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(Page 3 of 7 pages for this article < 1 2 3 4 5 > Last ») Filed under: Cameras •Production •Tips • My First Shoot with the Canon 5DFor a still camera it shoots pretty nice HD
Camera assistant Satsuki Murashige demonstrates proper slating technique for young trainee Cary Sommerfeld The spot concept revolved around a four-year-old boy and his father playing in a park. Director Sommerfeld cast his four-year-old son, Cary, in the lead role, and Cary performed beautifully with only occasional lapses in emotional maturity. We found ourselves working at the limits of what the camera could do, which was both freeing and incredibly frustrating at the same time. Speed and efficiency were of the essence, and the 5D and its handheld rig were not always as cooperative as I would have liked. At the same time, though, the quality of the image and the reduced depth of field suited our purposes perfectly. My biggest complaint about the 5D was the fact that, in movie mode, the camera has a standby timer that toggles the camera into still mode in order to save battery power. When movie mode is selected, the camera’s shutter is held open and the LCD display remains on, drawing a fair bit of power. The standby timer seems to sense just when you’re about to roll, and with a “click!” it closes the shutter and turns off the LCD display. A quick poke at the movie mode button turns the camera back on, but the delay can be a little startling. I’m hoping that Canon can harness the predictive power of this particular circuit and use it to roll the camera instead of shutting it down. (I’ve since learned that there is a menu item that disables this timer indefinitely.)
The rig that Zacuto provided us for testing worked brilliantly in all but one regard: its first-generation eyepiece magnifying loupe, or Z-Finder. This is a conical-shaped hood that attaches to the LCD viewfinder by velcro, shielding the display from sunlight and allowing for critical examination of focus on the 5D’s low-res LCD screen. This loupe employed just a little too much magnification, which meant the eye had to scan the frame in order to see the entire image and made it occasionally difficult to see the recording indicator, which is a red dot at the top right of the screen. This resulted in some unexpected behind-the-scenes footage early in the day. The other issue I experienced is that the first-generation Z-Finder shifted on the velcro, and as there are no viewfinder markings overlaying the image (such as action safe or a crosshair) it was occasionally difficult to discern whether the black edge I was looking at was the edge of the LCD or the edge of the loupe itself. As a result some of my early test shots were off level as I was framing the image based on a frame edge that turned out to be the inside edge of the loupe and not the actual frame edge. Zacuto has a new Z-Finder that attaches to a hard frame, which is in turn mounted to the camera using strong double-sided tape.
The new generation Zacuto Z-Finder Otherwise, the Zacuto rifle-style rig worked very well for this camera. It didn’t take all of the weight off of my forearms but it did help considerably by shifting some of it to the front of my shoulder. Also, holding the rig tight against my shoulder made it very steady and easy to operate. A bit about focus and donuts, on the next page…
(Page 3 of 7 pages for this article < 1 2 3 4 5 > Last ») 
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The Best of Stunning Good LooksA directory of my best articles, sorted by topic.
This entry is a guide to my best articles, sorted by topic. Enjoy! |
ASSIMILATE Announces Breakthrough 48 FPS Playback of RAW RED EPIC Stereo StreamsIn SCRATCH and SCRATCH Lab
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Gear In 60 Seconds – Nauticam NA-60DGetting watery trick shots with this DSLR housing
Here’s another FreshDV Gear in 60 Seconds video, on the Nauticam NA-60D housing for… |
Redrock Micro’s ultraCage for the C300New Cage Fits New Camera Like A Glove
At the 11th Annual San Francisco SuperMeet, I was able to actually lay hands on the |
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