News November 5

Canon Tilt/Shit demo

B& H Photo has a write up (and demo video) of the new Canon Tilt/Shift lenses. The 17mm looks like one fun piece of glass, but it’s $2,500!

And as interesting as the article (and examples) are, I really wish that they explained the difference between the new models and the previous model(s) which are more than $1,000 cheaper. Unfortunately, the only reference to the other models is:

The lenses' control wheels and lock mechanisms have also been improved over earlier Canon tilt-shift-series optics to provide smoother, more positive performance in both vertical and horizontal mode. And to help reduce ghosting and flare, the bulbous front lens element is coated with advanced SWC coatings.

And who can afford to spend $1,200 just for smoother performance?

The architecture photo example is rather old hat, but the examples using the lens to take some product shots were really interesting.





Hands on with the Canon 7D

David Flores has an article on the Canon 7D on Filmmakeriq.com. It’s a good overview, but my curiosity was aroused by the section on the camera’s video capabilities which concludes:

The process is a bit involved, but I walk you through it step-by-step in our companion article, The DSLR Filmmaker’s Editing Workflow: Transcoding to Export.

But the link isn’t active, and I can’t find the article on the site (or on the Web!) Despite this, the Filmmakeriq site has some interesting articles.



Tricking out your DSLR for Video

In another interesting article at Filmmakeriq: David Speranza lists viewfinders, camera mounts/rigs, follow focus add-ons, and sound hardware and options. If you have some money left over after lenses, might be worth a look!



Digital Cinema Society Discusses HDSLRs

StudioDaily.com is another site where I've found some good articles. This article covers a meeting devoted to film making using the Canon 5D and Panasonic GH-1. A lot of the projects talked about were experimental, or started out that way, but it seemed people were generally happy with the results.

Particularly interesting is Tim Smith's (from Canon) comments about the early days of the 5D, and how many people Canon thought would use the video capabilities:

“When we saw the 5D footage, it was tough to hold our tongues and to convince the Canon people what would happen to our business once the camera was released,” continued Smith. “Our marketing team expected 3 to 5 percent of the people who bought it would be interested in the video side of the camera. It’s closer to 40 percent, and there are 15,000 5D cameras on back order.”

Jello effect

Finally, everyone's heard about the nasty jello effect caused by CMOS sensors when you pan quickly. This can happen in almost any CMOS equipped camera, but is particularly noticeable in the video DSLRs. Well here’s a rather shocking example of what can happen when filming a drummer using CMOS: Wet noodles for drumsticks? No! it’s CMOS video!

And if that’s not enough, you’ll find more CMOS bashing in this article: Consumer Digital Still HD video shootout