Steve Crow
Forum Replies Created
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All I can say is that I’m still quite happy with my T2i so I would go for the lower end model and investing in better glass. Since this will be your first time shooting video on a DSLR as a primary activity, now is a great time to get used to the format and learn all the ins and outs. You will find for documentary and news work you will have to invest in sound gear or else the camera will be unusable for those uses. Glass is always a good investment and I would put sound in the same category. The advantages of the T4i over even the T2i are not so great that I would rush to buy the T4i, the 7D or the 5D Mark II are another matter entirely…if I could afford either I would buy them in a heartbeat.
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
Actually I forgot to mention the Black Magic Cinema Camera as another option you have in that price range – a very nice option too
Here is a presentation given by a filmmaker in Australia who had been the only person (I believe) allowed to film with the pre-production model
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
Just a few thoughts really . What it seems you need is a full frame sensor to gather as much light as possible combined with high ISO. It seems at your price point a DSLR like the Canon 5D MII is really one of your few available choices Also be realistic about what can be achieved on a prosumer budget vs national network shooters and their gear
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
I think the Konova is still a good basic slider and I do believe now that they have a motion controller to go with it but it’s not a high end company and if you are not concerned about money, I think you should really be checking out sites by folks like Phillip Bloom, Vincent LaForet, maybe Dave Dugdale, DSLR News Shooter.com etc to see what the pros are using and what they now recommend
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
Just to be clear, did you have batteries in the wireless mic transmitter and receiver when you attached the receiver’s output to the H4N?
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
Maybe this should be more of a timelapse video? Of course, no one is actually going to watch 12 hours of video in real time so I’m not 100 percent sure why it would be so important to have constantly running video of this marathon event. Working with so many huge video files is going to tax all but a super pro editing machine in any case. A timelapse still camera running continuously and then maybe another video camera to capture closeups, b-rolls and interviews during the art project would be closer to my approach. Also, if there are no lights how are you going to film at night, how is the person going to do his or her work?…sure HD DSLRs can film something in almost complete darkness but that doesn’t mean it will be great footage to work with. Sounds like an interesting problem
Might be helpful if you explained something about what the art project is…
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
I haven’t got a real clue what is going on but I can only guess that it has something to do with whatever recovery process was used which sounds like a pretty major problem happened in the first place in order to need clip recovery. The clip must somehow be slightly corrupted, not enough not to play at all but enough to cause these issues. I think you are probably out of luck and will just have to edit out the frames that are giving you issues – I don’t think this is an issue that can be fixed in your editing program, the clip sounds like it is simp[y damaged somehow. Still – all the best luck to you, it’s great that you were able to recover the majority of your clip data it sounds like.
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
Hi Patrick,
Yeah, exactly. I notice too that doc producer on Kickstarter are doing two campaigns – one for production and then coming back again for the editing/distribution phase…perhaps in this way they can limit the amount of the first campaign they are trying to fund, figuring that if push came to shove they would just do all the editing themselves (probably their plan all along actually) and so the second campaign is just extra “butter” 🙂
Of course, creating, putting together and mailing out all the “thank you gifts/premiums” for those who donate must take up a lot of time and expense too…the closest experience to that I have is that whenever I sell something on Ebay it always takes me at least two trips to the UPS store – once to get the item packaged and weighed and to come up with a delivery cost and then back again a second time for the actual shipping out.
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
Neither, not right away in any case. Remember that with the less expensive zoom and kit lenses that the aperture changes as you zoom in…in other words they are not constant aperture lenses. What this means is that your image will darken as you zoom in unless you simultaneously raise the iso or change the shutter speed which you wouldn’t want to do (I lock mine at 1/50th a second and basically keep it there locked) (If you follow the advice never to film while you are actually zooming in or out this becomes less of an issue)
What I would be tempted to get instead would be the Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 for $499
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/284399-REG/Tamron_AF09C700_28_75mm_f_2_8_XR_Di.html
which is going to get you a a tad wider than a standard 50mm lens on a camera with a full frame sensor all the way up to about a 120mm equivalent for the short telephoto range – and all at a constant aperture. It’s got great reviews and a very competitive price. So I’d start looking there.
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com -
Yeah, I think Peter just gave an excellent answer…I remember Philip Bloom talking in one of his videos or interviews about the use of Tiffen filters (they come in both real, physical filters that screw onto the lens or as a digital plugin for your editing program) to help in creating a softer, more filmic look. It’s always surprising to me how many questions we get on this forum about making video SHARPER, which sort of baffles me since to my eye anyway the “film look” is a much softer/diffused look than a still photograph or say DV Video.
Steve Crow
Crow Digital Media
http://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com