dv and hd camcorders through the use of stepdown rings and lens adapters so long as they arent over 72mm. They can give greater lens control allowing for a more cinematic look to a piece of film. I've seen some videos on youtube of them in action and some of the shots look great and really do look quite like 35mm film. Something I would defintly consider using if only I had the cash!