1st commercial shoot with 5d2...

I shot and edited this on the fly.... 4 hours.... very easy workflow in fcp. ( export appletv qt, then open that file in qt and save as a qt.... no fps conversion other then appletv codec.

The Mercantile Lofts

I took a SUV load of lights and c-stands but never set one up.... the client had such a short timeframe to get the job done that I just shot it all avail light.

5d2 on indiesliderpro, canon ef 35mm L f1.4 ( mostly shot at f2 )

It could use some more work in 3-way color... but I'll get to it later.

overall I'm surprised at how quick and easy it was to shoot vid with the 5d2.... I had the ex1 in the SUV just in case, but never brought it out. The client was a little freaked out at the sight of a little SLR on the slider... but after a quick test shot and a full screen play on the MBP 17"HD they were game.

Probably my favorite thing about shooting with the 5d2 is the 10x lupe view on the back.... get absolute focus very easy. Also... the white balance scroll wheel function is a treat.... choose icon based presets, or kelvin degrees.

I have some advise for anyone in the business of manufacturing lighting and camera support products for the indie market.... jump on the 5d2 band wagon ASAP! Start offering sliders, dollies, led lights, small par or fresnels..... you will sell a boat load if you market it right. I think the steadicam merlin will also find a new rebirth on the 5d2.

[Min Lee]

Originally Posted by Christopher Witz

I have some advise for anyone in the business of manufacturing lighting and camera support products for the indie market.... jump on the 5d2 band wagon ASAP! Start offering sliders, dollies, led lights, small par or fresnels..... you will sell a boat load if you market it right. I think the steadicam merlin will also find a new rebirth on the 5d2.

Great looking video. Glad to see the video function being put into professional use already. As for support products, I'd love to see a hybrid flash/video light. Considering it's low light capabilities, a small light that does a both would be a great accessory in a minimalist kit.

[Tabb Firchau]

Very nice Job Christopher!

I agree with you all the way on the 5d2 accessories. I was using my tripod as a poor mans 'steadicam' yesterday.

Thanks for sharing.



Tabb

[Don Miller]

Christopher, nice work. As you say the color isn't "dialed in". I expect in the next few months we will all learn how to best set up the camera.
Question: Did you work to get specific apertures, or in that light did the camera give you close to what you wanted?

[Christopher Witz]

I'd put my hand in front of the lens and get it to drop the iris to as open as it would go.... then hit the exposure lock button.... then spin the dial on the back until the view on the lcd looked about right for the scene ( which was changing the iso )..... and that's about it other then white balance using the kelvin setting.... for this job was usually around 4200k.

[Paul Cascio]

Nice job Christpher, really amazed at the quality. I'm curious how you created the transition at the end of the logo shot? That was really cool. Thanks.

[Christopher Witz]

that would be a logo psd layer with a wind blur transition.... over a frame grab layer with gaussian blur and a fade in transition... over the same frame grab without blur or trans.

the wind blur transition comes in a free plugin pack called "to much to soon" and can be found here... Too Much Too Soon Free Plugins for Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express

[Paul Cascio]

Oops, I forgot you were using FCP. I have Vegas and AE. Looks really cool though.

[Charles Papert]

Nice job Christopher. It's interesting how the camera handled the blown out exteriors.

I'm finding that this camera tends to run notably contrasty (was watching the 11 camera Zacuto shoot-out), do you have thoughts on controlling this?

[Nathan Troutman]

Hey Charles check out this thread for your answer

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/photo-hd-...non-5dmk2.html

Basically to sum it up. You use the Canon custom color profile editor application to create your own custom settings. You can then load these into the camera and select them for shooting in video mode. Bye bye crunchy footage.

[Christopher Witz]

yes.... like it has a built in s-curve as it's standard preset. I left the camera at it's default since I only had it since Monday and really didn't have time to do any tests.... but one can change the "picture style" and dial contrast down to muddy.... also can dial sat, sharpness, color tone... as well as some other advanced adjustments.... can all be tweaked in the style editor and then uploaded to the camera. I guess if one has the time to shoot a test of the scene, then go in a tweak a "style" for it.... results would be very "tunable". but..... the style editor works with RAW stills.... but the same "style" applies to the vid mode.

If I wasn't as busy as a puppy with 2 peckers I'd shoot some tests and upload them.... maybe I'll get a chance this afternoon.

I do think it handles highlights very well regarding bleed and smear.... being a cmos.

I would have preferred that this shoot not be done during broad daylight..... especially since the louisville skyline is right outside the window of the lofts.... I'll probably re-shoot a few scene to show that off at dusk/early eve.

also.... a note..... I did the whole shoot on one battery. 2 bars left at the end of the day. 16GB of footage.... lot's of "live view" use... in fact, I don't think I ever turned the camera off, although it did go to sleep when left idle.

by the way.... anyone want a penthouse loft overlooking the 16th largest city in the US? only $850k?

[Tyler Franco]

Very nice Christopher. It's nice to see the camera being used in a professional aspect. Of course, a couple of questions.

The blown windows really have a nice "artsy" quality to them. Was the camera trying to blow them out automatically or is that something you had to "trick" it to do? I've seen similar videos from the camera around exterior windows and the camera made the subject dark and exposed for the window.

I know you said you only used available light, which again is impressive after seeing the video. Did you use any reflectors or bounces?

Did you meter the light or were you "eyeballing" it?

And last, was the camera trying to shoot the 85L wide open all the time? Did you have problems keeping focus so wide open?

Thanks for sharing!

[Charles Papert]

Thanks Nathan for the link to that thread, I hadn't seen it.

I just did a day where three of us schlepped a Varicam package from LA to Santa Fe and back again to shoot a single interview (not the kind of work I usually do but times being what they are...)! The producer and I were chatting and he told me he was waiting for his 5D. We talked about it for a while and I suggested that this was exactly the kind of shoot it would be great for; I'm not continuing on the job due to prior commitments but they are now traveling to 6 other cities to shoot more interviews. They are high-end looking so they would still need to be lit so much of the gear would have stayed the same, but carrying this camera through security would be much easier (plus small batteries, charger etc). The producer thought about it for a second and it started to dawn on him also. I wouldn't be surprised if they shoot the next one that way (certainly a savings on camera rental).

There's a certain aesthetic that I'm starting to wrap my head around that I think could start to translate to the high end commercial market also; the combination of a sharp and clean image with a certain down-and-dirty look that comes from uncontrolled blown areas in the frame is kind of unique and while I can't say as it's something I've ever wanted to emulate before, it is--fresh. Definitely the look of shooting in available low-level light for things like night exteriors is going to start showing up in the fashion and commercial world.

[Jon Fairhurst]

Originally Posted by Christopher Witz

by the way.... anyone want a penthouse loft overlooking the 16th largest city in the US? only $850k?

I'll pass on the loft, but if I get an invitation to any parties there, I won't turn it down. ;)

[Christopher Witz]

Originally Posted by Tyler Franco

Very nice Christopher. It's nice to see the camera being used in a professional aspect. Of course, a couple of questions.

The blown windows really have a nice "artsy" quality to them. Was the camera trying to blow them out automatically or is that something you had to "trick" it to do? I've seen similar videos from the camera around exterior windows and the camera made the subject dark and exposed for the window.

I know you said you only used available light, which again is impressive after seeing the video. Did you use any reflectors or bounces?

Did you meter the light or were you "eyeballing" it?

And last, was the camera trying to shoot the 85L wide open all the time? Did you have problems keeping focus so wide open?

Thanks for sharing!

I was exposing for the people.... let the windows do as they did.... No fills, cards, lights, scrims, gobos.... nothing but the camera on the slider on some bogen sticks. Don't get me wrong, I think the results would have been much better if I'd lit the whole thing.

No metering... all spin of the exposure wheel to get the look I wanted on the cameras lcd screen ( yes... eye balling it ).... a very nice screen it is.

The camera would not let the 85mm go below f2 ( same with the 35mm f1.4... f2 was as low as it would go ) .... I'd prefocus using the 10x magnifying lupe function of the camera... a pleasure to use. I'm a bit old school and never, ever use auto focus on any of my cameras.... so the lupe is perfect for me.