Sony enters HDSLR Game - but is it enough?

Anyone who has been reading this blog will know that I'm a huge supporter of HDSLR technology and have been shooting on the 5d for over a year now and invested more money than I would like on equipment. In return though, I have made back my investment almost immediately and the camera has allowed me to be involved with some amazing projects I otherwise would not have the opportunity to direct. (I can't reveal at the moment but stay tuned... will blog about the latest developments).

Now having said that, many of my friends and colleagues in the tv and film business have wanted to delve into the technology. But given the ridiculous 5d rig I've built and how completely jerry rigged the whole thing is, I haven't really recommended it. I mean there have been times where I forget to push record on my Tascam or plug it into the camera in run and gun situations and have no sound. A lot of the time I'm shooting I am alone and it's a lot to have to think about.

That's why there new hybrid cameras like Panasonic's AG-AF100 and now Sony's entry with an interchangeable lens HD camcorder are welcome news. This new sony entry takes the technology it's developed for its tiny EXMOR 4/3rds chip from their NEX-3 and NEX-5 and put it in a standard camcorder body.  From what I can see from the video below though, there are no XLR inputs, and also I couldn't find an adapter that would allow one to use Canon, Nikon or PL mount lenses on it.  In addition, like the Panasonic AF100 the camera records in the inferior AVCHD codec.  Not broadcast quality.

Yes it's been over a year and a half and HDSLR revolution has changed my career, but at the same time the love affair is starting to fade.  Are these cameras the answer?  From the specs, I would say no.  The chips are still not full frame, and price point for entry is much higher by about 2 to 3 times. But the silver lining in all this is that Big Companies like Sony are starting to jump on the HDSLR bandwagon and are listening and responding to those of us who have a love hate relationship with these cameras.

"Red" Alert: Panasonic Introduces Hybrid Camera AG-AF100

Panasonic announced it's newest entry into the HDSLR market the AG-AF100 at NAB 2010.  the first professional micro 4/3-inch video camcorder optimized for high-definition video recording. Scheduled to ship by December 2010, the AG-AF100 will set a new benchmark for digital cinematography. It uses the same sensor as in the GH1 with interchangeable lenses.  And with an adapter can take PL mount and cine lenses, still Canon or Nikon Lenses.  The camcorder records 1080/60i, 50i, 30p, 25p and 24p (native) and 720/60p, 50p, 30p, 25p and 24p (native) in AVCHD’s highest-quality PH mode (maximum 24Mbps). Ready for global production standards, the camcorder is 60Hz and 50Hz switchable.

Features that are going to be welcome additions to those of us who are shooting on the 5d or the 7d are built in ND filtering, HD-SDI, HDMI, time code recording, built-in stereo mike and two XLR inputs with +48V Phantom Power, 48kHz/16-bit two channel digital audio recording.  

The bad news though, it records in AVCCAM which is not a great format considered not quite pro.  Also 4/3 chip is not as good as the full frame on a 5d, and the price is going to be around $6000 and won't be available until Dec 2010.  Still good job, Panasonic, come on Canon what are you waiting for?

Best Lenses for Documentary HDSLR- UPDATED

As many of you know, I've been using the 5dMark2 pretty much since the camera came out in late 2008.  Specifically, I've been shooting with the camera for a feature documentary and have since built up quite a kit of lenses.  With so many lenses and manufacturers out there, it's hard to know which lenses to get and which work specifically for shooting docs.

Shooting with the camera on documentaries is tricky because you don't want to constantly be changing lenses, on the other hand the whole reason to use the camera is so that you can get that beautiful depth of field that we all love. It also important to use fast glass so that you're not spending hours lighting for interviews.

Having said that here are some recommendations for lenses to buy/rent if you plan to shoot a professional documentary with the camera.

*UPDATE:  1. Canon 16-35mm/2.8L  Ever since I bought this lens a few months ago, it's been my go to lens for travel documentary segments i shoot for American Airlines.  it's half the weight of the 24-70mm and it is a more useful range as you can get great landscape shots and great interior shots in small settings.  also it's extreme wide is very forgiving when handheld.  my last two shoots in costa rica and alaska i almost  used this lens exclusively for handheld work and it was fantastic.  The 24-70 never got used.  

2.  Canon 24-70mm/2.8L  Still a very practical lens range.  It's a bit heavier than i would like but it's versatile and fast.

3.  Canon 70-200mm/2.8L IS.  Very important to get the IS version of this lens.  Probably the best zoom lens in this focal length ever made. This is my main lens for doing interviews on tripod. Just gives a beautiful depth of field and the zoom lets you vary shots.  NOTE:  Canon released a new v2 of this lens recently but I have not tested it (don't know if it's worth the extra $800 if you're using it primarily for HD video). 

4. Zeiss 50mm/1.4.   If you had to buy only one lens for the HDSLR package, I would buy this one.  It gives and extraordinary bokeh and the movement of the glass if very smooth.  I use this to shoot at night and for beauty shots.  Extremely lightweight and it has a long rotation which is great for focusing or using a follow focus.

5. Canon 28mm/1.8   A great little fast lens for handheld stuff.  I find this useful when i'm doing running and gunning, both at night and day because of it's weight. Great for doing low shots or if you know you'll be moving around an event for long periods of time.


Here are some other great lenses more for cinema look.  These are lenses I would recommend and have shot with in more controlled narrative or studio settings.

6. Zeiss 85mm/1.4  or Canon 85mm/1.2  (great lenses again for cinema look) but not practical for doc work.  Gorgeous lenses both of them.  UPDATE:  Just shot this lens on a commercial shoot.  gorgeous!

7. Canon 24mm/1.4L  Again a great fast wide L glass, but 3x as heavy as my suggested 28mm/1.8.

8. Canon 50mm/1.2L  Again for the price I think the Zeiss lens is a bit more practical and in my opinion gives a more pleasing color rendition.  But that extra stop makes for stunning shots and if you use autofocus it would help.

9. Lensbaby or T/S.   These are great selective focus lenses.  The lensbaby is the poor man's Tilt and Shift but gives an interesting image.  Great for mood, music videos, commercials.

More tips:

Don't be afraid to buy used glass.  You can save a fortune and the great thing about lenses is that they keep their value over time. Going on craigslist is great, but I have to give a recommendation to Adorama because they offer a 3 year warranty on all their used glass. They have a surprisingly large amount of great lenses and their list is constantly changing.   Also you can buy all kinds of old manual lenses from Nikon, Pentax, Minolta for really cheap and use an adapter. 

Renting lenses is also very easy.  If you're in NYC, Adorama, Calumet, K&M, Hello World, Tamberelli, Abelcine all rent lenses at surprisingly low prices.  Also it's good to test a lens before you plunk down hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars.

Use quality glass.... it makes a difference.  I've tried going with cheaper glass like Sigma and Tamron. And I found that the lenses ended up staying in my bag.  I've sold all of them and gone for Canon L glass and Zeiss.  

So good luck and happy lensing....

Zacuto Z-FINDER KILLER!!! at half the price!

I custom made this viewfinder after using the hoodman loupe on my 5d Mark II. I found that it was very uncomfortable and hard to keep in focus. Then I tried the z-finder from zacuto at abelcine. it does have a great feeling and the optics are great. problem is it is out of stock all over town, not to mention price point. what was great about it was the eyecup and the 3x magnification. since i'm a do it yourself type of person, i decided to go out and try to make one on my own. i went to calumet and found this amazing 3x loupe. to my surprise it was exactly the same image as the zacuto. actually i thought that optics were better! and at $160 more than half the price. since i had already placed velcro around my LCD from the hoodman all i had to do was place the fuzzy side around the edges of this unit. it fit perfectly. the glass is german engineered rodenstock. but the design of this loupe was even more interesting.


as you can see when you pull off the top half what's left on the camera becomes a sunshade! it clicks on tightly when its on and easily comes off when you dont need it. brilliant. so all i did was go and buy i used eyecup from an old JVC camera ($15) that fit perfectly on the unit. total cost $175. the square unit is too big for the camera so i might actually create a connection piece for it that will retrofit the part that connects to the camera.

highly recommended if you want to great option from the zacuto!

Hot Rod CSH with 5d MK2

I just purchased a new rig from Abelcine called the HOT ROD CSH. It is fantastic. As you can see from the post below, I had previously used the cavision rig,but that was just so awkward. also it's so massive and bulky didn't lend itself well to run and gun.

this rig is fantastic and allows you to focus while being handheld. that's almost the most important thing with these cameras. extremely portable. here's the part i didn't learn until the cavison. build quality is very important. this unit is priced at 695 but it is machined well and was custom fit for DSLRs so the ergonomics are right. You can also turn the handles upside down and gives you a more eng style. ofcourse there are other rigs at this price. i had seriously considered the redrock THE EVENT but i found out that the dslr plate doesn't allow you to change the battery without removing it. i also looks at the gorilla kits from zacuto, found those things really awkward and unbalanced with a heavy lens and as everyone knows overpriced. this unit fits nicely on the tripod using my same quick release. this system will allow you to later attach a chest pod or a shoulder mount or follow focus, matte box if you want.

here's a video i used with this rig

rainy days in brooklyn / 5Dmk2 w hot rod csh from Diane Paragas on Vimeo.

music from jon brion. little person from synecdoche new york. shot on 5d mark II. brooklyn bridge park, dumbo brooklyn.

never ending rain in the city. used it as an opportunity to test timelapse using intervalometer as well as my new rig in the park near my place....



open shot was time lapse using intervalometer. kept shutter open for 1 second.

lens: 24-70mm f/2.8L (my favorite)





here is the website
http://www.hotrodcameras.com/gallery/?album=2&gallery=4

New Web series shot on CANON 5dmk2

I directed this series of videos for American Airlines new website called www.blackatlas.com. The project is a social networking site developed by Burrell Ad Agency out of Chicago, Juxt Interative and American Airlines targeted at the African American traveller. Nelson George, my frequent collaborator, friend, co-director and co-producer for our upcoming feature documentary (STAY TUNED), is the host and editor of the site. We shot the entire series on the Canon 5d Mark II. The first videos were shot in Barcelona, Madrid, Milan, Rome, Miami, LA and Jamaica. We will be continuing to travel to more destinations through next year...

And for you tech nerds like myself out there, my kit includes Cavision shoulder mount, Beachtek dxa-5d, sennheiser g3 wireless mics, sennheiser ME66, lenses are 24-70mm/2.8L, 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8, 70-200mm/2.8, lensbaby composer (for artsy shots), hoodman loupe which i outfitted with velcro, litepanel micro, manfrotto 190cx 501hdv head, Lowepro Slingshot 200a.
Normally I shoot with a DP but because of the quick turnaround and sometimes run and gun style of the videos, I chose to shoot myself. This kit is amazingly portable and since my lenses are fast and low light, I was able to use available light 90% of the time. I do believe these DSLR hybrid systems are going to revolutionize our industry. I literally could carry all of my gear through the airport in a tiny backpack.

I have to say, having shot with all of the prosumer HD cameras from HVX200, EX3 and EX1 this camera blows them away in terms of image.

One downside is the audio options. I used the Beachktek DXA-5d which is specially outfitted for this camera and allows you to disable the AGC as well as attach pro mics. Since you can only monitor what goes into the beachtek and not what goes into the camera itself, you have no way of knowing what you are actually recording. I like the way it is designed but the connector has already given out. Very disappointed. I think I am moving to a two system with either the Tascam DR-100 or the ZOOM.

More later...

check it out. www.blackatlas.com

Canon 5D Mk II and future of HD Cinema

Like many indie filmmakers, I've been trying to achieve a film look by using the newest dv and hd cameras without cracking the bank. Combine that with having a production company and a love of cinematography, you can imagine that I was quite excited when I like many of you heard news of the Canon 5D Mark II, one of the first DSLR cameras to be able to record HD video. I had previously owned the Canon 10D from years ago and always wondered why the pictures had such great depth of field and beautiful bokeh on digital stills while the video cameras I was using to make my documentaries were so much worse. If only I could get a moving image of all these great photos i was taking. In fact in my films in those days I would use digital stills in a stop action technique in my films to achieve that look.

I've used pretty much every camera out there from the p2 cards/ HVX200, Sony's EX3, Red Camera as well as the varicam, the cinealta. Now all of these cameras are  okay but either they are expensive and heavy, or they just don't have the picture quality or the optics to satisfy my needs. One rig came close: using a very crude DOF adapter like the LETUS and putting it on a HVX or an EX1.  I used this technique for a spot I did for Obama.  But adding a contraption in front of a prosumer camera then putting a Nikon or Canon lens in front of that seems a bit cumbersome.

But then late 2008, Canon announced they were making a full frame camera with HD capabilities and sound input, the cost for the body was half of the cheapest HVX and the card format is the regular CF format:  at most $100/16gb as opposed to $1000/16gb for P2 or sXs. And you get the depth of field without all of that extra equipment.

So I took the plunge and bought it.  I should say that I bought and returned the Nikon D90 which was a great little camera with the right lenses but no audio input was a huge down.  It did have one advantage and that was shooting at 24p.

Immediately, I started using it on a professional project which looks great. Will give a more detailed review later once we have finished editing.  But here are my initial thoughts

So far the camera wins out on low-light shooting.  Audio is really difficult.  I have a Beachtek adapter but you can not monitor sound while recording only after as playback.  Not ideal.  also with FCP on any laptop, the H264 format cannot be played natively. i don't seem to have a problem on my mac pro but it's not ideal.  also it shoots at 30fps not 24p and not 29.97 which is broadcast standard.

So my overall impression is, this camera is great for shooting short, scripted mostly MOS footage on a budget.  It's not ideal as a primary camera but a great second camera.  Also I made the decision to invest in the lenses, and then wait for the Red Scarlet in the Fall...

Whatever the outcome, for the first of its generation I am very impressed.