Messages

1

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: ALL-I or IPB?

« on: Today at 01:35:37 PM »

My apologies for digging up an older thread, but I have noticed one thing when shooting video with my 5D Mark III and then editing on a Mac/FCP.

At work, all of my video editing is done on a Mac and FCP 7. Normally, I use a Sony HXR-NX5U, which FCP logs and transfers just fine. I'm aware that DSLR footage isn't native to FCP7 and as such, must be transcoded to ProRes for efficient editing. If I can't transcode directly via FCP, I use MPEG Streamclip.

With that said, I recently shot some footage on my 5D3 @ 1080p/24fps/ALL-I. I loaded the footage into MPEG Streamclip (latest build)....and the program promptly crashed. I tried again and got to the export screen, but it crashed again. I then loaded up FCP7 and entered the Log/Transfer menu, to transcode the ALL-I footage to ProRes. Same thing happened-- FCP crashed when trying to bring up the ALL-I footage.

So I went out and reshot the clips, this time in IPB. I brought the 5D3 IPB footage back to my Mac, loaded up MPEG Streamclip and voila: Footage was converted to ProRes MOV files without issue or crashing.

Now, I may be completely oblivious to some work around, or I may be having a "Master of the Obvious" moment, but for FCP/Mac users, I would advise shooting IPB to avoid transcoding headaches.

Of course, if you use Adobe Premiere 5.0/higher (as I do at home on my PC), then all this is bypassed, due to Premiere's native DSLR capabilities .

You might consider upgrading to the newer FCPX...it handles the files either way just fine.

I've had no problems with it using FCPX so far...no crashing, and you don't have to bother transcoding if you don't want to....

HTH,

cayenne

2

Lighting / Sekonic Light Meters: Which one to get? Features? Or another brand?

« on: Today at 01:30:15 PM »

Hello all,

I was watching some great classes last week on Creative Live...special series on lighting.

I saw some great speakers using light meters, and I think I'd like to get one. They all seemed to be using various models of Sekonic, so I started looking at them.

I can't seem to figure out what makes one model more desirable than another and what is setting the price point on each...

I'm guessing they all meter light similarly...you put in a couple of variables, ISO, shutter speed maybe, and wham, you get your settings.

But what else are they doing?

Also, I'm seeing what I'm guessing are older models that are all manual dials...newer ones seem to have touch screens.  At first I like the touch screen, however, I was thinking that actually might be MORE difficult to operate with one hand (camera or flash in other, etc)...I'm constantly fumble fingering my iphone for instance, and that might be a PITA on a meter I'd think. 

Thoughts on this?

I have a canon 5D3, and am starting with a collection of two 600EX-RTs....what would be the best meter for the money? 

I don't mind spending some cash, if I have to wait and save for the best one I need that's cool, I prefer to save and buy the best I can get right off to bat, rather than a cheaper one, then find I want something else..etc.

Are there other comparable brands?

So, if ya'll could help on what matters and what to look for feature-wise in a light meter..I'd certainly appreciate it!!

Also, I'm guessing these would be helpful for video with my 5D3...or is that something special to look for in a meter?

TIA,

cayenne

3

Software & Accessories / Re: Adobe to Stop Making Packaged Software

« on: June 17, 2013, 04:04:36 PM »

According to Photo Rumors Adobe is considering a new $9.99, 3 year pricing model for Photoshop Creative Cloud

http://photorumors.com/2013/06/16/adobe-is-considering-new-pricing-models-for-creative-cloud/

I think the bottom line they still seem to be missing.

 There are a LOT of people out there that do not want to RENT software, they'd rather purchase it and use it as long as they want, even un-attached to the internet.

4

Lighting / Re: Flash Newbie: Flash Photography Concept

« on: June 17, 2013, 01:06:16 PM »

As a flash noob myself, I can recommend The Speedliter's Handbook

http://www.amazon.com/Speedliters-Handbook-Learning-Craft-Speedlites/dp/032171105X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371486499&sr=8-1&keywords=speedlite+handbook

The author has a talent for explaining the things you need to know in simple easy to learn ways.

I second this.

Also, they just over the past 5x days, had free classes on lighting and speedliting on CreativeLive.com

Today is it a series starting on LR5, but do keep an eye there and go through their calendar for classes that interest you. Shown free during the day, free rebroacasts that evening (sometimes longer), and then you have to pay if you want to download or stream the classes after that.

I've found that to be a great resource for all things photography.

C

5

HDR - High Dynamic Range / Re: Post your HDR images:

« on: June 15, 2013, 06:25:33 PM »

Shot #4 from first batch

6

HDR - High Dynamic Range / Re: Post your HDR images:

« on: June 15, 2013, 06:24:54 PM »

Shot #3 from first batch

7

HDR - High Dynamic Range / Re: Post your HDR images:

« on: June 15, 2013, 06:24:19 PM »

Ok, these are my first HDRs. I shot these in City Park in New Orleans, I'd spied a tumbled down old building and kinda snuck in there to set up.  I'm using NIK HDR plugin with these with Aperture 3. Shot with Canon 5D3 with 17-40L lens.

First images I've tried yet...but not bad I don't think.  Opinions? Suggestions?

Cayenne

8

HDR - High Dynamic Range / Re: Post your HDR images:

« on: June 15, 2013, 06:23:37 PM »

Ok, these are my first HDRs. I shot these in City Park in New Orleans, I'd spied a tumbled down old building and kinda snuck in there to set up.  I'm using NIK HDR plugin with these with Aperture 3. Shot with Canon 5D3 with 17-40L lens.

First images I've tried yet...but not bad I don't think.  Opinions? Suggestions?

Cayenne

9

EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: What does "!" symbol mean on 5D3 in viewfinder?

« on: June 15, 2013, 02:29:57 PM »

I hope that this will help you.

New to the Canon EOS 5D Mark III is an in-viewfinder warning system. When set, the camera will display an exclamation mark icon in the bottom right of the viewfinder to warn you. This is to prevent unintentionally taking pictures using the wrong settings. You can choose to enable warnings when shooting in monochrome, with white balance corrected, with one-touch image quality (ie temporary change of image resolution, usually with RAW included), when using an ‘expanded’ ISO setting (50, 51,200 or 102,400) and when spot metering is used.

The warning system is definitely appreciated, though it isn’t exactly super helpful since the warning is just a generic blinking icon and the camera doesn’t tell you in specific what it’s warning you about.

Link

http://dpinterface.com/2012/04/21/canon-eos-5d-mark-iii-menu-review/

AHH!!  Thank you.  I had spot metering on, I was experimenting with that for the first time too....

Ok, thank you. I was afraid something had broken, and I was searching the troubleshooting guide, instead of finding a 'feature'...hahaha.

Thank you all, WHEW...camera is ok.  I'm in New Orleans...and when I took the camera out of the car trunk..even it still hadn't acclimated to the humidity/heat from the AC of my house ...front lens fogged a bit. I was afraid I'd damaged a sensor or something with condensation....

Again, thank you!

cayenne

10

EOS Bodies - For Stills / What does "!" symbol mean on 5D3 in viewfinder?

« on: June 15, 2013, 01:27:17 PM »

HI all,

I"m trying to scour through my manual for my 5D3....but so far, haven't found the answer.

This morning, I took the camera out to shoot some bracketed exposures....5 of them to do some HDR work.

I noticed in my viewfinder, on the lower right corner, there was a little circle with an exclamation point (!) in the middle.

Can someone help me find what this means...it wouldn't go away...

I'm home now..had been a couple hours, just turned it on and that symbol is still on in the viewfinder. What does this mean?

Thank you,

cayenne

11

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Is it time to consider Sigma lenses seriously?? competitive to Canon?

« on: June 15, 2013, 10:24:12 AM »

Posted by: cayenne
« on: Today at 12:16:53 PM » Insert Quote
I was looking up the Sigma 120-300...when I look on Amazon, I see about 3x of them...from $2499 - $3500+....

How do I differentiate between the latest version of this and the older ones when shopping online?

Thanks in advance,

cayenne
--------------------------------------------
Well, it has better weather sealing and os system. If you look at fro's review comparing the two models, there are some critical updates. I want to get that but I don't earn money shooting so...

I always look for the very best deals on the lens that I KNOW I wouldn't regret purchasing. I even purchased a canon 20mm f2.8 for 80bucks! Haha! Recently sold that for 200 profit. Anyways, I have found most canon lenses to maintain their resale value fairly high. I have had a difficult time deciding on a UWA for my crop body.. I've been reading many reviews on the sigma 8-16, 12-24, 10-20, tamron 10-24, tokina 11-16, and the canon 10-22mm. Again, I tried the sigma 10-20 f4-5.6 before returning it. I borrowed a canon 10-22mm a couple days after and for me, it really wasn't much of a comparison. Canon>sigma. I am biased towards canon from that instance as well as comparing the sigma 70-200 2.8 vs canon 70-200 f2.8 II.   but considering budgets and my rather low budget, as much as I don't want to admit it, I am considering third party sources. Canon's prices are ridiculous.

So instead of the canon 15-85 the sigma 17-70 f2.8-4? Hmm, I haven't even considered that one. I was thinking either the 15-85 or the 24-105. Haha! Biased, I know.

I was asking given the older and newer model of the 120-300...how do you tell which is the newer one? Is there a model number difference? Looking on amazon, I couldn't tell which was the newer and which was the older model....

Thanx,

C

12

Third Party Manufacturers / Re: Is it time to consider Sigma lenses seriously?? competitive to Canon?

« on: June 14, 2013, 12:16:53 PM »

I was looking up the Sigma 120-300...when I look on Amazon, I see about 3x of them...from $2499 - $3500+....

How do I differentiate between the latest version of this and the older ones when shopping online?

Thanks in advance,

cayenne

13

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: Magic Lantern... CONTINUOUS raw recording @ 24fps on 5D3

« on: June 13, 2013, 01:42:02 PM »

What's the latest progress on this? There was so much info about the breakthrough...but not much word on how progress was to refining this for a more general release to the public.

I think the in-camera stuff is pretty solid now (varying a bit by model). But the post-processing workflow is still in flux.

There are a number post-processing sub-projects going on right now, but as far as I can tell... nothing has risen to the top yet. If everyone were on the same OS, using the same applications, and wanted the same editing format, I think we'd have a solution by now. But it's just the opposite. That said, people are definitely chugging along.

Check out the ML post-processing forum. There's at least 8-9 projects, each with their own different process or software.

http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?board=14.0

I will be taking some of these workflows for a spin over the next week.

If anyone else has tried a converter other than raw2dng, it would be great to get some details.

Thanks for the link!!  I'll dive into it this afternoon.

I'd like to see them have a conversion tool, maybe to the DNG format that Davinci Resolve works with..so you could pipe the Canon RAW video into Resolve and do you color correctiion, and the out of that into FCPX or Premier as you please for editing....

14

HDR - High Dynamic Range / Re: Post your HDR images:

« on: June 13, 2013, 01:38:30 PM »

An old (abandoned) Prison!
It's really weird to walk down there knowing that people 'lived' here while doing time

Near the doors you'll see the toilet flushing system...

The rest of the pictures are on my site http://maximlinssen.com/prison-15h/
We didn't have much time because it's still monitored by people.

Now THAT is a cool image!!  Thanx for sharing!!

C

15

Software & Accessories / Recommended Video cards for use with Adobe Premier...?

« on: June 13, 2013, 12:13:02 PM »

Hi guys,

A club I'm in is wanting to set up a computer for video editing, and we're likely going the Adobe Premier route.

I've read that Nvidia Cuda technology is taken advantage of with Premier.

Can ya'll recommend a video card that would give most bang for the buck? 

We have a used workstation we're trying to beef up. Starting with:

HP WORKSTATION Z400 1X INTEL XEON QC W3580
3.33GHz 12GB RAM 1 X 1TB HDD

Thanks,

cayenne