5DMII, Steadicam, a short bit of helicam.
Salt Flats on Vimeo (http://www.vimeo.com/4729350)

Some interesting and fun shots, which I think is what this forum is mostly about, so good marks there.
I would have edited it very differently, though.

Still, your camera, your shots, your rig(s) and the model are all tops.

Nice footage. (And I liked the editing.)

Nice footage Derek. How are you able to estimate focusing distances when using the 5D MKII on the Merlin? Just set it and forget it or how do you pull focus?

Dan

Kudos to you for getting such a variety of shots of a single subject. Very nicely done, smooth camera/heli work and follow-focus. I got tired just watching that runner...how many miles did you make her go?

...I got tired just watching that runner...how many miles did you make her go?Had a 600 mph world land speed record car blasted by her in the last scene, it would have been classic. :)

Nice footage Derek. How are you able to estimate focusing distances when using the 5D MKII on the Merlin? Just set it and forget it or how do you pull focus?

Dan

Set it and forget it. The crux was keep the wind from blowing it around too much.

Very nice indeed. Care to share your Merlin setup? looks like you've got it really well balanced.

Dan

Very nice indeed. Care to share your Merlin setup? looks like you've got it really well balanced.

Dan

With the 24-105 F4 I have:
1. Bottom-3 weights plus finishing weight
2. Mid-1 finishing weight.

Thanks Derek, did you find it easy to use? what kind of success rate did you have with it?

Dan

Thanks Derek, did you find it easy to use? what kind of success rate did you have with it?

Dan

This was my second day with it. It definitely takes practice, and I could have used more this day.

Derek, impressive. I've had my Merlin for months and I would still struggle to get results like yours while running, are you using an arm and vest too?

Dan

Derek, impressive. I've had my Merlin for months and I would still struggle to get results like yours while running, are you using an arm and vest too?

Dan

No vest. I wasn't running, I was leaning out of a Tahoe.

Ah, that explains it. The good old Tahoe, I spent the whole Iraq war driving round in the desert in a rental Tahoe, brings back memories!

Dan

Derek,

The video wouldn't play for me on vimeo...very interested to see it. Could you give us some specs on your remote helicam? Sounds pretty cool.

Thanks,
Chad

Chad,

The heli is a small electric with 600mm blades (Trex) with a custom front mount. It weighs about 13lbs in flight.

Very interesting how you kept your lady's colours of skin, hair & gear accurate, while the desert was blown out but the background hills and sky stayed in reasonable colour. The 5D2 manual might tell me how you did it but have you time to tell me the technique?

Brendan,

We were shooting from Noon to 4pm with the sun very high in the sky. The salt flats are very much pure white, obviously because it is all salt. So meter for the skin tones or just slightly above and the rest gets clipped. The hills in the background are very dark brown to nearly black which again helps with an almost bichromatic landscape.

That is helpful Derek, thanks.

Now I'm getting serious about investing in 5D2, especially after seeing how you retained image quality (after Vimeo) with your Triathletes. At a range of distances it was possible to see muscles moving even in sepia ... could help me get and hold sharp focus of big birdflight. I must read up about follow focus/peaking/zebra lines or whatever else might help ... your suggestions could be precious to me and others?

...I must read up about follow focus/peaking/zebra lines...Once you start shooting, the support is weak - No HD output for monitoring critical focus, no zebras, just an SD output on the LCD screen. It's best to use a HoodLoupe or external SD 4x3 monitor (if you can find one with a true 480 lines.)

The camera does well before you record though. It has 5x and 10x magnification, which helps you mark your focus points. You can take a photo and check the histogram to check levels and confirm that the color balance isn't ridiculous.

One of the strongest features - if you are brave enough and have enough time to use it - is the custom picture profiles. You can take a RAW photo, tweak it with the profile editor and save it in the camera. That processing then occurs in the 14-bit domain, before the h.264 encoding. You can tweak sharpness, contrast, tone and saturation, mess with the luma curve, and select certain color regions to modify. It's challenging though. You might approach the luma curve or color corrector with a certain vision, but the software often doesn't let you get there from here.

That said, if you can master the custom profiles, you can potentially get very close to your desired look. You can then make fine adjustments in the 8-bit domain, rather than trying to push too few bits too far.

Once you start shooting, the support is weak - No HD output for monitoring critical focus, no zebras, just an SD output on the LCD screen. It's best to use a HoodLoupe or external SD 4x3 monitor (if you can find one with a true 480 lines.)

"The Hoodloupe looks good to me."

The camera does well before you record though. It has 5x and 10x magnification, which helps you mark your focus points.

"How does auto-focus behave in Live View? Is there even an X in centre screen?"

You can take a photo and check the histogram to check levels and confirm that the color balance isn't ridiculous.

"Checking with histogram is a good suggestion."

One of the strongest features - if you are brave enough and have enough time to use it - is the custom picture profiles. You can take a RAW photo, tweak it with the profile editor and save it in the camera. That processing then occurs in the 14-bit domain, before the h.264 encoding. You can tweak sharpness, contrast, tone and saturation, mess with the luma curve, and select certain color regions to modify. It's challenging though. You might approach the luma curve or color corrector with a certain vision, but the software often doesn't let you get there from here.

"Are those features for stills only or can they be applied to video? I like h.264 but I never use RAW and it's my ignorance of luma that deters me from the curves."

That said, if you can master the custom profiles, you can potentially get very close to your desired look. You can then make fine adjustments in the 8-bit domain, rather than trying to push too few bits too far.

"Custom settings may take me a while to decide. But 8-bit and 14-bit domains are foreign to me at this stage."


Thank you for all the insights. Looks like I'll be nagging you as long as I get away with it ...

Derek,

What's the longest lens/focal you use on the Helicam/MKII?
Or do you just keep it all super wide?

Cheers,
Jeff

Thank you for all the insights. Looks like I'll be nagging you as long as I get away with it ...I've got to admit it. I'm obsessed with the 5D Mark II. There's no limit...

Speaking of which, here's the latest on the 5D MkII shutter: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/canon-eos-5d-mk-ii-hd/146718-5d-mark-ii-shutter-exposed-part-ii-6.html

And you can see my first exploration into shutter speeds here : Canon 5D Mark II Shutter Exposed on Vimeo (http://www.vimeo.com/2590318)

I've done more tests, and plan another video, in time....

Derek,

What's the longest lens/focal you use on the Helicam/MKII?
Or do you just keep it all super wide?

Cheers,
Jeff

I primarily use the 24mm and 35mm prime. If the winds are light, rarely a 50mm.

5DMII, Steadicam, a short bit of helicam.
Salt Flats on Vimeo (http://www.vimeo.com/4729350)

Well done. Great steadycam work! Very balanced. It is a difficult task to do a decent follow focus on a steadycam. I love your clean picture and lots of white spaces used. Very impressive!

The heli is a small electric with 600mm blades (Trex) with a custom front mount. It weighs about 13lbs in flight.

Derek, very nice indeed -- I even like the editing. Do you happen to have a snapshot of the helicam rig?

-- peer

Once you start shooting, the support is weak - No HD output for monitoring critical focus, no zebras, just an SD output on the LCD screen. [etc.]

Jon, it's comprehensive info like this that makes you my hero. Thank you so much for yet another thorough write-up.

-- peer

Jon, it's comprehensive info like this that makes you my hero. Thank you so much for yet another thorough write-up.I'm glad to contribute!