Messages

31

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: DSLR video vs professional - what is DSLR missing?

« on: June 11, 2013, 10:29:43 PM »

Is there a stills button on the c series cameras? (excl the 1DC obviously)

Just wondering, because for folk who need a bit of both but are serious about video, 8MP stills with a properly designed video camera is probably more useful than 22MP stills from a bodge?

I don't know if it does or not. If you are mostly video and just a touch stills maybe that would be better. If you are a lot stills or even a decent amount no way it cuts it. Shooting sports, wildlife, highly detailed landscapes would either be a nightmare of bad for the first two and not so hot for the last, with a C300 or whatnot.

32

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: DSLR video vs professional - what is DSLR missing?

« on: June 11, 2013, 02:43:29 PM »

OP asked about the 60d.

I'm running eng, hdv and dslr format cams, trying to make a business case for a so called 'cinema' cam.

I don't run ML (so far haven't hit a must have situation) so can't comment.

The biggest single thing for me is product design, or at least ergonomics and operation.

DSLRs, no matter how they are rigged up, are absolutely horrible to use for video.

That doesn't stop me shooting a lot of video on them, but your man asked about differences (and specifically regarding a 60d): handling a camera that is designed for video is 1000x better in terms of user experience than using a hotspotch of gadgets gizmos caveats and compromises.

A video camera lets you shoot video the way you want.  With DSLRs you are a bit more at their mercy.  No whip movements, no crash lens movements, no servo or even live zooming, Clumsy WB controls on wrong side of camera for video tripod etc

A 5d3 dressed up, hacked or whatever, will suffer the exact same compromises as every other dslr.

Well he did ask what would a video cam do compared to a 60D or 5D3 at the end.

Yeah the form factor isn't the best, although with an eyepiece hood is become a good deal better, still not as good though (and with a Juiced Link screwed in the bottom and attached on the flash it becomes a touch more awkward). Of course you also get stills in the same small package and if you do both a real lot then a DSLR form factor is maybe better than lugging two bodies around, one stills and one video cam around your neck, it depends. And yeah a quick flip to drop in various NDs is nicer than screwing various filters on and off etc.

33

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: 720P or 1080p? which gives better resolution output?

« on: June 11, 2013, 02:32:25 PM »

hi, i just bought an EOS 600D which according to Canon friends does well with video. i'd like to know the real difference between a 720p and 1080p output via Adobe Premiere for editing?

the video is planned for a student classroom viewing on a wide 40-inch plasma tv. i like to create a clear 10-minute documentary.

please advise. thanks!

1920x1080 IF the TV handles it, some 40" plasma sets are likely only 1280x720 though. See what the sets specs are. Maybe it is full 1080 but it very well might be 720. I know a lot of makers had been pumping out the sub 46" sets mostly as lower end models and many only had 1280x720 pixels on them.

Even though ATSC's TrueHD 1080 is 1080i not 1080p many of the sets can actually handle signals as much as 1920x1080p60 so while TV broadcasts are limited to 1920x1080i60 if you just hook a computer up to the set to play back the video you might be able to get 1920x1080p60. As I said many of the sub 46" sets were made cheaply though and are not as capable of various things though.

Even for 1080i, if you just compare 720p to 1080i channels, despite all of the talk of lower motion resolution for 1080i, to most people the 1080i channels generally end up looking noticeably sharper overall. Then again LCD have such bad motion handling that might be a fair test. Plasma handles motion better so maybe on plasma or CRT sets it becomes a tougher call depending upon the footage (I'd still think that most footage has enough static stuff going on that 1080i would look sharper overall unless you footage is all major motion non-stop).

34

EOS Bodies / Re: A Big Megapixel Discussion

« on: June 11, 2013, 02:28:13 PM »

"Canon is apparently quite motivated to make industry leading sensors again"

Well I sure like the sound of that. I just hope that it is true.

As for the form factor. I'd really hope for 5D-sized (hopefully it wouldn't need a giant battery to drive 6fps, 7D2 manages dual-digic with a small battery although ti does have a small mirror). 39MP or so might be video friendly.

5D-sized, 39MP, 6fps, top quality video, superb low ISO DR, would be pretty awesome

35

Animal Kingdom / Re: Reptiles and Amphibians

« on: June 10, 2013, 09:37:48 PM »

awesome!

36

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: DSLR video vs professional - what is DSLR missing?

« on: June 10, 2013, 03:44:50 PM »

Recording cap:

Limitation ofcard formatting.  Max file size is 4gb.  This equates to 12minsof 1080.

No, ML has already gotten past that. Just format the CF card to exFAT on your computer and record to whatever file size you wish.

Audio: no professional xlr inputs or headphone monitoring.

5D3 has built-in headphone monitoring and all you need to do is attach a small little new JUicedLink and you get your XLR inputs.

Codec: lossy & difficult to edit h.264, lacks colour sampling depth compared to 4:2:2 & 4:4:4 etc.

h.264 edits fine if you have any decent modern nvidia card and enable the engine in premiere pro

the codec doesn't do much damage (compared Ninja2 over clean HDMI out) to all-i internal

using ninja 2 you get 4:2:2 and internally you use ML RAW for really amazing color and tonality

Weak AA filter designed for 18mp, not really effective on 2mp resolution.

Well it's pretty effective on the 5D3 since they mush it anyway. Aliasing and moire can show a bit using ML RAW so it's not like an Alexa, but it actually seems no worse and sometimes even better than Black Magic.

Limited to 1080 recording.  A 19k camera will have 4k.

true

Decent video monitor with zebra, peaking.

ML gives zebra and peaking and magic zoom box.
A ninja gives that on a small external monitor, granted not built-in.


Lack of sdi connections, lack of timecode controls.

Smaller photosites.  Lower base iso.  Lack of built in nd filters.

Yeah smaller photosites but larger sensor and that is what matters for the cameras that use the full sensor and the 5D3 cleans up against even many big boy video cameras when it comes to SNR.

No built-in ND is true.

60d is great cam and can produce great video.  A deducated video camerajust does mostthings better.

But a 5D3 with a hack (and perhaps a couple small add-ons) does many things as well or better than many, if certainly not all, video cameras.

One of the biggest differences is that the serious video camera are free of jello and none of the DSLR are.

37

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: DSLR video vs professional - what is DSLR missing?

« on: June 10, 2013, 03:36:05 PM »

The 60D (and all the Canon DSLR's) lack a lot of the exposure & focusing aids that professional cameras have - things like focus peaking, zebra's and focus magnification while recording.

They also lack any real audio inputs, controls or monitoring options. A professional camcorder will give you 2 xlr inputs with line/mic levels, phantom power (to supply power to microphones) audio meters on-screen and dual volume knobs.

Magic Lantern gives you much of that and adding a JuicedLink (for the XLR inputs, phantom power, etc.) gives you the rest pretty much.

The list could go on with missing features such as full time histograms/waveforms, headphones, time-code, (though these two were added to the higher end Canon DSLR's) smooth exposure adjustment, silent buttons, power zoom lenses, genlock, HD-SDI output (or locking pins on any outputs), DC-in, dual-slot recording, unlimited record times, etc, etc.

How often is a take more than 30 minutes?
You can record internally and over HDMI on 5D3.
ML gives smooth exposure adjustment and real RAW histogram and waveform.

5D3 with ML gives RAW video

38

Software & Accessories / Re: Adobe LR5 Released, how are you upgrading/buying?

« on: June 10, 2013, 03:30:45 PM »

Subscription based licensing is where most software will be headed. It reduces overhead costs (big reason) and allows a company to apply for a "Green" waste reduction credit on their taxes (small amount) by not selling a boxed version and not producing a large amount of waste in terms of packaging.

You hardly need CC to get that. And it's hardly even a cloud application anyway.

39

Software & Accessories / Re: Adobe LR5 Released, how are you upgrading/buying?

« on: June 10, 2013, 03:27:59 PM »

I guess every Adobe-related post will now devolve into rants for/against Creative Cloud.

Is it really worth all that hot air?

yes

40

Software & Accessories / Re: Adobe LR5 Released, how are you upgrading/buying?

« on: June 10, 2013, 03:27:30 PM »

Up until now for I have been upgrading PS and LR as and when they were updated, as a matter of habit more than for new features. I cant say that I like the idea of CC, for more reasons than price, but that itself is another topic! I have no interest in the current PS CC tools like blur reduction and am happy with CS6. Lightroom 5 doesn't have anything immediately 'must have' but I would like to keep it up to date. I'm in a quandary as to whether I should pay for the perpetual licence or wait until a kick ass CS# is released and then grumble and go the CC route, where LR5 would be included.
What are your thoughts on this?

Use PS/ACR. Don't trust them on LR anyway. Already they hint any decent new features in the future will be CC for LR too. Not in the mind to give them any money now just to get the newest ACR that PS CS6 doesn't have.

41

EOS Bodies / Re: 5D Mk III Vs. 7D Vs. T4i VIDEO ONLY

« on: June 07, 2013, 03:21:15 PM »

So I recently had to give up my 5D Mk III due to my car breaking down and needing to be fixed (Damn BMWs are so expensive ;_;). Anyhow, it's summer and I'd really like to take advantage of the time to make more videos, my main focus.
Speaking of video purposes only, should I invest in a T4i for the time being and just upgrade down the road or just save straight for a MkIII if it means losing summer's opportunity to shoot?
I've had the 7D and Mk III before, never the T4i, and I understand the big differences are Noise, build quality, and stuff when comparing the T4i to the two, but if it's only video, and in controlled environments, will I be okay just using a T4i?
For sure, I'm going to need a camera that does full HD and has 60 FPS. I mainly shoot outdoors and the latest is sunset when I shoot (I usually hit 1600 ISO when I do that.)

5D3 has far and away the best video quality. Much better SNR and less moire/aliasing.
With the ML hack it is really awesome now.

As for 7D vs T4i and such it doesn't matter, at least not using the basic standard recording, go for the Rebel (the one thing I wonder though is maybe the 7D would allow much faster writing to cards and work much better if they get the ML RAW going well with the 7D, not sure).

42

Lenses / Re: 24-70 II slight clicking sound when zooming

« on: June 06, 2013, 11:52:27 PM »

Does everybody experience a very slight frequent "tick.tick,tick" noise when turning the zoomring of the 24-70 mk2?

nope

43

Lenses / Re: Why Does the 100-400L Sell So Well Still ?

« on: June 06, 2013, 11:49:42 PM »

Here are the actual quantitative comparisons of the 100-400mm L vs the 400mm f/5.6L from MTFs measured by Photozone, presented by Canon,  and the blur tests from SLRGear. You can see from all three that the zoom is at least as sharp at the centre. I have had both lenses and can vouch for it first hand as well.

Interesting that those match the Canon MTF, but the Lens Rental measurements do not at all (nor TDP).

44

EOS Bodies - For Video / Re: Canon X-Video Picture Style

« on: June 06, 2013, 11:46:52 PM »

Cool.  I'm a bit scared to run ML on my 7D, given it's current problems, I saw the X-video as maybe being a way to get another look without breaking anything (I know, I know, ML is by sheer mathematics of users / failures ratio, safe) also I only have 4TB in my RAID, which will zap with renders etc..

What computer hardware are folk using?

& back to question, is anybody using x-video?  Are there LUTs for it?

Cheers

Yeah a RAID 0 setup is important. I had started out with non-RAID, USB 2.5 (USB 3.0 card in a PCI slot running at only partial USB 3.0 speed) and it was slow. Now a 4TB RAID 0 hooked up over USB 3.0 and that helped a TON.

I also bumped up to an i7 3770 with some fast memory to help out even a bit more (had AMD x940 before).

45

Lenses / Re: LensRentals.com Tests the EF 200-400 f/4L IS 1.4x

« on: June 06, 2013, 11:41:16 PM »

This is just one set of measurements under sub-optimal conditions. It is remarkable how the data on the 400mm f/5.6 conflict with Canon's own MTF charts and measurements by Photozone.de and SLRGear.

Yeah I always noted that the 400 f/5.6 MTF from Canon always looked solid but not amazing and yet over the years people have posted some sample shots, 100% crops, that looked pretty remarkably super-tele-like crisp.