The Complete Idiot’s Guide to 5dMkII Cinematography

[James Leaburn]

Thanks a lot for this. Lots of handy information.

If in doubt scream and shout.

[Danny Grizzle]

Interested to see your comments on recommendation on the Gini. I’m looking for ways to get my 5D MK II into shooting shape with no budget left. The Gini looks interesting. Two questions: 1) does it come with hand grips, or just bare rods as shown on the eBay link. 2) are these 15mm rods at standard spacings? Can the Gini system be mixed and matched with other components? In other words, what about matte box and follow focus?

[Richard Crook]

1) does it come with hand grips, or just bare rods as shown on the eBay link.

Bare rods. I ended up getting bicycle grips for it. The rods are too small for the grips so I had to wrap the rods with some spare tape and pieces of garden hose to thicken them up.

2) are these 15mm rods at standard spacings? Can the Gini system be mixed and matched with other components? In other words, what about matte box and follow focus?

Yes…they are perfectly compatible. I definately recommend this system. I’ve seen the Zacuto and these are just as good at a fraction of the cost.

[Danny Grizzle]

https://shop.ebay.com.au/gini.1980/m.html

Just curious – your seller seems to no longer support auctions, only direct sales.

How does the shoulder pad change the config? Does it will come with the aluminum shoulder rest, only add a pad?

You’d think he would have a solution for the hand holds.

Also concerned about geometry — I’ve already bought a Zacuto viewfinder, want to either add a matte box and follow focus, or else adapt a Chrosziel matte box I already own.

[Danny Grizzle]

Looking at your short film shot in Dealey Plaza. What type dolly are you using for tracking shots?

[Richard Crook]

The one I got was the brand new prototype silicone rubber shoulder pad. He knows what I do and offered it to me for a discount for publicity. It’s really nice. If his auctions come back online I would just ask him for the silicone shoulder pad. He’s really nice when I talked to him on the phone. And the shipping is ridiculous fast. (2 days from Korea to Texas!)

The slider in the Dealy piece is called a “Zaza Slider.” You can read about it on DVXUser.com. Thanks for watching it!

[Danny Grizzle]

These handgrips look interesting and inexpensive. Inside diameter is 15mm:

https://www.componentforce.co.uk/en/category/148/foam-handle-grip—style-9

Of course, you can buy other brands given standard size rods.

[Richard Crook]

I have updated the guide for the new Magic Lantern (0.1.8) that works with the 2.0.4 firmware. At the time of this posting, there is only a beta release available that I made possible to download from within the guide. The official stable release is not out yet.

Use at your own risk…but I’ve been using it for a month and the only problem I have is a freeze-up when I switch to/from Live View. Trammel notes that they are still working to get this fixed.

THE COMPLETE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO 5DMKII CINEMATOGRAPHY: ADOBE PREMIERE EDITION
*************UPDATED for 2.0.4 AND Magic Lantern 0.1.8!********************
crookedpathfilms.com/blog/2010/02/04/a-comprehensive-guide-to-the-canon-5d-mk-ii-and-adobe-premiere-cs4/

[Danny Grizzle]

Richard, have you experienced the iris twitching problem that is being reported with 2.0.4? This was initially thought to be an irregularity with Canon’s 100mm IS macro, but now fear is spreading that 2.0.4 is trouble with other lenses.

[Richard Crook]

No I haven’t yet. The camera works great with my 24-105 L series lens.