Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

“The Last 3 Minutes” on the Canon 5D Mark II

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“The Last 3 Minutes” (above) is a new short from Shane Hurlbut and Bandito Brothers. Canon sponsored the short to show off the new 24p firmware upgrade on the 5D Mark II.  I think it is quite a compelling film – not just due to the technical prowess of the 5D Mark II, but the artistic vision of Hurlbut and his team resonates in a way that many short films miss.  Be sure to read the full run down on the production of “The Last 3 Minutes” on the hurlblog.

If you aren’t familiar with him, Shane Hurlbut has served as Director of Photography on several major films, including Terminator Salvation, We Are Marshall and Into the Blue, among others.

The hurlblog is one of my favorite blogs to read.  If you’re interested in getting serious with video on your DSLR, you owe it to yourself to read every word Shane Hurlbut publishes over there.

 

Mastering HD Video with Your DSLR – New Book

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Mastering HD Video with Your DSLR

Mastering HD Video with Your DSLR is a new book dedicated to learning how to capture and edit footage captured with the new video-capable DSLRs.  Mastering HD Video with Your DSLR is authored by Helmet Kraus and Uwe Steinmueller.  The book retails for $34.95, but is available from Amazon.com for $23.58 at the time of this post.

More details in Rocky Nook’s press release below. [Read more…]

Canon 5D Mark II Firmware Update Version 2.0.3

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Canon 5D Mark II

Canon has provided further details on the new Canon 5D Mark II firmware, which will be available for download later this month.  The new firmware version 2.0.3 will enable the Canon 5D Mark II to capture 1080p video at 24fps (actual 23.976fps) and will change the 30fps rate to NTSC standard 29.97fps.  The 5D Mark II will also be able to capture 1080p video at the PAL standard of 25fps.  Additional tweaks include an histogram display for shooting movies in manual exposure, shutter-priority and aperture-priority, manual control over sound recording levels and a broadcast standard audio sampling frequency.

More details available from Canon’s website.

Nikon P100 Hands-On Review

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Nikon P100

At PMA 2010, I’ve had the opportunity to get some hands-on time with a number of cameras.  One of the most impressive new cameras that I’ve seen has been the new Nikon Coolpix P100.  To see what makes this camera special, check out the big hands-on review below. [Read more…]

Canon EOS MOVIE Plugin-E1 for Final Cut Pro

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Canon 1D Mark IV

The Canon EOS MOVIE Plugin-E1 for Final Cut Pro is a plug-in currently in development that is intended to allow footage from EOS DSLRs to be edited more quickly and easily in Final Cut Pro.  The plug-in will be introduced in a free Beta release in March 2010.

Key features of the plug-in includes the enabling of the “log and transfer” of footage from the 5D Mark II, 7D and 1D Mark IV.  Moreover, the plug-in converts Canon EOS DSLR footage to Apple’s ProRes 4:2:2 at twice the speed of what you get out of the box with Final Cut Pro.  Adding timecode, reel names and metadata to footage will also be a faster and smoother task.

Stay tuned for updates on the availability of the EOS Movie Plugin-E1 for Final Cut Pro.

“Chicken vs. Penguin” Wins $100,000 from Nikon

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Nikon just announced the winners of the Nikon Festival contest, which was searching for the best short film in an effort to promote new Nikon DSLRs with D-Movie functionality.

You can see the winning video above, “Chick vs. Penguin,” and check out more details about the winner Marko Slavnic, as well as word on the fan favorite award and more in the press release below. [Read more…]

Canon “Story Behind the Still” Contest

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Canon is holding a new contest for aspiring filmmakers that gives you a chance to win a Canon 7D, 5D Mark II or some Canon lenses.  Vincent Laforet has created a new short film, Cabbie (seen above), but you have to pick up with the subsequent chapters based on the still image provided by Laforet at the end of Cabbie.  Laforet and other all star film makers will pick the winning chapters after Cabbie for a total of seven chapters (six winners).

The deadline for chapter 2 is February 11.

You can get details in the press release below and over on the Vimeo group, Beyond the Still. [Read more…]