Topics

1

EOS Bodies - For Video / Help for CS6 premiere pro with 5d footage

« on: February 13, 2013, 03:07:09 PM »

Hi, Im quite new to video editing so please help if you. I am using adobe cs6 on a windoes 7 64bit machiene. I have directly imported my 5dmkii footage into my project before and its been fine. I am trying to do so again, and out of 12 files, only 3 are importing, and the other 3  are giving an error saying 'header error'. I have read this is could be due to an non supported file type, but then why would it allow me to import 3 of them OK? I have transcoded the files or anything as I was under the impression you didnt need to with CS6. Please help Im trying to splice some footage together for a wedding montage for myself and im starting to get stressed

thanks in advance if you can help!

2

Lenses / Quick decision help: canon 24 vs zeiss 21

« on: December 07, 2012, 05:03:28 AM »

I have the opportunity to buy either a zeiss 21mm distagon or canon 24 1.4 mkii. Both used, both £900 ( the canon comes with some filters). I have to choose today really and I dont know what to do. I had always been set on a canon 24L thinking i could never afford the zeiss, i rarely see it second hand!

I want a sharp lens and i would mostly be doing enviornmental portraits. So the subject would be smallish in the frame, and the backround would be hopfully bold and dramatic.

I think I would miss the f1.4, but then i got frustrated at images not being tack sharp pn my 35L 1.4 wide open.

Also I have never used a manual focus lens, but i guess at such a wide focal length it should be too hard?

Ive heard so many conflicting oponions about both in regards to sharpness. Some saying the zeiss is only better in the corners.

I would be interested in landscape and shooting stars in the future. I have seen amazing examples with the canon, then I have also seen people bashing the coma at f1.4?

Im using a 5dmkii, I dont have a preference on focal length as im guessing both will be pretty wide!

Any thoughts?

Thanks

3

Lenses / Visualising focal length perception.

« on: November 28, 2012, 09:47:47 AM »

I hope the title of this thread isn't misleading. I only use primes, I dont know why, I just like them. Im trying to understand how focal perception effects photos.

For shooting small groups, and if space wasn't an issue, is the best reason to use the widest lens possible before distortion factors show up, because it gives the most sense of depth to the photo?

Imagine the worlds best telephoto lens, that would allow me to photograph a group of 6 people or so from the other end of a football pitch and crop in, still retaining amazing sharpenss. It would still look weird because everything would look so compressed and there would be no depth to the photo right? Or would this scenario infact depend upon how close they were stood to a backround.

Is this a suitable way to visualise this focal length perception or am I missing something? What would you suggest to be the longest focal length to be used for group photos, space permitting?

4

Portrait / Portrait of my nan, help!

« on: August 09, 2012, 12:03:28 PM »

Hey guys,

I know this is a bit cheesy but I have a huge family and we all love our nan so much. I want to get an amazing portrait of her sometime soon. Shes getting pretty old and I really want to capture what an amazing person she is. This is my first go with almost zero post processing.Hopefully I will have many more opportunities to re shoot, but what could I do better? Im going to her 87th bday party in 2 weeks Composition, posing, post processing our all things im thinking of.  Im thinking i need a nicer back drop?

5

Portrait / Reverse Engineer this please

« on: July 31, 2012, 10:36:40 AM »

Hi guys, Im having trouble taking my portraits to a level im happy about. Could someone explain to me how these were done, the first link being my faveourite. Has he used flash? If so would he have used an ND filter for shallow DOF?

http://www.redbubble.com/people/mufcaholic/works/9006838-ksenia-3?c=57577-people
http://www.redbubble.com/people/mufcaholic/works/9003301-ksenia-1?c=57577-people
http://www.redbubble.com/people/mufcaholic/works/9029090-ksenia-8?c=57577-people

Also if you look through his 'Strangers' Collection here im impressed with most of the light. Quite soft. I cant avoid worse shadows and hot spots when i try. Maybe im not post processing enough?

http://www.redbubble.com/people/mufcaholic/works/9029090-ksenia-8?c=57577-people

Some thoughts on this would be excellent.

6

EOS Bodies - For Video / Outdoor lighting solutions for video - help.

« on: May 31, 2012, 10:31:28 AM »

Hi everyone,

Im wondering what the best solution for outdoor lighting is at the moment in regards to a few different aspects. Are LEDS and other cool lighst best, or traditional hot lights?

Also, how do you power lights outside? Car battery or something similar?

Please imagine the two following situations and suggest what you would do.

1. A night time shoot with a band in some woods to give an eerie atmosphere. Enough lighting is need for the whole band. How many lights, what type, how would you power it? Cost?

2. Following a vocalist around a city with close up shots as they sing for a music video. You want the pretty brokeh in the backround but also want a bit of soft light on the face and maybe something from behind to catch the highlights in the hair.
How many lights, what type, how would you power it? Cost?

I am mainly interested in music promo but im sure these situations can be closley related to many other types of videos.


I look forward to a few responses hopefully I dont have much money to spend on lights (£500 - £1000) and everytime ive looked i can only find batteries that costs that much alone. I hope im looking in the wrong places and some can help me here.

Thanks!

Craig

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Please recommend tips for capturing actions shots on a 5d mkii

« on: May 30, 2012, 08:22:07 AM »

Hi everyone,

I am trying to capture a photo of my dog (maltese) hopping about which he likes do. I think it would make a really cute photo that my fiance would love.

I recently got a 5d mkii. I only bought a 50mm 1.8 whilst i decided what other lens would suit my needs. I have read countless times on here that the 5d mkii AF sucks, and th 50mm 1.8 probably isnt the fastest af lens either. I was trying to do this last night but it was about 10pm and my house lights are quite dull, so my shutter speed was too slow to freeze action. Any quicker and the ISO would have been unusable.

HOWEVER rather than being negative can people please give advice on how to improve my chances at capturing this. I am going to buy a flash soon. Could I use this too trigger the shutter as the dog jumps past it? Ive seen that technique used in high speed photography.

In general what other tips do people use for actions shots to get around the 5d mkiis AF.

Thanks

8

Lenses / Im confused between IS and fstop advantages

« on: May 29, 2012, 01:38:02 PM »

Hi all,

Im wanting to get either a 100mm f2.8 L IS or a 135L f2. Im getting into gig photography and ive noticed that even f1.8 can struggle so im assuming the faster the glass the better!? But would the IS actually help me achieve the same results by allowing me to use a slower shutter speed due to the IS, or would this just incur motion blur from people moving on stage?


My problem is that i want the 100mm IS because i also have an interest in video, and i like the ability to do macro. Its not my thing right now, but the ability to do it in the future would be good. However i feel like i should go for the 135L becasue its faster and the brokeh is awesome. Theyre both sharp so thats good. The 135L seems like a very good price used on ebay. There isnt too much price difference between the two lenses.

What would you do? Also its worth mentioning, I might get a 85mm 1.8 or sigma 85 1.4 at some point too. (I only have a 50mm 1.8 atm and a 5dmkii - just bought this weekend)

Thanks for your help

9

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Gig photography tips.

« on: May 28, 2012, 04:22:43 AM »

hi guys! After holding out for the latest generation, then realising i would rather get some good lenses I finally got my first dslr (5d mkii) on saturday morning and went to a festival a few hours later to try it out. I only had a 50mm 1.8 because i had read that was a good lens to start with for low light and because its inexpensive id be less worried about it. I went to four stages and got really good shots on two stages, the other two i had problems with and would like advice.

1. This stage was in a basement and had just one purple light on the singer. Couldnt believe how dark it was. With aperature at 1.8, shutter at about 125 and iso at about 3200 the camera was still saying underexposed. Had i have had a flash i would have been fine. But i didnt think they would be allowed plus i dont own one yet. So other than buying a flash and learning is there any tips for extreme situations like this?

2. This stage was big and i wasnt very close i had been at every other stage. The lighting kept changing every 30 seconds! So i was stuggling to keep up changing my iso settings etc. One minuite the stage was flooded with dark red lights which forced me to use high ISO settings, then a bright strobe would come on which meant i could either change my ISO or increase shutter speed. I wanted to change ISO so i could have a chance at cropping with less noise seems i was a bit far away. I was also trying to avoid lots of beer being thrown and crowd surfers (this was a heavy metal band!) I ended up keeping my settings for the bright white strobes and waiting for changes to take photos then. I felt like every photo i took with deep red or purple lights looked very boring.


One thing i had noticed on the day was that i changed to spot metering almost straight away becuase it was the only time i could get sensible results. Should i have done this?

Will experience just allow me to judge when to wait for the lighting to change rather than trying to compensate every time it chaged?

I found f1.8 really useful and could imagine stuggling at f2.8. should i just get some more primes or are zoom lenses at f2.8 usuble in extreme conditions? I want something shorter and something longer. (i have about 1.5K to 2K to spend on lenses) Recommend please.

Im pretty sure rock and pop gigs would have more standard and better lighting, this was metal / hardcore and the lighting was just crazy how much it was changing and how dark it was! Also is flash aloud at most gigs? Or should i just take one everytime anyways and put it away if im not allowed it?

All in all i think i got a few good shots of each band but i still need to upload them onto my PC. I was supposed to have a press pass to get into the pit with my guest list spot but that didnt work out. Im sure had i have had this some aspects would have been easier.

Sorry for the essay, thanks for reading!

10

United Kingdom & Ireland / Is amazon U.K third party ok for used camera gear

« on: January 04, 2012, 09:13:29 AM »

Hello everyone!

I just saw a canon 5dmkii for £800 on amazon through a third party seller. The seller had 95% positive response 'brown source marketing' i think they were called. The condition was 'like new'.

I emailed the seller about it, but the camera has since disspeared.

In the future should i snap somehting like this up or is it risky?

Thanks,

Craig

11

EOS Bodies / LED light panels

« on: April 15, 2011, 11:37:34 AM »

If you were to buy an LED light panel for continous lighting whilst filming,  what would be your minium requirments for it. I am thinking of building one but i want to know what colour temp and brightness are acceptable. Dont want to go through all the effort to find out its average! HA.

Also has anyone got any experience with filming with LEDs in in low light? Are they up to the job?

Thanks!

12

Lenses / Canon 24mm 1.4 distorting faces for close ups.

« on: April 15, 2011, 07:19:41 AM »

Hey!

I only really have enough money to buy one lens to begin with on a 5dmkii and i decided i wanted a fast wide lens for photos such as group photos and events and filming. However I am reading that the 24mm will disort faces for portraits. I have two questions,

1/ how close do you have to be to distort faces because this sort of portrait looks fine to me? http://www.flickr.com/photos/shaynabatya/4060563740/

2/ if i used a 2x extender would this solve my problems? I cant find any examples of anyone using an extender on a wide angle lens so i am wondering if anyone has experience with this? or i could possibly afford the zeiss 1.4 if the quality of the 24mm and  2x extender is no good? What would you recommend?

Thanks for you help!

13

Software & Accessories / Sandy Bridge Intel HD 3000 graphics

« on: March 25, 2011, 11:35:11 AM »

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with using the new sandy bridge cpu and its on-die graphics. Im building a new computer and it would be great to use this for video editing rather than getting another graphics card!

Any thoughts? I can only find reviews which compare it to discrete graphics cards for playing games!

14

EOS Bodies / Canon extend EOS 1D mark IV warranty

« on: March 23, 2011, 08:46:12 AM »

"Canon has announced that it is extending its offer of a free two-year warranty for the EOS-1D Mark IV to include all cameras that are purchased before 30 June 2012." Taken from official europe website.

Does this sound like something they would do to encourage more sales before a new release?

What are your thoughts?

15

EOS Bodies / Lenses for filming

« on: February 22, 2011, 09:52:59 AM »

Hey!

Just wondering what everyone favourite lenses are for filming and why?T his can be canon lens or not, anything that makes a good image!  Also could you state if your using FF or crop sensor (just for an idea of focal lengths). Also is there anything that you feel may be rumoured to be around the corner that your waiting for to film with.

Also is there any lenses you have bad experiences and should be avoided for filming with for filming and why?

In low light conditions, do many of you manage to shoot wide open at apertures such as 1.2 or 1.4 or do you find this tough to keep in focus (particularly on full frame). Do you have any tips of tricks when working at this aperture? Do you find a stabilisation rig necessary!

Lastly! Zooms vs Primes? What are your thoughts with regards to benefits for video. For example i want a low light wide angle lens.... So 24mm mkii 1.4 or 35mm 1.4?? And then i have read good things about 16-24mm zoom and 24-70 zoom. These are f2.8... is f2.8 enough for low light video? What is the limit you have reached with f2.8 before thinking you really need a wider aperture?


Thanks for your insights.