Links from Here & There

Canon XA10 video review
I'm intrigued by the Canon XA10, and it's cheaper - and a bit stripped down - twin, the HF G10. The Camera Store has posted a video review of the XA10 that was made on an ice climbing trip; shooting snow and ice is a challenging environment for any camera.

Obviously the parts of the video with Chris talking are shot with another camera - he's holding the camera in his hands! - (a Canon 5D mark II with a Canon 17-40 F4L and Zeiss 50mm F1.4) Unfortunately, for the example video sequences they have also intercut video from a second camera with the XA10 footage (either the 5D or the Sony CX700) and it doesn't always match.

Frame from the video; snow can be hard to shoot

The snow shots often seem over exposed, which also made it hard for me to judge the camera. But then again, when shooting snow; do you expose for skin, or do you expose so you can see detail in the snow? [No! You buy a RED Epic and shoot in HDRx mode! -Ed]

I think the speaking shots - shot with the 5D - were some of the more uniformerly pleasing sequences in the video (the Sony CX700 - which can shoot 60fps - was used for the slow motion shots.)

All in all, I'm not too sure if it wasn't a little too challenging a shooting experience to evaluate the camera.
Vimeo: Canon XA10 Field Test with Sample Footage



A tiny bit of Sony NEX-FS100 stuff
Den Lennie has posted some photos from the focus group about the NEX-FS100 he participated in over a year ago.
...as a result of that meeting, many of our suggestion were listened to and implemented. It is disappointing that there are no built in ND’s but then again the camera would have to be much bulkier to house them as a result of the super 35mm sensor and the small from factor was a key consideration for us.
FStopAcademy: Den’s Video Chat about the Sony NEX FS100 on Planet 5D



Canon 5D Native ISO
If you do much reading on shooting with HDSLRs or if you've seen Philip Bloom, Vincent Laforet or Shane Hurlbut talk about HDSLR shooting, you'll probably have encountered some of the standard advice on how to set up the camera; shoot in manual, what picture style to use, etc. One piece of gospel has been that the 5D has some "native" ISO's (160, 320, etc) and these are the ISO's that the camera shoots best in (produces the best picture with the least noise.)

Now comes Josh Silfen at Shootin' The Shot to explain that the native ISO's are actually 100, 200, etc,. He goes on to explain that the 125-multiple ISOs are the noisiest because they are derived by a digital exposure push. But the 160-multiple ones are:
...actually the cleanest not because they are "native", but because they are a result of a digital exposure pull. This pull brings down the exposure of the entire image, and hides much of the noise that would be visible at the next higher ISO.
Very interesting read!
Shootintheshot: Canon HD DSLR Native ISO



Quick Links
  • Scriptwriting; writing Lean. Sheridan at MyPDFScripts looks at the writing style of Walter Hill, and learns a lot about writing lean; "In the words of the late Mystery Man: the less you write, the more they’ll read." Writer’s Style: Walter Hill

  • Scriptwriting II: If you want to know what it's like developing scripts in Hollywood, this cartoon from Ruairi Robinson may explain it: People keep asking me what its like developing scripts in hollywood

  • Making music videos: Robin Schmidt (ElSkid) has written a series of articles on the process of music video production, right down to planning and budget. WHO WANTS TO MAKE MUSIC VIDEOS – PART 3

  • Colorist interview; Warren Eagles. Patrick Inhofer has posted the audio of an interview with colorist Warren Eagles who is a freelance Colorist in Australia and Asia and is a founding partner of the International Colorist Academy. Interview: Colorist Warren Eagles, Part 1

  • Using a Mirror to solve difficult shots. Roy Wagner describes the Mirror Gag; using a front surface mirror to solve some problem camera positions: Infamous Roy Wagner Mirror Gag

  • Indie Film promotion and distribution. The DIY Filmmnaking Sucks blog has had a series of articles on movie promotion including: "Secrets of Netflix distribution and revenue," "Secrets of Facebook and audience engagement," "The secrets of indie film release strategy" and "The two most important things in marketing an indie film." DIYSucks.com

  • Is that lens soft?: Canonrumors.com has an article about lens softness issues from Roger Cicala of LensRentals.com that was originally written in 2008, and has been updated for 2010. I was expecting to read it and have him basically say that people who thought they had lens problems were talking rubbish. He sort of says that - a little - but then he gets into calibration issues, differences in tolerances, software corrections and by the end of it, I don't think reading this article made me feel that reassured...canonrumors.com: “This Lens is Soft” ... and other Myths

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