DPReview just posted a link to a conversation on PetaPixel in regards to the filming of the season finale of Fox television’s House program using a Canon 5D Mark II DSLR.

Generally speaking, making video with the 5D Mark II is kind of a pain in the butt: it’s hard to focus, the clips tend to be relatively short because of a file size limit of 4gb, manual audio control was only recently made possible, hand-holding the thing is a nightmare, and yet people make the sacrifices to use this tool because the resulting video is stunningly beautiful.

While it might not seem of much consequence to independent storytellers, like photojournalists, that major production companies are using “our” tool for commercial video, it is, in fact, extremely significant: it ensures that Canon will be “forced” to develop the video functionality on its cameras more so than if mere hobbyists and photojournalists were using their DSLR’s.  Why?  Well, who strikes you as a bigger client: Fox Television, or the Columbia Daily Tribune?  The best part?  We’ll all benefit.

Tags: EOS 5D Mark II, video
Posted in Announcements | 2 Comments »

Introduction

Over the past couple of weeks I have been making photographs and video of Stephens Lake Park: what the place looks like, how it is connected to the city of Columbia via Broadway, and how the people of Columbia make use of the space.  It is “landscaped nature” in that is is completely man-made, but tell that to the birds who pass through, or the dogs that happily scamper through the grass.

This is a “draft” of the project.  At the very least, an idea of what it could be like.  I would like to incorporate some spoken narrative–my plans to interview someone from the Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation fell through this week.

The video was made with both the Canon 5D Mark II and the Canon 7D bodies, and the stills were made with the same cameras.

Update: On Video…

A friend of mine just e-mailed me to ask about my impressions of the video from the 5D Mk. II and the 7D, respective to one another.  I thought I would copy my thoughts to this post given the topical nature:

As far as the movies produced by the 5D II versus 7D, I would grant you that they do “feel” different, and I like having both cameras, but if I couldn’t only have one for video, specifically, I’d opt for the 7D.  I posted this draft of my project for David’s class on the Friday before Spring break, and the majority of the video is from the 7D (you can try to guess what was from the 5D–I’ll let you know if you’re right).
Movie mode is easier to access, and autofocus is more intuitive on the 7D.  The depth of field (DoF) is different because it’s a 1.6x crop as opposed to a full 24x36mm sensor, but I actually like having a little more DoF.  Sometimes, the 5D II’s DoF just seems too shallow for video (obviously, you can stop down) and that can be very distracting.
Food for thought!

Tags: Broadway Project, EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 7D, video
Posted in Broadway Project | 2 Comments »

After a long week in Festus and Crystal City, Mo. for the 61st Missouri Photo Workshop, I am finally back in Columbia.  It was an amazing week and, Val Mosley and I produced 352 A3-sized prints of the participants’ work.  Wow.

Now it’s time to play catch-up with all of the work I’ve had piling up back at school.

Tags: Missouri Photo Workshop, sequence, video
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A John Wayne American flag hangs on the back wall at Lucy's on September 24, 2009 in McBaine, Mo.

I’m presently working on a story for the “Boone Life” photo column in the Columbia Missourian.  While the story is not yet finished, I thought I would share a detail from the diner where I’m developing something to fit our new theme: beginnings.  In this case, how people begin their days in the small town of McBaine, Mo., population 12.  I’ll link to the story when it is finally completed.

Update:

The final story went online last Tuesday while I was at the Missouri Photo Workshop, and can be read on the Columbia Missourian’s Web site.  Also, this slideshow accompanies the story:

Tags: Beginnings, Boone Life, Columbia Missourian, photojournalism, video
Posted in Columbia Missourian, Updates | No Comments »

Canon has finally announced firmware to address the total lack of manual control (save white balance and exposure compensation) that one has for video recording on the 5D Mark II. Still missing in action is manual audio level control…….maybe they don’t want to kill the sales of the new BeachTek adapter? I wouldn’t mind, though–it’s $380 that I don’t want to spend!

The firmware will not be available for download until 2 June, but at least it’s coming!

Tags: Canon, EOS 5D Mark II, firmware, video
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Official Panasonic image

So, it would seem that the Lumix G1 that I picked up after reading through Michael Reichmann’s glowing reviews, and which I have enjoyed immensely in this past two months, is officially obsolete. Panasonic has announced the “GH1,” which is the same camera but with the ability to record high-definition video.

After looking through Panasonic’s Web site for the new GH1, it would appear that the camera offers slightly more manual control than the Canon 5D Mark II’s video mode.  Specifically, the aperture can be controlled by the photographer, as opposed to the 5D, which requires some clever manipulation in order to specify the aperture.
(A Google search will come up with a wealth of resources, but the bottom line is that a manual-aperture lens mounted via an adapter is the easiest way to control the video on the new 5D.)

No word on Panasonic’s Web site, or from DPReview, whether the audio levels can be controlled manually.  Because any mention of such a feature is absent, I’m left to assume that Panasonic followed Canon and simply reverted to auto gain for audio.  Nothing is ever perfect!  More after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: equipment, Lumix G1, new products, Panasonic, video
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So, this is not a great, in-depth interview, but it is rather a practice run at setting up constant light sources, positioning the interview subject, and finally recording, capturing, and editing the result.

I asked Jarrad Henderson, the subject of my earlier portrait studio work, what constitutes the most exotic food he’s had in his lifetime.

Shot on a Canon HV20 with a Sennheiser wireless microphone running through a BeachTek mini to XLR box. Lit with LitePanels LED floods.

Tags: Advanced Techniques, Canon, interview, light, lighting, lit, video
Posted in J7558, Updates | No Comments »

After acquiring an intervalometer for my Canon camera bodies a la eBay (the knock off Chinese kind, not the official Canon product that costs more than $100!), I decided to mess around with my first (experimental) time lapse video.

This is a technique that I can (hopefully) use for much more creative applications in the future. Hey, you have to start somewhere!

Tags: time lapse, video
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