Topic: Zooming in; how far away from stage can you be?

[6079]

I may decide to shoot video at an arena show next month, and I need some sort of idea how far you can actually zoom in.

It seems the standards are 10x, or 20x, and then you can buy an additional lens to double that.  But I need some frame of reference to understand what kind of measurement that equals.  Is there a certain amount of feet or yards relative to how many x you are zooming?

Hopefully you understand my question.  Basically I want to know how far away you can be to still get good close ups of the stage.

[guitard]

Here's a shot using a cam w/ 10X optical zoom with a doubler lens attached shot from the back of the arena in the upperdeck cheap seats:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nx6_UzEbKs

I've got another shot from almost the same seat, except it's with a cam w/ a 20X optical zoom, and it's also shot with a doubler lens.

[6079]

Thank you for that.  Would it be accurate to say a 20x with doubler lens would've offered close up shots?

[fey-metallica]

Yeah that would be pretty close!

[guitard]

http://www.youtube.com/v/3lONEaOYWIE

Here's what it looks like with a 20X optical zoom with a doubler lens.  Keep in mind, most 3-chip cams only go up to 10X optical (some go 12X).  So if you're filming with a 1-chip cam with 20X or 25X and attach a doubler lens, you're probably not going to get a really pristine picture.  AND unless you are using a tripod or clamp-pod, it's going to be REALLY shaky.

This clip starts out zoomed all the way out, and then it zooms in, and then it cuts, and then continues with some footage shot zoomed all the way in.

A good idea:  change over to manual zoom, zoom all the way in, focus the picture, and then don't adjust it again for the rest of the show.  This way, if someone walks in front of you, the cam won't go out of focus.  And it won't make any difference anyway for video you shoot while zoomed out - the picture will look the same either way.

[BlackLab]

unless you have a tripod - its really tough to hold cam steady enough to get a steady shot using more than 10X. More zoom means any movement is magnified more

[KurtMichaels]

If you do not use a tripod, 10x zoom is max, maybe less. If you hold your cam with two hands and you are a experienced, relaxed taper with a mild crowd around you, you can hold a 10x steady. I had the luck that I was able to rest my arms holding the cam on my legs during filming, so the 10x is relatively stable.
I have seen 20x footage and even if you can rest your cam it's tough to hold is steady.

Unless it is REALLY worth it I would just not zoom in more then 3x-6x. There is a reason why zooming in is a no go for proffesionals - just get closer to your target

[guitard]

I've filmed with a Sony TRV-330 - which is 25X optical - and used a doubler lens - and zoomed in all the way and still got a steady shot.  I had the cam on my lap and help it with one hand on the cam body and the other holding the flip out LED screen.  That is a digital 8mm cam and much bigger and heavier than anything coming out these days, so it wasn't a problem keeping it steady.

A good idea ~ if you can work with another filmer (or run two cams by yourself), you can film a stage shot with one cam and a nice zoomed in shot with the other cam.  If there are shaky moments or awkward pans in the zoomed in footage, you just switch over to the stage shot footage.  I did this at a Dream Theater show in Jan '06 (it's widely circulated).  I ran one cam on a table-top mini-tripod and got a stage shot with it.  I held the TRV-330 on my lap and got a very nice mix.