Beaulieu 6008s Focus

[Christopher Jones]

Hi folks. I was hoping for some advice on focusing the Beaulieu 6008 as I was having some trouble after shooting some roles.
As I understand it, from the manual, I zoom in as far as I can to the subject and then focus the image. I can then zoom in and out as much as I like and the subject will always be in focus?

Apologies if this is an obvious question to people. I just wanted to make sure before I shoot some more roles. Thanks in advance!

[Shane C. Collins]

The first thing you want to do is set up the cameras diopter. This is the eye piece you look through to film your scene. Set the zoom all the way to infinity. Pick an object as far out as you can, say a tree. Look through the eye piece and then focus the diopter until the tree is in focus. Once this is set you shouldn't have any trouble focusing when filming a scene. To film a scene, zoom into your subject, set the focus. Then zoom back out. If you zoom in on your subject it will be in focus. The idea is to have everything in focus from your position to the subject which is further out on the film plane. This is how I do it. Hopefully this makes sense.

[Christopher Jones]

That makes perfect sense. Thank you so much Shane! Really appreciate it

[Dominique De Bast]

The depth of field incresaed when the aperture is higher (it's easier to get a sharp image with a f22 than with a f1.8 for example), when the distance is longer (you have to be more acurate with a distance of 1,5 m than if the subject is at 10 or 20 m) and when the zoom is on a low position (12.5 gives you a much better depth of field that 50 or 60...).

[Maurice Leakey]

Christopher
Following on from Dominique's advice above, here are some notes about depth of field and focussing.
Understanding Depth of Field - A Beginner's Guide (photographylife.com)

[Christopher Jones]

Thank you so much Dominique and Maurice. This is all super helpful.