Frame grab of my lovely mum from 4k capture video

NOTE: My goal for this article is to provide a fair, unbiased review of the Scarlet-X. I am aware that RED has numerous fans who can at times be a little blindsided to negative feedback of RED cameras – this review is probably not for you, even though for the most part it is VERY positive! This is a review for individuals looking to make an informed purchase decision and who want to learn more about this camera. These are my own findings and must NEVER be used solely in your decision to purchase the camera. Get your hands on one and test it yourself! One last thing, RED are constantly updating firmware to improve features. This is a review as of release firmware on the 5th February 2012. 

I was not paid by anyone to do this review. I did this on my own time for my readers. For more on my ethics please read my ethics statement. 

Scarlet-X review test footage from Philip Bloom on Vimeo. Footage has only minor colour tweaking in RED Cine Pro-X. No Grading.

This is probably one of the most unique camera reviews I have ever done. Why? Even before ever touching it, seeing it in person or shooting with it,  I knew EXACTLY what it would be like. How come? Well as a former owner on a RED Epic and having shot on that camera many times, knowing that the Scarlet-X is simply a cut down version of the Epic, everything about the camera was going to be familiar to me, both its pluses and negatives.

The Scarlet-X was finally launched on November 3rd last year, just a few hours after Canon announced the C300. Initially people, including myself, were underwhelmed by the C300 compared to the Scarlet. But things change. Once I read up on what the Scarlet could actually do, I realised that this is not a camera in competition with the C300 at all. It is a camera that occupies a unique place in the market. Whereas the C300 is an all-rounder, the Scarlet is a specialist camera. It is simply the cheapest way to acquire 4k video with a super 35mm sensor. Basically they’re taking chips made for the RED Epic which apparently hadn’t passed the QC and sticking them in the same (more or less) housing as the EPIC-X and limiting the features. That is it in a nutshell. A superb 4k acquisition camera.

If like me you have had experience with an Epic then Scarlet will frustrate you. It’s like having a Ferrari but being limited to 1st gear. The 1st gear is amazing but you SO want to open her up. It looks great, handles the same but doesn’t do most of what the Epic can do.

Thanks to Stewart Addison of Panny Hire, I had a RED Scarlet-X for the weekend. I am still recovering from laryngitis that wiped me out so I didn’t do a whole lot of filming with it and my plans to do an on camera review went out the window with my voice. But I still did some filming down at my parents’ to test it out (thanks mum and dad!). As I said earlier, it was not a surprising experience in the slightest! There were no wow moments. But it was, as ever, a pleasure to operate a RED camera.

This is what the Scarlet does EXCEPTIONALLY well…The 4K recording is just amazing. The detail in the image plus the amazing latitude is a thing of beauty. The Red code RAW codec is robust and working with it in RED Cine Pro X makes working with ANYTHING else seem like a compromise. The ability to take frame grabs from the camera is just incredible. These are really high quality images and for me represent true convergence between video and stills, as these are grabs from video – you’re not stopping recording video to take a still.

The joy of RED Cine X Pro

Frame grab of my dad

Unfortunately the cool feature from the Epic, that is HDR-X, the ability to capture two streams of information at a different exposure simultaneously to create a much higher dynamic range, is missing in 4k. It only appears at 3k and even then only for 24p, not 25p.

The camera shoots up to 5k and when it does that the part of the sensor used is larger than super 35mm. More like APS-H. Unfortunately it is useful for nothing more than stills or timelapse as its fastest frame rate is 12FPS. Although you can get away with a little video with it if you need it as you can see in my test video.

So really it’s 4k that is the main resolution for this camera. Not as big as the 5k but sill plenty! Also it’s super 35mm at 4k so that’s just fine as it’s the standard and as I have already said the 4k is exceptional.

Now for off speed, currently the fastest frame rate you have is 60fps at a windowed 2k. That means the field of view is half that of the 4k. A massive pain if you want to keep the same frame, lens etc but suddenly need slow motion. For me in my tests I found the 2k 60fps vastly inferior in quality to the 4k both in noise pattern and in resolution. Even when exported to full HD ProRes. I found this with my EPIC too but I rarely needed to use the 2k in the EPIC, as it can do 120FPS in 5K and that was more than enough for most things! I have always found the 2k to have a disappointing amount of noise in it.

3K is a good compromise. It can do 48fps (so no 25p HDRx in 3K, only 24p) and that looks pretty good. A less severe crop, sharper and more detailed. For me if I owned this camera the 3K 48fps would be my slow motion of choice. For the cost of 12FPS you can a much better looking image.

120FPS is coming but only at 1k. Until I see it, who knows what it will be like. The 2k should be improved upon with firmware upgrades. Fingers crossed on that one! The biggest problem is that the 4k is just so damn superb that anything next to it suffers immensely.

There is a chance that RED will be able to offer these speeds at lower resolution without a crop at some point, certainly it has been mentioned for the Epic. That would be great as the crop can be quite a pain at times. You can see how much it crops from 5k, 4k, 4kHD, 3k and 2k below.

Sensitivity appears to be the same as the Epic, which is not great (although with no Epic to hand, I could not do a side by side test), it needs to have light. So indoors it needs to be lit. It doesn’t come close to the sensitivity of other large chip cameras out there like the FS100, F3 and C300, but it’s a totally different camera for a different market in my opinion.

The camera I had didn’t have the side handle yet, which is a shame, as the touch screen (as cool as it is) is not super responsive and not the quickest way to flick through menus. But, it is very intuitive. Just don’t expect iPhone style responsiveness. That mean no red volts too as they go in the side handle, so I was not able to test power consumption.

I had 2 64GB cards which was more than enough for the limited filming I did, but in my EPIC experience 4 x 128gb is a minimum amount of cards I would personally recommend for a full day’s filming without offloading during a shoot.

The camera also had the Canon EF mount which is just superb, different to the Ti one I had on my Epic in design but it worked as well. Controlled the aperture just fine, albeit only in 1/3 stop increments and powered the IS (and focus if that is your bag!) Next to the C300 one (which should be better as it’s on a Canon) this is the best Canon mount out there other than on a DSLR! It’s easy to switch mounts to PL by removing 4 screws and putting the different mount on. One of the loveliest features of this RED design. Both on the Epic and on the Scarlet.

I mentioned this in detail in my previous Scarlet post but beware of the costs of the camera. The base price of sub $10k is not shootable. A proper shooting package, without even getting into the need to really get a RED Rocket for post, is much closer to almost double that when you get the batteries, cards, EVF, cheese plates, rods etc. You can spend a hell of a lot more than that too if you wanted. Just with my Epic which cost me $58k I spent over $20k on bits for it. Be careful as it can become a bit of a money pit!

So in summary. What do I think? It’s an astonishing 4k camera for normal speed recording. Amazing flexibility in post with the RAW image. Skin tones impress for sure. They look terrific as you can see in the video of my mum and dad!

For off-speed this is not the camera for you, IMHO. Even though the resolution on paper is better than other cameras at 60fps, it’s inferior in many ways. For example the FS100 does 1080p slow motion and it’s gorgeous. Shame it’s at such a low bit rate of 28mb/s. The C300 only does 60p at 720p but it is not windowed (cropped) and suffers from a wee bit of aliasing. To be blunt, the cropping is a massive pain…ALTHOUGH there are times when being able to punch in is quite nice…the C300 720p 60p is of a mostly similar quality, in my opinion to the Scarlet is terms of sharpness at 60fps but it is cleaner for sure! That is what is so disappointing in the camera. For a camera that does one thing so well it’s a shame the rest is not so great!

Perhaps if I was coming at this camera without EPIC experience then I would see it differently, but then again maybe not. All I know is that 4K is so damn good it’s so damn frustrating that it cannot do off speed, even at 48FPS in 4k. If it did, this would be in my camera arsenal for sure! Only being able to do 30p at 4K is just so damn…limiting!!

Therefore, who is this camera for? Well it is a good backup for an Epic or RED One. A great camera for a narrative feature that you can light. A great camera for music videos with no slow motion (although many music videos need them). A great camera for commercials, again when you don’t need off speed. It’s not a great doco camera, which is my forte, where available light is often all you have to work with. Not a camera for the budget conscious. Not a camera for the casual user. This is a PRO camera for PROS. Getting this camera will not make you a better shooter. It will make your images look crisper, but it won’t suddenly make your work any better. It will make you more skint so remember that when you get out your credit card!

So is this the camera for you then, or is the C300? The F3? The AF100? The FS100? Well my next blog post is “Which large chip camcorder should I buy?” but I can tell you now those other cameras should be compared against each other. The Scarlet? It’s just unique and for a totally different task. I will go into that further in my next blog post.

If you are England based and need a Scarlet for hire, Stewart is your guy. For £350 a day (always check price!) this little beauty could be yours.

 

Thomas Fletcher has made the Fletcher Camera & Lenses 2012 Comparison chart available to PVC readers as a downloadable link. The Fletcher Camera 2012 Comparison Chart looks at 14 different cameras available on the market for various stated aspects and average daily rental rates.  Canon, Phantom, Weisscam, Red, Alexa, and Sony all are included with various ranges and models.  Download your quick reference today!

After two years of planning HTV will launch on February 2 offering viewers a range of channel options, including education and training videos, product information, global news and events plus peer videos submitted by Hasselblad photographers worldwide.

Createasphere’s Spring Entertainment Technology Expo - the top gathering of entertainment and media professionals, technical innovators, and content experts on the West Coast showcasing emerging media trends in production, post, animation, VFX, advertising, and streaming content - announced renowned cinematographer and Oscar nominee Jeff Cronenweth, ASC as the keynote, Visions of Oscar: Jeff Cronenweth, ASC,  How Collaboration and Talent Gets The Story Told.  The keynote will take place on March 1st at LA Center Studios.

Blackmagic Design today released Desktop Video 9.2 beta 1, a software update for its capture and playback products that adds broadcast monitoring support with the new Final Cut Pro X 10.0.3 update.

James Miller is a talented guy. Apart from designing a lot of my graphics and the background for this site he has been my right hand man on many of my UK shoots. Having a talented shooter as your right hand man makes your life so much easier. He has become synonymous with “lens whacking” which he explains about here. You can see more of James’ work on his vimeo page here. One bit of advice. This is a great and cool effect. But like all effects use them in moderation for the most impact! After James’ article there is a link for 5Dleaks.com and Lightfilth from Lens Anarchy. Both are a collection of real light leaks that you can add in post. Not the same as what James does but a cool effect and a nice cheap price of $19.99 nad £15 respectively. There is a 20% odd code right now too for 5dleaks. Details at end of post.

James Miller

Lens Whacking, whats its all about then?

When a cameras lens is fixed firmly to a camera the only light falling on the sensor is through the lens. Thats great most of the time and when you want something different you can either add effects, layers, overlays in post. Or you can remove your entire lens.

“When you take the lens off it creates an effect, look and feeling that is totally different, you really can connect to image. Because it’s real and not added in post, it’s randomness gives a dreamlike quality. Its almost like how your mind remembers images and I love the feeling it gives. Its a romance, it really is.”

Nina Naustdal – Couture / Celebrity Launch Party from James Miller on Vimeo.

 

How does it work?

Removing your lens is going to let a lot of light to hit the sensor. In a total wash of light there will be no image, so this has to be controlled. We you really want to achieve is a part sharp image but lots of flare and light leaks going on within the frame. This effect will wash the image with what ever light source is dominant in the scene behind the camera or to the side.

The effect is similar to a tilt and shift lens where you only get a slither of focus depth or you can manipulate the lens to allow the entire frame to be in focus.

 What do I need?

Lets say for this example you have the Canon 5Dmk2, a full frame large sensor camera.

It’s no good trying to use a Canon lens EF or FD as the distance between the rear element and sensor (The Flange distance) is too small. You need a Nikon lens, not with a Nikon to EOS mount, just the lens.

As lens whacking really needs to be created hand held on a full frame sensor a lens upto 50mm is about the limit otherwise your going to induce to much wobble, rolling shutter. On a cropped sensor 7D, 600D or Sony FS100 or Canon C300 you really need to work a 35mm lens, 50mm is doable but you have to be careful. As its very easy and cheap to buy a old E Series Nikon 50mm 1.8 (around £30-£50) I suggest you start here.

Also the E Series is pancake in construction so your hand won’t suffer from fatigue so much. If you have a non Canon lens try it out.

 

How do you control it?

You can control the amount of light hitting the sensor but one of two things. First is to use you hand, the hand not holding the lens and cup it over the back of the lens. You can fan your covering hand by opening your fingers, letting more light in where necessary.

Second you can adjust the focus on the lens. The standard for shooting Lens Whacking is for the lens to be set to infinity this allow just the right amount of light coming in from the gap between the lens and the body. But if you change this distance you will notice to achieve a focus you will need to keep the lens closer to the body of the camera and this closes the gap thus reducing the amount of light leaking in.

How do I Whack?

1/ Start by setting the camera to live view.

2/ Open the aperture fully on the lens and set the focus to infinity. If the lens is inherently soft wide open then stop the lens down a click, this will effect the look and structure of the ‘Bokeh’.

3/ Hold the camera body to your chest with your right hand.

4/ Pickup the lens with your left hand.

5/ Still with the left, hand hold the lens tight up to the body of the camera with your thumb and index finger whilst pinching the middle finger of your left hand, causing the lens to rock on this pinch. (This is how you change focus)

6/ Try and use your left hand palm to act as a hinge that allows the focus to be adjusted by changing the gap between the lens and the body.

7/ If your worried about dirt or dust getting on the sensor 1/ Don’t do it. 2/ Cut out some good optical quality polyester film like Melinex and fit it under the camera bodies lens mount, on top of the contact pins. Has to be good quality otherwise you will get blooming on highlights. You can also use ND filter film acting as a dust blocker and filter. (Filters on the rear of the lens are very forgiving).

Focusing will be daunting at first but practice and it will feel more natural than turing that ring, I promise.

I find when Lens Whacking on the 5D mk2 using the Zacuto Z-Finder is critical for immersing yourself in the shot and stabilising the picture. It’s just the same otherwise.

Why not just use a Lens Baby or similar toy lens?

Really the effect, look and feeling is totally different. I loose my self in the moment, you really can connect to image. Its almost how your mind remembers images and I love the feeling it gives. Its a romance, it really is. And it’s free.

How can I add Lens Whacking to my existing films?

You can’t get the full effect in post. An besides you loose the feeling. Sure you can replicated some of the look but its very post intensive. Light leaks can be achieved by shooting with you lens cap on and just Lens Whacking blank. The files produced can then be used as an overlay.

Examples I have shot on the Canon 5Dmk2:

Leuven, Belgium – Oude Markt, Terras from James Miller on Vimeo.

The Plea “Feel It Ticking” from James Miller on Vimeo.

De Madammen in Amsterdam from James Miller on Vimeo.

London Meet-up with Philip Bloom from James Miller on Vimeo.

90 Seconds in Leuven from James Miller on Vimeo.

 

BPM Dance Academy from James Miller on Vimeo.

San Francisco was noticed by an Belgium Director/ Music Man, Frank De Wulf. This was really a turing point for me. And for that I will forever be grateful. Thanks Frank

San Francisco from James Miller on Vimeo.

 Examples I have shot on the Sony NEX FS100:

The Plea, Live in Ghent, Belgium from James Miller on Vimeo.

Jack Campbell Vampire Weekend, Mansard Roof from James Miller on Vimeo.

 

20% off code for 1 week only with code philipbloom at checkout expires on 8th February 2012

 

LightFilth by Lens Anarchy: Trailer from Miguel Santana on Vimeo.

We will be taking our sites down tomorrow morning, February 1st 2012, at 10:00 - 11:00 AM EST (7:00 - 8:00 AM PST) to upgrade our server to accommodate for more memory. Engineers will oversee the work and anticipate it taking as little as 15 minutes if there are no issues.  The maximum outage will be 60 minutes. 

Livestream today announced a new plugin for NewTek TriCaster™ that provides a streamlined workflow for live content producers. The plugin was developed using the NewTek TriCaster SDK, and provides H.264/AAC encoding, one click HD 720p multibitrate encoding, along with playback compatibility for iPhone® and iPad® – all without the need for an external encoder. The Livestream plugin is pre-installed when the TriCaster is upgraded to rev.4. Registered TriCaster owners may upgrade by visiting register.newtek.com. To learn more about the plugin or watch a demo video of how it works, visit: Livestream.com/tricasterplugin.

Westcott is excited to announce it has received two Professional Photographer Hot One Awards for 2012. Westcott has been producing umbrellas since 1899 in both the golf and photo industries. It’s no wonder that their most recent umbrella addition was named as one of the winners of the Professional Photographer Hot One Awards for 2012. This 7’ Parabolic Umbrella launched in March 2011 featuring three different styles - Diffusion (#4632), White/Black (#4634) as well as Silver/Black (#4633). In the months to follow, Westcott added Parabolic Umbrella Kits that included a stand, mounting bracket and Parabolic Umbrella of the buyers’ choice. Each Parabolic Umbrella has a street price of $119.90. Each Parabolic Umbrella Kit has a street price of $149.90.

Harrison Ford, the venerable actor who immortalized Han Solo and Indiana Jones, will receive the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) 2012 Board of Governors Award. Ford will be honored during the 26th Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards gala here on February 12 at the Hollywood & Highland Grand Ballroom.

JVC Professional Products Company, a division of JVC Americas Corp., today announced the DT-X71 Series of portable ProHD LCD monitors. Ideal for field and studio applications, the new seven-inch AC/DC monitors offer 1024x600 resolution with a 160-degree viewing angle – and can display 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p video signals at a variety of frame rates.

Audio-Technica, a leading innovator in transducer technology, is this year marking “50 Years of Passionate Listening” with its yearlong 50th Anniversary Celebration. The anniversary year officially kicked off in the U.S. with a special gala event during the 2012 Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. The party took place at Disney California Adventure Park on the evening of Thursday, January 19, 2012. A-T’s 700-plus special guests included musicians (including several Audio-Technica endorsers), recording arts professionals, dealers, distributors, customers and members of the press. Key personnel from Audio-Technica Japan (the parent company of A-T U.S. and the other A-T companies worldwide) were also in attendance, including Audio-Technica Corporation President Kazuo Matsushita.

 

To tie in with the release of the rather nice new slider from Kessler Crane and the re-launch of my website, Eric Kessler has generously come up with the idea of giving one away in conjunction with a fund raising for a charity very close to his heart. The Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Make-A-Wish grants children with terminal or life threatening illnesses wishes to give them hope. To give them some joy when they have none. It’s a really special charity.

To be in with a chance of winning a Stealth all you need to do is donate $10 or more (more is better!) to any of your local Make A Wish chapter and send a receipt of it to this address. The fundraiser will last 2 weeks and I will make the live draw on Feb 12th. More details to come. This is a world wide competition so doesn’t matter where you live!

The great news is Eric will match the donation up to $5000. So get donating!!

About the slider: The Stealth is an all black hybrid between the basic pocket dolly and the top of the range Philip Bloom Slider.  Whereas my one comes with a case, feet, flat head adaptor and crank. This a build your own system (not possible to add the crank), with a starting price of $799.95 for either the 2 foot traveler or 3 foot standard.

Not everyone wants a flashy red ended slider like my model. Some want it all in black and of course some people naturally don’t want my name on it either! So that is where the stealth comes in. Sexy black. Minimalist. As smooth as all the pocket dollys. This is the dolly you don’t want to attract attention to…hence the name “Stealth”

If you want to order it click here or the banner below. It’s generally in stock unlike the Bloom dolly which is available in small batches once a month near the end of each month.

So here we are. About 6 months later than I had hoped but better late than never. My site is reborn with I hope a cleaner, fresher design. Easier to find content and more pleasing to the eye.

What has changed?

Obviously cosmetically it is totally different. New background by my frequent shooting partner James Miller (maybe Percy is TOO big on my shoulder?). Cleaner less obtrusive ads (yes I know there are two on this post) but the top banner is now just one that rotates every new click instead of 6 rotating. Much nicer. Same with the side banners.

We now have top posts rather than most popular posts. Ones which I think would interest you the most. A nice simple twitter feed and a Facebook “fan page” link, this is where you go to see what I am doing every day if you have not already been there.

Very important to me is my work. So the films section is now organised by which camera they were shot on AND genres…although this is a work in progress. I need to add a Documentary section. Again, nice and organised.

There is a very cool events section on the main page and under the menu. Ever wondered where and when my next workshop/ meet up is? Now you know!

There is also now a better and clearer education area with nice clear sections. If you have any suggestions about organisation of this section or any other please let me know below. I am trying to make this easier for you! I know every single post that I have done but you do not, so if you can suggest even easier ways to find stuff do let me know!

In one week’s time I will launch my forum. Yep a forum. I have had a forum before…it was a bit shit to be honest. Then I used buddypress in wordpress. Even worse. So now we will have a proper professional forum integrated perfectly into the website. Comments will still be on the posts unlike say EOSHD where he has moved all comments to the forum. That is not what I want. I want a place where new and experienced can meet and help each other out.

I have had mixed experience with forums in the past. The one that stands head and shoulders over the rest is DVinfo. A place where you can ask questions without being attacked, hounded or banned! It will be a REAL NAME only forum and will have to be heavily moderated. The moderators will be selected amongst my readers. If you interested email me at work@philipbloom.net telling me about yourself and why you would be a good moderator.

It will be a place for you to ask questions about my work or ask in depth questions…this is the place to do it, rather than commenting on posts. I want to try and keep the right things in the right places. It may well be a total disaster…but that is down to you. Together we can make it work.

Ideally within it I will also have a database of shooters/ soundos etc in different areas. So if you are looking for help, it’s the place to go to.

There will be different sections for the different cameras. For different gear and to showcase your work. Again, it will be a work in progress but I hope you sign up!

I will try and keep the content up like I have been. I cannot do daily posts as my day job of shooting gets in the way, but I will post as often as I can and will continue to have guest posts like I have had in the past from Preston Kanak and Eve Hazelton. I will continue to be me. Helpful, funny (I hope), occasionally short and snappy (sorry but I am human and get stressed!) but what you see with me is what you get. I am honest, true to my word and don’t do BS! Remember my ethics statement when in doubt!

Oh, BTW we should have facebook/ twitter comment integration soon to make it easier to leave comments…but still not anonymous which I don’t do!

So bear with me. I doing my best to make the new site as seamless as possible. There WILL be glitches. A lot of them as the site only went live today so it’s the real test!

The site this morning!!

 

Renowned entertainer Donny Osmond will deliver a keynote address at the NAB Show Radio Luncheon, sponsored by ASCAP, on Tuesday, April 17 in Las Vegas. Osmond, who has entertained audiences for decades as a singer, musician, actor, dancer and former teen idol, is also a syndicated radio host for McVay Syndication in a partnership with TeshMedia Group. Osmond will discuss how radio has impacted his career over the years.

ETHICS STATEMENT: Kessler are my main site sponsor. Their stuff is the stuff of legends! Great, relatively affordable gear for timelapsing! Read more in my full ethics statement here. 

Courtesy of Jon Nash

 

Sorry for being all quiet on the western front (or middle eastern front!) but I have been up to my ears in a job in Dubai where I am timelapsing like crazy…actually my first fully timelapse commission. I’ve done lots of pro timelapse before but never JUST timelapse! I am only able to write this as am sick as a dog with food poisoning so I’m taking an enforced break! My brief is to shoot as many timelapses as I can! Well…with 5 cameras I can shoot A LOT!

I can’t say too much about it just yet other than what I am using…

I have 5 Canon DSLRs with me. 2 5DmkIIs. 2 7Ds and a 1DmkIV.

1 Vinten 100mm bowl Sticks to take the Kessler Revolution head and the Hercules head.

1 Miller Solo 3 stage with DS20 head. Great tripod and solid.

2 Gitzo tripods.

2 Delkin Fat Gecko suction mounts for sticking on windows.

1 Kessler Hercules 2.0 Head ESSENTIAL for those vertical slider moves and the new 2.0 version is so much lighter than version 1.

1 Kessler Revolution Head For motorised pans and tilts!

1 3 foot Philip Bloom Pocket Dolly 3 Foot is better for timelapse than 2 foot but it’s harder to balance, Hercules head comes in Very handy here.

1 5 Foot Cineslider A HUGE beast, but useful!

1 Kessler Outrigger Feet Used for ground mounting of slider on even surfaces…

1 Kessler All Terrain Outrigger Feet for REALLY uneven ground, like beaches, rocks etc

2 500 speed motors The speed needed to do vertical moves. The Torque of the 500 pushes that camera up!

2 Bescor Batteries To keep the whole lot powered.

1 splitter for Bescor To use a battery adaptor for the Canon at same time as powering the motor stuff.

3 Kessler Canon Battery Adaptor ESSENTIAL

2 AC Canon Adaptors

2 Lenskirts ESSENTIAL for shooting through windows and killing those reflections.

1 Canon 14mm F2.8

1 Tokina 11-16

1 Canon 17mm TS

1 Canon 24mm TS

1 Samyang 35mm F1.4

1 Canon 50mm F1.2

1 Canon 16-35mm F2.8

1 Canon 100-400mm

PHEW! Lot of gear. But I am doing A LOT of timelapsing. Pretty much 24/7, 5 cameras going in different positions.

Some of it was shot RAW but the majority was shot JPEG purely because I shot so many shots! So Large JPEG was order or the day with a nice flat PP of Marvels Cine. AV mode was done for all the big light changes and smoothed out in post in FCP 7 using Long Exposure by CHV electronics. I did have sound nasty old flicker which was sorted by this plug in. There are a few HDR timelapses done using photomatix pro.In the end I had 144 timelapses. Of which about 40 made it into the below edit.

 

Here is the edit of some of the shots I made during this trip. Called Abraj: Plural of Burj which is Arabic for Tower.

Abraj: The two towers of Dubai from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Abraj: Plural of Burj which is Arabic for Tower.

Timelapse video featuring the two iconic towers of Dubai. The Burj Al Arab and the world’s tallest building. The Burj Khalifa.

Commisioned to shoot various timelapses of the Emirate by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai. This is an edit I put together for myself of some of my favourite shots. Including some amazing views from 154 floors up on the Burj Khalifa.

Music is by Vaughan Williams: Variations on theme by Thomas Tallis

Below is a time-lapse film I made here two years ago…I think my new one is better! This one was my first ever timelapse film.

Some of the most useful little things I have with me are the Kessler Camera Battery Adaptors. I can power my 7D or 5DmkII off them with the Bescor batteries for DAYS! Add a splitter and you can power your Kessler motor at the same time. They’ve been very useful for those unmanned 24 hour shots. 

Other than that I of course have LOTS of cards. DON’T use the Duracell ones you see here. They are fine for stills but crap out on video on my DSLRs and the C300. Weird!

Data wrangling is tough as it’s just me keeping on top of it. So lots of offloading each night to 3 different hard drives. A G-TECH G-Raid and 2 Western Digital My Passports. Here is what my offload folder looks like at the moment! Software used was ShotPut Pro, which is the easiest way to offload to multiple destinations and error check.

Below are some of the frame grabs from some of them and two very short BTS…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dubai Timelapse BTS 3 from Philip Bloom extras on Vimeo.

Third BTS of my timelapse adventures at Dubai.

Take two on the motorised timelapse. I like last night’s but I can do better!!

 

Whilst those 5 cameras were going I was talked into doing a SkyDive. Yep. A SkyDive. Not a big fan of heights but I guess you have to do it once right? Well I did. The SkyDiving bit was actually pretty incredible! Would I do it again? Am in no rush…Thankfully Jon Nash loaned me his GoPro 2 so I was able to get some cool footage! I was 2 and a half bloody miles up in the air!!!!

 

 

With Tony Augstinack, Jon Nash, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Ismaeil, Joseph Hutson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you come from a video background (like me) or a film background then you are used to the joy of an iris on a lens that is smooth as butter and that is located where it should be…on the lens.

Every 2/3″ lens I used in my 23 year career has had the ability to change the iris in micro adjustments. Perfect for riding exposure during a shot. My Sony EX1 (now deceased) and my EX3 (alive and clicking but gathering dust) have a proper smooth iris on the lens, and this is especially cool on the EX1 as it is not a removable lens. Many other cameras of that ilk have the iris control on the camera. Smoothish but not the same as having it on the lens.

One of the biggest issues I came across when I first started using 35mm adaptors with still lenses was the inability to change exposure on the lens during a shot due to the iris moving in clicks. This was not so bad on 35mm adaptors, as I always rode the exposure on my EX1 lens which also maintained my depth of field. The 35mm lens on the front stayed at the same aperture to hit the ground glass creating that chosen depth of field.

But, with DSLRs it has gotten worse. Stills guys are used to it. But I was not. All Canon made lenses and the MAJORITY of the third party lenses and many Nikon lenses (although at least you generally get a choice with Nikon made glass) have the iris controlled within the camera. I am sure most stills guys are used to that now and to be honest they don’t need to ride exposure during a shot as that is a purely video thing. The majority of lenses controlled by the Canon cameras from the dial change the iris in 1/3 stop increments. This is nowhere near fine enough to use during a shot. Actually the Canon C300 is the best camera I have used for using Canon EF and EFS glass as it lets you change exposure in “fine” mode which is around 1/8 of a stop give or take…This is “just” about smooth enough to get away with during a shot when you need to change exposure. The superb RED Epic Canon mount for example only lets you change the iris in 1/3 stop increments again (that may change in firmware).

You may ask why would you want to change exposure during a shot? Well as a predominantly documentary filmmaker, a lot of what I shoot is at the mercy of the light as clouds go past etc. For my drama work then if the light changed we cut and do a new take.

There is a, semi solution. Unfortunately it’s not for Canon made glass as you are stuck. It’s a physical thing not having a manual iris ring…I have been trying to tell people not to buy Zeiss ZE glass for their cameras but the Nikon mount ZF instead…why? It has a manual iris on it.

ZF with manual iris

ZE with no manual iris

With an adaptor like the Fotodiox Pro the ZF will go on a Canon body no problem. It will also go on just about any camera out there with an adaptor, and as it has a manual iris you don’t have the issues of waiting for a Canon EF electronic mount adaptor to come out…

The downside it the ZF focuses the “Nikon way” round, which is the opposite to any lens I have ever used. You get used to it though.

There are loads of other lenses with manual iris I have used, other than Nikon glass, like the budget lenses by Samyang/ Rokinon. Even the Canon one has a manual iris! They are pretty good and worth checking out. I have the 35mm F1.4 Samyang and use it lot.

So now we have got to the benefits of having a manual iris, but we still have issues. The iris is not smooth. In fact it’s worse in some cases. Instead of the 1/3 stop increment the Canon cameras have, the ZF lenses only have 1/2 stop increments between the full stops. Even less smooth. I used a Contax lens the other day and it had no increments at all. It went from one stop to the next. Terrible for riding the exposure. That is where people like Eddie Houston, The Lens Doctor,  come in. Eddie is based in Scotland and camera recommended by my friend Dan Chung. For a relatively low cost (dependent on the lens) he will “de-click” your lenses for  you. So suddenly you have cine-lens-like smoothness in the iris ring. He removes the clicks but adds enough resistance so it’s not crazy loose. I recently got him to do all my ZF glass, and it’s like having a whole new set of glass. I also have had my Samyang de-clicked and recently bought the ZF 35mm F1.4 which I am going to send to him shortly. So instead of 1 stop, or 1/2 stop or 1/3 stop it’s micro fine adjustments. Suddenly you can ride the exposure smoothly!

Eddie has also repaired a couple of my lenses and done a wonderful job. I cannot recommend him enough.

If you don’t live in the UK there are loads of places that will offer the same service. Make sure you get a recommendation before you send your glass off but I promise you this, it won’t change your life, but it will make shooting a lot easier with still lenses!

If you have any global recommendation for places like “The Lens Doctor” please share them in comments below.

USA based? Then Matt Duclos is your man. He can add front filter diameters so all your lenses match and permanent focus wheels too…

There is one other way to get smooth iris change, and this will not effect your DOF like changing an IRIS will, and that is a Variable ND. I have been using them since I started with DSLRs and they have been a godsend. No good in lower light conditions as even at their minimum setting you are looking at losing well over a stop of light, and be careful of cheap ones. They often are soft and give you a colour shift.

//

// ]]>

<A HREF=”http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?rt=ss_mfw&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fphilipblcouk-20%2F8001%2F198ec959-9e46-4fad-ab4f-8b9b9140c973&Operation=NoScript”>Amazon.com Widgets</A>

Please read my ethics statement here

 

It’s submission time for the second almost annual Vimeo awards! (The last one was in October 2009). It was an amazing event last year and next year’s one will be even better…why? More categories!

So what is the deal? Grants of $5,000 will be awarded to the winners of each of the 13 categories, and a grant of $25,000 will be presented to the winner of the Best Video Award. Entrants can submit any original work that premiered anywhere online between July 31, 2010 and February 20, 2012, or any original work that has never been premiered. So that means if you don’t have something great now, you have two months to get cracking. I would enter but I can’t. I am judging one of the categories: Lyrical, which is VERY me! Below is what Lyrical is all about…and the other 12 below it.

The only downside is it will cost you $20 to enter, but just $5 if you are a plus or pro member. $5…that’s not even my Venti Triple Skinny cappuccino from Starbucks!…Entries are now open, click here for more info on the general rules.

I will be at the awards ceremony too which is in June. Last time I was in NY was for the last Vimeo Awards!

 

 

Eye Scream Factory, a provider of time-saving design templates, presets, and royalty-free content for digital media artists, today announced the availability of 74 DVE transition presets created by Kevin P. McAuliffe, Senior Editor at MIJO in Toronto, Canada, and an Avid Media Composer editor for 15 years. The presets include a wide variety of organic and fluid DVE transitions.

Last year, Sebastian Wiegaertner, Nino Leitner and myself held a hugely successful 3 day filmmaking intensive masterclass on the beautiful Island of Majorca. Well, this year we are going back there to do it again. Not just that but by popular demand we will also be holding two more 3 day masterclasses in Las Vegas immediately after NAB then another one in Key West, Florida the following weekend.

They are exclusive small group masterclasses where the focus is on practical filmmaking so don’t expect to be stuck in a classroom much!

Learn more about the contents of each masterclass, cost, location etc by clicking the image below or here!

Remember booking is very limited!

If you have never been to Key West check out my short film “2 nights in Mallory Square” it’s a gorgeous town, if you have never been to Vegas then check out my timelapse video I did from there last year and to give you an idea of how beautiful Majorca is check out my short “Inspiens” I shot with some of the Majorca attendees last year. Again just below!