Home » Canon EOS 1D Mark IV » Recent Articles

They Shoot Horses JPEGs Don’t They

April 26, 2010 by Column, Featured, Opinion, Tips

In the early days of the transition from analog film to digital still photography, the common wisdom was that you had to shoot digital images flat to get a proper exposure. This was a widespread misconception that I ended up debunking with many photographers when I showed them that not only could their film look be duplicated, but that it could be done in real time, shooting tethered using custom presets. The only real secret to capturing a great digital file is to properly light and expose the scene (shocking, I know). The rest of the image making chain comes down to workflow choices.

Now we are in the early days of the digital filmmaking transition and everyone looks to film/DI workflows that have been established for multi-million dollar projects using very expensive cameras and involving many steps and a multitude of specialists. This workflow compartmentalizes the jobs of Cinematographer, Camera Operator, Camera Assistant, DIT, Colorist, Editor, Lab etc.. The person exposing the film will not necessarily be involved in every step of this process. The workflow that makes sense in this world is to capture a scene with a wide latitude that has the most overhead to make corrections in post. Final color looks are rarely “baked-in” on the set.

Then comes inexpensive video capable DSLRs and the world of micro production and filmmaking is opened up to a much wider audience. The barrier to entry for creating high quality cinema style motion images is lowered … Continue Reading

Lens adapters for Micro Four Thirds and Canon HDSLRs

March 23, 2010 by Gear, Opinion

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.
… Continue Reading

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

March 21, 2010 by News

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.
… Continue Reading

Deadline for Short Films Contest Extended ( Films Shot With Canon VDSLR Cameras Only)

March 18, 2010 by Short Film

Can-Do Film Festival and Competition deadline extended to April 20th

logo.png There is a big contest for movies under 4 minutes “shot using ONLY the Canon EOS HD enabled DSLRs – eligible current models are: EOS 1D Mk IV, EOS 5D Mk II, EOS 7D, EOS Rebel T1i” and they have just decided to give everyone more time to complete the “assignment”
See the details at their web-site – prizes are Canon cameras and Zeiss lenses. Check it out!
… Continue Reading

Canon Digital Learning Center – Introducing EOS Movie Plugin-E1 for Final Cut Pro

March 5, 2010 by News, Tips

I know, I know – this is an old announcement but I randomly discovered this page on the Canon USA web-site with a lot more information about what, exactly, the plug-in is going to do.

I’m only going to put the first couple of paragraphs of the post here – read the whole thing on the Canon web site – but there are a few key features that I’d like to point out:

TimeCode_withEOS_Movie_Plugin.jpg

  • -Time Code is added to the clips
  • Automatic transcoding from Canon’s H.264 to ProRes (various flavors)
  • Up to 3X Faster transcoding than Compressor
  • Ability to transcode only portions of a clip
  • DMG archiving or memory cards
  • Compatible with: 1D-Mk IV, 5D Mk II and 7D (Rebel support coming soon)

There is a full workflow example on the Canon page
… Continue Reading

Philip Bloom Workshop in Los Angeles

February 23, 2010 by News, Workshops

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.