Tropical Blackbird In Action

[Paul Wags]

Here is a tropical house I shot the other day with the Blackbird.
11 Jagera Kamerunga Cairns Real Estate LJ Hooker Marlin Coast - YouTube

Shooting real estate like this takes no time to shoot so I can keep the cost down.
BTW that house is going for 650K AUD, there are some bargains in Cairns that's for sure. :-)

[Gabe Hoeffken]

I posted on youtube as well, but nice work. I hope I can get that good w/ my blackbird one of these days.

[Paul Wags]

Just takes time and your second hand is just there to guide it ever so lightly.
Using two weights on each end with the slider shaft on number 15 ish.

[Stu Holmes]

nice one as ever Wags.

you shooting these at full-wide on the tokina, right ? 11mm?
and what aperture you typically picking, f8 to get enough depth-of-field as the focus point is fixed for each clip?

cheers

[Paul Wags]

Hi Stu

Yep sure are..full wide, locked focus to infinity at f2.8 :-)
Just don't get to close to things.
It's a fantastic sharp lens.

[Paul Wags]

Here is another one...

Kuranda Home Tropical Cairns Rainforest Steady Cam on Vimeo

[Stu Holmes]

nice paul.

hey, is the stuff up to around 25secs slowed down a percentage?? looks super smooth. either you slowed it down a tad, or you're just darn good with the blackbird.

[Jon Fairhurst]

Looks great!

On the tour through the house I wanted it to be slightly slower with longer pauses. For fun, I tried a similar move in my own house, handheld. I walked slowly and paused for what felt like a long time. When I reviewed the footage, my timing was very similar to yours. :) Of course, handheld, it was not nearly as smooth...

It might be good to develop a "count" procedure where you pause at each room (maybe with very subtle motion) and count to a given number before turning and walking to the next location.

I was especially impressed with how smooth you were able to walk and how level you were able to keep the camera.

[Mark Ahrens]

Hey Paul,
May i ask a few questions?

Do you use auto iso for some shots?
Do you normally balance with a slight tilt forward to favor the floor?
How long does it take you to do a standard home? On-site and Post?
Does this keep you busy or is it just a once in a while gig?

Sorry if you feel like you're being interviewed. ;)
I'm thinking of offering this service in my area.

[Paul Wags]

Hello and thanks for your comments.

At first I was just flying through in one go to keep it simple and fast to edit but looks like there is a need to offer more detailed shots of rooms now. I may get a merlin vest as its getting just too hard to hold now for long periods and I seem to be getting more and more work.

Yes I am on auto ISO some times. These Canon DSLR's are very bad for H.264 compression banding on walls and moire is bad too. Looking to get another camera with a better codec. Any suggestions?
I have Magic Lantern and have lessen the compression but its still bad. OKAY for the net I suppose.

Non of the footage is slowed down, its how it was shot.

I can shoot a normal home in 15-20 minutes like this if its set up, but I spend more time chatting to the agent or owners lol. Raw files dropped straight into EDIUS for a quick edit then rendered out and loaded to the net.

Not a full time GIG yet but things are picking up.
It takes lots of work to get the agents on board :-)

[Mark Ahrens]

Yeah, i've heard that the agents are slow to spend money. Perhaps the owner would share the cost if they are permitted to keep the video if they 'agent hop'. Sure seems that all but the cheapest homes should have video at these prices.

I was thinking of getting detail shots of some of the features - jib and slider shots of surfaces, appliances . . . upgrades to the house that would show the detailed quality. That would surely be added time, though.
I was also thinking that offering photos would be almost mandatory so they can dispense with the $100 fee for a separate photographer.

The XF codec should do better, but i don't think it's necessary . . . i think the moire and banding are a necessary evil at this price point. While you may be able to get a wide angle adapter for the XF100, i don't think it would compare to flying the Tokina 11-16 . . . especially in dim rooms.

[Jon Fairhurst]

Originally Posted by Paul Wags

These Canon DSLR's are very bad for H.264 compression banding on walls and moire is bad too.

The 5D3 looks like a nice solution. The moire seems to be solved. I've seen some shots where the banding is much reduced. Also the sensitivity is much higher, so it will do better in low light.

I hear that the Tokina 11-16 will work on the 5D at 16mm. That's a similar view to what you have now.

Many like the GH2, but it might be a challenge to get wide lenses.

[Charles Papert]

Paul, you have a very developed sense of "cornering", that is, dialing in the pan as you approach and take a corner or doorframe. Budding stabilizer operators should take note. The technique requires starting the pan before you get to the corner, so that the corner remains in frame as your pivot around it. If you wait too long to start the pan, the camera makes a seemingly arbitrary rotation in space and you lose some of the geography. Examine Paul's work closely and you should see what I mean. It feels effortless, but it does take conscious thought to achieve.

On a more boring technical level, the Tokina 16-28 is a full frame lens that on a 5D will deliver the equivalent field of view of the 11-16 on the APS cameras like the 7D, Rebels etc (actually, the long end is closer to a 17 or 18mm, so you get a bit more bang for the buck). I have this lens and it is great, one of the few full-frame Tokina zoom that is in current production. So if you move up to the 5DMKIII, you won't have to sacrifice the look of that 11-16.

[Paul Wags]

If I was to move up to the new 5D I think I would get a Sony SF100 instead so in the end I can do more with it. Looks like there is an adapter to put the Tokina on it too. There is a guy down the road with a XF100, I will go and have a play with his camera as I do like that MPEG2 50mbps 4.2.2 but not sure how well it would go.

Yes Charles you are correct, start turning before you get to the corner and try not to bump into anything.

Looks like the GH2 has banding and moire too from what I have read.

Mark the more fancy shots you get means the more time on location and editing so then the price goes up. Keep it simple I say so everyone can afford to have them. I have been taking images too but if they want super high end ones then its best to leave it to a dedicated artistic photo guy. Once you get busy you will not have enough time to do both and images take way longer to shoot than a fly through.

[Paul Wags]

Hi

Fine tuning my technique with the Blackbird, this one came out pretty good. Another hard day in tropical Cairns :-) I spent more time chatting to the tenants than shooting ...

Propeller Street Trinity Beach House For Sale LJ Hooker Cairns Marlin Coast - YouTube