Currently browsing the "canon dslr" tag.

ikan Elements at NAB 2010

ikan Elements NAB 2010 from Michael Britt on Vimeo.

Michael at iKan gives us a rundown of the ikan elements. If you see him be sure to ask for a cheese stick.

Bron Imaging Features Photographers Shooting Motion

The Bron imaging blog features two photographers who are incorporating motion in their photo work. August Bradley talks about a shoot at the Edison here in LA

We would be shooting the project at a very unique venue, The Edison in downtown Los Angeles – famous for it’s alternate-future, post-industrial sci-fi atmosphere. This is one of the most remarkable interior designs in the city. However, we had very little time at the location so our biggest challenge was time management and efficient use of the limited access. As a result, we could only have one lighting setup to shoot both the stills and the motion. And that lighting setup had to be lightweight for the numerous quick transitions to different spots within the venue.

You can read the rest of the story on the Bron Imaging blog and see more videos at August Bradley’s Youtube channel.

Next Bron features Colin Anderson

Having never really shot anything more than home video – l had my fair share of concerns. The actual shooting was concern enough, but more of a worry was editing it all in Final Cut Pro – which l had absolutely no idea how to even launch let alone edit an entire sequence!

CP video-colin anderson from Colin Anderson on Vimeo.

Read the rest of the article here.

Lens adapters for Micro Four Thirds and Canon HDSLRs

If you are looking for a lens adapter to shoot Leica M on a Panasonic GH-1, a Nikon lens on a Canon Camera, or any lens/camera combination you can come up with, Fotodiox seems like the place to go since they have pages and pages of adapters for medium format and 35mm lenses.. I first saw them mentioned in the comments section on Shane Hurlbut’s blog post called Still Lenses That Can Grace The Big Screen.

Cameras have become electronic components like computers and as such will be affected by Moore’s Law with a shorter shelf life as they get faster and cheaper to produce. Lenses on the other hand are analog (mostly), mechanically produced objects from mature designs that haven’t really changed much in the last 50 years. Cinema lenses from the 1950’s are still sought after today along with Nikon glass from the 70’s, Leica, Zeiss and many other brands.

Being able to protect your investment by switching camera platforms with your lenses is paramount in modern photography and cinematography. This roadmap is already laid out in the Micro Four Thirds platform that will accept

Canon EOS Movie Plugin-E1 for Final Cut Pro is Out

The Canon EOS MOVIE Plugin-E1 for Final Cut Pro is now available and you can download it directly from the Canon website – not from the Apple Final Cut download page as stated in the earlier Canon press release covered by PCN.

Once you are on the Canon 5D Mark II page, click the Drivers & Downloads tab and then use the “Select OS” pulldown to choose Mac OSX. The plugin should now be at the top of the “Software” list. If you want to download the user guide scroll down to “Guides and Manuals” and grab the PDF or click here.

This video overview by Youtube user chrisfenwick is one of the first I have seen floating around but I am sure there will be many more to come.

How to use the EOS Movie Plugin-E1 Final Cut Pro with the Canon Rebel T2i 550D | The Bui Brothers Blog

If you are a Canon Rebel T2i user and are bummed about your inability to use the new Final Cut Pro plug-in from Canon – be bummed no longer. Our friend Lan Bui has it all worked out for you!

A few days ago Canon released the EOS Movie Plugin-E1 for Final Cut Pro. It is very exciting for all of us using the Canon DSLRs and Final Cut Pro. We (Vu and I) mostly use the Canon 5D mark II and Canon 7D for our videos… both cameras are supported natively in the new E1 plugin. Unfortunatley the new Canon T2i is not supported in the E1 plugin yet.

This is very upsetting because the video quality from this T2i is actually very good!!! I had a chance to play with Rodney Charters’ T2i a few weeks ago and talk to him about it… basically the T2i is a 7D in a plastic body.

So, for all of you that want to use the T2i in Final Cut Pro and want to use the E1 plugin for FCP… watch the video above to see how to get it to work. I basically follow this method (by Nathan Beaman) on finalcutuser.com) I found on a post on Planet5D.

[From How to Canon T2i 550D with EOS Movie Plugin-E1 Final Cut Pro | The Bui Brothers Blog]

Canon 7D Suzuki Spot by Seth Epstein – Pt 3

Seth Epstein from The Group Digital Agency answered my email questions with this great write up about his experience shooting a Suzuki ad spot using Canon 7D cameras. Part 1 was a breakdown of the production and actual shoot day, Part 2 was all about post issues. Up next is part 3 which is about how he pitched the job and set up the shot list.

I have seen a lot of information and behind the scenes footage for video DSLR shoots, but this is the first time I have seen someone sharing their complete process from inception through to delivery. A lot of the discussion in the forums and on blogs like PCN have been about how to use the technology. The next conversation needs to be – “how do we make money shooting motion with video DSLRs”? Monetizing this newly available technology is really the big question. How do you go from still photographer to filmmaker? Where does a creative visual person fit into the motion world as the barrier to entry lowers? Seth provides a good roadmap to achieving micro production. This shoot was for an online ad and had a budget that would have given most large agencies pause. As a matter of fact, I would bet this level of ad couldn’t have easily been achieved without the use of video DSLRs and a micro production approach.

Part 3 really gives us a look at the work that went into the concepts for this spot. Seth didn’t just get handed the job because of his past experiences or portfolio. He had to present his ideas in a framework that the client could understand and that the small crew could get behind. Being able to story board and present pitch treatments are the skills needed to move visual ideas into paid motion jobs. Take a look at what Seth went through to present his ideas before he began shooting.

Canon 7D Suzuki Spot by Seth Epstein – Pt 2

In Part 1 of this series, we took a look at Seth Epstein’s Suzuki spot that he shot using Canon 7D’s. For part 2, we are looking at how he handled post for this shoot. Don’t miss part 3 where we will be showcasing Seth’s pitch boards as well as the story boards for this shoot.

I asked Seth how he handled post and his response was so detailed, I will let him tell it here.

“Once we wrapped, I chose to cut myself because I knew the client would make a lot of changes and tweaks. I did not have the budget to ride an editor for that level of micro changes. I figured I could handle it….  I immediately converted the footage to Apple Pro-Res high using MPEG StreamClip and also backed up the original footage in case of a drive crash.

Break Bread by Jeremy Thomas

PCN friend Jeremy Thomas from Hdi RAWworks, has released a great short film called Break Bread. He showed this short at the ETE Expo Canon Seminar to great reactions. He also used it to illustrate shooting sound in a workshop he taught later in the day where he brought in actor Mike Wade and collaborator Robert Lehman. They literally shot this short for $3, no joke. That is what the lunchmeat and bread cost for props (and craft services).

7D Break Bread (short film shot on the Canon 7D) from RAWworks on Vimeo.

…rather than write about someone stuck in a house, or a bar or the desert I thought about a man living in his car, and what that would look and feel like.

Philip Bloom Workshop in Los Angeles

Our good friend Neil Smith over at Hdi RAWworks is presenting a workshop with Philip Bloom on March 6th. Philip lives on the other side of the pond so it is a rare opportunity to learn in person from this photographer filmmaker. He will be in town after finishing up some work for George Lucas at Skywalker Ranch.

From the Hdi RAWworks site:

World renowned filmmaker and Canon HD DSLR expert, Philip Bloom will be in Los Angeles on Saturday March 6th, 2010 to present the Canon HD DSLR Master Class.

Philip will be showing many examples of his filmmaking and will be sharing his experiences of shooting the pick-ups shots for ‘Red Tails’ a Lucas Films production.

Philip will be explaining and demonstrating all aspects of Canon EOS based filmmaking, workflow and output, including:

Main differences between EOS 1D Mk iv , 5D Mk ii and 7D for movie shooting In camera settings to maximize image quality in post Lens selection Stabilization platforms and accessories Exposure and shutter speed options Focusing and framing tips Audio Codecs and transcoding options Editing and Color correction Output for Web, BluRay, HDCAM SR and film Question and Answers

Follow this link for more info.

Canon 7D Suzuki Spot by Seth Epstein – Pt 1

Seth Epstein from The Group Digital Agency has a great Suzuki spot up on Vimeo. But wait, thats not all, I contacted Seth and asked if he would elaborate on the shoot process. He got back to me with a bunch of behind the scenes information including client presentation treatments (3 different concepts), story boards and a breakdown of the whole shoot process. It was so much good information that I am breaking this article into 3 pieces and serializing them over the next few weeks. Lets start off by watching the Suzuki Directors Cut and then getting into what happened during the shoot. Future installments will cover the pre-production client process and then Post issues.

HD Directors Cut_Suzuki from Seth Epstein on Vimeo.

From Seth: The Suzuki project was interesting because I played the roles of agency and production company. I was approached out of Japan to develop a spot for the European market based on some previous work.