__ My favorite lens currently is a 50mm f/2.8 1:1 Macro. It’s perfect for life-size close-ups and portraits. Although it’s not as fast as I’d like it to be (i.e. f/1.4 or f/1.2), it’s sharp and has lovely bokeh (the appearance of out of focus areas) thanks to its circular aperture. Some of the above photos were shot using a DIY soft box that I hacked together last night (instructions at Strobist – highly recommended site).

Following up from my earlier post on 35mm DOF adapters, here’s the way I’ve built mine. Note that this is revision four, which uses much better materials, including a Thorlabs 2″ lens tube (my earlier designs were crudely made out of cardboard, file dividers and lots of electrical tape!) This design borrows heavily from Richard Mellor’s. Although the DOF adapter is considerable in length; it’s not heavy. I’ve never had any problems using it on my camera; a consumer Panasonic NV-GS3001/4″ 3 CCD with a 37mm thread.

Digital video is great, but not so great when you compare it to actual film. Perhaps the most interesting attribute of actual 16mm and 35mm film cameras (and some high-end digital video cameras) such as those from Arri and Panavision is the shallow depth of field (DOF.) Shallow DOF basically means there is less distance infocus between the subject and the area in front and behind the subject, allowing for selective focusing.