Category: Technology

2.5k CinemaScope anamorphic raw on the 5D Mark III

Monday, 20 May, 2013 20:33

Get the EOSHD Anamorphic Shooter’s Guide for a comprehensive guide to anamorphic lenses, which ones to use, how to get them and how to shoot

Download the 2.5k 2560×1280 Vimeo file and playback on a 2.5K or 4K display for best results

Download a pack of DNG frames from the original raw files to judge quality

The spec sheet is impressive. 14bit linear bayer raw is sub-sampled from a 6K sensor, giving 1280 lines of extremely clean resolution with an anamorphic compliant 4:3 aspect ratio.

This is in a similar league to the image quality of the Sony F35 (Superman Returns, Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland) which cost $250,000 just 5 years ago.

Easier 5D Mark III raw guide in 4 steps

Thursday, 16 May, 2013 23:51

Click here to download this guide as a PDF document

Here’s a quick and easy way to get raw recording setup on your 5D Mark III thanks to the recent Magic Lantern developments.

3.5k Canon 5D Mark III raw video with Magic Lantern and latest updates

Wednesday, 01 May, 2013 23:52

These past days I’ve been trying to make myself useful to Alex at Magic Lantern, testing the DNG raw video recording on the 5D Mark III with a nightly build of Magic Lantern.

Here’s what the video quality looks like in the DNG video modes at 30fps.

Click the image below to expand…

Odyssey7Q turns wimpy Sony FS700 into monstrous 4K raw crunching beast with 15 stops DR!!

Wednesday, 10 April, 2013 13:25

Super charged specs!

1-60fps 4K raw to DPX format
120fps 4K raw burst mode
240fps 2K raw continuous to Cinema DNG (would love to see the file sizes on that!!)
Single 3G HD-SDI link

You won’t need Sony’s own expensive raw recorder for the F5 to get 4K raw on the FS700. The camera firmware will step it up to being able to deliver 4k over a single 3G HD-SDI connection to the affordable Odyssey7Q monitor / recorder.

Is this the Blackmagic 4K sensor? Same supplier as Leica M CMOS

Tuesday, 09 April, 2013 16:29

UPDATE: More details here

Last year I found a sensor which seemed a perfect match for future 4K Blackmagic Cinema Cameras. I contacted the supplier CMOSIS who quoted me a rough price point which made 4K for $4K within reach. CMOSIS are a European company who are mass producing the full frame CMOS sensor in the new Leica M so they are an extremely reliable and high regarded supplier with experience of mass production for the photographic market.

Making sense of the new Blackmagic Production Camera and Pocket Cinema Camera

Monday, 08 April, 2013 23:25

For the second NAB in succession Blackmagic are bulldozing down the image quality / price barrier for film production. 4K compressed raw, global shutter and Super 35mm was the unique preserve of Sony with the F55 until today, and that was a $36,000 camera. This is a $4000 one. Gone is that extra margin – unsettling stuff for the big guys. Here’s my own personal look at the cameras and the consequences.

MoVI set to revolutionise filmmaking – Vincent LaForet shows gyro stabiliser by Freefly Systems (with footage from GH3 and 1D C)

Friday, 05 April, 2013 11:45

Check out the GH3 MoVI footage and donate to charity – $3 at Vimeo On Demand

There’s more – particularly on how the wireless video monitoring and camera operators work with the MoVI – by Timur Civan here

If you’ve ever wanted to pull off just about any camera move with a tiny handheld rig, that just became reality. Potentially replacing the traditional steadicam at a stroke the tiny lightweight MōVI (easier to Google as “MoVI”) is a gyro stabilised platform with gimbal and hand grip. It appears to be so effective it allows you to execute a tracking shot without a track, a pan / tilt without a tripod and a dolly shot without a dolly!

First 4K Canon 1DC drone flight (and FS700 / C300 also gets airborne)

Thursday, 04 April, 2013 15:30

The Canon 1D C has taken to the skies for the first time thanks to Perspective Aerials founder Anthony Jacobs, who has just stepped up their drone to fly heavier cameras. The new rig has a custom built RC follow focus by Anthony Lenzo of Air Sea Land (ASL).

Spellbinding 1200fps slow motion from the Phantom Flex and the mysterious 65mm Phantom 65 Gold

Tuesday, 02 April, 2013 16:51

Cheetahs at 1200fps on Vimeow

I love slow mo and it is great to be able to do it now on the Nikon 1 series at 400fps, albeit limited to a low-fi look (the 1200fps on that camera is extremely low resolution!). Now the technique has gone 65mm – yes medium format sized. The Phantom 65 Gold is a 14bit raw 4K cinema camera. It can shoot 200fps in 4K mode, 396fps in 2K anamorphic (2.35:1 – 2048 x 872) and up to 718fps at lower resolutions.

Switronix TorchLED BOLT variable temperature LED light review

Wednesday, 27 March, 2013 02:22

See the full specs of the Switronix TorchLED BOLT and accessories here

LEDs are in my opinion the future of cinema lighting. Until now though I’ve not been too satisfied with the throw of light they produce. Too short, too directional and the character of the light isn’t the most flattering. The BOLT has been designed with input from filmmakers and contains two sets of LEDs of different temperatures and you can mix the temperatures.

What’s it like?

Radioactivity – my 400fps shoot with the Nikon V1

Wednesday, 20 March, 2013 00:02

The Nikon V1 is a $300 camera – buy it now on eBay

High speed shooting hasn’t been possible on DSLRs until now. Again it is the much dismissed Nikon V1 providing the creative inspiration…

Nikon V1 – shooting 4K 60fps raw for $200

Monday, 11 March, 2013 22:27

Above – the compressed 2.4k version of 4K raw from the Nikon V1 (download the original at Vimeo) by Javier Sobremazas

The Nikon V1 is $220 (body) or $300 (kit) on eBay – get it whilst you still can

There’s a dark horse in our midst which very few know about, a camera which can shoot 4K raw at 60fps for $200.

New Leica M with 1080p out in the wild – and first look at video quality

Saturday, 09 March, 2013 20:26

Catch the EOSHD interview with Leica’s Jesko von Oeynhausenand and hands-on with the Leica M type 240 here

The new Leica M (dubbed type 240) has a CMOSIS full frame sensor, and a first for a Leica camera – video. Not since the Leicina 8mm camera (EOSHD article) has a Leica product been viable for cinema.

The Leica M of course is primarily a photography tool, but it is interesting to see if Leica have taken the same no-compromise approach to image quality in video mode as they have always done with stills.

Furthermore Leica are a company with no high end cinema camera range or video camera market share to protect from themselves (yes – never did make sense that did it?)

Nikon D5200 review

Sunday, 17 February, 2013 18:42

UPDATE: The HDMI output on this camera is uncompressed 4:2:2, for a leap in image quality over the internal 24Mbit codec! Check the forum for my ProRes noise grain sample shots

The Nikon D5200 is the best mid-range Nikon yet for video. What is more of a surprise is the relish in which it takes on the much more expensive 5D Mark III, Panasonic GH3 and Nikon’s own flagship the D800 and D4.

RED Epic versus Blackmagic Cinema Camera – Part 2 – Resolution and conclusion

Tuesday, 12 February, 2013 13:11

Above: the Epic with anamorphic lens

In the second and final part of this mini-shootout with the Epic and Blackmagic Cinema Camera, we take a look at the resolution chart.

Is the cheap Nikon D5200 a better option than D800 for video? No moire & aliasing and good detail

Thursday, 07 February, 2013 02:11

The Nikon D5200 is equipped with a new Toshiba sensor and appears to outperform both the new full frame Nikon D600, Canon 6D and even the Nikon D800 when it comes to video.

It looks like newcomer Toshiba didn’t get the memo “All DSLRs must suffer from moire and aliasing in video mode”.

Blackmagic Cinema Camera firmware update v1.2 released

Thursday, 31 January, 2013 02:28

What’s new?

Timelapse interval recording
Canon lens F-stop display on the monitor
ExFAT file system support for SSD media
SDI output now supports RP-188 timecode

I’ve installed the update and here’s what I think…

Sony F35 reaches $12,000 on eBay from $250,000 in 2008

Tuesday, 29 January, 2013 21:54

View or buy the Sony F35 for $12,000 on eBay US (this version is enhanced by Clairmont camera in Hollywood)

A Hollywood workhorse to this day, the Sony CineAlta F35 (also rebadged as Panavision Genesis) is a Super 35mm PL mount digital cinema camera and also an extraordinarily good deal on the used market in 2013.

It has 14 stops of dynamic range and a global shutter. It has taken CMOS sensor in the F65 a full five years to surpass the CCD sensor in the F35 / Genesis, which was used to shoot Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland, Superman Returns and Apocalypto.

All aboard the Juice Train, an anamorphic train journey from Florida to New York

Saturday, 26 January, 2013 00:51

Check out more of Andrew Wonder’s work here

Director, cinematographer and DSLR user Andrew Wonder talks to EOSHD about his latest anamorphic spot for G.E…

The technology behind the shoot is rather interesting. Two Sony F3 cameras mounted on the front of the train, remotely controlled and recording to e-sata drives in the control carriage, kitted out with Joe Dunton / Panavision anamorphic lenses from London.

Joe Dunton is a British Bafta winning camera equipment guy who has always held a great fascination with anamorphic lenses, and was one of Stanley Kubrick’s closest collaborators after A Clockwork Orange in the 70′s and provided Kubrick with his lenses on Eyes Wide Shut.

Sony FS700 slow mo goes low light with Speed Booster and the new SLR Magic T0.95 lenses

Thursday, 24 January, 2013 04:12

Please email SLR Magic here to order their new lenses

I’ve had a FS700 for a few days and tonight myself and Rudi of Slashcam.de got out and gave it a test run in Berlin. We only shot for 2 or 3 hours and after editing the test I had a lot of ideas for slow-mo shots that would have worked with the song – slow-mo is actually a great creative tool, not a gimmick. Had we the FS700 for longer then I think I could run with this theme of rushing commuters set to the David Bowie song Move On, which pokes a little fun at wanderlust.

Alas slow-mo is the FS700′s best feature. I consider the ND as a bit of a clumsy bolt on, the Sony F5 does it much better. I will consider the 4K output when I see it. Until then this is a 1080p camera.

I’ve also been shooting with the new SLR Magic 35mm T0.95 (Leica M / E-mount) and 25mm T0.95 (Micro Four Thirds / Blackmagic Cinema Camera MFT). Shooting slow mo in low light, you need them.

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