DOF with macro

[Linda Barzini]

I tried once to capture the traditional wine pouring into the wine glass in slow motion with the white background. I used a 100mm lens (I think around t4 or t5.6). I remember the depth of field was an issue because it was so narrow.

What is the typical lens focal length/f stop combo for table top cinematography to get a decent depth of field range?

Here is a good example of what I would like to do.

 

[Rakesh Malik]

With my stills gear, I did quite a bit of macro photography, and often ended up stopped down to f/16-f/32 to get a reasonable amount of depth of field.

I was able to get close to that with a 100mm lens at around f/8, IIRC.

If you get too close, you'll need a very small aperture; i.e. if the back of the subject is 2x or more farther from the camera than the front side, you'll have trouble getting enough depth of field. If the subject size from front to back is relatively small compared to the distance from the camera, then it's easier to encompass it within your depth of field.

 

[Michael Lindsay]

We often use quite big lights for macro so we can get to around T11+... deep stops in macro photography can give you that big feel

 

[Björn Benckert]

We often use quite big lights for macro so we can get to around T11+... deep stops in macro photography can give you that big feel

We se these a lot especially the 50mm

http://camalot.nl/equipment/lenses/35mm-primes/macro/arri-macro-50mm-t2-8/


Really nice focus scales on close range and yes, as other metntioned here maxed out F stops are not uncommon. Fells odd to shoot f32 and especially in closeups and high speed as the lighting becomes quite intense. Big flicker free led panels becomes handy as they dont melt the object and is much nicer to work around as you want the light close. Area 58 is good for this.