Rick Wise
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COW Coin
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The DVX 100b is a terrific camera, but it is not at all HD. It is SD. It records to DV tape in DV format. I consider it the best of the SD prosumer cameras, and it is still made. Surprisingly, Amazon currently has a better price on it than B&H.
If you do not need HD, then it would be a good investment. I shot an available-light doc (https://rickwisedp.com/RW%20Director/kansas_harvest.htm) with it some time ago and was pleased with the results in bright sun as well as in very low light. However, the technology is now outdated.
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
To get good sound with any of these still cameras it currently appears that the only way is to have an external recorder for audio. We are back to double-system sound recording! You should have either an audio feed to the HDSLR or another mic for the camera itself. In post, the software Plural Eyes should make syncing up the good sound to your picture pretty easy.
There is a new, plasticized version of the Mark 7D, the EOS 60 (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/732047-REG/Canon_4460B003_EOS_60D_DSLR_Camera/BI/6544/KBID/7158), with I believe most of the same features. A significantly less expensive option and with all the benefits and defects of the 7D. Even more important than the body is the glass on the front, and the mind behind the camera….
You might also want to look at the new Canon XF305 (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/684198-REG/Canon_4454B001/BI/6544/KBID/7158) with 4:2:2 colorspace, internal waveform and vectorscope, and a 4″ LCD monitor. I have not yet found reports about low-light level performance. It has 3 1/3″ CMOS chips, so a much smaller capture size than the HDSLRs. On the other hand, it is designed for video shooting, not adapted to it, and rolling shutter should not be a problem.
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
There are two problems with the Digital Juice tutorial on focus. While some of the information is correct, one part is not, and the “solution” ignores the emotional impact of wide vs. long lens shooting.
Depth of field is a function of three things:
- distance from the camera to the subject
- focal length of lens
- iris
If you keep the field of view the same size, there is only one way to increase the depth of field: stop down the iris. If you keep the field of view the same size, there is only one way way to decrease the depth of field: open the iris.
If you keep the field of view of the foreground action the same, you do NOT reduce depth of field by going to a longer lens. The reason is, you move the camera much further away. At that distance, you will have exactly the same depth of field that you did when the camera was close and wide.
The tutorial is correct about iris: by introducing a high ND filter in front of the lens or else internally, you then have to open the iris, which in turn reduces the depth of field. The author could have kept the camera close to the subject and added the heavy ND filter. He would have obtained the same depth of field he got when he moved the camera further back, assuming he kept the field of view of the speaker (frame size) the same.
What does change when you move the camera back and go to a longer lens is that you see much less of the background left-to-right. But the depth of field does not change.
If you close down the iris two stops, you double the depth of field. Equally if you open the iris two stops you cut the depth of field in half.
The other problem with this tutorial is that it ignores the effect on the viewer when you go to a long lens. If you shoot an interview on a long lens, the viewer consciously or not realizes s/he is seeing the interviewee at a distance. There are two giveaways: when the subject leans toward the camera there is very little change in size; also, background is compressed towards the subject. When you are close and wide, the subject’s leaning toward the lens or hand gestures become much more noticeable and in fact mimic much more closely our real-life experience of talking to someone. Unless we are lecturing to a classroom or auditorium, our daily interaction with others is fairly close and personal, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse, but that’s the way it is.
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Yes, just start doing it. Pick one of those looks. Try to shoot a similar look. You will discover a lot that way.
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
The web site for the dayflo bulbs does not site any stats. I would expect them to have a relatively poor CRI in comparison to the Kinos. However you may be able to remove the green spike with some minus green. How much — 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 you will have to find out by trial and error. It’s a whole lot safer to stick with the Kinos, but price matters.
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Looks to me like the sun is blowing out the back, aided by large doses of “fog”. The street is mostly in shade, but on the right side of this closer shot we see direct sunlight on the building where the sun cut through. Here the buildings on the left are less high.
More sun shows further on:
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
John,
I posted on the Lighting forum about the fact that the company you directed us to for fantasy cloth is closing it out and already is out of the gray. I have not found any replacement that is wrinkle-free. Any suggestions?
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Thanks, Mark. They do not appear to have “fantasy cloth” which is a relatively cheap scrim that is NOT woven. They do have all sorts of woven scrims.
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Mark, what is the link? I’m not finding it. Did find “Backdrop Outlet” with lots of “fantasy cloth.”
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com -
Which tubes, which Kino lights? The Divas can show a green spike, but the original models run clean. If you see unwanted green, add minus green in front of the lights. Probably 1/4 will do it, maybe 1/8.
Rick Wise
director of photography
San Francisco Bay Area
part-time instructor lighting/camera
Academy of Art University/Film and Video (grad school)
https://www.RickWiseDP.com