I’ve finally got round to trying a ‘proper’ videocast – perhaps the first of regular short demonstrations – with the Alpha 55 offering me HD filming while demonstrating the NEX-5. And I can use the NEX-5 to film stuff about the Alpha 55. A Canon 60D helped, though its inability to refocus during filming (which the NEX-5 and Alpha 55 can do) proved a small problem. The sound from the Canon was used, mainly because it had been set with a manual level, while the Sony was using an external condensor mic that pickup up some serious interference from the lights.
The lighting is nothing more than one 30W daylight colour energy saver and one 20W – using an angle desk lamp from IKEA and a spare table lamp. The background is a Calumet (Lastolite in disguise) canvas. To do the filming, I ran a 7 inch Lilliput monitor from the HDMI output of the Alpha 55, and mounted it facing me on a bar right next to the camera. The Canon was set up as a second camera and left running from that position. Editing, including cutting and pasting the soundtrack and parts of the Canon video, was in iMovie 11.
This is a full 1080p HD YouTube film – if you can view it (bandwidth is an issue) try the higher resolutions. The Alpha 55 consistently overheated at around 7 minutes, showing me a temperature warning then shutting off. The room was not warm and the camera screen was both not active, and moved away from the camera back. My first attempt at this film was spoiled by the overheating issue, perhaps because SSS was left on in error. However, on a tripod SSS is not active to any extent when shooting video (it does not have the same problems of creating blur, which happen with still images due to the way mirror or shutter vibration are reflected by the tripod). Previous time limited movies I’ve made have been hand held and of course SSS is both used and expected to be very active.
– David Kilpatrick
Tag: video
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HD videocast – NEX adaptors and odd lenses
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NEX-5 with ECM-SST1 mic
Some parts of this were very close to large PA system speakers; others were close to dangerous loud instruments of war, notable Border fiddle and Scottish bagpipes from the Coldstream town pipe band (not the same as the Guards, this is the locals not their namesakes!).
Hand-held, mic set to 90 degree coverage not 120 degree. The NEX-5 only offers auto gain, not manual control of sound of any kind. 18-55mm OSS lens, stabilised but not always in stable hands. Widely varying distances from sound source to mic.
Hopefully a fair view of what the NEX-5 does in this kind of situation; and a view of why, despite the awful weather, I really don’t want to retire to somewhere warm and lose this place!
– David
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Nikon D3S video: dark, rain and wind 400mm f/2.8
As part of my tests of the Nikon D3S (British Journal, report in December, with additional material by Richard Kilpatrick who is shooting with Nikon on November 25th at a press event) I dragged the £6,000 400mm f/2.8 AF-S IF ED G supertele into the rain as darkness gradually forced the ISO up from a mere 10,000 to the maximum 102,400. The object was make a short video showing rising floodwaters, no threat in our town but still dramatic to watch.
Here’s how it came back from the hour in the rain, a quick wipe down with an oily rag and it was all as good as new. Actually, it needed a thorough drying with the towel then a clean up with a lint free microfibre cloth to remove dust and towelly stuff. The very deep lens shade kept the exposed front element totally dry despite the wind and rain; I just made sure it was never aiming into the wind.
During the shoot, wind noise was a major problem. I locked the microphone to level 2 manual gain, not automatic which would have been a disaster. Many clips had to be shortened, some discarded due to violent wind noise I could not mask. The sheer weight of this combo made lugging it with a decent Slik tripod (pan and tilt head for video) difficult; I drove to the evening location with the rig laid flat on the back seat of the car, but still had to walk several hundred yards for some shots. I wore a Tog24 parka and found that by pulling the fur-lined hood over the camera body I could cut out nearly all the wind noise. I must have looked like a view camera operator with a dark cloth, or something out of Monty Python with my jacket pulled up and the hood over the Nikon!
But, this seemed such a good solution to the wind noise I would consider unzipping the hood from the parka and using it as a baffle in finer weather.
My favourite part of the video is the one with the worst noise, where I was not able to keep the wind away from the direction of shooting – the sequence of the road (flooded by the morning) with headlights, tail lights and cars in rain. This consists of three takes blended with long crossfades. During each take, the manual focus of the 400mm used at near wide open f/3.2 aperture was pulled to bring the moving traffic in and out of focus, and create huge bokeh circles from the lights. This would be impossible with a camcorder and not all that easy with a conventional high-end video kit. The combination of full frame 35mm format and the fast 400mm has enabled a highly effective cinematic technique to succeed on the first time of trying. With some markers on the focus ring, some practice and many more takes the result could have been refined further.
But I was getting very wet and so was the camera!
The first part of the video is all on the 400mm with tripod, with High ISO video enabled. The ‘next morning’ stuff is on the 24-70mm, hand held, locked down to ISO 200 at f/8.
I’m not sure when our final review of the camera will appear in the British Journal, it should be early December.
The video is encoded to best quality 720p from iMovie09, and can be best be downloaded and viewed without any YouTube jerkiness at full res if your connection is not good.
– David Kilpatrick
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Nikon D5000 short film with pull focus
Though autofocus is not possible with live video in any current true DSLR (the Panasonic GH1 promises this) it is possible to use pull-focus effects with a little planning. We now have a Nikon D5000 – it won the competition for best fine image detail when comparing results frame by frame with Canon’s nominally higher resolution rival. It was also a very good deal, £629 inc VAT with an 18-55mm VR kit lens and a SanDisk Ultra II 8GB SDHC card plus Crumpler Messenger Boy 2500 bag thrown in free (from Jacobs). You Tube sample –
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Pentax K-7 -720p video, serious competition
PENTAX UK is pleased to announce the launch of the PENTAX K-7 lens-interchangeable digital SLR camera. The K-7 combines a variety of advanced functions and user-friendly features to ensure outstanding reliability and capability within a compact, lightweight body (says the press release from Pentax in the UK).
The K-7 joins the current PENTAX K digital SLR camera series as a high-end model in the range. True to its series concept, it has been designed to deliver outstanding image quality combined with ease of use, to benefit photo enthusiasts of all levels, including advanced amateurs. The K-7 also includes revised and upgraded features including viewfinder, shutter unit, continuous-shooting capacity, and exposure and autofocus systems.
Protected by a durable, high-quality metallic body, the K-7 is extremely compact and functional — as with all other K-series models — delivering enhanced portability and manoeuverability. The model includes several new user-friendly features, including video recording, high dynamic range (HDR), and automatic horizon correction. All of these features serve to deliver a highly effective photographic tool, perfect for all discerning digital SLR photographers.
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Kelso Races – D5000 freehand with 70-300mm VR
The wind noise has made filming with the D5000 almost impossible for the last few days, because it has been very windy. Simple as that. So I devised a popshield or wind sock for the tiny microphone by cutting a piece of red nyloop fabric from a pad which once belonged in the bottom of a lens case. Then the 70-300mm lens arrived, so I tried this combination on a race when the light was reasonable and it was not raining.
Technically, it’s not a good idea to pan with action when holding a lens of this size at arms’ length in order to see the framing on a rear screen. However, I had already experimented with a monopod and found that didn’t work – my pans tended to skew the horizon too easily – and for this clip, I did not want to use a tripod. I wanted to see what the VR did, and how well it worked with a fixed focus set on the fence before starting.
– DK
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Nikon D5000 first day – quick HD vid
True to promise, the Nikon D5000 did become available on May 1st in the UK, and my review camera turned up mid-day in time to be photographed and have its battery charged. Taking it out on my walk to the post (regrettably, to send in large sums of VAT and tax…) the sun came out though it was a very cold and windy day. With the sun, the breeze dropped to a reasonable level and on the way back I was struck by the motion of the trees, leaves and flowers.
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Nikon D5000 HD video – May Day evening
True to promise, the Nikon D5000 did become available on May 1st in the UK, and my review camera turned up mid-day in time to be photographed and have its battery charged. Taking it out on my walk to the post (regrettably, to send in large sums of VAT and tax…) the sun came out though it was a very cold and windy day. With the sun, the breeze dropped to a reasonable level and on the way back I was struck by the motion of the trees, leaves and flowers.
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Canon EOS 500D video HD example
My first tests with the Canon EOS 500D were posted on cameracraft.online, but given the number of search engines now flagging up this site for Canon 500D searches, I’m putting this post here as well.
This is an edited selection, shot in a mixture of 1080 and 720 modes, assembled using iMovie and written as a 720p final project for YouTube. Please feel free to link directly to the YouTube vid or to this page.
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Canon EOS 500D video test
The clip originally shown here has been replaced by an edited selection, shot in a mixture of 1080 and 720 modes, assembled using iMovie and written as a 720p final project for YouTube. Don’t mean to cause confusion, some visitors may have linked to this post already, and I do not want to add another post. Please feel free to link directly to the YouTube vid or to this page.