Spot done on Mini 35...WOW
 

I rented the Mini 35 for a quick spot we had to do.

The spot was shot in 1 hour. Not pro talent....

Equipment was the Canon XL H1, Mini 35 and Zeiss SuperSpeed Lenses.

I was amazed. We shot it in HD 24f. The DOF is amazing...and exactly what we were looking for.

I have no concerns using this technique for larger budget productions...

This was a great test....

Go here to see the spot:

http://www.takeoneprod.com/Mini35/

I forgot...I wanted to post these grabs...if you don't want to download the movie.

Kev: It would be better if you posted the frame grabs in JPEG.

Glad you enjoyed the experience.

Looks nice, one question, was it "no preset" or you used CP?

No custom preset.

Here are the JPGS...

Looks good Kevin,

If you're looking for the next step, some color correction could make "great" phenomenal.

Very true Nate...

We had a $2500 budget for the spot. $500 plus $150 FexEx charges got us the Mini 35.

No lights, only some bounce.....

The jpgs' don't give the video any justice...they look washed out...and I don't know why. There is plenty of chroma on the video....

I was thinking the exact same thing.

That does look great. As for the color correction, it could use a little more contrast, perhaps a touch of curves (darkening the shadows and lightening up the highlights - just a tad), a a bit more saturation.

The depth of field is awesome (as could be expected). Your focus was sharp, as well, for all except the very last shot. I thought that one seemed to be having trouble keeping both the boy and the man in sharp focus.

Awesome stuff!

Dale

For no extra powered lights Kevin, that really is wonderful. And, I wouldn't at all say it needed more light! Looks really good - thank you for sharing!

Kevin, what MM lenses where you using to get that? The wide looked like more of an 18-30 and the closer shots looked more like an 80. Am I hitting anywhere close?

Matthew

I would guess a 50 and an 85, possibly 100mm for the closest closeup...?

Nice work Kevin. As you probably figured out, pulling focus in the shallow end of the pool is a whole different ball game when using an adaptor (can't really be done well using just the camera's viewfinder). As Dale mentioned there is an issue with the last shot, but of course you wouldn't be able to hold both of them in focus and with the grandpa looking out in profile (and the little boy with his head down) it would have been a good choice to rack from the grandpa to the little boy, following their dialogue. Also as you probably know the first closeup of the little boy is a bit soft.

Regardless, you had a solid shotlist and compositions and enough different angles to keep things interesting.

Great work on the spot. The DOF looks excellent. Its always impressive to see what these cameras can do.

It looked like you have a dead pixel though. I see it in the bmps and the movie file you posted. Look for it in the top right hand area of the frame.

Thanks for all the great words...and advice.

The wideshot was the 18mm.

Cu was the 85mm but we also used the 50mm.

I purposely kept grandpa "out of focus" for the last shot....just a creative choice. Liked how the dof kept the boy "centered"....

As for the dead pixel...you're right...I'll have to look at it in edit tomorrow (still in our avid)....looks like a dead pixel...but we've never seen it before....wondering if it's something on the adapter glass...that looks like a pixel...

Interesting...I just pulled up some footage on my laptop from home...shot AFTER that shoot....no missing pixel. This might open up an interesting conversation...can you get a missing pixel anomoly like this using a 35mm adapter with spinning glass??

Charles...you are correct....shooting with primes like that and the adapter...a HD monitor is a must. We had our HDSDI Panasonic monitor along...and I had to constantly look to double check focus.

The first cu of the boy is slightly soft....and I decided to keep it...because it was by far the best "performance" by him. Remember....these aren't pro actors...and this was the first time the boy ever did anything like this...so directing him and getting him to do lines was a challenge.

Thanks again for everyones' input...I love this forum...and we're planning on doing some other kids spots early first quarter...so I'll be sure and post them here when they're done. They'll be shot in studio.

Just and update...I checked the footage and yes...there is a missing pixel.

But I also check footage shot AFTER that shoot....and it's not there.

Turned the camera on...and no missing pixel.

Ideas ? Can the 35 adapter throw a pixel like that ? Bizzarre !