I recently spent an afternoon at Wakehurst Place (owned by Kew gardens) filming various scenes with my Canon 7D and indslider mini. I decided to put an edit together with one of my own piano based compositions. The lenses used (with and without polarizer) were the Olympus Zuiko OM mount 35mm f2.8 and 50mm f1.8 as well as the Zeiss 135mm f3.5 for some of the static shots. These three lenses are very affordable and offer superb image quality combined with focus rings that are much easier to use for video work (Manual focus only though!). The selected colour profile was a custom one based on a Kodachrome preset found in the discussion here on cinema5d. I wanted to illustrate footage taken directly from the camera using a custom profile so have embedded two versions below. The first is raw footage with no colour grading and the second is the colour graded version. My colour corrections are quite subtle so it might be tricky to tell the difference but hopefully the clips in the graded version flow more seamlessly and have improved colour and contrast. Both videos can be viewed in HD directly on Vimeo.
It’s taken far too long for me to add a blog post about this video as it has been online for while! It was filmed during a lunchtime concert at Union Chapel, London using two cameras, a Canon 7D and JVC HD30. Not really cameras in the same class at all but it’s what I had with me at the time and simply had to make do!
The audio was recorded via an on stage splitter into a Focusrite Liquid 56. For those interested, the mic on the banjo is a Rode M3 which I can highly recommend to anyone! It’s an extremely versatile mic that works well on everything from acoustic guitar and vocals to guitar cabs and snare drums! (It can handle the high SPL with no problem at all). The mic on vocals is the standard SM58.
Hope you enjoy the video! Can be viewed in HD directly on vimeo or exposureroom.
After watching many of the online camera comparison videos such as the Zacuto ‘The great camera shootout 2010′ we decided it was time to make our own comparison video! This isn’t a scientific test but rather a way for people to see how similar (or not similar) the HD video mode is across the Canon lineup. We broke the test down into two parts. The first part features the same scene shot on 3 totally different camera setups. The idea here was not to compare the actual cameras but to see how different the footage would look with different priced setups. So these are the setups we used for the 550d, 7d and 5d mkII tests.
Camera 1: Canon EOS 550d or Rebel T2i with Canon EF-S 18-55 f3.5-5.6 IS (kit lens)
Camera 2: Canon 7d with Tamron 17-50 f2.8
Camera 3: Canon 5d mkII with Canon 24-70 f2.8 L lens
Very wide cost difference between these setups. Camera 1 setup costs about £700, Camera 2 setup about £1550 and Camera 3 about £2550. The point here is: can you see a big difference in the video quality between each setup? Yes there are differences but they aren’t all that noticeable! I feel the Canon 7d with Tamron lens differs the most. The final test features the Olympus Zuiko 35mm f2.8 OM lens on each camera. This was a chance for us to test the cameras with the same piece of glass on the front. The trickiest thing is that the 550d and 7d are cropped sensors and the 5d mkII is not. As a result we moved the 5d forward into a position that captured a similar field of view. Can you see a significant difference between the image quality? Personally I find the blue sky to be richer and slightly more saturated in the 5d mkII image but other than that they all look very similar in this basic test!
I want to emphasise the fact that the in camera settings were exactly the same for every single clip with the exception of the clip where the 5d mkII is set to f22 rather than f25 as set on the others. This is pointed out clearly in the video. Why such extreme aperture settings? Well, as you can see it was a very bright day and we didn’t have any ND filters that could be used on all setups with us so we decided to select an aperture setting that would allow us to shoot at 1/50 shutter speed to stick closely to the 180 degree rule. This couldn’t be done with the olympus lens as it only goes down to f16 so the shutter speed was selected to account for this. Such extreme aperture settings are not within the sweet spot of any lens so some ND filters are essential for outdoor bright light shooting.
Thanks for taking the time to watch the video and read the information above. Anyone out there considering a 550d for video need not be concerned that it wont hold up to the more expensive options. It will, and you’ll be left with cash to invest in some quality prime lenses and accessories (such as sliders, mounting options, follow focus etc). Still photography is a different story and it’s in this area (and build quality/weatherproofing) that the cameras really differ but any of them will do just fine for video!
The video can also be viewed in 720p directly on exposureroom.
I was recently asked to write some music for a short film. It was shot in the Worthing area on the south coast of England and was directed by Rhys Bendix-Lewis. It’s first showing will be this week at the Worthing film festival. I wrote a small amount of music all based around a central theme. I’ve attached a sample below for everyone to listen to!
IndiSYSTEMS are a US based company that offer a variety of reasonably priced video and film related accessories. These include rails, follow focus, shoulder mount and slider systems. I’ve recently had the opportunity to try out both of their slider (portable dolly) products. The indiSLIDERpro is available as both 24 and 36″ and is very well built. It offers very smooth sliding shots and is perfect for the HDSLR products such as the Canon 7D, 550d (T2i), 5dmkII and Nikon alternatives. The only problem is, it’s very heavy which makes it hard to carry around for long periods of time and it requires a very good, solid tripod. The indiSLIDERmini is much more portable and costs a fraction of the price (only $99 in basic version!). I can carry it around all day with my tripod and it’s no big issue! It’s isn’t as well built, is short and not quite as smooth as the bigger brother but I feel it’s a perfect solution for solo operators. I had mine delivered to a UK address for a very reasonable shipping cost (I think it was about $15) and it arrived within 4 days of ordering! Highly recommended product!
Take a look at the short video below filmed at Nymans gardens, Sussex. Features music from the 2006 film ‘Crash’ by Mark Isham.
Today I had the opportunity to do some work with a young singer/songwriter by the name of Grace Saif. She has a fantastic voice and is progressing very well as a songwriter!
We recorded and filmed this song of hers very quickly this afternoon using the Lauten Clarion LDC microphone in figure of 8 pattern for vocals (the pattern helps to reject some more acoustic guitar than cardioid or omni) into the Focusrite Liquid 56 (preamp set to Neve emulation) and the acoustic DI’ed for better separation. The video was filmed using the Canon 7D with Tamron 17-50 f2.8 lens. All mixed and edited in Logic and Final Cut.
Thanks for reading and enjoy the song! Embedded in medium here but also available in HD on exposureroom.
