Webcam With Focus Control or Field of Depth?

[harrisonreed]

Hi! Straight to the point:

I am looking for a webcam that could be used to create a web series (using real microphones and a DAW for the audio ), but it must be able to control focus depth. I would like the subjects to be in focus, but the background to be soft and out of focus.

Is there a webcam that does this, even if it is just the software that controls the focus? $100 or under would be ideal.

[Burgerbob]

Probably not. Bokeh (that effect you want) is the effect of a large aperture lens, really only found on high end cameras.

[SwissTbone]

Dont know. But you may be able to do that with a software after the recording.

You can do good video quality with a iphone6 and then work on the video.

[harrisonreed]

New word for me! Bokeh.

Thanks Aiden -- that already helps me.

[mwpfoot]

I see suggestions online to connect a DSLR with HDMI output to an HDMI-to-USB accessory. This would allow selecting any compatible lens (and then appropriate settings) to achieve the effect that you want.

Makes me think this might be possible (to some degree) with a point and shoot camera with an appropriate imaging mode, provided it has HDMI output.

[JohnL]

Never done it myself, but you should be able to get the effect using editing software. Check out Blender.

Will you have control of the background during shooting? If so, you could just shoot in front of green screen and insert what background you like later on.

A trick you might try if you do have manual focus...

Set up a focus target in front of your subject and focus on it. Keep moving the target closer and refocusing until you reach a point where the subject is just starting to blur a bit, then push the target a little further away, refocus one more time, and remove the target. As long as you have nothing distracting in the foreground, this can give you the effect you're looking for.

This doesn't speak to the bokeh of the image; bokeh isn't the blur itself, but the aesthetic quality of same. It's a big deal in still images, since people have more of chance to stare at them. The distinctive ring effect you get from out-of-focus highlight shot with a mirror lens, for example.

[timothy42b]

I see suggestions online to connect a DSLR with HDMI output to an HDMI-to-USB accessory. This would allow selecting any compatible lens (and then appropriate settings) to achieve the effect that you want.

I did quite a lot of googling on this, since I have a decent DSLR. The consensus was they aren't really designed to shed the heat of continuous video over any length of time, and you're probably going to damage something.

I went back to the phone.

[mwpfoot]

I did quite a lot of googling on this, since I have a decent DSLR. The consensus was they aren't really designed to shed the heat of continuous video over any length of time, and you're probably going to damage something.

I went back to the phone.

Ah, good info, seeing that now. Just format your podcast into 5 minute segments and take a break in between!

All the hype about video on these but never knew the fine print. My D80 is from right before DSLR video became a thing.