Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
It’s no secret that Canon is announcing something big on November 3. That “something” is expected to be some kind of pro-level cinema camera. Of course, we won’t know for sure until Nov. 3.
However, RED apparently knows enough to go head-to-head with Canon’s announcement. Jarred Land (aka Fire Chief at RED) posted news yesterday that RED’s Scarlet will ship before the end of the year. The RED faithful then exploded with follow-up posts seeking more details. [Read more…]
I’ve seen some forum and blog postings about the Sony NEX-5n having an overheating issue. As you can see in the above “Overheating Test” video, it records for over 23 minutes before shutting down.
Those large CMOS sensors generate a lot of heat. And while they are great for producing bokeh-filled cinematic shots, they can’t quite replace the endless recording times of camcorders. But camcorders can’t give you the awesome bokeh you get out of the NEX-5n and its ilk (of course there are APS-C format camcorders, but they start at around $2000 and go way up from there). [Read more…]
We’ve seen such a democratization of filmmaking over the past 3 years. ‘Bad is Bad’ is more proof of that. Kent Lamm and Chris Fornataro used a Canon 7D and a shoestring budget to shoot their first feature-length film last summer.
Bad is Bad is our first feature length movie. It was written when we were 19 and shot when we were 20. Our total budget was about $6,000. We filmed it in 18.5 days in Richmond, Virginia in the summer of 2010 using the Canon 7d (which made up a quarter of our budget alone).
Check out the trailer below. [Read more…]
I’ve been shooting a lot more video with my 5D Mark II over the past year. While I’ve been covering HDSLR video topics more and more here on Photography Bay, I’m wondering what the regular readers are doing with video on DSLR cameras. [Read more…]
The ArchRig system is a new rig and follow focus combo unit that looks to somewhat simplify on-the-fly focus adjustments when shooting HDSLR video.
Instead of a geared focus mechanism attached to the side of the lens, a metal arch goes over the top of the lens and use stop-pins to serve as focus marks for the lens lever. Additional focus marks can be made on the arch using a dry-erase marker.
Check out the video below to see how it works. [Read more…]
A reliable tipster sent in word that we’ll be hearing more from Canon in mid-September. It should be the 13th or 20th – most likely it will be Sept. 13 (Canon loves Tuesdays). [Read more…]
Canon 5D Mark II Deal on Buy.com
Buy.com has the Canon 5D Mark II in stock for $2279 with free shipping. It’s $2499 at most other retailers right now – although B&H Photo is giving $500 worth of video production Red Giant software with the 5D Mark II at that price, which probably makes the B&H deal worth it if you are going to be doing any serious amount of video shooting with it.
Mosaic Engineering VAF-5D2
If you’ve shot any reasonable amount of video with the 5D Mark II, then you have likely encountered aliasing and moiré pattern interference. Mosaic Engineering has built a filter that fits inside the Canon 5D Mark II and actually fixes these problems.
While there are some other niggling issues created by the use of this filter, it appears that the benefits more than outweigh the problems. Check out the video below for the full rundown. [Read more…]
Above is a short video that Nick and I shot using a pair of Olympus E-P3 cameras. Nothing fancy in terms of lenses, filters, matte box or follow focus. We just wanted to see what kind of footage we could get out of them straight out of the box. [Read more…]
These look to be official product shots from the Sony A77, which is due to be launched later this week.
More images below. [Read more…]