Jump to content

count_schemula

Members
  • Posts

    11
  • Joined

  • Last visited

About count_schemula

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Atlanta, Georgia

Contact Methods

  • Skype
    mcoupe33

count_schemula's Achievements

Member

Member (2/5)

0

Reputation

  1. I'm only with Canon because of the lenses I own. They need to think of themselves as a company that captures "images" and not in these rigid product categories they seem willing to go down with the ship over. I don't get the "news" angle either when there is such a demand for corporate, weddings and filmmaking. They still offer cameras that stink of moiré, use horrid codecs, lack 60p+ and seem firmware crippled in very strange ways. I think companies that don't evolve should be punished, I'm just sad I cast my lot with them a couple of years ago and they did not even try to keep up. For now, 2015, I can still do what I need to do with my set-up, but the writing is one the wall. I don't expect my changeover will have much to do with Canon's offerings. I'll miss my workhorse 70-200 f/2.8 L though. It's one of those cases where, yes, a piece of equipment did make me better at my craft.
  2. I mean to be constructive here... it's not much better than video off a cell phone.   First, get a second video camera and stick it on a tripod somewhere getting a clean clear wide shot of the entire band - in focus. Have a friend stand there and watch it if you are worried about it getting stolen or drinks spilled on it. Now you at least have a shot - always.   Second, get aggressive with the 5D Mark III shots. Move yourself physically to get good angles, close ups, compositions, rack focus effects, etc. Squat, lay down, move around. Embarrass yourself slightly. You are part of the camera. It's an extension of you. Either learn to get focus by 5x or 10x zooming on the built-in screen or get a top mounted field monitor to help you get focus. Maybe a monopod, but even an aluminum tripod that is light enough to move around easily enough could work.   Work hard and work fast. The camera on the tripod is the stable boring A camera shot. You are the fun varied B camera stuff with the close-ups of the band. I assume you know the music enough to know when you want to be on guitar, bass, drum, keyboard and singer.   Now you are in business. Lay down your A cam footage as the base, and come in over that with the choice parts of your work with the 5D Mark III.   Quick example: at 2:05, the shot lacks interesting composition. There are some drums in the background, sort of. The guitarist is the feature but he's not isolated enough either by not being in close enough or by knocking the background out of focus. Get in there on his hands. The whole reason to use (suffer?) a DSLR is to get those creamy DoF blurs that pop your object off the background. Will the band let you on stage? Imagine that shot if you were on stage near that microphone. Getting nice close ups of the guitar hands at work with blurry drums in the background and less bar wall.   At 6:23 I am supposed to be all into this guitar solo, but there is 3 times as much shirt in the picture.   Simplify. It's the blues. You could get away with just working the singer 80% of the time and guitar/keyboard solos the other 20%.   On a FF camera you don't quite have the reach with those lenses, so, ideally they will let you on stage to get closer. Maybe even sell the 5D Mark III and buy a much cheaper camera and some better lenses (the 70-200 f2.8 is fantastic - both IS and non-IS) . No real point in owning a great camera until you figure out how to shoot and have some glass to help you pull it off. A GH3 would have a 2x crop factor or a crop sensor Canon will give you a 1.6 crop factor. When I go to the race track, I still plan on shooting a lot with my T2i since it sort of gives my 70-200 lens the reach of a 360mm lens.   random pics I found on google:   http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow/images/a04/u2/2v/tips-writing-guitar-solos-800x800.jpg http://www.myguitarsolo.com/new/sites/default/files/BB-King-photo.jpg http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1-o9amjq8IE/UQFK8355SUI/AAAAAAAAFjg/TimzWiCgkzg/s1600/slash-gal-guitar.jpg   http://cdn.cnwimg.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/singer.jpg http://www.firsthdwallpapers.com/uploads/2013/05/Avril_Lavigne_Singer.jpg http://www.tradearabia.com/source/2013/04/21/singer.jpg   It's your first video, and there is no better teacher than doing, so, that's great. Keep shooting!
  3. If it's a video I really just want to watch, I use a FireFox add-on to just pop up a list of all the videos available and just download the 1080 one and watch it locally.   https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/youtube-video-and-audio-dow/   1080 video playback on YouTube has always been sketch.
  4. I already had some nice Canon lenses and a T2i so I bought a Canon 6d (aka the bastard camera with the moire issues) to go with it for a project I'm doing. I also "know" the Canons, so I was able to ramp up on the 6D pretty easy. If you makes you feel any better, I wanted to go with the GH3 but would have had to buy 2 of them and lenses for both.   Take it slow. Buy what you need as you need it. It took me a few years, but I have a nice audio recorder and mics, a nice light kit and a couple of Canons with a few nice lenses. I can totally sell off my cameras/lenses (and I might after these projects) and my audio and lights are still good to go.   To generalize, the dedicated video camera are easier to use. But I think you can have more fun with the DSLR.   I bought my T2i, an entry level camera for the most part at the time, and added a 100mm f2.8 Macro that cost as much as the camera and a 70-200mm f2.8 that cost a lot more than the camera. It's only now that I feel the true need to upgrade the camera a little bit. The lenses are every bit as good as they were when I bought them.   Same with you. I think a lot of these MFT lenses will fit a lot of fun cameras coming up. The 60p will be great for skateboard vids.   I went crazy trying to decide what to do, then I did it, and now I don't care. These are the tools I have, now, what can I do with them?
  5. The jar is about the size of a head. When the girlfriend came home I tested a bunch of shots with her but she would not let me put any pics of her on the Internet, so... you get a jar acting as a proxy for a head. This is untouched footage from the camera on a tripod using available light.   A still from the T2i footage (100mm Macro @ f2.8):     A still from the 6d footage (70-200 at f2.8):  
  6. Ok, so I got stir crazy (how all great decisions get made, lol) and went and got a 6d with the 24-105 f4 L IS. I came home and set the camera up and took some footage. My bookshelf edges were alive! Countertop edges were a beehive of activity. I went to bed rather depressed. The moire is no joke. The freaking camera can't resolve horizontal edges without wigging out. Wake up, brand new day. Did some more testing. My goal this time was to try and simulate some shots that I actually need to take with this camera. Things went much better. I was able to get a lot of good looking video, especially that nice depth of field interview look. When I get the face nice and focused up and blur the background out the footage looks really nice and obviously moire is not an issue for the background. Hair was useable. Not ace, but, if I need to fix a shot here and there in post I will suffer through that. I also shot some T2i footage today and it matched the 6d footage surprisingly well. You have to really look at the footage to see how it's not quite as sharp, not quite as elegant with the DoF. It should do fine as the b-cam. It also does not seem to suffer the moire issue as bad, so, I'll also use it to shoot some scenic and b-roll to help cover moire issues that are certainly going to show up and bite me at some point. I have total freedom on a lot of that, so, if I have to trash some footage, it should not be a problem. I woke up ready to return the camera and suck it up for the 5d, but will keep the 6d for at least this series of video shoots. I feel confident I can make the shots I absolutely have (interview / head shots) to have work. I still have the T2i rolling along with it. I will have to be pretty stern about coaching the client wardrobe and may even mandate that they bring a second backup shirt/blouse. The price difference (probably more actually) between the 6d and the 5d is going into lights, 2nd tripod and head and a few other things. I now own everything I need and can skip the rental house completely. If I went with the GH3 I would have bought two of them and I don't have any lenses and I have no experience with them. If I had a little more time, I might have gone this route. Sticking with Canon seemed like a good idea for this job. I had most of the 6d figured out in an hour and am comfortable getting around on it. I already have the interview darling 70-200 f2.8 L which I'll mostly use on the 6d and stick the 24-105 f4 L IS on the T2i. I thought this quote was non-sense at the time in its original context, but, I'll go with it myself now - "You go to war with the army you have---not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time." Anyhow, I know these kinds of original questions are pretty lame but my head was swimming with reviews, fanboi comments and freaking not stop YouTube clips of brick walls.
  7.   Because I'm stupid like that? LOL. No, that is, of course, pretty solid advice. I have four shoots (ie rents) in a row and I don't even have a 5d now, so, I would need a rental day to get to know it and figure out how to set it up and stuff like that.   Also, I need to cruise around on some off days and grab some scenic and b-roll. So, rental is just going to add a layer I'd rather not mess with. Even buying and turning around and quick selling at a loss would probably be cheaper and certainly less hassle.   Is your subtext though, go with the two GH3s over the 5d and the T2i I already own IF you only had the T2i and a few decent lenses at the moment? I do have a couple / few weeks to learn the GH3 and I'd have two so I could give one to my other camera op to learn as well. I'd also have to buy a few, mostly M43 prime lenses though, which is possibly ok, but a little zoom does make framing and set-up a lot more flexible.   There is another item on my wish list I could strike and make the question more of a 5d and theT2i I already own vs. two GH3 question ... Hmm. For some reason I feel opposed to going with one GH3 and my T2i. I'd just add another Canon or get two GH3s.   Thanks for answering.
  8. Considering the other things I also have to (want to?) buy for an upcoming video shoot, the 5D Mark III is a bit of a stretch. So, I'm thinking about the Canon 6d as the main camera on an upcoming shoot.   I have a separate audio set-up and don't do flash or studio flash photography, so those "issues" don't really concern me. The Mark III feels like I'm paying for a lot of AF and high-speed sports type features that I don't really need either.   Really, there are only 2 things that have me concerned: moire and resale.   The moire is really pretty bad with the 6d. But, wait, I watch the "test videos" and the moire is bad on things that really produce bad moire and I'm mostly shooting short clip interview type stuff (I can coach the clothing choices) and then having fun with some of the b-roll and scenic footage, so I would have a lot of control over what I was shooting and I doubt I'm going to just shoot roofs, brick walls and power cables. Not saying this stuff won't be an issue, but, I think I can avoid a lot of it, fix some of it in post or just trash the totally failed footage.   My other fear is resale. I can't lie, part of me was thinking, just buy two GH3 cameras (60p option, high bit-rate record, and generally pretty impressive video) but, the shoot is probably too soon for me to get the GH3 and get to know it and some lenses and I'm pretty familiar with Canon and I have some nice lenses like the 70-200 f2.8. I do have a fear that the 6d has a little bit of the DOA stigma attached to it, the video market may never warm to it and perhaps its resale market may not be quite as robust as a 5D Mark III or even the two GH3 cameras if indeed that camera gets a good rep with indi filmakers. Not a huge deal, but if I stretched for the Mark III, I feel like I could sell it pretty easily if I had to or wanted to go with the GH3 or even BMCC in the future.    For me the 6d would be a pretty solid step-up on the still side and I do take and enjoy taking stills, and a lot of the video I've seen is actually pretty decent as long as the YouTube clip is not titled something like "Check out this crap 6d moire footage!"   Oh and lastly, I assume that at some point, MagicLantern love with come the 6d's way? Does the 6d do the 160/320/640 ISOs out of the box? Also, the ability to use Clean HDMI out to an Atomos, dual card recording and of course this exciting RAW development means that I could get the 5D Mark III and not feel too put out.   I'm still not against getting two GH3 cameras and a few lenses. Again a money stretch, but, they have some pretty nifty video features. If I have to pull a few late nights figuring out how to use them, so be it.   Has anyone faced or made this choice?   Thanks.
  9. What kind of video? Hobby? Filmmaking? Corporate/Industrial Earn some money? Do you need lights, tripods, microphones, external recorders, extra batteries, editing software, computers, etc? Do you have any experience, or just starting out? Do you value still photography equally or even more importantly? I can comment on what I did. I had some photography experience, but was a little new to video. A few years ago, I bought a Canon T2i (550D) - pretty much an entry level camera with a crop sensor. The included lens was pretty poor. I also bought a 70-200mm f2.8 that cost about 50% more than the camera! I also bought a decent tripod, a spare battery and a few SD cards. For some photography I wanted to take I bought a 100mm f2.8 MACRO. The whole deal with audio on the DSLR was annoying so I bought a Marantz field recorder with XLR inputs thus moving my entire audio workflow away from the camera. Now it is a few years later and I may move up to a 5d Mark III with the 24-105 f4 L IS lens. My awesome 70-200mm and 100mm MACRO are still good. My audio is still solved. I have a decent grasp of what I want now. The T2i will become my B camera. I still want a light kit for some of my interview work. Guess my point is, define what you want to do and buy towards that end. You may end up needing a lot of your budget to go to things that are not the camera body and good lenses are often pricey. If you are mostly just starting out, no shame in buying cheap or even used until you learn enough to know what you want - it's not really a question we can answer. That said the GH3 looks solid. I wanted a 6d but the moire issue looks to be for real and made that camera a non-starter to me for video pushing me into the expensive 5d Mark III with either its new HDMI out firmware, or this exciting RAW hack from Magic Lantern. Sometimes I want the BMCC, but will probably pass. Exciting and fast moving times.
  10. 1. I have a complete field recorder set-up for the audio. Would not recording audio when shooting RAW help ensure smooth writing to the card, or is the audio rate negligible? 2. Assuming one can get crew and talent on board with working around the shorter clips and so forth, does this RAW technique seem feasible for interviews, or might it still be preferable (more reliable) to record interview footage with the normal record modes (or even clean HDMI to Ninja-2) and leave the RAW for nice b-roll, scenic and other non-talent involved parts of the production. Thanks!
×
×
  • Create New...