Al Bergstein
Forum Replies Created
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I have the 2GB iMac w/ i7. I would think that either machine will work fine for 1080p footage, especially for a hobbyist. But what I would warn you is that 4k footage, which is coming on strong, is going to make your 2GBs slow down a lot. That’s what I am finding using Panasonic GH4 4k footage, though I’m able to work, but if I had to work with this for 5 days a week, I’d probably be looking to upgrade. If you are buying a new machine, and can afford it, you might want to consider spending the extra money both for an i7 and 4 GBs video RAM. Your machine will last longer for you.
Al
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I’d certainly buy used, maybe off Ebay. I’ve always had good luck with eBay. I agree with the notion of a used C100. I own one and it’s one of the best video camera’s I’ve ever owned. It’s small enough to be great on a doc. But I don’t see them going for under $2000 yet on eBay. If you don’t want to stick with DSLR then you can buy cameras like the XF100 on bay cheap. They are nice portable camcorders that allow a secure Mic to be mounted. I used to have one.
If you like your camera’s shots, have a limited budget then why not focus on a better recorder? Why not buy a Tascam DR70 for a couple of hundred dollars, attach your camera to it, and a good shotgun mic to the camera’s hot shoe? It wouldn’t add much weight to it, and would get you better audio quality. You then could monitor off the Tascam. A good shotgun could cost you $400 or so. Check out the AudioTechnica AT875r. And don’t minimize having to use a lavalier. A decent package from Sennheiser is about $600.
If you really want to be able to do a better job capturing sound on the fly, then you should probably invest in the audio gear rather than the camera. Not a lot wrong with the 60d from a picture quality POV. Lots of folks do good work on them.
Al
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I agree with Blaise. This looks like ‘normal’ footage from that group of Canon cameras. I used to own a T2i. You probably need to work on sharpening and adding a bit of contrast to it in post. I’m not sure that 200ISO is one of the better ISOs for that camera, you might want to find out. The Canon ISOs often jump to get the better ones, ie. 320 might be good, 640 might be worse or better. There should be some tests out there to help you set up your camera to choose the right ones. Never choose auto ISO for these kind of tests.
Also, get yourself a color chart, go find a bring wall, and use gaffers tape to tape it to the wall. Use the color chart to run tests at various ISOs, lenses you may have and on different days, with clouds, without , in sun etc. You will quickly find out if you have a problem at a particular lens or ISO.
And finally, you may be using the wrong terminology. I don’t see any noise in your shots, even when I blow it up to full screen on a retina Mac screen.
Al
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according to wikipedia:
The first new versions made only for the Creative Cloud were released on June 17, 2013.
That jives with my memory of getting it, as I was on the first wave. I ran it on Windows 7 64 bit at the time with no issues. I never upgraded to 8.1.I would roll back your install to Windows 7. Especially if you did an *over the top* install and didn’t start with a fresh OS on a reformatted drive. In the future, when you do this kind of upgrade, I would recommend getting a new drive, and starting from scratch. That way you can always fall back gracefully.
My personal opinion is that 8 GBs RAM was minimalistic for Adobe products, especially CC, on Win7. You can use your Windows resource manager to watch the utilization of RAM as you open and run any application. That’s how I found out that my problems in W7 were due to a lack of RAM. Once I upgraded to 16GBs my Adobe performance issues vanished.
Did you happen to do any other changes between W7/CS6 and W8.1/CC? Like start working with 4k files on a GoPro or GH4? That is my current performance hog. I think I we need a new i8 processor with 4-4GB graphics cards to make it run smooth. Oh, right, that’s a MacPro. (just kidding).
Al
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I’ve used the CF cards for years with no bent pins or other problems. In fact I’ve found them more reliable than my SD cards. Of course the need for readers of CF are an issue. Still easier than an outbound monitor. But if you can operate with an outbound recorder like the Atomos, then that’s likely a good way to go. Not sure the footage will be better looking than the C300 native, but it will go directly to an SSD in an editable format like Apple’s or Avid. You still have the issue of battery life to monitor, recharge and maintain. The Atomos does have interchangeable batteries with Canon, Panasonic and others with the right adapters. They seem to be a great company. But their are competitors.Anyway, best of luck and let us know how you find field shooting with it! You seem to be in some difficult locales.
Al
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Another issue I’ve found is that not even internal based readers always work. My newest high performance SD cards 64MB, are not always able to be read on my iMac, while my newer Macbook is fine with them. I agree, buy and carry two that are tested before you head into the field. And get the ones with the slots that allow them to be properly fed to the pins.
Al
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I’d say that if your available light interviews were in daylight, that would work well. Not sure what I would recommend if you are shooting in low artificial light, or at night. I usually shift to a C100 for that kind of work, but you lose the 4:2:2 workspace, if it is critical. The 300 can work, but you would need supplemental light. Just an FYI, on almost all interviews, I carry a battery operated LED 12×12, so I can punch up faces on overcast days or in shadow. That’s used on both my DSLR and 300 shoots. It makes a huge difference, and if used properly doesn’t appear overly “lit”.
Al
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If you want run and gun, with those specs, I’d look on eBay for used Canon xf300s. They are selling for close to $2k in some cases. They were over $6 a couple of years ago. They are a great run and gun, with the limitation of not being a great low light camera. The small sensors can’t compete with larger ones on DSLRs. But for overall use, it’s been a great camera for me. Depends on what you plan to shoot.
Al
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I’ve noticed it too. Not sure what’s causing it, except perhaps cleanup activities not watched by the process control. This could have been caused by two different teams of programmers working on these two different features. just a guess is all.
Al
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And your computer is which model RAM and year? But yes, likely 4k will kill any older computers.
Al