(Due to the length and size of this piece I am putting it up at 720p.)
Please note that Tiffen and Formatt BOTH make screw on filters and 4 X 5.65 filters for the matteboxes. I use a variety of filters from both companies - I use 1-6 stop Neutral Density filters as well as a few 10 stop screw on filters. (The RED One camera became part of our production a few days before we left and we had to scramble to find the appropriate filters in time - luckily both Tiffen and Formatt helped save the day in last minute fashion.)
Both companies also make graduated NDs and Hot Mirror filters that cut out infra red light when using the RED One camera. The 4 stop and 6 stop are the NDs we’re using most often. I personally like the 10 stop to use my 1.2 lenses wide open in sunlight. Also - if you want to stay very light and mobile - I recommend you use the screw on filters - I travel with a set of 72mm and 77mm filters for my Canon lenses - but you could also buy a step-down adapter to screw on your 77mm filters onto your 72mm if you’re looking to economize. I tell every friend buying a 5D MKII to: 1. buy ND filters right away and 2. an good video head (see the Gitzo G2180 below) 3. an extra battery for the 5D MKII 4. and look into audio (see previous posts for the Rode mic and other options.)
We’ve also been using a variety of Manfrotto Tripods and video heads that we mention in this Behind The Scenes on this project that have allowed us to pull of some very nice pans of Jamie surfing. I can’t overstate how important it is for you to get a good tripod set to shoot nice pans - and you’ll need the heavy duty stuff to shoot with the heavier RED and long Canon glass. If you want a simple setup to start off with a 5D MKII and shorter lenses - we’ve found the Gitzo carbon fiber tripods and the Gitzo G2180 Fluid head to perform quite remarkably (but don’t overload it or any fluid head with weight - unlike still photography you can’t really get away with overloading a head with video as your pans and tilts will suffer.) Another really nice option are these self-standing monopods by Manfrotto that I recommend you use with a quick release plate.
Check out the RedRock Micro DSLR Rig and long lens support that I’ve mentioned in the past as well as the Wicked Circuits EF Lens adapter for the RED One Camera.
I will be posting a DETAILED list of all of the gear described within this and the first behind the scenes clip in a few days after we put up the 3rd installment of the Behind the Scenes up (it’s a long list and I want to add links so it’ll take me a better part of a day to do and we’ve only got a few days of shooting left on this project.)
Wednesday December 03rd 2008, 1:31 am
Filed under: New Technology
Here is a quick behind the scenes look at the Canon 5D MKII - mounted on a Steadicam. This is a project that involves both video and stills, one that I’ll be working on for the foreseeable future with the Acroback group - a group that amongst quite a few things, is expert in the art of Parkour. Wanted to share this quick peak with you all.
Here is the link to the higher res version of this clip. Once again thanks to SmugMug for hosting the clip! They’ve been incredibly supportive of the Canon 5D MKII and my efforts - and you’re likely to see us working on quite a few upcoming projects together…
A huge thanks to Michael Fuchs and Richard Patterson for their pioneering help with rigging the RedRock Micro rig to the PRO 1 unit. I’m quite sure this was the very first time a the 5D MKII DSLR was mounted to a Steadicam rig… you’ll also notice an 800mm 5.6 in there from Canon as well. Many thanks to Steve Losi and Joe Delora.
The short film “Reverie” has now been seen more than 1,500,000 times in the past ten days and as a result Canon has been forced to look into alternatives to hosting the movie. The movie is now temporarily unavailable but we are working on finding another solution. Thanks for your patience - and more importantly - THANKS for all of the great feedback! - Vincent Laforet
P.S. 133,500,000 Megabytes have been downloaded in the past 10 days - the huge volume is the sole reason behind this temporary removal of the movie from their site.
P.P.S.: Given that the short film containts Moby’s music - YOU CANNOT torrent the “Reverie” movie as per our agreement with him and his record labels - period. So please be patient and let me find an equitable solution that works to make everyone happy.
All of these images were shot between 1600 ASA and 3200 ASA. These are in-camera JPEGs with no post production (except for the inclusion of my watermark.) Therefore it is quite foreseeable that you will get even better quality images once a final production camera becomes available - and once you are able to decode RAW images in DPP, Aperture or your favorite software - designed to better handle and minimize noise. Although I have to honestly ask: What Noise????
I think that the excitement over the video - has overshadowed the pretty incredible still image quality at high ASAs - I’ve never seen an image look this clean at 3200 ASA.
These images were shot with the exact same lens, position and timing as the video.
I remember shooting Kodak’s TMAX 3200 in college - and thinking that was a Godsend for photojournalists…. my how things have changed: some of these look better than the Kodak Ektapress 100 ASA Color Neg film I used back then as well…
In very low light - shooting at the aperture of f2 was the key with this prototype 5D MKII camera in my opinion. Of the three clips that were released - only one of them was shot at f2 - the one with Jimmy (the model) splashing water on his face. You’ll have a hard time seeing any issues of “noise” or other technical negatives from most of the footage shot at f2 (which is what the majority of the film was shot at.) Understand that almost all of the light we shot in was the still camera equivalent of 1600ASA, f2, 1/15th. That’s very low light - no matter how you cut it. (more…)
Three of the raw files from the prototype Canon EOS 5D MKII - files straight out of the camera - that were used in “Reverie” short film - are now available for download to your hard drives. (*Please Read Important Note Below for SPECIFIC LIMITATIONS OF USE.)
You will need the latest Quicktime player to view these - and many of you may have a hard time playing these at full resolution without top of the line systems - given the heavy amount of 30 fps 1920 x 1080 pixel data that is contained within each file.
UPDATE: We’ve broken 500 comments asking for 24p/25p - awesome. You’ve all made the point loud and clear. I wanted to share a few thoughts with you…
First of all - I’ve had a chance to work with a lot of cool companies these past few years - in the development of both software and hardware - and if there’s one thing I’ve learned (actually two):
1. You need to find out right away if something is technically (im)possible - is what you’re asking for something that the hardware / software can do… obvious - but easy to overlook - don’t waste your energy pushing for something that simply can’t be done…
2. You need to request only ONE thing… THE most important thing to you. And STAY FOCUSED ON THAT - so that they understand you are willing to give up on the 5-30 other features you are dying for… if you don’t do that - you’ll overwhelm them… and they’ll ignore you. Well they might not exactly ignore you - but remember that other people are asking for different things as well.. if you’re enough of a “pro” to ask just for one thing and let the other things go - they know that “the” one feature truly is KEY to you.
So for now… 24/25p should be the ONE request in my opinion.(more…)
Due to pretty incredible demand and a fair amount of (healthy) skepticism as to whether or not the footage in the “Reverie” piece is “truly” raw out of the camera, we will be releasing a series of raw clips - the exact same clips that were used in the “Reverie” short film - this coming Friday. (more…)
Keep in mind - this is raw footage (not RAW) from both Canon XH A1 camcorder - and a few clips for the Canon EOS 5D MKII - you’ll see that the two are toe to toe (not really) on bright scenes… but in low light - the Canon EOS 5D MKII is impressive - but common sense leads me to state the following: if the Canon still camera team and the video team have come together to produce the Canon EOS 5D MKII - the next HD camcorder they come out with - may just floor us all… these are very exciting times - to be someone who focuses on “creating” as opposed to the “process” and “technique” of making your vision match the “reality” of the tools you have at your disposal. To view the main movie (not the behind-the-scenes), click here: REVERIE
SmugMug has offered to sponsor the making of the next movie and an international search (and/or contest) for the most talented filmmakers, screenwriters, lighting technicians, gaffers, actors - you name it.
SmugMug will put up another $25,000 once we’ve proven that we can make this happen - and some other sponsors hopefully jump on board to guarantee that we will have the necessary funding and/or access to resources to make this come together!
You may now find 10 images shot during the filming of “
Three of the raw files from the prototype Canon EOS 5D MKII - files straight out of the camera - that were used in “
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