New EF Mount Cinema Lenses

One of the problems with shooting films on DSLR and a few other new cinema cameras is that lens choices are severely limited. Really, the only choice for a true cinema lens with a Canon mount is the Zeiss CP.2 compact primes at over $4,000 per lens. Up until now, the next best thing was simply using still lenses, which are very difficult to pull focus on, are prone to breathing when focusing and do not have gears for a follow focus to make use of. They also have an obvious visible transition from f-stop to f-stop. Of course, film makers have had to find work-arounds and make modifications--or simply accept these problems as a part of their productions.

Rokinon has recently released the first couple of lenses in their new Cine Lens series. They solve all of the above problems and have a consistent front diameter between lenses, which is a real time-saver when working with a mattebox and rail system. The 8mm Fisheye and 14mm lenses (T3.5 and T3.1 respectively) have been released already and the 24mm is coming any day. The 24, 35 and 85 lenses will all have a T1.5 rating, which is even better than the Zeiss CP.2's, most of which are at T2.1. Now, no one is saying these are better lenses than the Zeiss. They still do not have as long a focus throw as the CP.2's and the glass is not quite at the same level. Early reviews, however, say that the Rokinons are very sharp (aside from maybe the 8mm) and are great lenses--and the stuff they have had on the market for still shooters is top-knotch. Here's the thing. For an average price of only $600 per lens, you really can't go wrong using them for most projects. Low budget indy films will all be shot on these lenses for the next couple of years, since you can purchase a set for the same price you would pay to rent Zeiss lenses for a month of shooting. Definitely worth a look.

Shooting With the Sony FS-700

Had the opportunity to shoot some gun sequences yesterday on the new Sony NEX-FS700 camera. We were working primarily in super-slow motion, with the expectation that we will use a good bit of speed ramping in the final edit. Derek Arwood and Jon Minnihan (standing next to me) worked on the project as well. I will post the final edit here once it is complete so you can see how it turned out.

As far as observations with the camera. The workflow when doing super slow-mo is very different, especially when trying to move on a quick schedule. Because the camera needs time to write shots to the drive, you are forced to wait a while between shots. This, coupled with the time it takes to review slow-motion footage (which we did often)--over the course of a day can add hours of extra down time. At 240fps (the maximum fps at full 1920x1080 resolution), an 8-second capture (the maximum recording time allowed) takes around a minute and a half to play back at 24fps. It seems to write quite a bit faster than real time, but still takes a while. And the wait for shots at 480fps or higher are excruciating.

There are three record-button options for Super Slow Motion. In the first option, pressing the start button will record the next 8 seconds. The downside with this is that it does not allow you to see what you are shooting in real time. The moment you press the start button, it immediately begins showing you what it is writing to disk--the slow motion version. That means this option is virtually useless if you are following action. I should note here that we did not consult the manual, so it is possible I am wrong about this. In the second option, pressing the start button will record the previous 8 seconds (the camera is always buffering). We found this to be the most useful. Once the action is finished, you simply press the record button and it accepts that as the out-point. The third option is a combination of the two, in which the previous 4 seconds are recorded from buffer memory and the next 4 seconds are recorded after that.

The most difficult thing I found was the timing of shots. Any kind of creative movement requires planning. For example, I had a shot where I wanted to come out from behind the shooter's head just in time to see the target explode. In order to make that happen precisely, we had to do a three count. On two-and-a-half, I would quickly whip the camera (on a slider) out from behind his head in order to catch the target exploding as he pulled the trigger exactly on the count of three. All of this to get a final shot that looks like a nice slow dolly shot. There are also considerations when shooting handheld. On the positive side, it is next to impossible to shoot shaky footage. Even when running handheld, the footage seems very smooth. On the other hand, the minor corrections you do handheld, such as panning slightly past the subject in a swish pan and then correcting back to the proper composition can be problematic. Once played back in slow motion, it may take 10 seconds for the camera to "find" the proper composition. In the meantime, the viewer is watching something that feels very off.

These are just some quick and simple observations. The FS-700 is a great camera and the footage looks amazing. Any criticisms I have are far outweighed by the advantages this platform brings to the table. I look forward to shooting much more with it in the future.

GoPro HD HERO2

The GoPro is literally making a splash at this hilarious event in Germany. Check out the video shot entirely on the HD Hero2 camera. I recently finished shooting some new footage for a youth camp promotional video using this camera. I was very pleased with how it turned out. The shots cut together pretty well with the rest of the shots, which were mostly Canon 7D/60D--with a few Sony EX1 shots thrown in. You can watch that one here.

Canon DSLR Shooting in a Nutshell

A friend of mine who is doing translation work in the country of Tibet just asked me to give him the best settings for shooting video with his new Canon 60D camera. I gave him a very basic list of tips that I thought others who are new to DSLR shooting may find useful. This is a good starting point, though there is, of course, much more that could be said on the issue. Hope it helps...

SHUTTER
• Set the shutter speed as close as you can get to double whatever your frame rate is. For example, if you are shooting 24 frames per second (which I recommend), you would set the shutter speed to 48 or as close as possible. You should not change this except maybe in extreme circumstances or to achieve some sort of special visual effect.

IRIS (Aperture)
• Adjusting the iris will affect the depth of field (DoF) quite dramatically. With the iris all the way open, you will have a very shallow DoF and with it stopped down, you will have much more of the scene in focus. For example, if you set the iris to f4, only your subject will be in focus. If you set it to f22, both close and distant objects will be in focus. You use this to your advantage. In larger scenes where there is a lot that is important, you will want to close down the iris a bit. Also, when the subject is moving and it is hard to keep them in focus, you will want to close down. However, the thing that makes these cameras so good to use for video is their ability to get shallow DoF. Any time you are shooting a single person, small scene or a static object, try to open up the iris if possible to get a beautiful shot where only the important stuff is in focus. Outdoors, it can be difficult to accomplish this in bright sunlight since you often have to stop all the way down just to keep from over-exposing. This is where neutral density filters come in handy. They reduce the amount of light coming into the lens. I recommend the FaderFilter, since it gives you varying degrees of neutral density from two stops to eight stops in a single filter.

ISO
• Once you have set shutter and iris, you will adjust the ISO to get the proper exposure. You will want to use only multiples of 160 for best results in video mode (stills can use any setting). The choices you will have on the 60D, for example, will be 160, 320, 640, 1600 and 3200. At 1600, it begins to get grainy, though it is still usable when necessary. Before going to 1600, you should open up the iris as much as possible (without losing the ability to focus on the important elements of the scene). This balance between Iris and ISO is a bit tricky sometimes. With experience, you will begin to make the right decisions. I would avoid anything higher than 1600 unless it is the only way you can get a shot. It will certainly not be a very professional-looking shot.

PICTURE PROFILE
• If you will be adjusting the look of your shots in an editing program, it is best to shoot an image that is a little flatter. Therefore, choose the NEUTRAL picture profile or download the CineStyle profile from Technicolor for much better results. Shooting flat gives you the maximum amount of information and dynamic range to work with in post-production. However, it means that your shot will not really look good until you do color-grading. If you do not plan to make adjustments in post, you can still shoot with NEUTRAL or you can choose one of the other settings, such as the STANDARD setting.

TIPS
• The audio is not really very good in the camera. The best thing to do is record audio separately on a digital audio recorder when doing interviews or anything where the audio will be out front. The Zoom H4N is the most popular model for this, though there are a few cheaper options.
• You have 12 minutes at the most for any single shot. Occasionally it will be less if the camera begins to overheat. Be aware that this camera is not really an option for shooting lengthy events.
• Always use a tripod! Handheld shots rarely look good with this camera. If you do not have a really smooth fluid-head tripod, then you are better off doing only locked-down tripod shots for the most professional results.
• Focus manually. It is not necessarily easy, but will come with practice. You can keep the lens in AF mode and push the shutter button down halfway to find an initial focus if you like. Once you start recording however, you will pull focus manually. I do use the zoom feature quite often to check my focus, but again, this cannot be done once you have started the recording.
• Do not over-expose. It is better to under-expose a little than to blow out the bright parts of the image. The only thing really that should ever blow out is an actual light bulb or the sun/bright parts of the sky (or occasionally a window if you are shooting indoors in a very dark interior). Even that is only if they are background elements and it is absolutely necessary in order to capture a scene effectively. White shirts, white walls, etc really should never be blown out. There is a setting in the camera that will display blown out areas of the image by making them flash black. This only displays AFTER you take the shot, however, so I often take a quick still pict of the scene to see if I am over-exposing before I start rolling. Once you use the camera for a while, you will get to where you know what you are getting just by looking at the LCD screen.
• The lens is the single most important element affecting the quality of your shots. More expensive lenses will yield better results. When you can, you should upgrade from the stock lens to better lenses. I would start with the Canon 50mm f1.4 or f1.2 lens since the 50mm is the most affordable and one of the most useful. You can really shoot an entire production with this one lens if you have to.
• You will eat up battery fairly quickly when shooting video. You will really need at least two batteries--one to use while the other charges. If you only have one, there will be a lot of down-time.
• Find the interesting angles. Low, high, through interesting objects (foreground objects should be used as much as possible) and any other way you can keep it interesting. You also want to get as many diagonal lines happening as possible. For example, shoot a building from an angle rather than straight on. This will create diagonal perspective lines out of the roof-line and foundation that make the shot more interesting.
• People almost always look better when back-lit than facing direct sunlight. Shoot towards the sun when possible, just make sure you have a way to keep the sun from flaring in your lens. The sunshade that comes with the lens is often inadequate and you will need some other way to block the sun. A piece of cardboard shading the lens can work--or even your hand. Of course, the best option is to purchase a mattebox kit, which can be quite expensive. Just be aware that it is difficult to tell on your LCD screen when you are flaring the lens. This can create undesirable bright spots in the image or can make the entire scene appear foggy or washed out.
• Shoot a lot. The more you shoot (and critique your results), the faster you will get to a level of proficiency that will allow you to get great stuff on a consistent basis. If you only pull the camera out when it is time to shoot something important, you will rarely get good results. These cameras have great potential for video, but it really does take an experienced operator to make it happen.

Avid Comes to the iPad

I just read this article about a new app just released by Avid for the iPad 2. It is the first video editing app that I have heard of where people are actually positive about the user experience on the interface, so maybe it will actually be a useful program. For more on features, you can visit their site on the iTunes store.  There are some significant limitations, and it is really a consumer-level editor, but for only $5, every editor with an iPad will want to get this app.

The Great Camera Shootout

You will enjoy watching this episode, the third and final installment, of the 2011 camera shootout. It is very interesting to see how each film camera handles different situations. If you will be deciding on a camera purchase or rental for a particular project, you will want to watch these videos first.

Watch episode here.

Great Camera Shootout 2011

Zacuto has posted a new documentary which compares the capabilities of most of the popular film cameras on the market today. It is a very in-depth and scientific comparison that will give you a good grasp on which cameras work best in which situations. The Sony F3, which we used on our recent film shoot, is included, and I thought the results matched very closely to what we found on-set. One thing in particular that seems to be a weak point is the way it handles yellows. It tends to overexpose in the yellows well before it overexposes in any other color. We thought this was strange while shooting, and sure enough these tests found the same thing. Other than that, I thought it matched up well against the other professional formats when you consider the price range it comes in. Take a look at this documentary, which is in three parts. The final segment is due out sometime this month.

Using Facebook For Your Business

Lance Cummins over at NearlyFreeLance.com has quite a few really helpful blog posts about using social media to your advantage. I learned a few things about setting up a page for my business by watching this short tutorial video. Take a look at what he offers to small businesses while you are on the site. Great stuff at amazing rates!

Share Your Audio Mixes Using SoundCloud

Check out this great online application called SoundCloud that allows you to upload audio files (like you would to YouTube) and then share them on any of the social sites or on your blog or website. It is a great way to do client reviews of mixes or to create an audio blog. Church sermons too! The display shows up as a waveform with a pause/play button and a way for listeners to give feedback as they listen.

Downloading Internet Videos

I have known about this program for a while now and used it on a number of occasions, but never thought to mention it on the blog. However, I imagine many of you may have need for something like this to help you pull video off the Internet. It is called DownloadHelper, and if a video will play in Firefox, this program will download it (with transcoding) quickly and simply. There is an article today on ProVideoCoalition.com that talks more about it's capabilities. It is a donation-based product, so check it out.

Review of WebStarts Design Tools

While I really do not consider myself a web designer, somehow over the years I have created dozens of sites. Sometimes it is for someone I know or for a client that really needs a good website in order to display a video I am producing. Occasionally I have taken jobs on-purpose when I needed the income. I have worked in a number of different programs, from ones that simply facilitated HTML programming to others that were supposedly WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). Lately, I have done most designs in Photoshop and then chopped the design up into pieces. This is a horrible idea, by the way, if you want to improve your rating on search engines. Whatever the case, I have never really enjoyed designing for the web because it was always a drudgery.

When it came time to do a site for our film recently, I figured I would look to see what new tools were available--especially for creating something quickly and very cheaply. I was pleasantly surprised to come across WebStarts.com, which claimed to be simple drag and drop functionality. After working with it for the last several weeks, I can say that I am sold! This tool is fantastic. Although I have been tweaking a little here and there, the actual design of the site as it looks right now took me less than two days. I based off of a template (but changed the look completely) and without any instruction was able to figure out how to do just about everything in the program. Adding widgets or other HTML or Java code-based gadgets is unbelievably simple, and requires no programming knowledge whatsoever. With the exception of one little glitch that I was able to resolve quickly with the very helpful U.S.-based support team, it has worked flawlessly. I recommend you check out WebStarts and all of the many built-in functions and SEO-friendly features it offers. A basic 5-page site is absolutely free, if you don't mind the added text link to WebStarts at the bottom of the page, and full functionality is super cheap.

Good News in the Tape Shortage?

The big news in the video world today (literally today) is the tape shortage that is happening. Sony's factories in Japan are down due to the earthquake and as we speak, production houses everywhere are on the phone and internet frantically buying up all of the Sony tape stock. The problem is that certain formats are only made by Sony, including HDCAM SR, which is the mastering format used for any high-end production. It is also the format for delivery to television networks and stations. Expect SR tapes to be either impossible to find or very expensive, and other tape and cartridges (such as XDCAM) to be difficult to get as well. There are a couple of good things that might come out of this. First, we will once again be reminded how great it is to be shooting to cards and drives rather than tape. How quickly we have taken this "new" workflow for granted. Second, my hope is that more stations will be forced to accept programs as computer files (ProRes, for example) on a disk. With super-stable computer systems now available for playing the highest-quality video, it seems silly that anything has to be mastered to tape at this point (many places are ingesting it from the HDCAM SR tapes anyway). Life would be simpler and cheaper if they were to start offering that option--here's hoping.

We Are Pulling For You, Apple!

Apple is finally giving video people something to get excited about. With Avid and Adobe releasing some great products in the past year, I wondered if we were getting left in the dust.

The new Macbook Pro has some great improvements including a much better battery and a superfast port (12x faster than firewire 800!) called ThunderBolt. You can read about the laptop at BHPhoto. The other news that is out (not officially, mind you) is that a new version of Final Cut Studio will be out in the next couple of months and there are apparently some major improvements/additions. Although there is much speculation right now about what those are, we will wait and see before lending credibility to any of the rumors. Suffice it to say that it should be good--and it better be good if Apple wants to stay competitive in the professional video market. Here's hoping!

Super-Speed Phantom Flex Camera

The newest Phantom camera from Vision Research, the Phantom Flex, is even more amazing than the first. This one shoots full 1080p at over 2,500 frames per second. DP Tom Guilmette has a post on his blog of some stuff he shot with it if you want to take a look. Before you get too excited, the original Phantom was renting for over $3,000 per day, so it is not something you will be incorporating into most of your videos. Still, it is good to know it is there when you need it.

CrazyTalk Animator

Last year I purchased a simple facial animation software program called CrazyTalk 6. It sat on the shelf for a long time, but I finally had a job in January that called for it and it worked very well. It was quick and easy as advertised, especially the way it automatically creates mouth movements based on the audio file you import. Although we did have some difficulty getting a thin mouth line that was not aliased, it was certainly well worth the money. Well, Reallusion has stepped up their game even further. CrazyTalk Animator is not only for facial animation, but for creating full-blown environments by simply dragging and dropping elements from anywhere. Any still can be incorporated as an element, and you can also choose from a large number of built-in elements and customizable characters. And speaking of characters, it really is amazing the functionality this program has for doing just about anything with your "actors" in a completely intuitive way. Right now, Digital Juice is selling the entire suite of programs at half off. For only $164.95, you can be creating professional, viewable content today (literally). Check out the overview video and features on the Digital Juice website.

RED Ships the Epic

RED has finally shipped a new camera! Never thought it would actually happen--still no Scarlet, by the way. This is the Epic (#0008) being assembled with its accessories, including the new RED mattebox. This is obviously a fantastic camera that will see plenty of use in the motion picture industry.

Sony PMW-F3 Camera

Sony has several new videos up on its VideON channel that were shot with the yet-to-be-released F3 Camcorder. This is said to be a machine designed to rival the RED (despite not having 4k resolution), and I would say the images look comparable. Very smooth, yet crisp, look and able to accept PL Mount lenses made specifically for shooting films. This is certainly in the running for the format we will shoot "The Solomon Bunch" on this summer. We will be keeping an eye on its capabilities as it gets into the hands of more users this month, but I am very hopeful based on what I have seen so far and based on the comments by those who have shot with it.

Update 2/4/11: Just went to a special presentation by SONY about this camera and it is awesome. The options that allow it to record S-Log, their answer to RAW images, and output via Dual-Link SDI, are only available through a paid upgrade, but the quality and features are still very impressive in the base model. It comes with a PL-Mount adapter which means it is ready to accept cinema prime lenses with no modifications. A great choice for filmmakers.

Groundbreaking AF-100 from Panasonic

The video world is abuzz with talk of the Panasonic AG-AF 100. It is being sold now on pre-order and is already a successful product even before release.  As well it should be. If it lives up to its claims, it will be an incredibly useful tool for the independent filmmaker. This camera takes the good things about a video camera (XLR inputs, HD/SDI and HDMI outputs, ND filter wheel, viewfinder, anti-aliasing, etc.) and the good things about a DSLR (large sensor, large sensor, large sensor, etc.) and combines them into one unit. The only question is what will the 300 manufacturers of DSLR rigs do with all their inventory?

I am a little concerned that Panasonic has not made it easy for anyone to see its true capabilities. When the Sony EX-1 was at this same stage, there were dozens of videos created by top videographers that were available to watch and analyze. So far, there is very little to look at--and most of what is available is by shooters who were not able to use the camera long enough to even figure out the best settings. As far as I know, no one has yet shown how the compression looks either. The one "professional" production shot with the camera used an external 100mbs recorder, which of course looks great.

That said, I expect it to be a great camera, especially for the price ($5,000 body-only). It will be interesting to see what Sony counters with, though. They are releasing a camera next month called the PMW-F3 for around $13,000, and have promised a lower-cost model on its heels. We will keep you posted on that. The images from the F3 look fantastic, by the way.