Sunday, 19 July 2009: DP Art Adams joins Director Simon Sommerfeld to shoot a spec spot on the Canon 5D MkII DSLR. I stopped by and grabbed a few stills.

Simon’s son Cary was pressed into service as the talent.

The 5D MkII ihas been built up with Zacuto accessories costing about as much as the basic camera does.

Art takes to a wheelchair for the dolly shot. Being a spec spot, a Fisher 10 wasn’t in the budget.

The 1st AC sets the shutter speed prior to the take.

For this lap-level shot, Art has to aim and simply hope the focus is correct.

The slate syncs double-system audio: Carey wears a wireless mic feeding an HVX200 used as the audio recorder.

Close up at the water fountain.

Gaffer tape secures the oversize foam doughnut and keeps stray light off the lens.

Playback on camera leads to much shading and squinting.

Art will be writing up his experience here on PVC; stay tuned.

Art and Simon will talk about the shoot and show footage at the Digital Cinema Society meeting on “Digital still cameras for Motion Picture Production” in Mountain View, CA, this Thursday evening, 23 July; it’s free: come and see it for yourself.