Notes On Video

Lensbaby started out with odd little lenses in flexible-plastic housings, but they seem to be moving towards lenses that look like lenses... Unveiled: Lensbaby 5.8mm f/3.5 Circular Fisheye Lens | B & H Photovideo Create full-circle images using your cropped-sensor DSLR, with the new Lensbaby 5.8mm f/3.5 Circular Fisheye Lens, available in Canon EF and Nikon F mounts. Featuring an ultra-wide 5.8mm focal length and a 185˚ angle of view, this lens provides you with an expansive, sweeping perspective, even in tight spots. With an aperture range of f/3.5 to f/22 and a close minimum focusing distance of a 1/4", you can practically touch your subject and still have sharp images with expansive depth of field. Amazing Sony A7s Low Light test video! | SonyAlphaRumors Den Lennie just updated his A7s post by including an amazing A7s High ISO test (Click here and scroll down to see the video). The screenshot on top shows you the noise at crazy 409,600 ISO. This is really a co...

Digital Bolex Announces PL Mount for D16 Goes on Sale Next Month for $995 | No Film School Up until now, the default lens mount for Digital Bolex’s D16 digital camera came with a  C mount. The aim was to really capture the design of the original Bolex 16mm film cameras, allowing filmmakers to use vintage 16mm and Super 16mm lenses, but the PL mount will take the D16 up a notch. The DB team has been working on a PL mount option for quite a while, and in their blog post, they explain where the decision to include a PL mount came from. Exclusive: here is the first app to resample Panasonic GH4 4K 8bit to 10bit 4:4:4 | EOSHD As this panel aptly put it at NAB this week, 4K delivery is very rare at the moment so most filmmakers are shooting 4K acquisition to get the benefits in post for 2K delivery. For a while now I’ve been suggesting on EOSHD that 8bit 4K can build a 10bit 2K image due to oversampling, a theory which was backed up by David Newman at GoPro / CineForm in this EO...

GH4 FASHION FILM | Vimeo Mytherapy was given an unreleased prototype of the Panasonic GH4 camera to test. We brought exciting young photographer Michael Furlonger on board and created an amazing 4K fashion film. We were also able to extract high quality 8 mega pixel stills, which prove that the size of the camera is no longer a barrier to the quality of the image it creates. This little compact camera captures 4K images that rival anything we have seen from the big players. Watch our superb behind the scenes video to see how it was all done! Here's a BTS SKINTONE SHOOTOUT: PANASONIC GH4, BLACKMAGIC DESIGN 4K, SONY PXW-Z100 | Slashcam The article's not in English, but you can watch the video! NAB 2014: The Year of Unusual Cameras | Filmmaker Magazine It was clear that this would be the year of 4K, but perhaps more surprising is who plans to ship 4K cameras this year. Sony, who actually bought out two new 4K cameras last year – the F5 and F55 – clearly d...

I finally did some resolution tests with the Sony FDR-AX100 . This camcorder records 4K to internal memory cards, and I was really wondering if 4K was going to be that good, or would it be so compressed that there was virtually no difference to the HD video. The camera also has an XAVC recording option (and you can buy a cheaper version of the camera, the HDR-CX900 , that just has the higher data rate HD format recording) so I wanted to see how that compared to both 4K and HD AVCHD recording. I actually wondered whether it would be better to get the HDR-CX900 instead, as it would be cheaper and frankly, all I was looking for was better HD, rather than 4K. So for this test, I took the 4K footage, and the HD footage, and output it to HD in ProRes 4:2:2 from Final Cut Pro X. And if you're looking for really good HD resolution, than the FDR-AX100 in 4K mode is pretty amazing as a source. The FDR-AX100 4K footage blows away the best AVCHD camera I currently have (the NEX-EA50 .) And...

As they usually do, Sony held a press briefing the day before NAB opened to cover their announcements. This year was focused on 4K, though HD video did get a mention! One interesting thing; they didn't announce any new video cameras, instead they announced upgrades for the F5, F55 and F65. For the F5 & F55 they announced a new documentary base designed to help make the camera more ENG-like. They also announced new recording format support for ProRes and Avid's DNXHD. There's also a software update coming for the F65 with improved color management. Perhaps most interesting of all is that they announced a consumer camera - the A7s - at the event. This is pretty unusual (they certainly haven't announced a consumer camera at a pro event in the last three or four years!) On the face of it, the A7s looks interesting;  the A7s has a smaller total sensor pixel count than the A7r, which probably helps give it much higher sensitivity. It also outputs 4K video, but on...

The date for the release of the Mac Beta of Lightworks has been announced: it's June 11, 2014 Red Shark News :  Date announced for Lightworks for Mac Public Beta: this is the date it's available to everyone!

The weather here in the Northeast has been miserable the last week, but I’ve finally started shooting stuff with the Sony FDR-AX100 , and here’s what I’ve found out so far NLE Support. It turns out that Adobe Premiere CS6 does not like 4K footage from the FDR-AX100. Prelude seemed to import it okay, but when I transferred it to Premiere , there was garbage displayed in the Source panel. An image was displayed in the Program panel, but I couldn’t play the footage, even after rendering it. After rendering, it would just jump between two frames and not play anything else. It seems like you’ll have to get the Creative Cloud if you want to edit 4K (unfortunately, at the moment I can’t as I’m working on a computer behind a network that the IS department won’t approve any cloud-based software.) One option might be to use DaVinci Resolve to create 1080 footage from the 4K and then edit in Premiere . Final Cut Pro X , fortunately, happily imported the video and lets me edit it. ...

Calling all colourists – Grade Panasonic GH4 4K ProRes next to Arri Alexa 2K ProRes | EOSHD The camera records a LOT of data in 4K mode. The internal codec is compressed to 100Mbit/s and packed into an 8bit 4:2:0 codec but 4x the resolution of 1080p means you can oversample 2K from it and gain 10bit precision and 4:4:4 colour sampling. This theory has been backed up by people in the know, specifically David Newman at CineForm / GoPro in this EOSHD interview. New Canon XF205 And XF200 Professional Camcorders Deliver Ideal Performance For Run-And-Gun, Cinéma Vérité Filmmakers | CanonRumors Positioned above the XF105 and XF100 Professional Camcorder models, the new Canon XF205 and XF200 Professional Camcorders are equipped with the upgraded zoom lens, CMOS sensor and image-processing platform featured in the XA25/XA20 High Definition Camcorders.  Canon Announces $33K US 17-120MM ENG Style Servo Lens For Large Sensor Cameras | News Shooter Canon have pre-released inf...

Panasonic GH4 4K Production Diary – Day 2 – Test Footage | EOSHD I have not seen any moire in the GH4′s 4K output yet. The only artefacts in the 4K image are related to aliasing from 4:2:0 colour sampling. Mr Uematsu told me that all internal processing and debayering is done in 10bit 4:2:2. However the internal 4K codec drops this to 8bit 4:2:0 to save space. You’re thankful for the light footprint of this codec though after using Blackmagic 4K ProRes or 5D Mark III raw files! Much more practical to store and archive. Andrew Reid at EOSHD has also been tweeting as he goes: It's interesting how good the GH4's 4K looks at 2K. Colour and tonality all look like 10bit 444 if you ask me :) — Andrew Reid (@EOSHD) April 2, 2014 Using GH4 has made me want to upgrade my TV. I think Panasonic 4K strategy is working :) — Andrew Reid (@EOSHD) April 1, 2014 And if you read French PRISE EN MAIN DU GH4 AU PAYS DES TULIPES | Pampuri Panasonic a eu la belle idée de m’inv...

Red Giant announces an update to BulletProof: Red Giant BulletProof Takes Aim with More Camera Support AVCHD and Canon XF Support. Faster Import. PluralEyes Integration. Today, April 1, 2014, Red Giant announced BulletProof 1.2, an update that brings more camera support and other improvements to its footage backup and preparation tool. Bruce Sharpe, Shooter Suite business unit manager said, “Last year at NAB, we released BulletProof - a product that we knew had the potential to become an essential tool for shooters. This year, we’ve updated it to support the AVCHD and Canon XF format, two formats that are a mainstay of the industry.” In addition to the existing support for Canon and Nikon DSLRs and GoPro cameras, BulletProof now includes support for Panasonic and Sony DSLRs, and for the Canon C-series and XF-series cameras. BulletProof is designed to solve several challenges that, since the DSLR revolution, have plagued shooters, both on set and right before post-product...

Andrew Reid and Frank Sauer shoot with the Panasonic GH4 – Production Diary Day 1 | EOSHD The even more astonishing thing is the 4K codec has such a light footprint. About 100MB for a 10 second clip. 8x smaller than Blackmagic Production Camera 4K in ProRes. 1GB for a whole minute… approximately 64 minutes per 64GB card is very nice when you are used to 12 minutes per 64GB with 1080p raw on the 5D Mark III… yet this is 4K. So 8bit 4:2:0 has its advantages after all… wow. THE DEATH OF MICRO FOUR THIRDS? SOURCES CLAIM PANASONIC AND OLYMPUS ARE MOVING TO FULL FRAME ON ALL FUTURE CAMERAS | Noam Kroll Last week, multiple sources stated that Panasonic will be dropping the Micro Four Thirds format on future cameras. The rumors came after a recording that is said to be from a recent Panasonic staff meeting was leaked onto YouTube. In it, two reps (possibly from the company, but again not confirmed) discuss how the company is having to restructure and refocus their efforts (specificall...

An interesting update to the DJI Phantom 2 software includes the following: Main controller firmware now includes the Flight Limits functions, inclusive of maximum height radius limits, which is aimed to help users fly more safely. Max height is set at 400m and max radius is 1600m by default. The default parameters can be configured in the Assistant Software v2.00. The max descent speed has changed to 3m/s. Reader Paul Antico notes: New DJI ground station firmware released for Phantom 2 won't even let you use it within 5 mi of a major airport... They are also limiting down speed to 3m/sec. Mostly for safety but this also effectively limits how far up you can go. Point is this is a peek at the future: regulated use of drones based on GPS and flight envelopes. Nothing to stop the future from being limited in height or based on gps coordinates. The airport limitation may be limited to the iPad Groundstation software  or it may apply to both (I haven't been able to ...

SHAPE SHOW NEW GIMBAL FOR GOPRO | News Shooter The Shape Gimbal ISEE I for GoPro is a 2 axis brushless gimbal which can be held in one hand. Power is from a single Canon LPE6 type battery and control is via a push button. The ISEE I is already available for pre-order from their website for CAD $699. Trying out the Canon C100 Autofocus…does it actually work? Can autofocus in video every truly work? | Philip Bloom You will understand more once you watch the video below but one of the biggest issues for me was the limitation of the auto focus area just being that small square in the middle. Never in every shot are you going to want your focus to be dead centre. The key to getting good results with the continuous autofocus, is clever use of the focus lock button which I programmed onto function 7 in the photo below. ARRI Developing a 6K 65mm Digital Cinema Camera? | No Film School That’s why it comes as no surprise that ARRI looks to be developing their own 6K came...

Five Questions for Twenty Feet from Stardom Cinematographer Nicola Marsh | Filmmaker Magazine "People are so obsessed with resolution I actually think that’s not really what makes a good image; you don’t want a ton of resolution. It’s great to have it when you need it, you can punch in or rotoscope, but lack of resolution is beautiful and elegant and more impressionistic." Quit Crashing Your Computer: Editing 4K in Adobe Premiere | Premium Beat In the following video Luke Neumann shows us how to edit 4K footage without bogging down your computer. The process is surprisingly easy and can be done using only Adobe Premiere and After Effects. Panasonic GH4 Camera at 96fps 4096×2160 Vs ARRI Alexa Camera & Blackmagic 4K Videos |  cinescopophilia After a quick shoot we brought the clips into DaVinci Resole Lite to see details.What we have found was unbelievable. The GH4 could hold more detail in both high light and shadow over the Blackmagic.One problem about the ...

The memory card for the FDR-AX100 arrived, and I put it in the camera and it agreed that the card would support 4K recording - Woot! That's as far as I've gotten, as I was at a meeting tonight and only just got home. Meanwhile, EOSHD managed to find this sample video shot with the FDR-AX100 which seems to demonstrate some very bad skew. It postulates that the skew is only present in the 4K footage (because the RX10 has the "same" sensor and doesn't have the same problem.) Guess I'll have to try different formats and see what happens. And here's an unboxing and look at the camera:

The memory card for the FDR-AX100 hasn't yet arrived, but that doesn't mean the 4K news stops coming! Panasonic went and announced the HX-A500, a 4K wearable camera. Available in May for about $600. Looks interesting, though I do worry that 4K is going to be a bit like the early days of HD when some of the really inexpensive cameras jumped from 720P to 1080P; and yet there was no noticeable improvement in image quality. We'll have to wait for some tests and comparisons. I will say this; at 31g (1.1oz) for the camera unit and 119g (4.2oz) for the body unit, I should be able to fly it on the DJI Phantom! Panasonic HX-A500 wearable 4K camcorder claims 'world's first' | Cnet Other shooting options include gnarly Levelling Correction to automatically straighten tilted videos; rad Image Stabilisation function to cut down on blur as you're bumping and bouncing across track or piste; and sick slow motion at 200 frames per second, 100 fps in 720p, or 50fp...

I just got the Sony FDR-AX100 , which I think can be accurately described a being their "most inexpensive (currently) available" 4K camera. I thought it was time to at least dabble in 4K, but I didn't really have the budget to buy anything really good - no Sony F5 or Canon C500 in my budget! But if you're not looking to spend more than $4k on 4K, there are some other choices. Why didn't I get one of those? Sony FDR-AX1 At $4,498 (currently) the FDR-AX1 is over $4k, but close enough. It's intriguing to me, especially as I loved Sony's HD camera's in that format. Advantages; everything is in one box; for run and gun shooting it would be really good, and that's the kind of thing I do most of the time. It has more manual controls, more buttons and knobs and XLR audio inputs than the FDR-AX100. The reason I didn't buy it; honestly I shoot a lot more stuff with small camcorders right now, and I'm planning to take the FDR-AX100 on ...

Reimagining an ID: Sound & Vision | Filmmaker In 1972, WGBH created a station ID with a logo sting by Gershon Kingsley. That sound has become closely associated with WGBH, and they’ve made several updated IDs using that original Moog synthesizer sound through the years. Five Things Not To Do When Shooting a No-Budget Film By Yourself (And Why I Did Them Anyway) | Filmmaker D.P. Sean Porter’s credits include Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, Eden and, opening on Friday at the IFC Center, Eliza Hittman’s It Felt Like Love. Here he contributes a guest blog post on the latter film, listing the five rules he made for himself that he wound up breaking when shooting this highly recommended micro-budget picture. Hands-On Review: the Canon VIXIA Mini X Full HD Camcorder | B & H Photovideo Join Mia McCormick, of Kelby Media, as she discusses the Canon VIXIA Mini X Full HD Camcorder, and why it may be the video blogging tool for you. This video explores the specifications of ...

If you have any interest in Panasonic's upcoming 4K digital mirrorless camera, the GH4 , then you should watch this interview with Panasonic rep Matt Frazer. Zacuto’s First Look: Panasonic Lumix GH4 | Zacuto Panasonic representative, Matt Frazer, visited Zacuto headquarters in Chicago to give us a first look at the Lumix GH4. This latest offering from the Lumix lineup is making headlines as the first-ever (DSLM) digital single-lens mirrorless camera with built-in 4K video recording. Review of the Zacuto C300/ C500/ Blackmagic Pocket Camera Z-Finder PLUS get yourself a nice C-Cup for your C100! | Philip Bloom When Zacuto brought out the first Z-Finder for the 5DmkII almost 5 years ago suddenly we had a hope in hell of getting our shots in focus. Since then they have refined it, brought out the cheaper junior and of course added their EVF for it. I still use the Z-Finder Pro on the back screen of my Canon 1DC all the time. It’s an essential piece of kit that I cannot recomm...

5 Tips for Working in High Frame Rates | Production Hub Learn from Matt Drake and his DP Matt Novello, the team behind Bullet Theory Films. They recently shot a commercial for Sinter Fire Bullets’ frangible ammo. The team wanted to avoid using CGI effects, so they chose to shoot with the Phantom v711 at extremely high frame rates (up to 80,000 fps) to capture the live bullets. 4 BACKGROUND TIPS TO MAKE YOUR ACTION CAM VIDEO LOOK PROFESSIONAL | VideoMaker 1. Use the weather Whether it be sun or storm, you can use the natural weather and natural light to add highlights to your shot. As an example, the photo above shows a bike rider jumping off a dirt mound, but it shows the white fog in the background which really pops the image of the rider. Are Quadcopters Legal? | B & H Photo What Changed? Before attempting to answer that, we should consider why this legislation is being pushed through now. RC enthusiasts have been operating small-scale unmanned aircraft for decades...