Improve your video on the Canon 5DMK2
by Rick on Mar.08, 2010, under Uncategorized
Some of you may have heard of Shane Hurlbut and some may not. But I’m sure most of you have seen the movie Terminator Salvation. Well, Shane was the DP on that project. What you may not also know is Shane is a major proponent of the new HDSLR movement. In fact, most of his latest shoots are created with the Canon line of HDSLRs.
Shane manages in his spare time to help inform the rest of us through his blog and newsletter as to his thoughts, workflow and findings in HDSLR land and gives us a peek into what’s involved in high end production shoots. If you get a chance be sure to check out his blog here. www.hurlburtvisuals.com/blog/
In the meantime, I’ve gotten a few tips off his recent newsletter regarding some settings on the 5DMK2 some of which I haven’t heard mentioned anywhere else. As I read it, these should help with noise reduction, image quality and post color correction.
- Go into your menu and turn off the auto light optimizer. It jacks your video.
- In the image menu area and turn off your highlight tone priority because this ads noise.
- Staying in that section, take your high ISO noise reduction setting and change it to low or disable it. It will help in the post color correction process.
- The same applies to the sharpness in your picture style menu, which should always be at zero. Do not use the cheap pro-sumer sharpening tool.
He also mentions that no two cameras will give you the same look as the color is scattered across the board. So be sure to calibrate each camera you have one to another to make sure you’re getting the same look on each camera.
Thanks Shane for letting us into your world and at the same time helping us little guys create better looking video!
New Schneider filter to address IR contamination
by Rick on Feb.10, 2010, under News
Schneider Optics has asked us to Beta test their new IR contamination correction filter. We EX users have struggled mightily over the past couple of years with IR contamination. This is most visible in dark fabrics, greens become a reddish muddy brown and blacks have a magenta hue. In the beginning it was thought to be user error and Sony denied any problem with the cameras. But as time wore on, everyone it seemed had the problem. Only recently has Sony admitted (sort of) a problem. In fact the newer EX1R supposedly has a better IR filter built in.
To date there are a couple of 3rd party options that work to varying degrees…
Hot Mirror Filter – This filter was originally created for stills cameras but some people have had success with it on video cameras.
486 Filter – This filter does seem to cut the IR contamination and you get truer blacks. But you have to watch out when using wider angles as you can get some green vignetting in the corners. No light loss is associated with this filter.
T1 Filter – Right now the T1 filter seems to correct the IR contamination the best with no vignetting but you also get some desaturated reds. The downside is that there is a light loss of 1/3 to 1/2 stop.
We’re due to get the new Schneider filter for testing next week and as soon as we get some results we’ll be sure to post them here!
Added an Equipment List page
by Rick on Feb.09, 2010, under Uncategorized
We’ve been asked over and over what equipment we use. So, to satisfy both our clients and our insurance company we’ve created an Equipment List page. You can see the link at the top right of this blog. It doesn’t list EVERYTHING as there is a lot of small stuff which would make the list just too unwieldy. Anyway, I hope we’ve answered most of your questions on equipment and we’ll be forwarding this on to our insurance company!
Canon adds Rebel T2i to DSLR line
by Rick on Feb.08, 2010, under News
Canon adds to it’s line of DSLRs with an entry level model called the Rebel T2i. Also known as the 550D. It has all the video features of the 7D and 1DMkIV including 29.97, 23.976, 25 fps at 1080p and 50, 60 fps at 720p. All for the low price of $799!
While it enables more people to get into video with these cameras at a low price, what it really does for pros is enable us to get a backup camera at a sweet price point. So instead of buying a 2nd 7D or 5DMK2 which is relegated to backup duty, (and remember ALWAYS have a backup for a paid gig!) we can use this one. Nice!
At this price I doubt any of the issues such as moire, jello effect, etc. have been resolved. But heck, just understand the limitations and work around it!
Below is a video sample from Canon for you to take a look at. I imagine once I start getting more gigs that cry for the 5D that I’ll be adding one to the studio.
Ikan VX9 HD-SDI HDMI Monitor mini review
by Rick on Feb.04, 2010, under Reviews
I recently purchased an Ikan VX9 HD-SDI monitor to use with my Sony EX3 and Canon 5DMkII cameras. the EX3 has a great screen but for my eyes I can always use a larger screen and trying to use the 5DMkII Live Screen for focusing is a real bear! The VX9 is a 1024×600, 8.9″ monitor with a 300:1 contrast ratio and comes with not only HD-SDI input but HDMI, Component, S-Video and Composite inputs for the remarkable price of only $1150. The only other similar monitors I’ve seen with similar inputs run over $2000!
I’ve used it on two jobs so far and will use it again this week on a couple more. In the mean time here’s a few initial comments…
What’s in the box…
The monitor comes in a white flip-top box. It’s shrink wrapped with a protective cover taped over the screen and enclosed in a foam insert. Below the insert holding the monitor is the AC adapter, battery adapter (whichever one you chose), two mounting screws and the shoe mount with a 4″ articulating arm. Also included is a Quick Start Guide, Warranty info and a registration card.
Startup…
Naturally the first thing I did was install the battery power adapter, a Canon clone battery and switch on the power toggle switch. Nothing. Humm. I thought I’d just charged that battery. With no other battery handy I plugged in the AC adapter and switched it on. A nice blue screen popped on along with the Ikan logo.
Button pressing…
I immediately started pressing buttons to see menus and such. (The monitor has a Power toggle switch; SDI, Video, HDMI, Y/C and YPbPr buttons; F1 and F2 programmable buttons and an Aspect/Exit button. The Menu, Bright/R, Contrast/G, Chroma/B and Tint/Sharpness are both push buttons and dials.) Nothing. No amount of pressing or turning or anything got me anywhere from the startup screen. OK I thought. I’ll plug in a video feed and see what I get. I plugged in an HD-SDI feed from my AJA unit, pressed the SDI button and voila! A nice picture but kinda squished. I had to adjust some settings to get it matched up with the format the AJA was sending out. This involved adjusting the dip switch on the back and changing the aspect ratio button on front. Once I got the screen looking correct it was time for some color adjustments.
Adjustments…
I’m pretty good at reading manuals before I get too far into things. But the manual consists of just a three page Quick Start Guide. Pretty basic stuff like “this button does this”. Not a lot of hand holding so you’d better know a bit about monitors or you’re gonna be looking up stuff online. There are dip switches on the back that are covered by the battery adapter. It’s for some special 720p settings so you may have to make some changes there depending on your input signal. There is a USB input and I was kinda excited about that until I read that it’s for factory service only. Setup is not too difficult once you figure out that some buttons do two things. Both by pressing and then turning. I calibrated mine to my Panasonic BT-LH2600WP monitor to quickly get the look I like. Again, you have to have a video signal to get the buttons active. (I’ll try doing a calibration from scratch later to see how that compares.)
Mounting…
It comes with a shoe mount and a 4″ adjustable arm. There is a 1/4″x20 thread on all four sides so you can mount it in any direction. There’s also a VESA 100mm mount holes for using Pro batteries or using VESA mounts.
Usage…
I took the monitor to a job where I had to video some speeches at a dinner. Used the EX3 in a very dark environment. After getting the camera up and adjusting the settings I turned on the monitor. A very nice screen image! I pressed the F2 button to get the Pixel to Pixel and adjust focusing. (The default F2 is Pixel to Pixel and F1 is Blue Gun) Wow! I was able to focus on the microphone from about 40 feet away. The monitor is very sharp and looks great but… get off to the side at all and the colors go wonky. There’s very little leeway in your viewing sweet spot so you really have to look at it dead on. I shot all evening and looking at a nice 8.9″ HD monitor was so much easier than keeping my eyeball pressed to the viewfinder!
Conclusion…
The VX9 is an excellent monitor. You’ve got all the inputs your could possibly need and the price point can’t be beat! Great color rendition with lots of easily accessible buttons for instant adjustments. The downside? Very narrow viewing angle and while it seems bright, it’s not bright enough in sunshine so you’ll definitely need a hood and maybe more. The dip switch on the rear is under the battery mount so you have to remove that to make those changes. I did try another battery and it worked fine so no problem with 3rd party batteries, at least with the Canon mount. I haven’t used it with the 5DMkII yet so can’t say about the HDMI. The manual talks about Window 1 and Window 2 adjustments but I havent’ been able to figure them out just yet. I’ll let you know as soon as I get some more time to play around with it.
I think you’ll be happy with the VX9. Just plan for some type of shading in bright sun and keep your head centered on the screen!
Check out the Ikan site for more info. And thanks to Carlos at Enhanced View Services for getting this monitor to me so quickly!
Camcorders and Equipment for Sale
by Rick on Feb.03, 2010, under Uncategorized
We’re selling off lot’s of our Standard Definition gear. Check it all out at DVInfo.net
Hello world!
by Rick on Feb.03, 2010, under Uncategorized
No we haven’t disappeared! We’ve just been doing most of our updates on Twitter. (See link to the right) But figured we were way overdue for an update here so here’s a little of our goings on…
We’re only shooting HD now. Most of our clients are requesting HD anyway so now we can sell all our old SD cameras and upgrade some other equipment. We’ve outgrown our current space so we’ll be looking for some new digs soon. We hope to keep in the same area as it’s convenient for local clients. Last year was definitely not what we were expecting for but this January is double what it was last year so we’re hoping for a great 2010. We’re looking to update our website this quarter so we’re evaluating web designers now. Hope to have someone chosen soon. Keep in touch with us on a more frequent basis on Twitter and we’ll try and update here more frequently.
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Welcome to Jones & Co. Video Services
Please contact us if you have any video needs or questions. And thanks for visiting!
