I got to share a ride in a zeppelin yesterday, and shot some fun (very snapshot-ish) video with my 5Dm2. Used the 8mm fisheye, 16-35 and 70-200 with 1.4x. Very not stabilized. Sigh. ;)

Enjoy. I did!

A Day Above The Bay | Steve Maller Photography (http://stevemaller.com/blog/2009/05/18/a-day-above-the-bay/)

Nicely done! Not Hollywood quality, but it really seemed to capture the experience. (I assume. I wasn't there!)

Did you have any other goodies besides camera and lenses? Was that the onboard mic? Was it fully handheld without attachments?

And how quiet was it up there? Did they ever stop the engines and drift?

Did you have any other goodies besides camera and lenses? Was that the onboard mic? Was it fully handheld without attachments?

Nope, just the built-in stuff, and hand-held with no rig of any kind.

And how quiet was it up there? Did they ever stop the engines and drift?

The noise level was quite low, considering that the windows were open for the whole flight. And no, they don't shut things down...the engines not only keep it moving, but stabilize it, too. It's a pretty cool system. Go to Airship Ventures (http://www.airshipventures.com) to read more about their hardware and their business.

I got to share a ride in a zeppelin yesterday, and shot some fun (very snapshot-ish) video with my 5Dm2.

Wow, what a nice b-day present that video must have been.

But Steve, you got a big blob on your sensor (upper left corner).

-- peer

Wow, what a nice b-day present that video must have been.

But Steve, you got a big blob on your sensor (upper left corner).

-- peer

I noticed this also, but it doesn't appear to be in every shot. Did you shoot it with 2 different cams?

I noticed this also, but it doesn't appear to be in every shot. Did you shoot it with 2 different cams?

It's probably on the lens/filter and only shows up when the aperture is small.

In firefox the browser does not all me to scroll the page that the video window appears on so it is cut off just above the quicktime bar, so I could not access the quicktime bar or hear any audio for it. Video looked good though.

Wow, what a nice b-day present that video must have been.

But Steve, you got a big blob on your sensor (upper left corner).

-- peer

Yeah, gotta clean that thing. When I was shooting the snapshot videos I didn't do the aperture lock thing, so it was up around F22, which made that sensor spot visible. Most of the time on that camera if I'm working I'm shooting wide open so I haven't noticed it.

I still think the spot is on the lens. A sensor spot will show up regardless of the aperture. A lens spot will blur out when the aperture is large.

A sensor spot will show up regardless of the aperture. A lens spot will blur out when the aperture is large.

Actually, sensor spots do blur out with wide f-numbers. Their visibility is also affected by the focus distance.

Actually, sensor spots do blur out with wide f-numbers. Their visibility is also affected by the focus distance.
Is that true? It seems to me that if a given x,y location is dead, then it's dead, regardless of the image hitting it.

Is that true? It seems to me that if a given x,y location is dead, then it's dead, regardless of the image hitting it.There is a difference between a dead pixel & a dust spot. Dust spots, motes, hairs, fluff etc on the sensor are definitely more apparent when the aperture is stopped down. We have a house full of cats & dogs so despite the most scrupulous attention to camera hygiene we quite often will get a dust speck on the sensor & thus have a lot of experience of cleaning & checking the sensor. Many times a dust blob that sticks out like a sore thumb if you snap a test shot of the empty sky at F22 will all but disappear when taking the same shot at an aperture of F8 or wider.

Is that true? It seems to me that if a given x,y location is dead, then it's dead, regardless of the image hitting it.

You're right, dead/hot pixels do not change with f-number; I thought you were talking about dust/dirt on the sensor.

There is a difference between a dead pixel & a dust spot...That makes sense. Dust would have some height, so it's not flat on the sensor. In fact, the optical low-pass filter and other films would also lift the spots above the sensor. It's that distance from the sensor surface that would make the difference - if the light rays come in at many angles (large aperture), they'll blur around the object; if the light rays have a single angle (small aperture), the object will cast a hard shadow.

I like learning new stuff!