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Focus Puller

What Is A Focus Puller? A focus puller is someone who works alongside the camera operator on video productions to control the focus of a camera’s lens. Cine lenses for the types of cameras that are often used on major motion pictures and TV commercials, do not have autofocus lenses. Instead, the lens is manually focussed during the recording. The focus puller’s job is to carefully watch the take and adjust the focus smoothly as the subject moves around the scene. Focus marks are often set with sticky tape, on the floor of the set. The distance of the camera …

Focus Rail

What Is A Focus Rail? A focus rail is another name for a macro rail. Please see the more detailed entry about macro rails. Additional Reading

Focus Stacking

What is Focus Stacking in Photography? Focus stacking is a technique that blends together multiple images that were shot with varying focal points, to create a single final image with a greater depth of focus. There are two primary reasons for focus stacking: To create a focus stack you will need to place your camera on a tripod and then vary the focal distance between shots. These can then be blended together in Photoshop or specialized stacking software to create the final image.

Focus Throw

What Does Focus Throw Mean? Focus throw is measured in degrees and represents the amount of rotation needed to turn a lens’ focus ring from its MFD (minimum focus distance) to infinity. A manual focus lens tends to have a much larger focus than an autofocus lens because this allows a greater degree of accuracy. Cinema lenses, which are manual focus, all have very long focus throws so as to allow extremely precise focus. In general, you’ll also find that lenses with a very wide maximum aperture also have a long focus throw. The wider the aperture, the shallower it …

Follow Focus

What Is A Follow Focus? Autofocus is rarely used in professional film making because the focus mechanisms are not smooth enough to be adjusted while the camera is rolling. Instead, the focus ring on the lens is rotated manually using a geared hand controller called a follow focus. Sometimes the follow focus is turned by the camera operator and sometimes there is a dedicated member of the camera crew called a focus puller. All cine lenses are manual focus only, designed to be operated smoothly with a follow focus and they have teeth around the focus ring that mesh with …

Frames Per Second

What Does Frames Per Second Mean? Often abbreviated to just FPS, frames per second refers to the speed at which a camera can capture photos. At the time of writing this definition, Canon’s top-of-the-line pro bodies are capable of capturing up to 14 photos in a single second (14 fps). Technology is evolving rapidly though, and the chances are pretty good that by the time you read this glossary term, things will have reached an even higher level. Lower end cameras like consumer point and shoots, tend to be much slower at around the 2-3 fps level. Mid-range DSLRs shoot in …