Browsing: Articles & Reviews

Optical Science
The Pitfalls of Anamorphic

Focus is a huge issue in anamorphic, and everyone on the camera crew has to wrap their heads around which focal length lens does what. For example, in spherical cinematography a 50mm lens delivers a “normal” perspective, but in anamorphic the closest to this is the 80mm. The reason for this is that each anamorphic lens is really two lenses in one: it’s 80mm tall but 40mm wide, for a 2:1 squeeze. A spherical 40mm lens isn’t all that long and focus isn’t that big a deal in the horizontal axis, but the addition of an 80mm lens to the vertical axis cuts depth of field in half. A 40mm spherical lens has reasonable depth of field, but add an 80mm lens into that mix and suddenly you have to pay a LOT of attention just to make sure medium shots are in focus.

Show Reports
Comic-Con 2013: What’s in a costume?

Today’s pop culture is awash in the stuff of comic books. Our biggest movie franchises, video games and television shows are often lifted from the pulp-paper world of Batman, Superman, and Iron Man. Welcome to Comic-Con – the once small…

Camera Gear
Review: MTF Lens Mount Adapter

Over the past few years, many companies have brought to market lens mount adapters. Some of these adapters are simply machined rings that allow for one type of lens’ flanges to fit onto another manufacturer’s camera body. Most of these…

Acquisition
Sony NEX-FS700 in the Raw

At NAB 2013, Sony announced the raw upgrade for the NEX-FS700, allowing this $7500 camera to send raw 2K and 4K video to external recorders. In the middle of May, Sony sent me a prototype raw-enabled FS700 camera, an IFR5 raw adapter, and an AXS-R5 recorder. After ten days of frantic shooting, grading, and editing, Art and I presented “FS700 in the Raw” at Cine Gear Expo. Most of what Art discussed he’s written about here; what follows is my part of the presentation.

Camera Support
Review: Vinten Vision blue3 Camera Support System

The Vision blue3 is the third Camera Support System in the blue series, sitting somewhere between the original Vb, and the Vb5 I reviewed last year. The “blueBridge” Small Camera Adapter (SCA) is Vinten’s take, and an extremely well thought out one, on a Centre of Gravity (COG) lifter, a subject I talked about briefly last year in the Vb5 review. The only thing that has changed between the Vb and the Vb3 is a different spring rate. The sticks, case, spreader and head are in all respects identical down to the last detail, but for that spring change. So, if you want all the details, refer to my original Vb review. For this review of the Vision blue3, I’ll skip the usual format and concentrate on the Vb3’s place in the blue hierarchy, the measurable differences between their individual spring rates and, additionally, the effect of using the blueBridge SCA with them both.

Ultra HD
My Week Shooting 4K with an FS700 Prototype

Adam Wilt and I have had a 4K-enabled Sony FS700 to play with for a week. Come see what we’ve discovered about the latest entry into the 4K race to high resolution history. The FS700 has a lot in common with this camera — the Bell & Howell 2709 hand-cranked silent film camera (pictured right). It is 90 years old and it still works. I’m not saying that the FS700 is old or obsolete or can’t record sound; rather, I’m saying that, like the FS700, it’s possible to make beautiful images with the 2709 if you know what you’re doing. Adam and I will be presenting a 90 minute talk about shooting 4K on the FS700 this week at CineGear in Los Angeles. If you’re attending, please stop by the Sherry Lansing Theater at 2:15 on Saturday, June 1st.

Post Production
Making the Sony F55 Look “Filmic” with Resolve 9

I’ve spent a long time learning to make HD footage look “filmic” without really knowing exactly what that meant. I’ve just picked up a bit of insight, however, and it’s permanently changed how I look at video and color. I’ve shot a number of projects using an Arri Alexa in WYSIWYG mode — for which I’m considered a bit of an oddity — but with it I can get great results with no more than minimal grading and clients love walking away with ProRes files whose look is 90% there. My problem is that I now have to do this with other cameras as Alexa’s price point is considered “high” in my market due to the release of several newer, cheaper and fairly capable cameras. I love the Alexa look, but my current task is to figure out how to get close to that look when the production doesn’t have the budget to rent one — or, more likely, in the event the production company owns their own camera.

1 … 14 15 16 17 18 … 35