You Don't Want to Drop This - Swinging Lenses 101

There are so many skills you need as a camera assistant, but one that you need from the beginning and that you need to be very good at and understand is moving a lens. Now

this

is something you don't

want

to mess up and you should do. Make sure the person on the other end is holding that lens because you don't

want

it to fall. Now it's always nice to have two people

swinging

a lens, but sometimes that can't happen, but if we're talking about both of them. -Lens balancing person, you will understand the essence of the matter, so the first ac requests a lens change once they hear the word that they need to change the lens, they notify the second ac immediately, the second ac will grab the lens case lens and will bring it. as close to the camera as possible because you don't want to take something as valuable as a lens out of the case without the caps or whatever you're doing and walk with it a considerable distance to get it to the camera you want. all to be as safe as possible, so keeping it in the case as long as possible and getting it as close as possible is key while the prime AC prepares to remove the lens to remove the focus wheel and take everything out. like the matte box or any accessory that is attached so that they can clearly access that lens, but you don't take it off yet, you have to wait until you have the new lens in your hands so that you can quickly rotate it in less time. having the sensor open to the air better because then you could have a dirty or damaged sensor which is even worse, so the second CA takes the lens out of the housing and prepares it to work,

this

means removing the caps and holding the rear element lens so you can place it in the air conditioner, let go, let go, there is a bad word, throw it across the room so that the second air conditioner prepares the lens for transfer to the camera, this means removing the caps both from the back and the camera. the front cap and holding the lens with both hands for now, but focusing on holding the back of the lens without touching the element because you will hand it face down to the first ac when it is ready.

Now the first ac removes the lens, so they will predominantly hold the front element and hand it to you, rear element down. A good exchange is to say yours when you hand something over and respond with "I've got it" when you handle it well because if there's no communication that someone is holding onto something, it could fall and you could break something. Now a good ac, if you continue with the same scene and need the same exposures, will change the lens accordingly before handing it to the first one. ac then as you have taken note and have probably done camera reports you will know that the lens was at a particular stop you will change the new lens to that stop before handing it to the first ac to keep everything concise So, for example, if you know that you were in 2 8 on the lens you are removing, you will deliver the new focal length at 2 8 and now as a second CA when you put the lens back in the case.

We'll want to change it to wide open and set the focus to infinity, that's the way we store the

lenses

, it's just the safest way to travel, so if it gets hit or anything like that, the iris blades are all out and the focus is set to infinity so that all the glass planes are in a good position, a safe position for travel, that's how to balance a lens safely. Now, one thing I do want to say is when are you saving this? case just a side note that is not really related to the movement of a lens but is related to the safety of your

lenses

when you close a case any case it doesn't matter if they are lenses or not make sure you close the case because if a case remains open If someone closes it, you will have a problem if someone thinks it is closed and then lifts the case and all the lenses fly away, which can be very expensive and is really bad practice, so in any case, make sure now they are closed and secured, it doesn't matter if it's one or two latches, preferably all the latches, but at least make one of the latches so that nothing gets damaged, so considering the length of this video, I'm going to answer two. today's questions instead of just one and also both questions are related to the focus, which was last week's video, so let's answer two questions.

The first one I have here is from Amanda Deary and Amanda asks me. I've been on a few sets. where it doesn't seem like the first air conditioner actually measures anything at all and they just tend to trust the monitor and look at it with the naked eye, does that have to do with the new digital age or is it just bad practice on the part of the first air conditioner? Is it standard? practice measuring the focus marks on each shot or is it just the complicated ones, now there is a complicated answer for that, yes, shooting from monitors is a relatively new thing, I guess for the film industry, like being in a movie, really You didn't have the chance. looking at a monitor in a live view of what's happening and having that critical focus right in front of you, so you had to understand the space a lot more and that's a skill that a lot of people lack today.

They don't understand focus in terms of the space you're shooting in, they're just guided by the monitor, just pulling it off a monitor doesn't give you the same understanding of the space as taking focus marks and watching the action when you're using a monitor, it can be quite difficult to make quick adjustments if any changes happen, which often happens, like if you go to a rehearsal and realize that the actor's action isn't quite right, it might change and then you're in a bind because you have to take measurements again because you've looked at the monitor, whereas if you understood the space and you understood the rough measurements of where those actors are in the space, you could make an estimate and then maybe make a better measurement.

If you think you need it, monitors are good for determining where your focus is and seeing it right in front of you, but taking measurements and determining the range or layout of where you're shooting is more important than actually seeing it. in front of you on a monitor on a live stream, I hope that makes sense in terms of focusing on every shot, well I mean you are anyway because you look sharply on the monitor if you need something. Critically, this is when you really start to refine your measurements, but in most cases, using a laser or a metal tape measure will work just fine and these things can be done in the downtime between shots quite easily and quickly, so you really won't.

If you have any trouble fitting it into your schedule, you can actually do it without interrupting anyone, so I hope that makes sense. If you have any more questions, let me know because there was a lot of information in that little question. The next question we have. This is from Maddie Jade and Maddie asks if you have any focusing tips for using less professional DSLR lenses without metering. I've only used the monitor to visually evaluate focus groups, so I'm not sure if there is a better way to do it. When you have nothing to mark, does it still make sense to measure physical distance?

DSLR lenses just aren't designed for video, so getting that critical focus is a little bit more difficult and because they have that continuous role in the focus wheel, you lose your marks very quickly and since there are no external marks there, unless you If there is something like the Rokinon cine lenses, which are like a hybrid between the two and have sharp marks and stops, you will have a lot of problems. By doing that, there are now focus wheels that have mechanical hard stops that you can program, so you just move this little notch and it will give you a focus range and then you tighten them so you have the hard drive. stops with that sort of thing, it also requires getting those little rubber teeth that you put around the lens to make them work, but they're still available so there's the option to do that, but in terms of measuring distance, really it can't be done.

It can be done with a DSLR lens simply because they don't have those markings on the barrel like you said, so you'll probably have to use a monitor for that anyway. Thank you very much for watching this video today. I hope you enjoyed it and if you enjoyed it, remember to give it a big thumbs up and if you want to see more of my face and learn a little more about filmmaking in the process, remember to subscribe and I'll see you later.