Using the camera "miniature effect" for portraits?

[milandro]

When I shot portraits with a view-camera in the ‘90, I started using the camera movements, changing the direction of the focused plane and limiting the aperture, in order to isolate parts of the subject while, on purpose, leaving out of focus other parts of the subject.

 

Back then this was very “ hip" and achievable mostly with large format cameras and small number of medium format and small format cameras, generally by using a special bellows.

 

Apparently this effect is still, to this day, rather “ hip” and a brand, “lensbaby”, practically was built around this concept.

 

You can achieve a similar thing if you manage to get hold of a macro bellows with tilt and shift functions ( not easy or cheap to find)  and by means of an adapter try to mount it on your modern digital camera.

 

Yes, I hear you thinking, you can do something that looks a bit like this also in post production. But I don’t intend to talk about it ( but by all means feel free to do and discuss it somewhere else opening your own thread about it if you so wish!  )

 

A similar effect can be reached by using the built in “ miniature” effect in your camera.

 

Yes there are some limitations to it ( shoot only jpg or not being able to position the sharpness on a diagonal line and of course it works only in a bi-dimensional way! ), nevertheless it is a different way to use this effect , quickly and without having to buy anything else that the camera that you have already.

 

The effect puts a blurred band directly above and under the part that is sharpened. Fortunately on the X-T1 camera this varies depending whether you are shooting a vertical or horizontal picture and the effect turns with the camera. Also you can position the autofocus anywhere and the blurred band will still be just above and just under the point where you are shooting.

 

There are several things that one could ask fuji to do to make this effect more usable to this purpose ( varying the position of the blurred bands in a circle, modifying the width and the intensity of the blurring, adding a customizable vignetting effect, do this in Raw, apply film simulation to it..................whatever! ) but I don’t engage in the kind of threads where people start fantasizing on what they wish Fuji would do for them.

 

I’d rather use what there is.

 

This is an example of the unadulterated effect, it is possible by PP to add a lot more to it but I just wanted to show what you can do “ in camera”.

 

Please use at will and show your results.

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[CRAusmus]

I've always loved this effect, and although the Lensbaby doesn't do it quite as well as some of the tilt shift options out there, it is a cool effect.

 

I was just reading an article about free-lensing yesterday and how you can use that to achieve this effect also, however that makes me nervous, especially on our mirrorless cameras where the sensor is exposed the entire time you are working the lens.

 

Thanks for pointing this out...

[milandro]

what do you mean by Free-Lensing? I am afraid I am not familiar with the term.

[milandro]

ok, I too a look! I am afraid that this free-lensing is not for me!
 
I am still recovering from the shock that I got with my first Fuji XE-1 and the problem that “ oil”spots  and dust caused on the sensor ( cleaning was done by Fuji Germany took two weeks and then the camera came back with different dirt than it originally had).
 
So, NO freelensing for me, also because I have a condition with my hands that would probably lead to drop the lens if I fiddle around that way with it!
 
Anyway the lensbaby  thing can get very expensive if you do it with a proper lens with a good aperture like the Edge 80.

 

I am trying to find a cheap Tilt-shift bellows but I am afraid that unless I come across someone who knows absolutely nothing about these rare beasts that ain’t going to happen because they want as much as the lens baby would cost.

[CRAusmus]

LOL.  Free-Lensing makes me nervous as well.  I am going to play around with this effect though.  I do believe we have a member here that has quite a collection of Tilt Shift adapters, perhaps they will chime in..

[milandro]

Ok this is a Kipon tilt 135mm 2.8 ( at f4) Tokina There is a big difference with the miniature effect 

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[Antony]

Why not just buy a Kipon tilt adapter? They're great! Just search for Kipon tilt FX on eBay.

[milandro]

Obviously you haven’t noticed that I have given examples of both and the fact that I own a kipon adapter.

 

If you are doing this only for fun and incidentally and the effect is what I’ve shown above, an effect for which you need not spending a penny since this is a feature built in your camera you might not invest in yet more gear ( I know that is not your problem, but other folks are not like you).

 

Obviously, as you can see from the examples given above, I do infer that the kipon is a better and more versatile solution but it costs more money.

 

So, That’s why.

[Antony]

Well I was replying to the original poster, not you. That said, I'm surprised you bothered to comment given I was supporting your comment.

 

As to why you would reject the in-camera approach, well 1) you can shoot in raw 2) you can adjust the amount and location of the tilt 3) there's no other changes made to the file (eg. Higher contrast and saturation) 4) if I wanted Instagram I'd use a phone.

[milandro]

I am the OP.

 

No you cannot shoot in raw to use the in-camera miniature effect, the camera only shoots jpeg’s with all those effects.

[Antony]

Apologies - re. Raw, exactly - that's why it use the tilt adapter.

[milandro]

Yes Antony, this is precisely  the object of another thread that I’ve started on using the kipon in order to be more versatile

 

http://www.fuji-x-forum.com/topic/866-kipon-tilt-adapter-would-you-please-show-some-of-your-images/?hl=%2Bkipon+%2Btilt