Cheap LED Light Shootout

The Cheap Video LED Light Shootout compares 5 of the more popular small LED lights.

A couple of personal remarks about the shootout:  First, the prices are off.   It lists the NG 126 at 70 Euros or about $102. I bought a couple of these for $35 a piece on ebay.

Second, the article starts out by saying these LED's used to be a sad gimmick and showing up with these would hurt the reputation of any self-repecting DP.  I disagree, years ago Rodney Charters showed me how he was using cheap little LED's when I operated on 24.

Thanks for sending me this Robin!

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/61pXnz/frankglencairn.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/the-cheap-video-led-light-shootout/

"Gorgeous" Kinefinity KineRAW S35 2K Cine Camera

Here's the "Gorgeous" Kinefinity KineRAW S35 2K Cine Camera, a Chinese knock-off of the Alexa.    This 2K digital cinema camera with a Super35 CMOS sensor and PL mount can record "dual RAW" to a 12 bit DNG for CinemaDNG based workflows or GoPro-Cineform RAW on removable SSD drives.  Plus, it outputs just about everything for monitoring.

Here's the fun part, the price will be less than $8000 bucks.  Sure, people are worried about reliability but at $8000 you can buy a boat load of 'em for the price of one Epic or Alexa.  And all the connector labels are already in English.

Be sure to watch the video at http://vimeo.com/28233165  It's "gorgeous".  I shouldn't make fun of his choice of words, his English is much better than my Chinese...

http://www.kineraw.com/kineraw_s35_1.html

Why your eyes are terrible light meters

I've seen this optical illusion before but it's the first time I've seen video .  Here's the illusion as a still image.  The squares labeled A and B are exactly the same color (use the color-dropper tool in Photoshop if you don’t believe it).  I still don't believe it.

Watch the video, you'll think it's an effect:  http://www.petapixel.com/2011/08/17/amazing-optical-illusion-shows-that-our-eyes-are-horrible-light-meters/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PetaPixel+%28PetaPixel%29

3D Basics

If you're going to the MCAI 3D Meeting tonight (see yesterday's blog) be sure and brush up on your 3D basics.  Here's some simple definitions to start you out:

Interocular distance is the distance between your eyes or the lenses (you're eyes are about 2 1/2" apart).
Zero parallax is where the screen is.
Positive Parallax is everything deeper than the screen.
Negative parallax is everything in front of the screen.
Convergence is how much your eyes cross.

The real trick is focus the camera on the convergence plane and hopefully that's not more than 20% into negative parallax.  Or just have a deep depth of field like most 3D films...

If you understood that you're good to go.  If not:
http://web.me.com/abeato/sd3dcalculator/Stereo_3D_Fundamentals.html
http://mcai-oc.org/

MCAI 3D Meeting, Wed. August 17th

This month's Media Communications Association International meeting brings you Alicia Reed from JVC and her special guests who will talk 3D, from cameras to workflow.  They promise you'll get the chance to play with the GY-HM100 ($2395) used by CNN as well as the shoulder mounted GY-HM790 ($8995).

Here's the details:
EVENT: HD & 3D UPDATE / Monthly MCAI Meeting
DATE: Wednesday Aug 17, 2011
TIME: Event starts at 6:00 PM with networking over refreshments and food. Program starts 7:00 PM
LOCATION: OC SOUND STAGE http://www.orangecountysoundstage.com/
17518 Von Karman, Irvine CA 92614
Just East of Main Street in the rear of the Von Karman Business Center
Free parking on site
COST: MEMBERS of MCAI  pay $5! All others pay $15 at the door or $12 if you pre-register online at OC New Media Meetup Group http://www.newmedia.meetup.com/82/

Wish I could be there but I have a prior commitment at the local.

http://mcai-oc.org/

ALEXA Simulators

Want to get you hands on a Alexa?  Now you virtually can with the Alexa Simulators for the Alexa and Alexa Plus.

The Alexa simulator was on my blog before but now they have the Plus simulator and you can play with the both yourself in the privacy of your own home...

http://arridigital.com/technical/simulator

Arri L7-C Fresnel

At the Alexa training I also had a chance to use an Arri L7-C.  If you were to see the light coming from this fresnel you wouldn't think it was coming from a LED light.  The light from the spot/flood is what you would expect from a fresnel but instead of a sled moving inside the light, the lens slides like an ellipsoid.

Unexpected was the weight or maybe I shouldn't have been too surprised because it's overbuilt like most Arri lights.  It's a little smaller but a little heavier than a baby 2K and puts out about 1K's worth of light but without the heat.  Those fins really work and it's very cool.  And very cool!

The L stands for LED, the 7 is the 7" fresnel and the L7 models are T for tungsten, D for daylight or C for controllable.  The C model has a built in dimmer plus you can control both the Tungsten to Daylight color temperature and green to minus green color correction.  All can all be controlled DMX.

Projected price is around $2300-3000.  It's costs a lot of money to be green but on the other hand you never have to buy another globe or worry about burn-outs.

http://www.arri.com/l-series/index.html

Video Resource's F3 & FS100 Event

Video Resources and VMI sponsored "Shooting Tips and Tricks with the Sony PMW-F3 and NEX-FS100 Large Sensor Cameras" yesterday at VR.  It was a great opportunity to test the cameras side by side without being in some convention hall.

The main presentation was given by Shahpour Nosrati-Fard,  a Sony Senior Sales Support Engineer who, as you might expect, really knew the finer details about both cameras.  The focus (no pun intended) was on the Sony F3.  Some of the things not printed on the front of the brochure are:

Sony finally agrees the little vf sucks and is coming out with a loupe for the side monitor.
S-log is only available 444 and that dual link upgrade will run you another $4500, plus external recorder.
The F3 only records 4:2:0 8 bit to the internal SxS cards
Sony has a SxS to SDHC card adapter that was designed for "emergency" use.


People are using the adapter to avoid buying the expensive SxS cards.  But with the SDHC cards there is no hot swapping, no salvage function and you can't record slo-mo even with the required Class 10 cards.

Trey Solberg, a DP who has been shooting with Blackstone Media's F3 also spoke on using the camera in the field.  They have the Sony K package primes but use the RED short zoom most of the time.  They also have the adapter to use Nikon glass and Trey is very happy with his Duclos'ed 80-200 f2.8.


I finally got a chance to test the glass that comes packaged with the FS-100.  This zoom is an amazing 18-200mm for only $600 bucks but you get what you pay for.  The f-stop at 18mm is f3.5 but at 200mm it's a whopping f6.3.  This f-stop change is very linear and you can watch the f-stop go up and down as you zoom in and out.  When you zoom it looks like you're turning the iris instead.

The FS100 has the same sensor as the F3 and also records 4:2:0 8 bit AVCHD but without the benefit of the F3's image processing (so says Shahpour).  A really cool thing I didn't know is the FS100 has a HDMI 1.4 that can output a RGB 444 8 bit signal.  The good news is most monitors are only 8 bit so that's great.  The bad news is there's no recorder on the market today that records this signal.


Very informative and thanks to all involved including Brad Hagen, Naomi Rivas and John O'Donovan...  especially for the tacos! 


http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/product-PMWF3L/
http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-broadcastcameras/cat-nxcam/product-NEXFS100UK/

ALEXA Pocket Guide

Here's a link to the Arri Alexa Pocket Guide which has some great information.  Some of the highlights include:

Grey scale mapping.  Note how the 18% grey card never really changes.  What changes is how the latitude is shifted... the wrong way.  According to this chart you should shout 160 at night to get the most latitude in the blacks and 1600 during the day to protect the highlights.  That's crazy talk.

All the codecs available and almost all can be recorded straight to the SxS cards including 12 bit 444.  The only output that needs an outboard recorder is the uncompressed ArriRaw.  Did I mention it's uncompressed?  I don't think any other output of any camera is not compressed.

The Alexa uses false color for exposure.  I miss the option of have zebras.  You can frame and focus with zebras on but with false color on it would be near impossible to run and gun... which is exactly when you'd want to judge exposure through the viewfinder..

I couldn't find any images from the Alexa but the RED also has false color.  It's like some 60's psychedelic acid trip.  Here's the normal frame:

And here's the same frame in false color.  Yikes!

There's a lot more in the Alexa Pocket Guide at:
http://www.arridigital.com/sites/default/files/2011_04-21a_ALEXA_Pocket_Guide.pdf

ALEXA PLUS

Saturday I attended training for the Alexa Plus at Arri in Burbank through Local 600.

The training was very comprehensive, covering every switch and connector plus discussing every menu item.  And that's a lot of menus!  We covered things ranging from how to record ArriRaw using the Codex mag to how to field change the cooling fan... the only moving part in the camera.

It was interesting to hear why certain choices were made by the engineers.  Many people in the class use the Alexa on a daily basis and it was even more interesting to hear their experiences, feedback and questions.

So what's new with the Plus?  More connectors, a built-in position and motion sensor (important for visual efx) and built-in lens data system.  But the most obvious difference is the built-in remote control feature so an AC doesn't have to hang a bunch of RC boxes off the camera to remotely pull focus.

Here's a few of the things I learned in the class that aren't on the front page of the brochure:
1.  The built-in remote control is designed to be used with the Arri Wireless Remote System and won't work with a Preston.
2.  Although the Alexa carries two SxS cards the camera won't "span" the cards.  You might as well just have one card in the camera.
3.  It uses a whopping 85 watts power in standby... before you start powering accessories.
4.  It was designed as a 2K camera even though the sensor is 3K.  The sensor is 4x3 and the 3K will come into play only if you're shooting anamorphic.

So, what's the good news?  It's simple to use.  Record 444 straight to the SxS cards without any out-board recorder and the Pro Res loads straight into your NLE.

More importantly, it makes a great picture, especially in dark with 14 stops of latitude.  Why does it have so much more latitude than other cameras?  It takes two readings/images of each frame at different exposure levels.

Arri is careful to point out this isn't HDR, which is what the RED does.  HDR takes two sequential images which is fine for a still life but when you try to combine two moving images into one frame you get blur and ghosting.  The Alexa takes it's two images simultaneously so it is the exact same image, just at two different exposures.

Those are some of the main points.  I'll be covering false color and other Alexa tidbits all this week.

http://www.arridigital.com/alexaplus

Sony A77 DSLR

Sony is starting to leak images of it's new Sony A77 DSLR which should be officially announced next month.

The exciting news is the AVCHD 2 codec which is a robust 28mbps rather than the usual 24.

Said to be priced around $1000 bucks it's probably got the smaller sensor like the 7D so the 5D remains king of the full sized sensors.


http://philipbloom.net/2011/08/03/sony-enters-the-video-dslr-revolution-finally-a-bit-late-but-not-too-late/

Jita Cam

The JitaCam is called the "360 degree jib in the air".  This jib can be mounted in the grid/ceiling and can be remotely operated from a 1000 feet away.

This means the JitaCam can use zero floor space and be completely out of the way of both performers and audience.  It can also be mounted on the floor or on top of anything that will support the weight.  Because the operator doesn't have to physically be by the jib it can mounted to scaffolding without needing a place for the operator to walk when swinging the arm.

It also means let it snow because the arm operator and camera operator are nice and warm in the truck!

Check it out at http://www.jitacam.com/

The Great Camera Shootout 2011 Part 2

Here's the second part of Zacuto's Great Camera Shootout 2011 entitled "Sensors & Sensitivity".

Fair warning, it's techie but if you just want to see image comparisons here's the tests you want to see.  Go to:  6:45, 9:00 and 21:50.  Very interesting for anyone who uses cameras.

http://www.zacuto.com/the-great-camera-shootout-2011/episode-two

Color Grading in FCPX

16 free Color Grading Tutorials and how to do it in FCPX.

Even if you don't use FCPX some of the tutorials are good for explaining what is color grading and the correct order of steps.  

I was taught to always "Push and Pull".  When you push something in one direction you got to pull something else in another.  Push the blues, pull the skin tones.  Push the brightness, pull the contrast. 

http://vimeo.com/user6379404/videos

iPhone SLR Mount

At first I thought this was outlandish but an iphone SLR Mount may just be the future.  Who says the next DSLR's won't be as thin as a credit card?

Now, if they can do something about the inverted image...

http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/iphone-slr-mount/

Cameraman Boot Camp

Isn't this the way you learned to be a camera op?

FCPX Review From POP

Here's a Review of FCPX without the emotion.  Author Oliver Peters shows what's new, what's different and what's lost with the new FCP.

  I think my favorite line is the last, "FCP X is ready for prime time now, although Prime Time might not be ready for it!"


Thanks to Matthew Kendall for sending this.
http://www.2-pop.com/article/108832

Follow Focus Made of Legos

Want a follow focus but too expensive?  Got some of your kid's legos laying around?  Then, you can make yourself a Lego Follow Focus.

Check out the video at: http://www.petapixel.com/2011/02/12/follow-focus-made-entirely-with-lego/

Sony F35 Now 12-bit

Sony is offering a free 12-big upgrade for the F35.  It can record 12 bit to both the SRW-5800/2 deck and the SRMASTER field recorder which records 12-bit signals to solid state memory cards.

12 bit is over 68 million colors as opposed to over 1 million for 10 bit.  

http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/show-highend/resource.solutions.bbsccms-assets-show-highend-hdcamsr.shtml

ProMAX "FCP7 to AVID" Webinar

ProMAX is offering a "Switching from FCP to AVID" Webinar tomorrow, Thursday July 21 at 10-11a PST.

ProMAX is the place I bought by first FCP system (FCP1.4 on a Power Mac 4 tower) and now even they want you to switch.  What is the world coming to?

You have questions?  They have answers... maybe.  Log in at:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/195681994

"Plot Device" Red Giant Software Demo Reel

Red Giant software came up with a clever way to demo the various looks available using their software.

When the $10,000 video hit the web at the end of June, it started making the rounds at film studios and agencies, and calls started coming in.   27 year old director Seth Worly, who produces videos for a Christian Ministry, is planning an August trip to Los Angeles and has lined up meetings with CAA, UTA, WME, some management firms and producers.  Now, that's clever...


http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/hollywoods-hottest-short-film-plot-212275?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thr%2Ffilm+%28The+Hollywood+Reporter+-+Movies%29

New NLE For DSLR's

Not happy with FCPX?  Want a new open source collaborative NLE that's designed for DSLR's and doubles as a distribution platform?

Maybe you want Novacut.  The trick is you have to Kickstart it...

http://www.definitionmagazine.com/journal/2011/7/4/hate-fcp-x-try-novacut-but-youll-need-to-kick-start-it.html

Crabby Cam

Caption A:  I've been working with this new operator but he's a little crabby.
or
Caption B:  These days, anyone with a camera thinks they are a DP... and will work for crap!

Please post your own caption and we'll see who's the funniest!

Patrick Fitch sent me this shot.

Rube Goldberg Photography

Very cool...

But these guys have way too much time on their hands...

Film And Tapeless Shooting Ratios

I'll cut to the chase.  We shoot more now and we don't cut between takes.  Better for the performance.  Makes me glad to be a cameraman and not an editor.

Or is that the other way around?  Now, we shoot more and an editor has more choices although he's got to search through more stuff...

http://www.studiodaily.com/blog/?p=6001

SketchUp Pro 8

As if Google doesn't make enough money, they offer SketchUp Pro 8.  It's a pre-viz tool that's pretty cool... except it costs $500 bucks!

Google offers a trial download.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bJ3s_cUV3s

Stolen Duclos Lenses

Duclos Lenses was recently broken into and 30 nearly finished 11-16mm conversion lenses were ripped off.  I've included a Lens List pdf so if you come across an Duclos lenses please check the serial numbers.

Having had a camera stolen from me once this kind of stuff really pisses me off.

http://matthewduclos.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/setback/
http://www.hotrodcameras.com/2009/11/hot-rod-cameras-new-duclos-tokina-11-16-received-on-11-16/
http://matthewduclos.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/stolen-dl-list.pdf

Teleprompter iPad App

Here's a couple more iPad Apps in including a screenwriting app and another slate.  But the one that caught my eye is the Teleprompter app.

Note the iPad actually being used as the monitor.  The software allows you to use the iPad with or without the mirror, just using the ipad above or below the lens or as a stand alone.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/9BlgWT/www.coolhunting.com/tech/apps-on-set.php

http://www.bodelin.com/proprompter/

New RED Epic Price: $58,000

The Epic's price tag was supposed to be $40,000 but some how the cost of a RED Epic Package crept up to $58,000.  That's 3.5 times the price of a Red One.  I think if I was spending that kind of money I'd get an Alexa.

On the other hand, it's American made...

http://www.red.com/store/epic/product/epic-m

http://www.filmmaking.net/blog/show_article.asp?id=150

Avid "Crossgrade" Extended

Avid has announced it will extend it's $995 promotional price of Media Composer 5.5 through September to FCP users.  Avid also says since the FCPX rollout, sales of Media Composer has doubled.

This is probably due to Apple taking FCP7 off it's website.  You can't buy it anymore.  Period.  It's now FCPX or nothing.

If you're a small user, well, maybe you'll learn to like X.  But the big boys will switch.  For example, Dinsey owns 2700 licenses for FCP.  FCPX works though an itunes account which means Disney would have to have 2700 individual itune accounts that can't talk to each other.  They ain't going to do that.

If the big boys switch, then so will all the after market people.  So, we will end up switching.

I personally don't like Avid, they caused me problems (read, cost me money on a job) way back when I owned a post business.  I guess I'll keep using my FCP as long as possible.  And then, maybe I'll look at Adobe...

http://www.studiodaily.com/main/news/headlines/13276.html

Master Chef Fake Crowd Scene

Looks like someone at Master Chef has been reading my blog about how to add people to a shot.  I'm just damn proud.

They wanted to show that thousands of people were clamoring to be on the show just like American Idol.  Well, not so much, so they added in more crowd.  Now, if they could just digitally add ratings and viewers...

http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/06/22/masterchef-fake-crowd-shot-photo/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+entertainmentweekly%2Fausiellofiles+%28Entertainment+Weekly%2FEW.com%27s%3A+The+Ausiello+Files%29

Lytro's Light Field Camera

It's an over-used phrase but the Lytro's Light Field Camera really could be a game changer.  

I've always said that everything can be fixed in post except focus.  With the Light Field camera that's no longer a problem.

http://www.lytro.com/cameras

Zacuto's Camera Shootout 2011 Part One

Here's the link to Zacuto's Camera Shootout 2011: Part One.   This year Robert Primes, ASC compared 12 pro large sensor cameras and part one specifically looks at dynamic range and latitude.  

You don't have to watch the full 30 minutes.  What you really want to see is:
The Shadow Detail Test at 12:16
The Highlight Detail Test at 17:56
Over and Under Exposure Latitude at 21:26.

What's interesting is how the different camera's latitude range is divided between shadow and highlight.  It reminds me of the adage, "Expose for the highlights in video, expose for the shadows in film".

I'll cut to the chase:  The Sony F35, Alexa and Red MX are the big winners and probably in that order, although it's really hard to see noise and detail on a highly compressed web video.

On the other hand, some of the cameras are one tenth the price of the big boys but give 90% of the picture quality... and you can light around that difference.

Unfortunately, they don't rate the ASA of the different cameras.  The test was shot at 320 ASA (maybe so film could be included) but I'd really like to see the same tests at 800 ASA.  

http://www.zacuto.com/the-great-camera-shootout-2011/episode-one

DIY Equipment

Trying to save some money on camera support gear?  Get out your PVC cutter....

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/7g7nma/www.abracadabravideos.com/DIY/DIYpage1.htm

Viewfactor

Remember the old America the Beautiful film at Disneyland?  Ever wanted to do Circle-Vision 360 yourself but thought it was too expensive?  Now you can.

Saw this at the Viewfactor booth at CineGear Expo.  There's but nothing about on the website but still... pretty cool.  Now, if they just made something for "bullet time"...

Spintec Rain Deflector

Saw the Spintec Rain Deflector at Cine Gear.  What a great gadget for shooting in rain or mist.

A little expensive at $1725 bucks but I guess if you have to have one, you have to have one.  I think you can rent it for $225 a day.  But $225 bucks buys a lot of Rain X...

http://www.innovision-optics.com/prod/spintec.shtml