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Journey’s of a Hybrid – 10 Biggest HDSLR Video Mistakes

June 30, 2010 by Tips And Tricks

Gail Mooney continues blogging about her HDSLR experiences while traveling around the world with her daughter Kelly. This time, she takes what she has learned on the road and creates a top ten list of mistakes made when shooting with HDSLR cameras.

I’ve been shooting video with traditional video cameras for the last 11 years so I wasn’t in the dark as to how to shoot motion. But I’m not ashamed to say that I’ve made my share of mistakes with these hybrids.

Be sure to read her article and avoid similar pitfalls.

Content is King, Chase Jarvis’ Sponsored Inspirational Shorts

May 27, 2010 by Short Film

Chase Jarvis is an inspirational guy. He inspires a lot of photographers through his blog, as a speaker and by the kind of work he does. He seems to have found the perfect client in Russell Investments who commissioned him to shoot inspirational short films as promotional tools:
… Continue Reading

LCD Viewing Loupes for HDSLR

May 26, 2010 by News

One of the first purchases any HDSLR owner should make is a decent viewfinder loupe to aid in focusing and composition when shooting video. Using a viewfinder loupe to view the camera’s LCD preview screen offers a huge advantage over eyeballing fine detail on a 3″ screen from a few feet away.

My first video shoot with a Canon 5D Mark II was last June (2009), on the day that the firmware was released allowing manual exposure control for shooting video. For this test, I arranged for a Redrock Micro support kit, Marshall LCD monitor and a Hoodman Hoodloupe. I was skeptical of using a loupe on the LCD screen and really only tried it in order to rule it out as a viewing method. However, once I put it on the camera, I was hooked. Having an external monitor is great but for my shooting style, I prefer a viewing loupe for focusing. … Continue Reading

Canon 5D Mark II Firmware Update 2.0.7

May 25, 2010 by Gear, News

Canon has released a firmware update for the 5D MK II that is available here. According to the Canon Japan website:

This firmware update (Version 2.0.7) incorporates the following improvements and fixes.
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The lowest cost follow focus rig you may ever find for a VDSLR!

May 23, 2010 by News

Some people seem to have a lot of time on their hands to invent and create new ways of doing follow focus with VDSLR cameras. This guy (who doesn’t identify himself on his web pagesbut I’m inferring that he is Scott Lerman from his URL and the name of one of his products) has created two unique and decidedly low-tech ways to get follow focus with his 5D.

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Canon Rebel T2i as Backup Video Camera

May 20, 2010 by Gear

During the quiet hours of my morning while drinking coffee, I check my Google Alerts, read my email, check the RSS feeds, drop by my favorite sites and start thinking about my first article of the day. Today, I started wondering if a Canon Rebel T2i is a good investment as a second or backup camera for video and/or stills. It makes total sense to me to have an inexpensive backup camera that accepts all of the same lenses and accessories as the main camera so I started digging to see what I could find out. The first site I came to is personal site written by Adobe evangelist Karl Soule’ called Rebel Shooters. The article that caught my eye is “Does the Rebel T2i shoot “Professional-Quality” video?”. Karl makes the following point which is along the same lines that I was thinking:

Right now, my Rebel rig is in the sub-$2000 realm, and it’s the best camera I’ve had in that price point. The cost and the capabilities will go up as I buy more glass for it, but the great part about that is the glass will come with me if a better camera comes out. I can use $2000 glass on my little $799 camera today, and as I’m making money, I have the option to upgrade.

He links to a very in depth article on XDCAM-User.com that does some side by side comparisons of the T2i and the Sony EX1. The authors conclusions aren’t very flattering for DSLR video: … Continue Reading