Derek Reich
Forum Replies Created
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Some additional information regarding primary lithium and lithium ion batteries and air travel:
https://safetravel.dot.gov/larger_batt.html -
Bill-
No, I have never had a problem with any lithium ion battery to date on many hundreds of thousands of miles traveled. That said, no one has ever asked about how many I have checked, or what the lithium content of each is.
What I understand from the TSA website is this: the main concern is with primary lithium batteries, and not as much with lithium ion batteries. All the batteries available (as far as I know) for camcorders and most other portable electronic equipment are lithium ion. From what I have read, the concern is that primary lithium batteries cannot be extinguished in a fire while lithium ion batteries can. (both, however are extremely flammable)
My run bag which is checked with one or two spare batteries in it has routinely been inspected by TSA, as well as one of my cases with more spare batteries and chargers. There has never been an issue or question. All batteries are in individual compartments as specified by TSAs guidelines. -
Bill,
You should not have any problem whatsoever. I fly nearly every week with my EX3, and have no issues. I do not put it in a bag, I just carry it on the plane and stash it in the overhead (with a blanket or coat for a little padding). The X-rays will not harm a thing…. however you may have some X-ray machines with pretty low clearance for getting your camera through the opening, especially if you have a matte box or other accessories mounted on your camera. (I have been able to fit mine through with matte box, Bebob battery mount, but do have to take my shotgun off on some of them.
One potential issue with the EX3 is it’s width because of the VF, and this is made worse if you are using something like the Bebob V-mount or A/B battery adapter. If you happen to be flying on a puddle-jumper, you may very well find that your camera will not fit in the overhead. Most airlines WILL let you belt it to an empty seat, assuming there is an empty seat. So be aware of that…. just last week I had 4 commuter flights, and my camera only fit in the overhead on two of them. I was very fortunate that there were empty seats on the two legs which it wouldn’t fit, and the airline let me belt the camera to a seat. Ask at the ticket counter and if they have empty seats, they’ll likely assign you to a seat next to an empty one to belt your camera. Sorry, no exit row for this arrangement though!I have not once in the last couple of years had to turn my camera on to prove it works… I think as long as it’s going through the X-ray, that’s good enough for TSA.
If you are working for mainstream media, bring a press ID (some airlines like Delta require proof of media affiliation) and you can get a media rate on any equipment you check, like your lighting, tripod, etc. For most airlines that will tremendously reduce your excess baggage fees and increase your weight limit per bag. (example: on Delta excess baggage at the media rate is $50/case and you’re allowed 70lbs per case instead of 50lbs, and Delta is pretty rigorous about checking the weight…. if you’re over, it’s $100 per case additional)
There has been some confusion about lithium ion batteries brought on board (either checked or carried on). Lithium ion batteries are allowed and you should not have an issue with them, although you should not have ‘loose’ lithium ion batteries in checked baggage. (you can have them packed as long as they are in their own little space individually in your case. Batteries mounted on the camera are fine.
Have a good shoot!
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Jason
one other thing which you may not know since you’re new to the EX workflow:NEVER EVER alter the BPAV folder or it’s contents if you don’t know what you’re doing. The directories there must remain intact or you will lose the ability to access your files. Don’t even rename the folder. You can put the BPAV folders into other folders for organization, just don’t change the BPAV folder itself in any way. You can actually set a destination folder within Clipbrowser which will help you organize.
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I’m sure you will be able to use this lens on your EX3 (with the 1/2″ adapter that comes with it) but, why would you want to? The stock Fuji lens which came with the EX3 is a decent enough lens, probably about the same quality as the one you linked to (maybe even better) AND has IS. Are you looking for more telephoto?
I would look into some good 35mm Nikkor options for that. You can pick up a decent used Nikkor lens cheap and the adatpers from MTF or Adaptimax are only a couple hundred bucks. -
If you can get the lights gelled to give you about 5000K you should be fine. The lights may be on the warm side compared to the windows (especially if it’s a cloudy day) but that usually looks better than anything showing up cool (blue) coming in from the windows. Try some different gels and see what looks best, and as David mentioned unless you get lucky and have an overcast day, your light will change throughout the day anyway. Direct sunlight will range in the 5600K+/- range in the middle of the day, warmer (lower numbers if it’s clear out) in the early morning and late afternoon while the sun’s still visible. Cloudy or overcast days will range in the 6500K-7500K range. Keep in mind many cameras give inconsistent kelvin numbers for the same balance, so don’t worry if you don’t get ‘exact’ daylight kelvin numbers like 5600K. Just look at the image on a monitor you trust, and if you’re close no worries. (you can do a lot in post to correct color and balance anyway, but why make extra work if you can avoid it? Just know that if you’re off a little bit, not a big deal to fix)
I always play it safe and balance for the coolest light (highest kelvin temp) and let other light sources ‘warm’ things up. This usually works okay, except when the discrepancy between kelvin temps is more than about 2000K-3000K. If you can hit something around 5000K-6000K with the lights looking normal to slightly warm, you should be okay with whatever happens outside.
Good luck! You might also check and see exactly what kind of bulbs the light fixtures use. If you’re really lucky, you might be able to find daylight balanced bulbs and just replace them! Remember to check what the balance is already coming from those lights… you may already be golden if they’re in the 4500K+ range. -
It looks predominantly daylight, so your balance is certainly going to be on that end of the spectrum. Depending on the overheads (they could be tungsten, halogen, or maybe even fluro) you are either going to have to live with some warm hues under the lights with a near daylight balance, (probably what would look best) or risk blue hue near the windows with a warmer balance for the lights. Another option is to replace the lamps in the overhead fixtures with lamps which have a closer to daylight balance or gel the overheads with blue gels. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but those overheads already look like they’re on the ‘cool’ side of color temperature. You may be better off than you know… get a balance directly under those lights if you can, and determine the temperature. Then get one near the windows about the same time of day as your shoot (and hope the clouds will be the same) See how far apart you are and go from there with respect to dealing with the overheads. Good luck! It’s hard to find a ‘perfect’ balance in situations like this, but you’ll likely find one which works…. the fact that you are thinking about this ahead of time is a good sign!
Good luck- -
While some may see having to set aperture for a Canon EF lens on a Canon EOS body, then put it on the EX and HOPE the lighting doesn’t change (seriously?) is not a hassle, this is not realistic for anyone doing shooting outdoors. Since the extreme crop factor makes this the ideal set up for wildlife and sports photography, many people using these lenses will find themselves outdoors. Unless you are shooting on a heavy overcast day, the lighting is changing constantly and often quickly. A few seconds is more than enough to lose a critical shot. Not to mention having to cart the EOS body around to make the aperture changes. The holy grail here (for us Canon EF owners) would be an adapter which would initiate electrical contact with the EX mount, and allow for aperture adjustment from some sort of external dial. This has been accomplished with B4 mounts such as MTF’s new B4 adapter. I’m told MTF is working on a similar electronic version for the Canon EF mount. Here’s hoping! That would be worth waiting for.
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Adrian-
The EX3 is a 1/2″ sensor camera. Therefore, 1/2″ lenses are designed to cover this sensor. You can use larger image lenses (such as 2/3″ lenses from broadcast cameras) or 35mm lenses from still cameras. Any lens larger than the 1/2″ image will work, with the caveat that there will be a ‘crop factor’ meaning that since you are not using the entire image projected by the lens, the image will be ‘cropped’ (the image is larger than your sensor needs, so you are only using a partial area of the lens image) For example, a 35mm lens on a 1/2″ camera such as the EX3 will have a crop factor of about 5.4X. That means a 35mm lens with a focal length of 100mm will give you an image of approximately 540mm. This is a great bonus if you need lots of telephoto (such as wildlife or sports photography) but makes it impossible to get wide angle images using 35mm lenses. Even the 2/3″ lenses have a crop factor of about 1.37X (I think?) The only way to get true wide angle using something other than a 1/2″ lens would be to utilize something like a letus adapter with a wide 35mm lens.
All that said, there are a wide variety of lenses available as more and more adapters come on the market.You mentioned several Canon lenses on your list. Keeping in mind the ‘crop factor’, (magnify each of those focal lengths by approx. 5.4) if you still find those focal lengths useful to you, you need to consider one additional thing with Canon lenses. Unless you’re using the older Canon ‘FD’ mounts, you will have an issue with the newer EOS (or EF) mounts because they have no external aperture ring, and there is no electrical contact with the camera to be able to adjust aperture. (Canon EF lenses utilize electronic contacts in the mount to adjust aperture on Canon EOS cameras) SO, while there are adapters which will allow these lenses to mount to your EX3, you will not be able to adjust aperture ON the EX3. You will have to put the lens on a Canon EOS camera, set aperture, then mount it on the EX3. Quite a pain in my opinion…. especially when you can use any other lens (Nikkor, etc) and have full manual control.
I am a Canon shooter myself, and have a bagful of EF lenses and it KILLS me to not be able to use these yet on my EX. I have a few Nikkor lenses I use with terrific results, but really want to get into some of my Canon glass someday. There is a Canon EF adapter in the works, but it’s not ready yet and no timeframe yet when it will be.Also be aware that you will need to purchase these adapters, the EX does not come with them. (it does come with a 1/2″ broadcast mount adapter, the EX mount is proprietary and nothing other than EX lenses fits without the 1/2″ adapter) A good 2/3″ adapter will cost between about $400 and about $1500. (there are 4 availble, one from Sony without any electrical contacts so the lens has to be completely manually operated, one from Fuji with electrical contacts for auto lens function, one from MTF without electrical contacts and a new one from MTF with electrical contacts.)
Hope this helps somewhat-
cheers
Derek -
The amount of polarization you will get is relative to your angle to the sun. Ideally, a 90 degree angle will yield the most visible results (with the sky, anyway). As you approach either 180 degrees (either the sun is directly in front of you or directly behind you) the results will be less effective. This does not apply as much to reflective surfaces, only the darkening of the sky. You really just need to play with it and see what works best for you.
I have never used a UV filter on any video or still camera in 30 years of professional photography. I suppose they are useful for protecting your outer element from a possible scratch or something hitting the lens, but I’ve always felt that if you pay good money for a decent lens, why put anything in front of it that you don’t absolutely need? And, if you buy a cheap UV filter, you could negate the optical quality you just paid good money for. If you do use one, make sure you get a good one! You should also pay attention to your VF with respect to the sun. Be very careful to avoid ever having the sun shining directly into your VF, or you will damage the viewfinder itself. The magnifier works just like a magnifying glass under the sun, and can not only damage the components of the viewfinder, but actually melt the plastic housing. ALWAYS keep the VF pointed down or covered when not shooting.
I’m not aware of any significant color shift when using a polarizer unless it’s a ‘warm’ polarizer with a warm tint added like an 812. All a polarizer should do is remove reflected light on surfaces or from particulates in the air. This will often result in increased saturation without the reflected light bouncing back to your camera.
One last thing….. are you aware of the IR issue with these cameras? The EX cameras (and many other CMOS sensor cameras) suffer from some level of infra-red or near infra red contamination. If you ever have had a black article of clothing in your image turn magenta or brown, that’s what you’re seeing. It most commonly affects black synthetic clothing, which has become a real pain to wedding photographers for obvious reasons. At the moment, the only solution is an IR cut filter. There are two currently available which work very well but each has it’s own limitations. One of these filters, the Schneider 486 is what is known as a ‘hot mirror’ filter and MUST be the first filter light hits. This means that if you are also using a polarizer, the polarizer must be BEHIND the 486 or the 486 will not work. The Tiffen does not have this limitation and can reside in front or in back of the pola, but this filter loses about a stop of light. If you’re outside, this probably wouldn’t be an issue, or if you’re not seeing the contamination, then you don’t need to worry about it at all until you do.