Monthly Archive for November, 2008

Video accessories for the Canon 5D Mark II: Part 1 – Microphones

Published
by
Dan Carr
on November 30, 2008
in 5d Mark II
. 11 Comments

Tomorrow I will be taking delivery of my new Canon 5d MarkII digital SLR camera.  This camera has been in development for a very long time and pre-orders for the camera after it’s announcement were staggering.  Its is in VERY short supply around the world but I am lucky enough to be taking delivery of one of the first to make it into Canada.  The camera shoots 22 megapixel full frame stills but this post doesn’t concern the still photo capabilities which will be covered in later posts once I have had a chance to test it out.

As well as taking still photos, the 5DMKII can also shoot 1080p HD video with its 35mm sensor allowing you to capture incredible quality video at a fraction of the cost of other camera systems that produce a similar “look”.  With the 35mm sensor and ability to use Canon’s vast array of quality lenses, this camera is quickly breaking down the barrier between two industries.  Look no further than Vincent Laforet’s website to view an incredible short film shot with the camera.

For a stills photographer such as myself it poses some interesting questions, until a couple of weeks ago I knew very very little about video production and what tools are needed to get the job done.  I’m sure that I am not the only photographer going through this learning process right now so I’m going to keep track of what I am learning on my blog here. I should also point out that at this time I do not know if video will play a part in my business, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared! The question that I am primarily covering with this post is “What accessories are we going to need to shoot quality video productions with the Canon 5d Mark II?”

Initial tests from various photographers indicate that the video quality is excellent, but the sound quality from the on board microphone is poor, not only that but it also picks up noise from the camera mechanisms such as the IS, aperture and just simply touching the camera body.  Not to worry though, the 5DMKII has a separate 3.5mm mic input so that you can attach a much higher quality external mic;

Sennheiser MKE 400:  This microphone comes highly recommended from several sources.  Features that are useful for us are the hot shoe mounting capability and also its relatively small size, easy to stash in your existing camera bag.  The casing is all metal so it should be rugged and it has the 3.5mm jack that is necessary to plug into the 5D.  This type of Mic is known as a “Shotgun” style mic and is very directional.  Another interesting feature is the rubber mounting points above the hotshoe which help to isolate noise from the camera.  Also available for it is the MZW400 wind muff kit which fits on the mic for use outdoors to eliminate wind noise.  The mic and the accessory wind muff can be yours for about $250 which seems like a decent deal to me and I will be ordering one soon to play with.

UPDATE: Now that people have taken delivery of their 5dMKIIs it seems there may be a problem with using the Sennheiser MKE400.  I haven’t had a chance to play with one just yet but several people have reported hearing a considerable amount of hiss.  This is somewhat strange, the mic itself works fine with many other video cameras so it would seem to be a compatibility issue with the MKII, perhaps something to do with the impedance?  I’m not sure but you can find info on the problem on the Cinema 5D forum.  Perhaps a workaround will be thought up soon and I will update this with new info as it becomes available.

In the meantime, several people have reported much greater success using the Rode VideoMic instead.  Similar in design to the senheiser but powered by an onboard 9v battery.  There is an interesting comparison video here on Vimeo.

Some microphones do not have a 3.5mm jack on them, instead they use a plug called an XLR.  The XLR plug is generally used in professional audio applications so I can forsee a lot of people wanting to use XLR terminated mics for the 5D.  To do this you will need some sort of converter and the perfect solution is manufactured by a company called BeachTek. The DXA-2s compact XLR adapter allows 2 XLR microphones to be plugged into it and the resultant signal is output through a stereo cable with a 3.5mm jack right into the 5dMKII.  The small converter requires NO batteries and also has a further auxillary 3.5mm input so you could still attach a mic like the Senneheiser MKE400 to it and balance that with an XLR mic.  This little box will allow you to record 2 audio inputs onto seperate audio tracks in the video so that they can be edited individually on your computer.  I also have word from the guys at BeachTek that they are in the process of designing a NEW model specifically for the 5DMKII!  This product will be called the DXA-5D and will include a headphone monitor output to allow you to check on your sound levels, as well as an LED level meter for both channels so that you can check input levels at a glance.  The new product is expected to ship in the first quarter of 2009 and if you contact them via their website they will put you on a mailing list to keep you up to date on developments.

If you are looking for a good way to mount various audio devices to you DSLR then you should also check out my review of the IKAN Cheese Stick JR and 10″ Articulating Arm HERE.  With these 2 products you can easily mount a shotgun mic or lavalier receiver to your camera, as well as LCD monitors.

In upcoming posts continuing on this topic I will be looking at more accessories that will be useful for the 5dMKII as I discover them!

UPDATE : Check out another cool accessory for the 5d – the Glidecam HD-2000

Opening day at Whistler Blackcomb

Published
by
Dan Carr
on November 27, 2008
in Trip Report and Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

The day that this town has been waiting for finally arrived.  I’m going to keep this post short, it speaks for itself.  Were the conditions great up there? No , far from it.  Was it great to be back on skis?  Ohhhhh yes.  Judging by the height of the snow pack , we are still a couple or three weeks from being ready to get go filming and shooting round here but it’s on its way.  The new Peak to Peak gondola system is an incredible feat of engineering and I will be attending the official opening on December 12th.  The new gondola station for it on Whistler is almost as large as the restaurant complex!

Photo of the week – Anthony Boronowski

Published
by
Dan Carr
on November 23, 2008
in Photo of the week
. 0 Comments

It’s not always about the action shots, this shot is one of my favorites from a day in Vancouver with Anthony Boronowski last year (click to see it larger).  It had been a long time since Anthony had done a lot of urban and yet here he was trying to get his 270 on.  There’s so many little thing in this shot that i love.  His expression says a lot but also the severe snow storm that was blowing at the time gives a nicely different look to the image.  The university buildings emerging from the gloom in the background look ominous and you can even see Jeff Thomas from Theory-3 media standing on the roof of the building with his camera ready.  This one shot sums up a whole day; cold, wet, windy and damn hard work.  Making movies isn’t easy.

Strobist info::

The shot was taken with a Canon 1dMKIIN at 1/250, f6.1 and 17mm with a 17-40 f4.0L.  Lighting comes from 4 different sources.  At the bottom of the stairs just out of the left side of the frame is an Elinchrom Ranger on full power on top of an 8ft light stand with a sports reflector on it.  At the top of the stairs just ouf of the frame past the right hand railing is 2 X Vivitar 285s both on half power and running off one pocketwizard.  At my feet is another 285 on half power and on camera is also a Canon 580EX angled about 45 degrees to the left.  The transmitter pocketwizard is attached via a PC cord in this case as the hotshoe is taken up by the canon flash.

Hoodman Hoodloupe 3.0 – A useful piece if kit!

Published
by
Dan Carr
on November 22, 2008
in Gear Reviews
. 4 Comments

Anyone that has ever used a DSLR outside in bright sunshine knows that it can sometimes be tough to see the LCD on the back of the camera.  Yes you can get a rough idea whats going on but when you are trying to check critical focusing or exposure with the histogram it can be tricky and I normally resort to unzipping my jacket and trying to view it inside, or removing my jacket and throwing it over my head if its a bright day.  When you have miles of snow surrounding you on all sides, each flake seemingly reflecting the sunshine directly at your LCD it can prove very annoying!  But not any more……

I recently picked up a newly updated version of the Hoodloupe Professional from the US company Hoodman who specialise in screen shades for a variety of photographic and video applications.  The new version fits up to a 3″ screen and provides the perfect solution to my problem.  The Hoodloupe can be worn around the neck, and when it is time to review your shot simply place it over the screen and look through the adjustable eyepiece.  The optics are crystal clear  and really allows you to check your framing and exposure as if you were in a darkened room.  Its is coated in a layer of grippy rubber and feels solidly made but also very lightweight.  When its not in use it also comes with a very nice, thickly padded case so you can stuff it in your pack and not worry at all about damaging it.  The eyepiece has a smooth motion and works just like that of a pair of binoculars with a +-3 diopter to accomodate people with glasses.

Another useful application is to allow clients and art directors to view the shots you are getting.  Sometimes it is just not possible to set up a laptop for them to view the shots as you shoot them but offering them a look using the Hoodloupe instantly gives them an acurate idea of what you are capturing.  I always get comments on the usefulness of the Hoodloupe from my clients if they are on the shoot.

CR Johnson – Spyder advert

Published
by
Dan Carr
on November 16, 2008
in Commercial
. 0 Comments

This shot is on the back cover of the December Issue of Freeskier.  It was shot in April on Blackcomb mountain in Whistler, BC during a shoot with Matchstick Productions.  To read the full story about the shoot you can read my article on Newschoolers.com here and as always, click the photo to view it larger.  The conditions for this shoot had been tough all week.  Unseasonably cold weather left the jump too hard to hit for a few days and it came right down to the last possible day before the MSP crew had to leave town.  Even then we only had a tiny window to shoot in.

The shot was taken with a Canon 1DMKIIN and a 70-200 2.8.  Exposure setting was f7.1 at 1/1250 and iso 160 with a focal lenght of 160mm

RED Scarlet / Epic Announcement. What does it mean for us?

Published
by
Dan Carr
on November 15, 2008
in Industry News
. 2 Comments

Jim Jannard, billionaire ex-owner of eye wear giant Oakley, announced today a new camera system that should give most professional photographers some considerable food for thought.  Jannard’s company, RED, has already caused quite a stir in the movie industry over the last couple of years with the introduction of what is widely held as the best digital cinema camera, RED One.  Today the company unveiled a new system that not only aims to continue their domination of digital cinema technology, but at the same time take the company into the world of high-end digital still photography.  Two industries that have recently taken some considerable steps towards each other with the advent of the Nikon D90 and Canon 5D MKII, the first SLR cameras to offer video capture as well as high quality photo capture.

So how does the new RED system differ from these two current offerings?  The system is modular, a central ” brain” unit can be purchased and then any number of compatible accessories attached to the “brain” in order to create the perfect camera for your needs.  This means that if you decide to upgrade your system, you don’t have to start from scratch every time.  Simply upgrade your “brain” to a bigger sensor if that’s what you desire, or select different add-ons to create a familiar camera but with an entirely new purpose.  No word yet on pricing for the accessories, but expect them to to be at least half the price again of the Scarlet brain.

The “brain” comes several in versions, based around two main bodies, the Scarlet and the Epic. Specifications can be found in the table below.  Thankfully for us they have included the ability to use current Canon and Nikon lenses on some of the bodies so our existing lens collections are still useful. The S35 provides a sensor that is slightly larger than current APS-C sensors and will shoot at 30FPS for a cost of $7000.  The FF35 Scarlet provides a full frame body with a 24 megapixel sensor capable of shooting still photos and video up to 30 FPS for $12,000.

Moving on up to the aptly titled Epic brain unit there are some simply mind-boggling number being thrown around.  The Epic S35 ($28,000)and FF35($35,000) will shoot 13 and 24 megapixel images respectively just like their little Scarlet brothers but both deliver this at a staggering 100 frames per second.  The Epic line is also continued further with the 645 delivering 42X56mm 65 Megapixel sensor at 50FPS.  Finally to top things out there is the Epic 617 with a 186X56mm 261 Megapixel sensor!!

But what does all of this mean for me and people like me in my industry?  RED is a proven quality in the cinema industry but this will be their first attempt at making a stills camera.  With the amount if development and experience behind the big two (Nikon and Canon) I think it would be foolish to assume a similar quality photo from the RED sensor, especially with regards to ISO performance and dynamic range.  It still seems to me that the Scarlet and Epic systems are targeting the film making audience a lot harder that the photographers out there.  From a size and ergonomics point of view the system appears large and unwieldy, especially compared to something like the 5dMKII.  There also seems to be many more attachments for film making and the lack of a hot-shoe in the design is troubling for someone like me who relies on remote strobe setups that need a hot-shot mounted trigger.  I also question whether I need to shoot at 30FPS, let alone 100FPS!!  Removing some of the skill from my work is not something I’m too keen on and the work load that would be generated by shooting 100 still shots every second is frankly quite scary, not to mention the storage space required.  Can you imagine sitting down and staring at that many nearly identical photos trying to choose the best one?

I guess the proof will be in the pudding as they say, but the question first is will the pudding be served at all?  The original RED Scarlet program was canned earlier in the year when Canon threw the 5dMKII curve ball.  Jannard’s team seem to have been caught off guard by that and went back to the drawing board to create a competitor.  With the cheapest of these new models coming in at roughly 3 times the cost of the new Canon camera though, you have to wander if they have achieved their goal or not?  I have no doubt that Canon is well into the R&D for their next camera and if they stay one step ahead of RED, we might be faced with a perpetual release of fancy looking 3d designs and ever changing specifications without ever seeing a resulting camera in our hands.  If they do hit the shelves I expect to see the indie film makers flocking to them, and probably even Hollywood for the larger sensor versions but photographers?  I’m not so sure, we need to see some photo examples first.  Its a hugely expensive system to buy into and with the price of other SLRs falling every year I think its going to be a tough sell to all but highly specialized photographers.

Photo of the week – Yuta Ueno

Published
by
Dan Carr
on November 10, 2008
in Photo of the week
. 2 Comments

Yuta Ueno at Snowpark in New Zealand.  Canon 1dMKIIN, 36mm on a 17-40, 1/1250, f8.0

Really Right Stuff (RRS) BH-40 Ballhead mini review

Published
by
Dan Carr
on November 10, 2008
in Gear Reviews
. 2 Comments

Over the last couple of years I have experimented with with several different ballheads and failed to find what I was looking for.  I don’t use a ballhead very often for my work but when i do need one, i need one that is going to be reliable in fairly hostile environments.  Last year I was let down by ballheads from other brands in key situations so I finally decided to bite the bullet and pick up an RRS BH-40.  At almost $400 its relatively expensive but hopefully this will be the last ballhead I have to buy for many many years.  The longest lens I will be using with this is a 300mm f4 (and more often a 70-200 2.8).  If you are using bigger lenses that this you might want to take a look at the larger BH-55.

A lot of the previous reviews of this head talk about the smoothness of the controls and the quality of the machining and frankly it is superb, it has to be seen to be believed.  Once you pick it up you cant help but turn it over and over in your hand marveling at the detailed design.  I promise you there will be no buyers remorse with this if you like your photography gadgets!

The head has a separate knob for adjusting the panning base and also one for adjusting the amount of drag on the main ball and all the controls operate in a smooth and precise manner with a very repeatable feel to the settings.  In use with a canon 1 series body and a 70-200 2.8 the head is rock solid and appears to dampen vibrations from shutter release very well.

A lot of the time the deciding factor for me when choosing between between several similar products is the size and weight, ounces add up!! This ballhead is load-rated at 18 pounds but weighs only 13 ounces compared to the similarly revered Markins M10 which weighs in at nearly 18 ounces.  That’s a very good ratio and it’s small form factor helps too when it comes to packing it in a backountry ski pack to take on a long days skiing, or squeezing into my carry-on case for flying with.

Currently the RRS products can only be purchased from their website so you will have to factor in some shipping costs wherever you live but they are very helpful to deal with.

First snowfall in Whistler

Published
by
Dan Carr
on November 6, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

When I drew back the curtains this morning at my house in Whistler, British Columbia this morning I was greeted with the site that I have been waiting for.  Snow.  Not just snow on the mountain peaks but snow in the valley, snow in my yard and snow on the trees.

This is where it begins.

All Content © Dan Carr 2008