Micah Mcdowell
Forum Replies Created
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Glad to hear it… just wanted to make sure it wasn’t some obscure COW setting I messed up on my end. I’m getting excited for the upcoming new features I’ve heard about!
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It might be worth it to max out your RAM if you find a good deal on it (though I’m fairly confident that your system only supports 8GB total… only the G5 Quad supported 16GB). I doubt that’s your limiting factor though.
Like others said, make sure you have lots of fast hard drive storage (not Firewire). Hard drives are cheap these days, and you can always move them over to your next system when you upgrade. I use a Sonnet G5 Jive in my trusty G5 to mount a total of five drives internally (one for boot and four in a RAID configuration with a Sonnet RAID card). I think B&H still carries this setup and it works flawlessly.
Don’t spend money on a video card or anything else for the system. The G5s are still great, but rather obsolesced… the processors will be the unchangeable bottleneck.
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Depends on what you mean by monitoring. Also depends on which cameras.
Are these three cameras being switched live, or just three cameras recording separately? Do you just need to see the output, or do you want control (like a camera control unit, often known as a CCU)?
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On my 550D, I started with a Olympus 50mm f/1.8 prime using an adapter from eBay member “kawaphoto”. Cheapest adapter around, but it worked flawlessly. Now I’m using a m42 screw-mount Fujica 50mm f/1.4 with another kawaphoto adapter. It also works great, but I had to file off a tiny tab on the lens before it would fit properly. Also have some Olympus and Fujica zooms/teles that work well.
Old manual primes and adapters are the way to go if you’re on a budget. I’ve got about $30 (!) invested in my 50mm prime and I now use it exclusively unless I need a wide-angle or have to change framing quickly. It makes it feel like I could shoot by candlelight. Be sure to look at local thrift stores, pawn shops, and estate sales for these old lenses. I’ve bought all mine that way. When I find something better, I eBay the old ones for a profit.
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I don’t think anyone knows when or if there will be a T3i, but if you want a camera that’s a step above the T2i, consider the Canon 60D. Same great video sensor and capabilities, plus an articulating LCD screen and manual audio gain controls, for very little extra cash.
I own a T2i, but would buy the 60D over it in a heartbeat given the choice.
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What is your reason to shoot in HDR? And what do you mean by HDR? Every new camera that has been released lately generally has a “higher dynamic range” than previous technology.
If you want the super-stylized “HDR” look that you can get from bracketed DSLR frames combined, then no, I’d say that it’s way too early to think about on a low budget. Looks like these guys have figured out how to do it with a couple Canon 5DmkIIs but I’m betting it’s a cumbersome rig and frame timing and compression artifacts are nasty. Since you’re asking about the beam splitter and such, this is probably how they did it: one camera is set to overexpose and catch shadow detail, while one is set to underexpose and preserve highlight detail. They are either mounted in a 3D rig but aligned to capture as close to the same image as possible, or they use a beam splitter and a single lens to split the exact same image to both sensors (ideal, but much more expensive/intensive). Then, I’d suspect that you import both shots as a still sequence into Photoshop or your preferred HDR processing software, stitch them together to taste, and you’re done! But, I wouldn’t expect great (or even usable) results in most cases. Too many variables.
If you want “HDR” as in more dynamic range to manipulate in post than what is visible on set, then the RAW recording format of a RED might work for you.
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Yes, you transfer the files over USB (or take the card out of the camera and use a dedicated card reader… they’re usually faster).
There would be no benefit to capturing files you’ve already shot to the memory card via HDMI. Unless, you record the uncompressed HDMI signal to a higher-bitrate device or capture card live while you shoot; you might gain a bit of quality that way. You should check if the D5000 even outputs via HDMI at full-res with no display overlays while shooting live; even if Nikon says it does, it may not be the full HD signal. I’m a Canon guy as of late so couldn’t tell you.
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Ugh, really? That seems pointless…
…and mind you, I use my iPhone for practically everything EXCEPT video. It’s just not a good idea except for bragging rights. Though, when they come out with an iPhone that has a 35mm sensor and XLR jacks, I’ll change my tune.
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And boom, it works great. Very cool, and I do like the ability to turn it on/off at will. Thanks again.
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Ohh, cool… I see the checkboxes now.
I’ll try it out on this post and see how it works… thanks for the quick response!