Steve Crow
Forum Replies Created
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Catherine,
I think you have totally the wrong idea about the quality of video that your new Canon can produce…with the right lens, lighting etc – it can create beautiful, very cinematic images that could very well look much BETTER than your $7,0000 XH-G1.
The most recent versions of Premiere and Final Cut Pro X can edit the H.264 files directly without transcoding to ProRes at all although many video shooters still do the transcoding. Final Cut Pro X (and I assume Premiere too) can actually do the transcoding in the background if you want while you edit the H.264 files in your timeline.
So I’d suggest two things:
1) strike the idea of “degraded” footage from your mind
2) check out on Vimeo some documentaries shot on Canon DSLRs and I think you will be very surprised. You can start looking here: https://vimeo.com/channels/inspiringdocumentaries but you will have to check each films description to see if it was a Canon DSLR project or not
Frankly I’d be more concerned about the MiniDV footage.
Steve Crow
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Every scene requires custom settings so I can’t give you one that will work for all situations. Some basic tips:
Keep your ISO as low as possible and for Canon try to use multiples of 160 (so 160 or 320 or 480….etc etc)
Be careful not to overexpose any part of the image, once a part of the image reaches pure white it can never be recovered – technically photographers call this “protecting the highlights” – you can look at the histogram and make sure that there is nothing at the far far right of the graph. I typically try to underexpose my image by a small amount.
Look online and you can find the Philip Bloom recommended settings for shooting video with a Canon – they are very easy to use. Basically you are turning the sharpness and contrast down within the camera (you can bring those qualities back up in post and it will be a better result than what the camera by itself does)
The lens is so important in the final look captured by your camera. I am not familiar with the zoom lens you mentioned but I suspect it’s not a constant aperture so you will notice the image darken as you zoom in, and a darker image like that is also going to give you a greater chance for noise in the shadow areas.
When you can, stick with lenses that are always at a constant, single aperture, ideally 2.8 or lower but if it’s a 4.0 aperture, no worries.
I tend to shoot almost everything with a 50mm prime lens and I just use my feet to get closer to a subject if I need to, first I had the 1.8 version from Canon and then I bought the 1.4. The 1.8 is around $100 and is a great great deal. The 1.4 at closer to $320 is even better if you can afford it. For a zoom I’d recommend the 24-70mm from Canon as a fantastic starting point.
Steve Crow
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Just because a camera is MFT or a crop sensor doesn’t mean that the resolution of the video clip being recorded in terms of pixel dimensions will be smaller, they technically will still be 720p or 1080p in size.
There ARE going to be quality differences due to the fact the smaller sensor sizes on MFT and crop sensor can’t gather as much light as the larger pixels on the full frame sensors. For instance, how well the video looks in low light and how much noise is there can be a difference you will notice – but that isn’t a for sure thing.
There can very well be other differences too like in bit depth, color space, compression used etc….however all three sensors have the capability to mix very well together or not so much…it really all depends upon the image shot, how it was lit, the subject matter etc, but this is always the case. That’s where color correction and grading can come in to make the images “match” in look.
Steve Crow
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You are having noise because there isn’t enough light reaching the sensor. You can try raising your ISO but I assume you are doing that and high ISO itself can also introduce noise. So if you want to shoot in a dark setting like that then you have to get a camera with a sensor designed for low light situations….the Sony A7s is a very good example of that, you could shoot that camera in a cave lit only by a candle and still see something.
If you have to stick with the Canon I would suggest shooting the boxing scene under more well lit conditions then seeing what you can do in post to bring down the overall exposure – that will get you around the noise problem, but it’s not a perfect solution.
Steve Crow
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I thought that at first too but then the results would be more consistent, the clips would always be either too dark or too bright, not vary from clip to clip as the original poster indicated
Steve Crow
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If you are shooting with a Canon look for a sidecar file ending with .thm (short for thumbnail) for each video clip
With a free software program like EXIF Viewer you can view the EXIF data within the .thm file.
It contains the ISO, shutter speed etc information you are looking for
If you only have the video clip itself I don’t believe it contains the EXIF data so you would be out of luck, but again I am only speaking of Canon cameras
Steve Crow
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Are you doing any sort of processing on the video file captured by the camera before trying to play them or are you simply dragging the files off your capture card to your computer and playing them?
Steve Crow
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It’s the larger 3/8ths screw which is the standard size used for video tripod heads. If you buy tripod head with a flat bottom you will find a matching hole which is how your slider is designed (like all others I assume)
Steve
Steve Crow
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I don’t know if this will be helpful to you or not but I would first do a test to rule out the monitors as the problem because I’m not yet convinced that the issue is with the graphics card or the older computer but let’s see.
I’d first simplify your setup for this test and attach each computer to each monitor individually to make darn sure.
So:
1. Old computer to monitor A
2. Old computer to monitor B
3. New computer to monitor A
4. New computer to monitor B
In other words, for this test, don’t use the dual monitor setup but go old school so that you can determine where exactly the issue may be coming from.
Steve Crow
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Hi,
At a $1,000 dollars for camera and lens you will have to compromise on some of the features on your list. I’d look at the Canon Rebel Series of cameras like the T4i, T5i and the Panasonic Lumix line GH3.
I wouldn’t concentrate on any of the Atmos stuff for now, frankly you don’t need it and your money would be better spent on getting the basics in place like lenses, filters, microphones and maybe some reflectors with stands or a simple light kit.
Steve Crow