The BEASTgrip DoF Adapter
Want to turn your smartphone into a BEAST? Maybe you want a shallow depth of field and you want it on your smartphone… just because you can.
The best way to do that is to use a BeastGrip DoF Adapter.
The Patented DOF Adapter (there’s also a MK 2) allows you to use an SLR/DSLR & Cinema lens with the smartphone camera that you have in your pocket.
With the DoF adapter you can create bokeh, shallow depth-of-field – all part of that film-style look you are lusting after. The device also gives you the ability to pull focus manually.
Whereas the original version came out in 2015, the MK 2 started life 2 years alter in 2017, after a successful kickstarter campaign raised over $150,000.
“The DOF Adapter MK2 incorporates a new patent-pending system with a rotating barrel and unique locking mechanism to easily frame the focusing screen and at the same time align the bayonet mount and SLR/DSLR lens in the correct orientation to see your lens measurements like on a professional camera.” BeastGrip
Why do you need one?
If you are dedicated to photography or cinematography on your smartphone, then this is one of the best additions you can get to add a shallow depth of field. Shallow DoF is something you will otherwise struggle to achieve on a smartphone, as the lenses are so wide and the aperture too small.
Below, we hear from a YouTuber who normally uses a DSLR but finds that one of the advantages of using a smartphone instead is video colour. Mrwhosetheboss suggests that when using FiLMiC Pro (natural setting), a Samsung and Beastgrip DoF adapter the produced video needs no extra colour.
And this is an excellent point – smartphones are designed to provide an appealing colour without the need of filters or extra colouring work. So we should absolutely use this to our advantage.
“The colour grading here is cinema quality” Mrwhosetheboss, YouTube
I could just buy a DSLR
You could, that’s true. But you might find you have to pay more than for the adapter. Plus the body of the DSLR is probably going to add more weight to your kit.
But won’t a Moment telephoto work?
You can add a little extra shallow DoF with a Moment telephoto, but not if you want the more extreme version we are used to seeing. The Moment (and other add-on telephotos) are actually either below or just on the edge of the official telephoto lens range. If you want that true shallow DoF look you’ll need the DoF adapter so you can then add DSLR lenses.
Downsides
A DoF adapter comes with a few limitations. First there’s inherent light loss when attaching the unit to the front of the smartphone camera. To compensate for this (unless the scene is already well lit) you might need to add extra lighting.
You can also get edges of the adapter appearing in the shot. In which case you will need to crop them out in the edit.
YouTuber Mrwhosetheboss has tried out the BeastGrip DoF adapter, comparing the quality when used with 2 phones: the iPhone XS and the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus.
As you will see in the video, the Samsung comes out on top, with the iPhone XS creating problems in low light situations.
Here’s an example shot screengrab from using the Samsung S10+ and the Beastgrip DoF Adapter.
“The depth of field is fantastic. You’ve got really nice background blur. But what was super impressive was that even though we were now in low light, this phone handles that depth of field whilst keeping the subject pin sharp.” Mrwhosetheboss
Mrwhosetheboss says he was shocked at how well the footage turned out and shows the Samsung smartphone hardware remains one of the best for smartphone camera quality.
Check out out the video above. He also tests out the BeastGrip anamorphic adapter.
CHECK PRICE of Beastgrip DoF Adapter on Amazon
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