The first day of autumn from Johnnie on Vimeo.

Evolution? No. Revolution? Yes indeed!

A bit more than a year ago, encouraged by Dan Chung’s “Nikon D90 in Tibet”, I picked up my first VDSLR. As a BBC freelance cameraman this camera obviously imposed lots of restrictions on pure “news work” but soon I discovered that there are a lot of uses for this little wonder camera and the Nikon D90 became a perfect working tool for some testimonial and marketing videos I did for other respected customers like bag manufacturer Kata.
For me, the main advantage when shooting with the D90 – other than its compact stealth form factor – was its limitations… Those limitations made me at the end of the day a better cameraman by learning, understanding and implementing workarounds to come out with nicely done footage.

Fast forward to the present time and I am a proud owner of the Canon 7D. This incredible camera for its price range is a game changer as far as I am concerned. Previous cameras like the Canon5dmkII and the extremely compact Panasonic GH-1, though producing beautiful looking images, did not answer my wish for a new VDSLR workhorse, the problems being the 30p frame rate restriction and lack of a clean low light capability respectively.

The new Canon 7D shares the same advantages of other VDSLRs in terms of portability and very clean low light performance but adds multi frame rates selection, SD recording (if needed) and other goodies.

My work at the BBC is split between a few different departments. I would not use the Canon 7D for pure news work since the camera is currently not up to that task, but it might turn out to be ideal for short features. There are few important points to consider before adopting a camera as your main working tool for some assignments. I have already mentioned good picture quality, portability and low light performance. The other three most crucial factors for me are: good viewfinder, sound and camera handling. I am using the Zacuto Z-finder and though not so impressed (partly due to the Canon 7D LCD resolution when being magnified and partly because of an average Z-finder design) I don’t see another better alternative in the market. Sound wise, we are all aware of the solutions and work around but the “Magic Lantern” solution has been a great help. Handling wise, I am against those huge expensive camera handling solutions currently found in the market. Most are working against the idea of “small form factor” and I hope the next breed of those grips will be cost effective run and gun solutions.

My current VDSLR equipment is:
Canon 7d
Canon 17-55mm f2.8 IS USM
Samyang 85mm f1.4
Samyang 8mm fisheye 3.5
Vocas Mattebox
Formatt Filters
Sachtler DV8 SB
Manfrotto 756XB legs
Manfrotto HDV 701 head
Dvtec-MultiRig
Glidetrack 50cm
Kata bags PR-460
Kata bags T-214
Rode NTG2
Rode SVM
Sanken cos 11 Lav
Sennheiser ew 100 G2
Portable audio mixer CEVL IM2
Edirol F1 portable audio/video recorder mixer
LitePanels Micro
LitePanels 1×1

Never stop learning – no job is too small – never forget how you started – and help others as much as possible – are the rules I am trying to follow in my professional life.

Johnnie in the old good Nikon D90 days

Johnnie Behiri is a BBC freelance cameraman operating from Vienna, Austria.
When not BBCing, Johnnie is filming documentaries, commercials, music videos, and testimonial/marketing videos.

I’ve been finding out as much as I can about the video mode on the Canon Eos1DmkIV. Here’s the latest info I’ve received from Canon Europe.

It has essentially the same video frame rates and data rates as the 7D but with a 1.3x crop factor. These rates include 1080/24p/25p/30p as well as 720p/50/60p. The ISO in video mode is ISO 100 to ISO H3 when shooting in manual mode (with custom function C.Fn I-3 setting enabled). Auto ISO is also available.

The audio remains the same as the 7D with no additional manual controls – such a shame. The 1DmkIV shares the same higher audio frequency range and sample rates as the 7D, besting the 5DmkII.

The 1DmkIV also shares the 4gb file size limit of the 7D and 5DmkII. This is due to the size limit of FAT32 file system.

Also missed is the opportunity to shoot to both card slots at the same time, sadly the 1DmkIV can only record to one card at a time. Also absent is any cropped sensor mode in video, surely this will come – but not yet it seems.

There is a new wi-fi pack for the camera but no new audio accessories like an XLR box as some had speculated. Looks like we’ll be using Beachteks, Juicedlinks and audio recorders like the Zoom H4n for some time to come.

In order to start video recording you need to press the FEL button or you can activate it tethered using a computer and EOS utility. It seems there is no option for IR start/stop like the 5DmkII and 7D, but I need to confirm this.

More as I get it.

Dan Chung

I’ll be talking about using DSLRs like the Canon 5DmkII and 7D to create video at the upcoming Canon Pro Photo Solutions event on the 27th and 28th October 2009 at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London. My seminar will focus mainly on how I shoot photojournalistic style films, from a practical perspective. If you are in London on those dates please come and say hello. My seminar schedule is here

The show is aimed at professional photographers and video makers with a great lineup of speakers including renowned photographers such as Jonathan and Angela Scott of the Big Cat Diaries, Annabel Williams and founder of the Frontline Club, Vaughan Smith.

It is also a showcase of professional photo, video and printing products, billed as the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of Canon Consumer Imaging products ever staged in the UK. Entrance to the show will be free for all those registered in advance at www.canon.co.uk/ProPhotoSolutions, or £8 on the day.

Dan Chung

Danfung has been producing incredible work from Afghanistan where he works as an embedded photojournalist. His filming is both editorially and visually compelling – especially given the extreme conditions under which he works. He is currently working on his own documentary, “Battle for Hearts and Minds”, as well as having his footage featured on PBS Frontline. This is his first post about his technique for www.dslrnewsshooter.com

Battle for Hearts and Minds Trailer from Danfung Dennis on Vimeo.

Embedded photojournalist Danfung Dennis in action with his Canon 5DmkII while following the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, RCT 2nd Battalion 8th Marines Echo Co. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty)

I’ve been inundated with emails asking what camera rig I use, so I will keep this technical to try to answer them. The 5D mark II is capable of unprecedented image quality, but since it is a stills camera, there are several limitations that I had to address before using this camera in a warzone.

The first problem is with audio. I used a Sennheiser ME- 66 shotgun mic and G2 wireless system running into a Beachtek DXA-2s (I’ve since upgraded to a Juicedlink CX-231 with the Magic Lantern hack) which converts professional XLR mics into a minijack suitable for the 5D. I built custom aluminum ‘wings’ in a workshop to hold this audio setup.

The second problem is stabilization. The design of the 5D Mark makes hand held video shooting difficult. I mounted my whole system onto a Glidecam 2000 HD with custom rubber pads on the mount and a foam ear plug to suppress the vibration of the the lens. The rig is very heavy and it took about two months to get my arm strong enough to shoot extended shots. I cut up a Glidecam Body Pod to make it fit with my body armor and used it to rest my arm when I was not shooting.

My 5DmkII and Glidecam custom rig (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty)

To achieve a cinematic look when shooting in bright daylight at f2.8 at 1/60th or slower, requires a drastic amount of reduction of light that hits the sensor. I used a Singh Ray Variable ND filter. While the filter can reduce the amount of light by 2 to 8 stops, I had serious problems with uneven coverage, so part of my frame would be darker than others. I have tried Fader ND filters, but also have the same problem.

Another issue is that all focus must be done manually after recording begins. The only way to address this was a lot of practice racking focus. I was not able to rack focus when running, so I often had to try to stay the same distance from my subject to keep them in focus.

The most frustrating problem was that the camera would overheat after about 15 minutes of continuous shooting in 120 degree heat. I had no option other than to turn it off and let it cool. I did not have a spare body.

The final serious problem is that the files straight out of the camera are difficult to edit with. I use a 2.93 GHz Macbook Pro 17in, 256gb SSD HD, 4 GB RAM and convert the files into Apple Prores 422 LT using Compressor (the program often crashes when handling many files, but the quality is better than with mpeg streamclip). I use a 8TB Sonnet D400QR5 set at RAID 5 to store the 45 hours of footage and Prores files.

I carried six extra batteries and five 16 GB Sandisk Extreme IV cards.

To be notified when the documentary is available online, sign up at
www.battleforheartsandminds.com

Danfung

PBS has also used Danfung’s footage for the opening of this documentary

Click here to see Danfung Dennis interview with PBS on covering the war in Afghanistan.

“Shooting video is easy”, was a quote on another post on this blog. Like many DSLR shooters, I’m from a stills background so just learning but this is what I know. Shooting video is engaging, challenging, testing, difficult and great great fun – anything but easy

Shooting 25p progressive is even harder than that because you need to be super smooth – a shocking leap from the 30p 5d or an interlaced video camera. The mind is busting with thought for every moment that you roll. Focus, pan speed, shooting angles that will cut, following the action or letting it move into the frame and of course composition, but as a DSLR shooter that is easy and has to be instant.

Shooting motion puts your thoughts under a microscope there is no doubt, I shot this for fun having shot stills of the gang for a magazine last month

Fight Club Truro – Canon 7d from Sam Morgan Moore on Vimeo.

We arrived at nine and departed by eleven, my edit was done by 3am having shot another job in the afternoon. The majority is done with a 70-200 nikkor G lens with the aperture jammed open at f2.8 , stuck on a good Miller tripod which has a wide choice of panning frictions right down to nearly nothing. Follow focus with the lens was the main challenge of the day particularly the lack of monitor and the minute adjustments that the small sensor and DSLR AF lens implies, I used a home made Follow Focus.

Other shots are done on my shoulder rig (www.halfinchrails.com) using both a 14mm nikkor 2.8 and a 50 1.4 nikkor at 2.8. Slo mo reallys cheats handheld moves, but it just doesnt look good with my 14mm – I think I need to stop down a little to sharpen it up

The 50mm lens sings for both perspective and sharpness at f2.8

The edit is probably a bit weak, it starts a little slow and I should change my POV more in some of the cuts – I hope the video is fun

Oh ? the camera – 7D – my initial appraisal is you need a lot of light to keep the ISO down and give yourself some options with aperture to sustain focus, especially in 50FPS mode – Im loving the look of the camera having been initially scared of a ‘small’ chip

I think what DSLR shooters can take away from this is the selection of shot angles and cut choices, Im trying to make an engaging sequence – not a moving slide show which is what I think a lot of DSLR shooters are tempted to do.

SMM

Sam Morgan Moore is a professional stills photographer who works for the ‘heavy’ newspapers and commercial clients in the south west of the uk
he is available to hire to create stills, motion or preferably both
www.sammorganmoore.com

Shot on a Nikon D300s. If Youtube link is unavailable click here

Using the D300s was one of the first experiences I had shooting video, but what struck me is how easy it was to learn. Within one day, I was able to pick up the basics of shooting. It was liberating and exciting to explore the possibilities of story telling with more than just still images and audio. Now I feel as if there is a whole world of opportunities to explore.

Ami Vitale on location with the D300s

Ami shooting camels with the D300s

My top tips are pretty simple.

1) Be patient. Wait for things to happen in front of the frame. I liked the ambiguity and suspense of discovering what might happen in front of the lens instead of always panning and searching for things. Of course panning is useful, but I think it needs to be used minimally.

2) Shoot for a minimum of 5 seconds on the beginning and end of each shot. You need that for editing. It may feel as if you are shooting for longer than you really are so get in the habit of shooting a little longer to make it easier in the editing room.

3) Shoot lots of sequences.

4) Make the tripod your best friend. Use a good one with a fluid head.

5) Same like still photography. Wait for beautiful light. Light is everything. Avoid those high contrast scenes.

6) Shoot and shoot and shoot. It’s the only way to discover and create beautiful work.

As far as the D300s goes, this is a sweet little camera, especially for the price. I am shooting a lot more video now and loving it.

Meeting the locals

I had help on this project from Dai Sugano who is an absolute genius and helped me with the editing. His work is very inspiring and he has a unique way of seeing the world. His work is an excellent example of a still photographer moving into video and breaking the mold with originality and creativity. David Barreda and Ashima Narain helped me in the field. Without all these people I would never have been able to make this. It’s really all about collaboration.

Go to www.amivitale.com for more photos
Sample D300s still images here

China’s 60th Anniversary national day – timelapse and slow motion – 7D and 5DmkII from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

This is my short film from China’s huge national day parade in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the people’s republic.

The challenge was to come up with something different with so many different Chinese and international media covering the event from every angle. After waiting half the previous night for a pass and then catching only 3 hours sleep in the press centre lobby, I got put on a stand with a hundred odd of my media collegues including the likes of the BBC, Reuters, AP and AFP so there was no point doing the same as they were.

Messing around waiting for the parade to start with my Rolleiflex next to the BBC's Quentin Sommerville

Chinese media with long lenses at the ready to shoot their leaders

I decided to shoot the whole video on D-SLRs using a combination of time lapse and slow motion. The 7D was equipped with an adapted Nikon 300mm f2.8 lens and a 1.4x convertor set at 720p/60 and then slowed down to 25fps in Final Cut Pro. The 5DmkII and Nikon D700 were both mounted remotely high up in the air, one atop a big studio light stand, the other in a Manfrotto super arm clamped to a lampost, both also had tilt and shift lenses fitted.

Shooting with my 7D, Zacuto Z-Finder, Nikon 300mm f2.8 and 1.4x convertor and Sennheiser MKE400 mike.

It was a quite hot for an October day in Beijing and I think this coupled with my heavy use of the 720p movie mode caused my 7D to overheat a lot. The camera would flash a red warning on the LCD and three times the camera overheated so much that it decided to stop me filming. This is documented in the user manual which also states that overheating can also cause the image quality to degrade. In future I’m going to being more with me to protect the camera from the heat.

This said the footage I did get was amazing and is only lightly adjusted for colour and contrast, otherwise its pretty much how it came out the camera.

You can see video as it originally on the Guardian here
There is an great tutorial on timelapse processing from Eos-network here
To see some astounding Timelapse work check out the work of Tom at Timescapes[caption