Canon EF 24-105mm F4 IS USM Lens for video

Do I really need another lens?

I personally think we’ll see the buzz return to the traditional video camera manufacturers 12 months from now, which is quite an interesting thought considering that the whole aftermarket manufacturing industry currently seems to have gone DSLR crazy. A dedicated 35mm video sensor would be designed with HD video formats in mind so would no doubt avoid the line twitter / aliasing issues which are the result of DSLR’s sensors providing too much resolution. DSLR’s are always going to have to cater to photographers first.

Canon or even Nikon may be planning on delivering an uncompressed full res video output from a DSLR, but they are always going to have to deal with sensors that are designed with still images in mind and provide work arounds to the huge resolutions involved.

I think the whole DSLR thing has been fantastic, it gave the video giants a big kick up the behind and made them move forward a lot faster than that might have done otherwise. They seem to be moving though so it’s going to be very interesting to see which direction they go in.

I did plan on investing in an EX1r for this years event work but I think I’m going to try and make my trusty 3 year old EX1 last one more season now and see what Sony do with this new camera and what they mean by “more affordable”.

The thought of an XDCAM-EX or better body offering the features of an EX1r but using a 35mm sensor along with the possibility to use various types of 35mm lenses is really exciting. It’s hard to know if that’s what Sony have in mind at present, but it would certainly get the attention of all those videographers out there who have jumped on the DSLR band wagon and invested money in 35mm glass.

EX1 – over-cranking and audio
I shot the majority of this event using my EX1. I normally shoot these at 720/25p and switch on S&Q motion (overcrank) from time to time when I want some slow motion footage. The only problem with this approach is that the EX1 doesn’t record any audio when running S&Q. I ran into a problem last year when the client asked for audio from part of a sequence I’d shot in slow-mo so needed another approach this year.

I decided to do two things differently, firstly I took along my Zoom H4n audio recorder and whenever possible asked the guys running the sound desks to give me a feed so that I could have a non-stop audio recording regardless of what I did with the camera. I also decided to shoot the whole event in 720/50p mode so that I could create slow-mo in post using cinema tools and be able to use the footage on a 25p timeline with audio should I need it.

Shooting at 720/50 when you know you’re delivery will be at 25p means you have to be careful with shutter speeds. I normally have my shutter on the EX1 set to 180 degrees which results in each frame being exposed for 1/50th second. If I left that setting the same when shooting at 720/50 each frame would only be exposed for 1/100th of a second.

Because I planned to export the video back to 25p I turned the shutter off, effectively giving each frame 1/50th of a second of exposure giving it the same amount of motion blur as 25p in the hope it would produce similar results once reduced to 720/25. This theory didn’t really work out that well, when I imported my 50p clips into a 25p timeline the footage didn’t look as fluid as I’d normally expect from 25p. Edited on a 720/50p timeline the footage played correctly, but when exported out at 25p I still wasn’t overly happy with the results. I’ll need to look into this one a bit further.

One other downside to the 720/50 route to slow-mo is that cinema tools can’t conform XDCAM-EX footage, it needs to be transcoded to Pro-Res first which could take a lot of time considering I had hours of footage. I handled this by going through the footage and creating a sequence with all my favourite shots in which I then exported out as a 720/50p ProRes file which was then conformed in Cinema Tools and reimported for use in my edit.

Custom bike tracking shots
I used my 5D & glidetrack shooter rig during the events custom bike show.  As well as being a very light and portable rig for tracking shots the results are some of the nicest looking custom bike shots I’ve managed at an event so far, I’ll definitely be using it again. Using the Manfrotto 394 quick release plates to switch between tripod and ground shots worked a treat too.

Using the Canon 5D
I made the decision before leaving to shoot this event that I was going to shoot the majority of it on my Sony EX1 with the exception being the tracking shots on the glidetrack.

I did however also want to experiment with the 5D so I ventured out a couple of times with it on a DV Multirig. One area where the 5D shines is in low light environments so I took it instead of the EX1 when I headed out to film a couple of bands and the party goers watching them. Shots such as bar scenes and people dancing on the beach being lit by the stage lights were brought to life by the 5D where the EX1 would have either been dark shadows or a grainy mess. I did however discover a limitation with the 5D that I wasn’t aware of before this event.

I was shooting some guys riding Harleys through the event ground with their headlights on and noticed black dots appearing in the middle of the headlights. On reviewing the footage these black dots appear anywhere in the image that’s ultra bright. This also happened on occasion when shooting the bands and a stage light would shine on the camera, the light would become a small black spot on the image.

I’ve mixed up things quite a bit in the event video, to me the 5D shots are all very obvious but I’m not sure they always represent the best looking images. The tracking shots of the custom bikes look good, but some of the crowd shots from the event have a kind of “mobile phone” look about them rather than the deep focus, ultra clear HD images that the EX1 usually gathers.

Manfrotto Monopod
This was the first event I’ve shot where I took the Manfrotto monopod along. In theory the monopod should be ideal in this environment as it’s fairly low profile and yet allows for steady panning or tilting shots when required. In use though I found the monopod to be a bit of a failure. It was easier to carry than something like my Miller DS-2o tripod but I found it quite useless for trying to get smooth panning shots. Fast pans were a little better, but trying to pan slowly resulted in a kind of clicking action from the fluid cartridge in the base that was very visible in the resulting footage. I won’t be taking it again.

Workflow
My workflow changed slightly at this event mainly due to the use of the Nexto DI NVS2500. For footage offloads I continued what I’d started on the ride to the event by offloading my media cards to the NVS at the end of each day and then syncing it to an external drive.

I did have one scary moment when the external drive I was using developed some kind of fault that could only be fixed by formatting it and re-syncing. This took a couple of hours to complete, during which time I felt particularly vulnerable knowing the footage was solely on the NVS hard drive but the device performed perfectly and allowed me to re-sync my data once the external drive had been reformatted.

All in all the shooting at the event went well, I had no major problems with equipment etc. The weather even started to look up, we had the occasional shower but it stayed dry for the most part with a fair amount of sun thrown in.

The shoots have all been done as per my DSLR Interview workflow post, the only thing I’ve changed over the last couple of days is that I’ve been using both cameras without rails, matte-boxes and follow focus. Because I’m having to move around a lot I’ve been trying to keep my cases as light as possible so anything not essential had to go.

Here’s a quick snap I took on the iPhone today and a screen grab from each camera. The Camera on the left is a Glidetrack mounted Canon 7D fitted with a 35mm 1.4 lens & Rode videomic. The Canon 5D mark II is on the right mounted on my Miller DS20 tripod and fitted with a Canon 70-200 2.8, Rode videomic and LCDVF.

I recorded audio using a Sony ECM-77 lav mic running into a UWP-V1 wireless kit and recorded on my Zoom H4n.

Click here to read the review and comment.

One thing that is a bit annoying when using Fader ND’s though is that it’s no longer possible to attach the Canon sun hoods that are supplied with the lenses.

While I was out shooting some external pickup shots yesterday I experimented with using a Hoya Screw in Rubber lens Hood on my 50mm 1.2 and 35mm 1.4 lenses. It’s quite strange using these on the fader ND because to adjust the level of ND you end up rotating the entire lens hood, it works well though!

The Hoya hoods are able to be set in two positions allowing you to use them with a range of lenses from medium wides out to zooms.

Unfortunately the Hoya hoods only go up to 77mm which means they can only be used on lenses up to 72mm in diameter because the Fader ND’s step up a size. Both my 35mm 1.4 and 50mm 1.2 have a 72mm thread so the 77mm Hoya Hood work well on those. On the 35mm the hood needed to be in it’s closed down setting so that it didn’t appear in the shot on my 5D mark2.

My 24mm 1.4 and 70 – 200 2.8 are 77mm so with a 77mm fader ND fitted the hoods won’t work on those as the required diameter is then 82mm. The 24mm would likely be too wide for the sun hood anyway, plus the Fader ND’s are not recommended on long zooms so you probably wouldn’t want to use the hoods on either of those lenses anyway.

By far the best feature of the Hoya hoods has to be the red line on the end – full on L series looks for just a few $! ;)

Buying in the US: B&H sell the Hoya hoods for around $25.

Buying in the UK: Warehouse express sell the Hoya hoods priced from £12 – £40 depending on size.

If you’re looking for Fader ND filters they can be purchased from B&H for $62 – £139 depending on the lens diameter you need.

My kit and workflow was exactly as described previously in my DSLR Workflow post. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to post a comment and ask.

Over the past few weeks I’ve played with the idea of shooting the whole documentary and the H-D event in St Tropez on DSLR. Today I’ve finally made my decision and have chosen not to shoot on DSLR after all.

Anyone who shoots regularly on DSLR knows by now that they have certain technical limitations that regular video cameras do not suffer from as badly. Things like aliasing artefacts, moire and excessive rolling shutter all effect these cameras more than regular video cameras but none of those is the reason why I’ve decided against them.

As much as I like the images from my 5D and 7D I’ve started realising that somethings missing from my walk around shooting lately, something that is more important than any tech spec, shooting mode or even shallow depth of field. What I’ve come to realise is that when I’m walking around with a DSLR I’m not getting inspired as much! Let me explain…

When I go out and about with my EX1 I usually experiment with various angles, I often position the camera low to the ground and I’m always looking at the LCD watching for shots that inspire me and adjusting to perfect those shots. When I’m mobile with a DSLR though that doesn’t seem to be happening as much. Outside in the sunlight I use either a Z-Finder or an LCDVF and the only way they work is fixed to the front of my head!

I find that only being able to monitor my DSLR shots by having the camera at head height is limiting my creativity and causing me to become less inspired when shooting.

I’m hoping that the new mini-monitors form SmallHD and Marshall will change this, it really depends how portable and easy to view in daylight they are.  Having one of these atop the camera with the ability to adjust them to various angles should bring back the visual feedback I miss but until I get chance to try those out I’m turning back to the EX1 for my main camera on this job.

I’m still taking the 5D and my Glidetrack shooter as well as I know there will be times when they will give me more creative options, but for this job the EX1 will remain my main walk around camera.

I’ve created two video tutorials showing two different approaches to conforming video clips with Cinema Tools, one describing batch conforming and the other showing how to conform individual clips from within Final Cut Pro.

Click here to read more and comment.

Here’s some info from SmallHD….

This monitor was designed from the ground up to meet the needs of the HDSLR videographer. The DP-SLR measures 4”x6”x1” and weighs in at only 10oz (284g). This small, lightweight package makes it very easy to shoot on the run without first taking a bodybuilding course.

Within the small 5.6” diagonal screen the DP-SLR packs a whopping 1280 x 800 resolution. At 270 pixels-per-inch (ppi), this translates into near laser printer quality. To put this into perspective, the new 27” (2560 x 1440) iMac runs about 109ppi. The DP-SLR has over 2.5 times the pixel density. It is hard to describe how this looks. Hopefully you will be able to see for yourself at NAB. We thought about providing pictures, but you literally don’t have a computer display that would do it justice. You’d be like my grandma watching Blu-ray on her 4×3 SD TV… just wondering what all the fuss is about. (As a side note, we did have one customer return a DP1 because it was “too sharp”— He will definitely hate the DP-SLR).

The baseline DP-SLR’s HDMI, Component and Composite interfaces can ingest a host of signals. So far it has been compatible with every camera tested. Hopefully we will get to test a lot more cameras at NAB. 3G HD/SDI comes on the upgraded model and maintains all the features, inputs and specs of the baseline DP-SLR (with the exception of a few grams of weight).

We maintained our commitment to strength and style with solid aluminum construction and four tapped ¼-20 mount points. However, we continue to explore every possible way to lighten the package. This process is ongoing as we continue to push the manufacturing envelope.

A monitor is not much use without portable power. The DP-SLR can accept voltages from 5v to18v, which opens the door to virtually any DC source. By only consuming 6 watts, the DP-SLR runs up to 4 hours on the standard SmallHD battery. Activated at the touch of a button, the on-screen battery-life indicator will give you confidence that your monitor won’t die in the middle of a shot.

The natural placement of the chick-wheel control allows you to operate the DP-SLR with the patented snap-in sun hood attached at all times. Gone are the days when you had to back away from the screen to figure out which button to press or knob to adjust. Just lose yourself in the amazing image you are about to capture and navigate the menus with a single finger.

Here are a few of the software features included with the DP-SLR.

• Battery Life Indicator
• One-to-one
• Image Flip
• Freeze Frame
• Blue Gun
• Camera Presets
• and many more

We expect to begin shipping near the end of June. Orders will be filled on a first come first serve basis. The SmallHD store will be open for DP-SLR orders on April 12^th. DP-SLR pricing will be announced at NAB (and SmallHD.com) on April 12^th.