# Lens pairing with 5Ds



## unpopular (Jan 19, 2016)

I am currently planning a camera projection which involves zooming in from medium closeup [head/shoulders] position to extreme closeup onto an actor's eyeball.

For those that do not know, a camera projection is a visual effects technique which a still image is projected onto computer-generated geometry so that you can regain parallax when a virtual camera is placed into the scene.

As a result, for something like this you'll need a pretty high resolution image so that when you get up close to the eyeball things remain sharp and un-interpolated.

I'd like to do it all in one shot, that would be preferred for simplicity sake, so I am looking to rent a 5Ds. I could probably do it in steps, but there are real significant complications with that.

The next question would be lenses. What lens would you recommend that will perform well at 100% viewing? I'd like to use something in the 80-135mm range.

Price here is not so much a concern since the lens will be rented only for a few days.


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## runnah (Jan 19, 2016)

If it were me I'd take two photos, the start photo and the end photo. Use some clever editing tricks to make it seem like you are using the same photo.

Even a 5ds won't be able to do what you want using a single image. Just not enough data.


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## unpopular (Jan 19, 2016)

You are probably right, and the director is likely going to want to do this in 4K. But I have seen sample images that would suggest that it's possible:

The 5DS and 5DSR

In fact, that example is probably a little too tight, though it's a little hard to tell with that crop.

Being that I only have a few days with the camera, I'll probably take a sequence as well. My concern though is synchronizing the camera position across different projections. Not impossible, but doing it with one shot would be much better.


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## Derrel (Jan 19, 2016)

Famous old folk saying from the Czech Republic: "Even a Mainer comes up with a glorious, golden acorn once in a while."  *


*Translated by Google auto-translate.


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## jaomul (Jan 19, 2016)

I could imagine that any macro lens in your selected focal length should be a good option for this (I don't know anything about your actual job description, but macros are sharp with minimal distortion)


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## unpopular (Jan 19, 2016)

The more I think about multiple shots, the less problematic it becomes. All I need to do is set up multiple projections and then animate the camera movement all the way through. Once one image starts falling apart, just synchronize it with the next closest projection and cut.

Now, I'll probably still rent a 5Ds, so what lens to get?



jaomul said:


> I could imagine that any macro lens in your selected focal length should be a good option for this (I don't know anything about your actual job description, but macros are sharp with minimal distortion)



Macro lenses will not work because what I am essentially doing is zooming into the image, that's basically what's going on, only that the image is being projected onto geometry so that it looks natural.

Here is an example of the process:


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## Punisher911 (Jan 20, 2016)

Try either of Canon's super sharp mkii lenses..  The 70-200 f/2.8 or the 24-70.  Although I think the 24-70 might not work for what you want with it's range.  You could maybe try the 100mm L  macro and take multiple shots using your feet to "zoom" to the closer focal lengths and get that final eye only macro shot.  Probably would be best to have the camera on a tripod with casters and level with the subjects eye.  Then you can just smoothly roll the camera in towards the subject while snapping your shots.


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## unpopular (Jan 20, 2016)

Thanks! I will look into these options!



Punisher911 said:


> Probably would be best to have the camera on a tripod with casters and level with the subjects eye.  Then you can just smoothly roll the camera in towards the subject while snapping your shots.



The camera will probably be on a dolly. I really don't think I'm going to try to get a macro extreme closeup on the eye. With fifty megapixels a tight head shot will be sufficient.


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## D-B-J (Jan 20, 2016)

The new phase-one 100megapixel monster?

XF 100MP Camera System


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## unpopular (Jan 20, 2016)

Looked into medium format, actually. Rental rates are more than the entire VFX budget.


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## D-B-J (Jan 20, 2016)

unpopular said:


> Looked into medium format, actually. Rental rates are more than the entire VFX budget.



Haha, figures. Just a thought. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Dave442 (Jan 21, 2016)

I would use the 100-400 IS II lens. That has a close focus at the long end that should get you close to the eye when starting at 100mm for the headshot.


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