Posts Tagged ‘video’
Last week, my friend Kyle and I explored a cave at Garden of the Gods in Shawnee National Forest (in Southern Illinois). We documented our adventure:
It’s been over a year since I cut my last demo reel, and since I was tired of it being outdated, I cut a new one. Here it is:
It features clips from the feature documentary I worked on last year, Rite of Passage. All footage was shot on dSLRs (7D and 60D, with the very first shot from a D5000).
My brother and I have been building a snow tunnel underneath a massive drift in our pasture. It has two entrances (both about 10 feet long), and a room with a column in the middle for support.
We’re hoping to be able to see how long we can get the tunnel….We might be able to go another 50 feet in the drift, provided that the roof doesn’t collapse.
Here’s a video tour:
“It’s the best filmmaker’s DSLR out there right now.” – Stu Maschwitz.
There’s a reason he said that.
To date, I’ve had opportunities to shoot on four different dSLRs: the D5000 (we’re not even gonna go there…*shudder*), 7D, T2i, and now, the 60D (I sold a DVX and bought one a couple weeks ago). A few months ago, I compared the 7D and the T2i. The 60D fits in between the two, in price, size, and features. Well, on a lot of features.
But let’s not jump the gun. First off:
The Tech Specs
The 60D has the same APS-C CMOS sensor as the 7D, and, like its little brother the T2i, has only one DIGIC-4 processor (the 7D has two). And unlike its little brother, it shares the same control the 7D has in regards to ISO (100-6400, expandable to 12800) and shutter speeds (up to 1/8000 sec.).
Like the T2i, it records to SD, SDHC, or SDXC media. The 60D’s between the 7D and T2i when it comes to still frames per second, able to shoot at a little over 5 fps, compared the 7D’s 8 fps and the T2i’s 3 fps.
As for as the size, it’s just slightly smaller than its big brother, and definitely bigger than the T2i. I love how the 60D feels in my hand‚Äîmy hands are bigger than many people’s, so the T2i feels too small to me. The 60D doesn’t have as much of the bulk and weight that the 7D does, but still feels good.
Practicality
Okay, enough of the comparing specs… Video’s what we’re interested in.
About 10 hours after my 60D (and Canon EF-S 10-22mm) arrived via UPS, I left to help shoot an outdoor-adventure documentary in Florida. My 60D definitely got a trial by fire. Here’s why:
I was primitive camping out in the wilderness for almost 6 whole days (hehe…besides the night we got rained out), the main shooter out in the woods with a father as he put his son through a rite of passage. There was a wide gamut of shooting environments and situations to deal with, from warm Florida days to cold nights, extreme low light, bright sunlight, forest, brush, dust, sand, dew, and water. Lots of water. Including rain, flash floods, and a 16 mile kayak trip (and yes, I did have the 60D with me on the river).
There are two big things that set the 60D apart from the others. One, the flip-out LCD. Two, manual audio controls.
LCD
I’ve shot with the 7D. I know how hard it is to see the fixed LCD on the back, especially when the camera needs to be in an awkward position to get the best angle.
Enter the 60D and the flip-out screen. Enough said.
Most of that data displayed on the screen in the photo above disappears once recording starts, but it’s super nice having that histogram displayed for setting up shots. There’s also the option to show the camera level display, instead of the histogram.
Audio
With the manual audio controls, one can theoretically record high quality audio directly into the camera. The onboard mic isn’t too terribly bad, if it’s in the right shooting environment, but almost any other mic is going to be able to capture better sound. There’s still no way to monitor sound while recording (no onscreen meters, and no headphone jack), but manual control is a step in the right direction for Canon.
I attempted plugging my Audio-Technica AT-897 into it via an XLR to 1/8″ adapter, and that was a no-go. After researching the problem online, turns it that the in-camera amp on the input messes up the incoming audio if there’s no pre-amp, which caused it to come out as a bunch of garbled hissing.
After ditching that idea, I went with the on-board mic quite a bit (which was surprisingly not that bad)‚Äîand then discovered that one of the lapel mics we had with us actually worked. I’m not sure what it was about it, but I was able to record clean audio directly into the camera using the mic…I’m guessing it was perhaps due to the mic going through the receiver first (which has a pre-amp?). I’m not sure why it worked, but it did.
It’ll take more experimenting to figure out a setup that gives as good results as plugging an XLR mic into a camcorder, but I think it can definitely be done. For now, I definitely wouldn’t trust the internal mic for any kind of narrative stuff, but for documentary or capturing reference audio for later syncing, it works fine.
Buttons!
As with the 7D, many of the controls on the 60D are on the outside, not buried in a menu. That makes it much more friendly than the T2i. My only complaint about it is that the Manual Mode and the Movie Mode are way too far apart on the mode selector dial…Almost on opposite ends, and there’s only one way to go around.
Taking a quick glance at the back of the 7D (here, and here), then looking at the 60D (above and right), there’s not too much of a difference. The 60D is missing the dedicated button for white balance on the top, as well as the custom function button next to the top dial. But it retains the back scroll wheel, which is extremely useful in my opinion.
I think the 60D also improves on the back scroll wheel, in that it combines the selector button with the wheel and center button (the 7D has a joystick control just above the wheel).
Because of the flip-out screen, there aren’t any buttons on the left side like the 7D has. Canon did a smart move in putting the delete button far away from any other buttons on the 60D; it’s directly to the left of the viewfinder, below the mode selector dial and power switch.
Though it’s also missing dedicated buttons for picture styles, RAW/JPEG, and white balance, all of those important things can be quickly accessed using the Quick menu, which has a dedicated button directly above the scroll wheel.
Image & Performance
The 60D performed amazingly well. It didn’t matter if it was during the day in full sun, kayaking down the river, or at night with the only light source being a lantern or campfire… Even shooting at super high ISO speeds. You naturally expect noise when your lighting is a dim campfire, shooting at ISO 3200. But believe me, there’s a big difference between doing that on the 60D, and doing it on a run-of-the-mill HD camcorder, even a prosumer-grade one. That big sensor is a HUGE advantage.
And of course, I’m shooting flat.
Click on the thumbnails to the left to see full-sized screen captures from three video clips: (top) fireside talk, campfire as the only light source (using Canon 10-22mm @ f/3.5, ISO either 3200 or 6400, can’t remember which); (middle) hiking, near-noon sunlight (using Tamron 28-200mm @ 200mm, ISO 100 I think); (bottom) and my brother, single incandescent bulb (using Pentax 50mm f/1.7, ISO 100).
Though it’s a CMOS sensor with a rolling shutter, I didn’t run into any real problems caused by that…The only hint of a problem was shooting at the long end of my Tamron 28-200mm. It’s not a very stable lens when it’s extended out that far, and a bit of jello would happen sometimes if there was a lot of wiggling going on. Despite this, I was able to get solid shots at 200mm.
The 60D can autofocus during video recording, but I don’t recommend doing it. For one thing, it’s not continuous autofocus; when you half-depress the shutter button to focus, it does the normal hunt-for-focus thing it does when you’re shooting stills. For another thing, it causes the video recording to glitch until the focusing is finished.
Because of its size, the 60D was the perfect camera for a project like the documentary in Florida. It was completely portable, lightweight, rugged, and gave a very good image (shooting with both the 10-22mm, and Tamron 28-200mm). I was extremely pleased with its performance.
Lenses
Quick little blurb about the lens I bought with it…Originally, I was going to go with the Tokina 11-16. But I wavered for a day or two, then finally settled on getting the Canon 10-22mm, and was very happy that I did. It’s a very sharp lens, produces accurate and pleasing color tones, and it’s super wide!
I also got a Fotodiox Pentax K mount to EOS adapter, so I can use all my Pentax glass. So far, that’s worked quite nicely. The only issue with it has been that every once in a while, the video will randomly flicker slightly darker for a frame or two…Not sure what’s causing that, but I’m thinking it could have something to do with the dandelion autofocus confirmation chip…
Sample Test Video…
Before we finish up, here’s a quick narrative-style test video I shot with my Mom and brother. Yeah, it’s cheesy, but I wanted to shoot a scene with the camera…
Shot mostly with the Pentax 50mm f/1.7 @ ISO 100, with one shot using the Canon 10-22mm @ 12mm, ISO 500 (I think).
The Card Game – 60D Test from Chad Stembridge on Vimeo.
Conclusion
There’s definitely a reason why the 60D is being called the best dSLR for professional video. Looking back, I’m quite happy with choosing it over the others. It’s definitely worth the extra money over the T2i, and unless the added photo features are needed for pro stills work, it beats out the 7D for video.
It’s well built, is capable of making great images, and provides the needed manual controls for any type of shooting. In the words of Stu:
“If you’re shopping for a DSLR right now, for the primary purpose of shooting video (being familiar with all the pros and cons), what you want is the Canon 60D.”
I’ve posted about the benefit from shooting flat images before. I learned how to do it from reading Stu Maschwitz’s DV Rebel Guide, and today that very same Stu tweeted a link to a post he wrote last year, on the topic of how to shoot flat using Canon video dSLRs. If you’re into doing video with dSLRs, you should read it.
Just in case there are still people out there who think factory settings are good enough for shooting video or stills, here’s some more encouragement to think about it differently. I’m definitely not an expert; I just know that shooting flat works. =)
The past couple weeks, I’ve been editing concert videos from Sforzando String Camp. I’m sooo glad we were shooting flat (and by flat, we’re talking less contrast and saturation, to gain dynamic range and avoid clipping levels), because I was able to edit them according to what I saw in my mind. Had we been using factory settings, I seriously doubt I would have been able to do this.
The principle definitely works for stills, too. The following photos are examples of what you can do with a picture if you’re making it as editable as possible at the time it’s taken.
Both of these were taken with my Pentax K100d, with my Tamron 28-200mm f/4-5.6. Image tone is set to neutral, saturation half-way down, contrast half-way down, and sharpness half-way up (good ‘ol Pentax sensor needs it, otherwise I would probably have it turned down).
It’s extremely hard to believe that two-thirds of 2010 is gone… And yet, it is.
Three-and-a-half weeks ago, my friends Geno and Dominic DiMaria were here, Geno to help with the production of a documentary the following week.
Dominic sends a bowling ball flying toward some pins
The documentary is about Sforzando String Camp in Chicago, which I’ve attended as a camper for the past five years. Going into the week, I had been expecting the schedule to be busy, but not nearly as hectic as it turned out to be… Having around twenty interviews to conduct, classes to cover for six groups on six different schedules, and concerts to shoot.
All in all, we shot almost forty-six hours of footage, contained on these tapes:
And which will soon be contained on a new 1.5 TB Buffalo drive I bought specifically for the project (third from left):
After Sforzando’s week was done, Geno stayed with us for a little over a week, during which we had some great front-porch conversations (ever had any of those?), unique memories made (eh, Geno?), and some exhilarating (or exhausting) bike rides. That Saturday, we drove back to Chicago — Tyler and I were recruited by some of our friends at Sforzando to perform Mendelssohn’s Elijah with them on Sunday. It was definitely spur-of-the-moment, and though we both wish we could have had quite a bit more practice time, it was a lot of fun.
Sadly, Geno had to begin making his way home (to South Carolina via Ohio) a week ago today.
Geno on the night before he left, enjoying one of his most favorite foods
(besides sour gummy worms).
Lately I’ve been studying the craft of piano tuning, with the intent of possibly attempting to earn some money with it. I now have some tools, have been doing tuning exercises, and am thinking about pitch-raising our 90 year old Lester upright, which is a little more than a half-step flat.
Last weekend (Friday & Saturday), I chauffeured my Mama to a dulcimer music festival near St. Louis, where she took eight workshop classes for her hammered dulcimer. I got quite a bit of reading done.
So that’s been my life the past few weeks… I’ve also been working on a new design for this site, which will hopefully be finished sometime soon. 
Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted on here. A lot’s happened lately — I’ve been working on video projects in South Carolina, exploring Arizona with some friends, and among many other things, a little over a week ago I came back home to Illinois to try to start doing some work closer to home.
One of the projects I’ve been working on during the past week is the re-edit of a documentary I shot a couple years ago. I thought it’d be fun to submit it to a couple film festivals… Though there’s not much I can do about the less-than-good quality of the footage (I like to think I’ve learned some things since then), there are parts of the edit I’ve wished I could change — so I changed them! Thanks to the input of my family and several friends, the new version is a few minutes shorter, more concise, and the story flows better.
I do think it’d be really neat to go back to Shell Bluff and do a complete remake of the documentary someday. Just the other day, my Uncle David was telling me that Georgia Power dug up a fossilized whale when they were building some nuclear cooling towers nearby. That could make an interesting side-story if I ever get to shoot another documentary. If you’ve already seen the Shell Bluff documentary, you already know this, but the Shell Bluff site is actually about 100 miles from the ocean, on a freshwater river. There’re only two ways to explain this: either the ocean used to be high enough for saltwater creatures to have lived that far inland, or there had to have been a worldwide catastrophic event which took place.
The evidence points to the latter, of course. Just like Jim Evans says in the video, how else can one explain the top of Mount Everest being comprised of marine limestone?
At any rate, Shell Bluff. You can watch it below, if you’d like, or view it on Vimeo to see it at a slightly higher resolution.
So I finally got around to putting together some footage from my last glidetrack test. And yes, I need to practice a lot.
Here ’tis:
Originally written as a guest post for John-Clay Burnett’s ReelCast Productions blog. Check out my new review of the Canon 60D here, also comparing it with the 7D and T2i!
Three years ago, I would have never dreamed that I’d be shooting video on digital SLR still cameras.
But the technology is here, it’s happened! dSLRs have become quite popular for shooting video, and for good reason. Their larger CMOS and APS-C sensors are much better than 1/3″ and 2/3″ CCD sensors normally found in professional/prosumer video cameras. They can take practically any lens. They’re small, compact, and comparatively inexpensive.
For example, because of their large sensors and use of SLR lenses, dSLRs can achieve a shallow depth of field that video cameras simply can’t get without using 35mm lens adapters. After buying a video camera, 35mm adapter, and one lens, one could be spending well over $6000. A dSLR costs half that.
Canon is leading the way in the HDSLR movement. They currently make four cameras that are some of the most popular for dSLR video right now: 1D Mark IV, 5D Mark II, 7D, and the 550D T2i.
Of these, the 7D and the T2i are both under $2000. In fact, the T2i is under $1000.
A lot of people right now are thinking about switching to dSLRs, and aren’t sure what camera they’d like to go with. For most, the 7D and T2i are the first options, because of their price tags.
A couple of my friends recently acquired both a 7D and a T2i. I’ve had some time to work with both, so for those who are wanting to know what the difference is between them, this is my comparison.
Tech Specs
7D
From Canon’s official specs list on the 7D:
Sensor size = 22.3×14.9mm (APS-C)
Recording Media = CF card
Sensor type = CMOS
Pixels = 18.0 megapixels
Video codec = MOV, h.264, Linear PCM audio
ISO Speeds = 100-6400, one-stop increments
Shutter Speeds = 1/8000 to 1/60 sec.
Monitor size & dot count = 3.0 inches, 920,000 dots
Weight = 29 oz. (body only)
The 7D can shoot 1920×1080 HD video at 23.976 frames per second (it can shoot other frame rates and sizes, but this is the one we’re interested in). It has a bitrate of 48 megabits per second (which is really good).
T2i
From Canon’s specs list on the T2i:
Sensor size = 22.3×14.9mm (APS-C)
Recording Media = SD card
Sensor type = CMOS
Pixels = 18.0 megapixels
Video codec = MOV, h.264, Linear PCM audio
ISO Speeds = 100-6400, one-stop increments
Shutter Speeds = 1/4000 to 1/60 sec.
Monitor size & dot count = 3.0 inches, 1,040,000 dots
Weight = 19 oz. (body only)
The T2i can also shoot 1920×1080 HD video at 23.976 frames per second, at a bitrate of around 44 megabits per second (source — bitrate info at the bottom of the page)
Compared
So, as you can see, there’s not too much of a technical differences. The sensors are the same size, video capabilities are pretty much exactly the same, etc. The main differences are the weight, the monitor dot count (T2i actually has a better LCD screen resolution than the 7D), ISO control (7D has more ISO options), and the 7D has dual Digic 4 image processors while the T2i has one. Oh, and the price (T2i is almost a thousand dollars less than the 7D).
The 7D has a few more manual controls, as well. There are more ISO options than the T2i, and the ability to choose a specific color temperature for white balance.
That’s the tech specs, though. When it comes down to a decision between the 7D and the T2i, it comes down to the outside of the camera.
The Outside
For one thing, the 7D is bigger than the T2i, at 16 cubic inches larger. For people with larger hands, like me, that’s a good thing. The weight, too — the 7D is 10 oz. heavier than the T2i (without lenses). Generally, weight is a good thing, because it deadens shakiness and movement.
The 7D puts more of its control on the outside of the camera in buttons and dials than the T2i.
Take a look at the back of the 7D:
And here’s the back of the T2i:
The first thing that stands out is the lack of the clicker wheel on the back of the T2i, replaced instead by buttons. It’s actually amazing what all can be done with that clicker wheel. For one thing, it’s a lot simpler than the four buttons that replace it on the T2i. In manual and video shooting mode, it controls aperture.
The layout of the buttons is different, as well. The 7D’s menu buttons are on the left. The T2i’s menu button is on the left, but everything else is on the right.
Take a look at another angle. 7D:
T2i:
The 7D has an incredibly useful display on the top which shows aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, battery level, etc. The T2i has the mode dial on the right side (7D’s is on the left side), and no display on top. The 7D also has white balance, ISO, auto-focus drive select, and LCD backlight buttons. The T2i only has an ISO button. The 7D has a switch right beside the viewfinder to switch from stills mode to video/live-view mode.
It’s pretty easy to see that the 7D offers more physical manual control over shooting. The T2i was simply made more compact, and as such can’t have as many external buttons or dials.
Personally, I would choose the 7D over the T2i, simply because of its size and external control. The video features between the two are almost exactly the same, so the T2i does make a great choice for anyone wishing to spend a bit less on a camera of the same image quality.
Last week, I ordered a glidetrack. It arrived this morning via FedEx, and as soon as I unpacked it, I couldn’t wait to try it out!
So I borrowed Dominic DiMaria’s Canon 7D, put together the rig (camera, mattebox, glidetrack, tripod), and walked around shooting random things for a few minutes.
It became clear very quickly that the mattebox and the glidetrack don’t mix too well. The mattebox simply puts the center of gravity way too far out in front, causing balance issues, making for bouncing and less-than-smooth motion. I’m planning on doing another test soon, and will not be using the mattebox on it.
I’m really, really happy with the glidetrack itself. It’s the right tool for getting beautiful, slow movement for shots. It’s only 1 meter long, but plenty long for any slow movement. As with any piece of equipment, it’ll take practice to learn how to use it properly.
Here’s the video, shot on the Canon 7D, color graded using Magic Bullet Mojo.
