Ad

Thursday, May 03, 2012

Quick Links

The 5D Mark III Fix | CanonRumors
It appears that the Canon 5D Mark III "light leak" has been fixed - with tape:
LensRentals.com has received their first shipment of fixed 5D Mark III bodies. They did what any of us would have done, they disassembled one to see what the fix was. It turns out the fix is two pieces of black tape.


Canon EFS 17-55 causing vignetting on the C300 | Paul Joy | Blog
Paul originally posted that he saw some vignetting with this lens but thought it was caused by the lens hood, but now it appears it's not just the hood. He also tried a couple of Canon L lenses, the 16-35mm and the 17-40mm, and while they don't have the vignetting, they don't have Image Stabilization either:
I’m still seeing some vignetting from this lens so I decided to try out Canon’s other wide zooms, specifically the 16-35 f/ 2.8 L and 17-40 f / 4 L.

I really like the image from the 16-35, I’m not sure why it’s less exposed than the others, the metadata confirms a setting of f/3.5.


PMW-F3 Firmware Update V1.4 | Sony | Facebook
Sony will have a firmware update for the PMW-F3 in late May which will have a number of features:
Power Zoom Tele/Wide control can be assigned to ASSIGN 1/2
422 1080p S&Q recording up to 1080/59.94p with SR-R1, from 17fps to 60fps Recording to SR-R1
Format: 1920x1080 /23.98p, 25p, 29.97p, 50p and 59.94p


Impromptu Critics | Chris Weatherly | Blog
A filmmaker worked hard to get Steve Weiss and Philip Bloom to review his short film, and unexpectedly managed to score an impromptu review at NAB, along with Steve Goldblatt:
I don’t want to rehash everything that was said here so I’ll do a quick summary. It was a huge honor to have these guys critique the story. I was shocked as they kept calling it a “film”. I always call my stuff “video”, but if they elected to use the word “film”. I was okay with that.


EPISODE 72: AUTODESK SMOKE 2013 WITH MARC-ANDRÉ FERGUSON
| Digital Convergence | Podcast
A discussion of Autodesk's new version of Smoke:
Autodesk's Marc-André Ferguson joins Chris Fenwick, planetMitch and I today on the Digital Convergence Podcast to talk about Smoke 2013. Marc-André gives us the scoop on the new Smoke. With a price reduction from $15K down to a more accessible $3,495, combined with a slick new UI that will make most NLE users feel right at home - Smoke 2013 is poised to be the "super-app" that has proved to be elusive for so long.


Workaday Lens Tests on FS100 | Matt Davis | Vimeo
A quick test with a wide number of lenses: Canon 35-105mm, Sony SEL18200, Canon 50mm 1.2L, Sigma 50mm 1.4, Nikon 17-55 G, Samyang 35mm f1.4, Tokina 11-16mm f2.8,
I have too many lenses in my bag. Time to work out which ones are keepers, which ones go on ebay. The longer lenses aren't represented here, but it's chilling to see the difference 3 stops makes on my 'antique' Canon FD mount 50mm 1.2.

FWIW, the Nikkor 17-55 is the closest I have to parfocal. You'll have to trust me.
The Sony Kit Lens converts an FS100 into a pretend EX1 with its very wide range, and previous tests demonstrate that f8 on this lens is equivalent to a respectable f2.8 on a half-inch sensor camera - 'just enough' DoF.


Days Out with the Phantom Miro M120 | filmbot | Vimeo
A filmmaker gets to play with the new high-frame rate camera from Phantom:
I was lucky enough to be the first person to shoot with the new Vision Research Phantom M120 camera systems. This is just a sample of a project I have had in my head for a while. With help from Abel Cine I was able to test out the camera's before they shipped and put this little edit together. Being able to have a small form factor high speed camera like this for my projects is a long time wish.


First time Filmmaker F-Up #59 – Dialogue Is Recorded on Set | Daryl Goldberg
| MasteringFilm
The pros - and cons - of audio looping (or ADR):
If you get creative, looping can provide a much cheaper alternative for fixing problems than reshoots. Have a confusing plot point? You can sneak in a line that clears it up. Want to change a line or even just the line’s delivery? You can make something serious that was sarcastic, sarcastic that was serious, happy that was sad, or even give a character an entire new accent he didn’t have while shooting.


Behind the Scenes on 'Canis Belli,' an EPIC Short Film (Part 3) | Robin Schmidt
| No Film School
Robin's third article about shooting a short film with the RED EPIC. Covers use of the camera as well as other issues they encountered during filming:
The Epic itself is actually too sharp. In many instances our DoP Ben Spence actually put filters in to pull some of that sharpness away as it can look too hyper-real. Film has a flattering quality, softening without losing resolution and the Epic can look a little too crisp. This effect is exacerbated by shooting anamorphic with all the extra vertical resolution you gain.


Shooting with RED Epic #5: How Epic’s Auto-Focus Works Against You When Off
| Evan Luzi | The Black and Blue
And Evan explains a minor issue with the EPIC and auto-focus lenses:
The main annoyance that arose was the Epic’s undeniable urge to reset the focus ring on the lens everytime it was powered down and booted back up. I had made sure to set the focus mode to “MANUAL,” in which absolutely everything is manual with no assists, but without fail, the camera would still reset the focus ring to its closest distance on boot-up.




No comments: