Mastering the Split Diopter Shot: The Cinematographer’s Visual Tool
The split diopter—a partial convex lens affixed to one side of a camera’s primary lens—enables two distinct planes of focus within a single frame. Unlike conventional deep focus, it doesn’t deliver continuous sharpness; instead, it offers razor clarity in both foreground and background, separated by a soft blur line. Pioneered in the 1960s and popularized…
