Micro / Macro Image effects

Curious Lens · Jan 19, 2017

I've noticed a video effect on several films and commercials where live action shots appear to be of miniatures. Are these a electronic (software) effect or are they a lens effect?

I remember from my days of building plastic models, we would use low-angle shots and 'pin-hole' lenses to put an airplane, automobile, military vehicle, or science fiction vehicle into the real world. However, miniatures of people, animals, or 'monsters' didn't 'work' in these stills; but cut-outs of photos of people (with matching light source shadows) worked quite well, especially if they were in 'costume'.

astroNikon · Jan 19, 2017

many consumer cameras nowadays have an Effect called "miniature effect"

also tilt-shift is more dramatic
Tilt Shift Photography for Spectacular Miniature Effect

TCampbell · Jan 19, 2017

Tilt-shift lenses do this with the "tilt" axis of the lens.

Normally the focal plane is parallel to the camera sensor. When you shoot a subject at very close distance (such as a miniature model railroad) the depth of field is shallow... but shoot something far away and the depth of field is broad.

The "tilt" axis of a tilt-shift lens allows the photographer to alter the angle of the lens (remember very old cameras with bellows) could be tilted. This allows the focus plane to NOT be parallel to the image sensor (or film plane).

Originally the idea of these lenses allowed the photographyer to take a photo of some surface (a landscape... a table top... or anything) where they want everything on that surface to be nicely focused and adjust the lens so that the plane of focus covered their subject plane and you'd get very sharp focus from front to back. In other words MUCH MORE will be in focus that would happen with a normal lens.

HOWEVER... there are those who deliberately reverse the tilt and this causes the camera to take a shot where MUCH LESS of the subject is in focus than would be with a normal lens.

Since much less is in focus, it tricks the brain into thinking it is a miniature model shot at very close distance.

Tilt shift lenses are manually focused (always -- there is basically no such thing as auto-focus on a tilt-shift lens). They do have a bit of a learning curve (this isn't the sort of lens you'll throw on your camera body and just start shooting... figuring out how to get the angles right to create the effect you want takes some learning... although it's MUCH easier to tilt it to get less in focus than it is to tilt it to get more in focus.)

Also... tilt-shift lenses usually aren't cheap.