Shoulder mount or Stabilizer system for shooting Real Estate tours using 5D MkII?

[Ron Coker]

[QUOTE=Ray Bell;1141586]A little imagination and I think you could get some really great shots with a wide angle lens
and the pocket dolly....

YouTube - Pocket Dolly? Promo[/QUOTE.

Ray, What a magnificent creation. That's my idea of a stable platform. (Are you Mr Kessler by any chance?) I would welcome info and availability to Oz for this little beauty.

Ron.

[Chris Beller]

Hi Ron - The Pocket Dolly™ is available now. You can find more info on our website. Thanks

[Jon Fairhurst]

Originally Posted by Ray Bell

Another lens you might consider is the Canon 10-22mm

Unfortunately, that's an EF-S lens for crop sensor cams only. The 5D requires EF full frame lenses.

And, if it hasn't already been mentioned, rent! In Portland, I can get mid-level lenses, like the 28mm f/1.8 for $17 a day, and most L lenses for $30 a day. The large telephotos are $50 - $80, but you don't need them for home shots.

And, before you rent, ask if the rental price can be put toward the purchase of a new lens. The local policy applies the rental price, if you buy within a week, but I'm sure that they'd extend it a bit for special circumstances, if you ask first.

Keep in mind that you can pick up on Friday and return on Monday morning for the same daily rate at most shops.

I'm building a core set of mid-priced lenses with plans to rent L lenses as needed. The break-even point is around 40 weekend rentals, so it only makes sense to purchase lenses that you know that you'll use regularly.

[Ray Bell]

Jon, To get the Canon 10-22mm lens to work on the 5dMKII all that is required is to
hold the lens in hand, extend the lens and put your finger into the back end of the lens
and pull the back end cover off of the the lens... now mount it to the 5D body and use
at will... when your done pop the cover back in place...

[Jon Fairhurst]

Originally Posted by Ray Bell

Jon, To get the Canon 10-22mm lens to work on the 5dMKII all that is required is to
hold the lens in hand, extend the lens and put your finger into the back end of the lens
and pull the back end cover off of the the lens... now mount it to the 5D body and use
at will... when your done pop the cover back in place...

Ray, I had no idea.

A few questions: Is this cover what makes it an EF-S lens? (It changes the mount and/or contacts?) How about the image circle? Is there any cropping or extreme falloff in the corners? Is this cover thing common to any other EF-S lenses that might be useful on the 5D MkII?

Thanks!

[Ray Bell]

Here's a thread on the use... may or may not be your tea....

Flickr: Discussing Lemons into Lemonade: The 10-22 'EF-S' on a 1D... in Canon DSLR User Group

[Dan Chung]

Ray,

The link you posted is all about using the 10-22 on a 1D series camera which has about a 1.3x crop factor, not a 1DS or 5D series full frame body. I would expect to get severe fall off with a 10-22 on a 5dmkII.

Dan

[Ray Bell]

yes, the site started out as a 1D body with 10-22... and then other folks tried this
lens out on other bodies... you kinda have to read through the posts....

for the 5DMKII it looks like you have to go no further than 14mm...

I have the lens and wouldn't use it in this method unless I just had to get that kind of shot,
but it is possible if you had too.... the pictures show you how to take the rear cover off of
the lens

[Nigel Barker]

I had never seen this MTV Cribs show so located a couple in the 'usual places' to take a look. If the 2 shows we watched (one with Robbie Williams the other with Allanis Morrisette) are typical then the OP won't need to worry about mastering Steadicam skills to emulate this style. The filming all looked like shoulder mount but even if it were filmed with a Steadicam the editor mashed up the footage so frenetically that it looked like the worst possible nausea inducing low budget action adventure. I suppose it is designed to appeal to the young folk. I can't somehow see this being an attractive or successful style for promoting real estate as 14 year olds are not big players in this market.

[Fred Light]

If you're doing real estate video in order to SELL A HOUSE, the MTV style is going to turn off most of your potential [adult] buyers - your customers!

Buyers, when looking at real estate video, want to see details, they want to see the FLOW of the house... how rooms connect with each other.... they want to see the neighborhood. They are NOT looking to be entertained. This isn't HGTV. They don't CARE about what type of equipment that you are using. They only care about getting a feel for this particular home and if it suits their specific needs, prompting them to pick up the telephone and call the Realtor.

Nothing more.

And FYI: If you're getting into this business, it's ALL about the money. Realtors won't spend a great deal of money on these, so in order to keep the price down, you need to CUT corners, not create MORE work by carrying around lighting equipment, buying lots of lenses, setting up dollies, etc. You need to get in and out of the house..... edit the thing, compress it and get it online (usually within 24 hours). The skill is NOT making this a full length feature production with all the bells and whistles, it's about whittling it down to the bare basics to get the job done, look professional, get it done FAST, and get it out the door for a couple hundred dollars....AND still make a living.

Otherwise, you'll make more money flippin' burgers at Mickey D's!

[Daniel Bates]

Take great care when mounting EF-S lenses on full frame cameras; some of them are incompatible to the extent that the rear objective will intersect the arc of the mirror. That's a bit more of a problem than light falloff in the corners.