50.94 Is Not A Valid Frame Rate

I recently had a fellow motion graphics artist asked me what format used a 50.94 fps frame rate, as a client had requested delivery at this rate. 50.94 is obviously a typo based on 59.94 fps (the field rate for NTSC, and the North American speed favored for some HD media such as 720p for sports and news). But a quick Google search turned it up in multiple places where people should know better. For example, I found it in:

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“Lens Wacking” to Create Video Flares

Mitch over at Planet5D compiled a nice set of videos and emails (including step-by-step instructions and useful tips) from those who have been experimenting with “lens wacking” - detaching the lens slightly from a camera to allow light leaks around the edges to hit the sensor. This results in broad colored streaks that look different than your typical lens flare. As 5D owner who finally sent his camera back to Canon to get rid of stubborn dust-on-sensor (and in viewfinder) issues, I cringe a bit at this idea, but it’s a nice artsy effect. Click through and read on.

102 Year Old Lens on a Canon 5D mkII

A lot of people have been following the exploits of Timur Civan as he plays with a 1908 Wollensak Cine-Velostigmat f5 lens that a friend of his - “a brilliant Russian lens technician and owner of Panorama Camera Center” - modified to mount onto his Canon 5D (although of course any camera with interchangeable lenses would be a candidate for such surgery). The results have a lovely combination of vignetting, glow, and flare. Here’s a few links so you can catch up on the fun, including still images plus video results:

Canon Develops Ultra-Large, Ultra Low-Light, Video-Capable Sensor

The astute folks over at DP Review assembled a series of press releases about Canon’s 202 x 205 mm CMOS sensor (compared to 36 x 24 mm for the 5DmkII), which they claim can operate at 60 fps, and requires only 0.3 lux of available light (“roughly one-half the brightness of a moonlit night”). The pixel resolution has not been announced, nor has compatible lenses. In general, the larger the “pixels” (photosite receptors), the higher the sensitivity to light, and the better low-light performance. Larger sensor sizes also result in shallower depths of fields, all else being equal. According to Canon, “potential applications for the new high-sensitivity CMOS sensor include the video recording of stars in the night sky and nocturnal animal behavior.” Plus I’m sure we can think of a lot more…

Canon Rebel T2i / EOS 550D

The intertubes are buzzing this week with the announcement of the Canon Rebel T2i (also known as the EOS 550D in Europe).

In short, it has an APS-C format sensor that is similar to the Canon 7D (which means it’s roughly the size of a motion picture film frame, for “filmic” depth of field), accepts EF and EF-S lenses, and shoots video at a pleasing variety of frame rates and sizes with “full manual control”:

• 1920 x 1080 (Full HD): 30p (29.97) / 24p (23.976) / 25p
• 1280 x 720: 60p (59.94) / 50p
• 640 x 480 (SD): 60p (59.94) / 50p)

The good folks at Digital Photography Review already have online a still-image-focused 13-page preview based on a pre-production unit (if you’re seeing only 1 page, use the popup at the top or the Actions > Previous/Next buttons at the bottom to navigate).

Price? $800 without lens; $900 with.

Canon 5D Mark II + 2010 = 24, 25 fps

I like my Canon 5D Mark II - it shoots great stills, and it also shoots more than passable HD video. I’m personally a fan of working at frame rate of 30p, so I didn’t even mind this limitation all that much, but I have to admit I was irked when the 7D - and then the 1D Mark IV - were announced with a much wider range of frame rates (and frame sizes). So I was feeling considerably better about my purchase after Canon Europe, UK, and Australia announced a firmware update for the 5D that will support 24 and 25 fps HD capture (as of the time I write this, a search does not turn up a similar announcement on the Canon USA site - thus my delay in learning about it).

A Bird in the Hand…

The problem with technology is that “something even better” will almost inevitably come out - often after you’ve already pulled the trigger and bought something you thought was more than sufficient. Case in point: I just bought a Canon 5D Mark II (and love it), but Canon has just announced the 7D (which looks awfully good on paper - maybe “even better”). Excuse me for a moment while I wrestle with my personal demons on the subject (or failing that, enjoy Philip Bloom’s lovely test video on Vimeo, shot with a 7D - more on that later).

After Effects 9.0.1 Update

If you have After Effects CS4 (aka version 9.0), and if you haven’t already gotten into the reflexive habit of dismissing the dreaded Adobe Updater every time it appears, then you might like to know that an update - 9.0.1 - is now available. You can trigger an update from inside After Effects CS4 by selecting Help > Updates. (It will try to update all CS4 applications as a default; if you are in a hurry, you can disable some updates in its options.)

Here is the list of bugs that were addressed according to the release notes:

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