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A TV cameraman’s thoughts on the Panasonic AG-AF100 camcorder

By Al Jazeera’s Matthew Allard

There has been a lot of hype online recently over the impending release of Panasonic’s new AG-AF100 micro 4/3 camcorder. From my perspective as a broadcast cameraman Panasonic calling it a professional camera is a bit of a stretch. It is hardly in the same class as proper professional cameras like the RED One and the Arri Alexa. I have used just about every camera you can think of through out my career (BVU, Betacam, Betacam SP, SX, Digibeta, P2, XDCAM, EX, Z1 and so on) and i’m always interested to try out anything that is new. Almost every camera no matter how cheap or expensive it is has good and bad points. In the end its the user who frames the picture, chooses the settings and hits record, not the camera. Knowing the limitations and how to use your camera is the key to capturing great footage.

So what about the Panasonic AG-AF100. The image quality is recorded at 24Mb/s, it has two XLR inputs featuring 48-kHz/16-bit two-channel digital audio recording and supports LPCM/Dolby-AC3, it also has USB 2.0, HD-SDI and HDMI outputs, a built-in stereo mic and time code recording. To someone who has been shooting with the new generation of DSLR’s these all sound like the features everybody has been calling for. What you have to remember is this is a video camera, it’s not a stills camera that can shoot video, nor is it a video camera that can take photos…..it is a VIDEO camera. For those expecting an image quality that is on par with a 7D or 5D think again. A 4/3″ sensor is a lot smaller than that of a 7D or 5DmkII. The reason a 7D looks better than a 550D and the reason a 5DmkII looks better than 7D is due to the size of the sensor.  What this boils down to is the bigger the sensor the more information the camera is looking at regardless of the compression. As we all know the larger the sensor the shallow the depth of field. To get lovely shallow DOF you will need incredibly fast glass on the AG-AF100. It will certainly have its own unique look.  Having said that the AG-AF100 seems to have lower noise levels at higher ISO’s (better than a 7D but probably not as good as a 5DmkII or 1DmkIV). Even with this all said it is an exciting time in the industry with a lot of new cameras and different companies joining the mix which can only be good for the end user.

While the AG-AF100 seems capable of capturing very nice pictures, the 24Mb/s AVCHD codec is still about the same as Sony’s recently launched NEX-VG10 consumer camcorder which actually has a larger sensor than the Panasonic (about the same as the 7D). What you also have to remember is the 4/3 system has a 2x crop factor. There are a few 4/3 inch wide lenses but if you throw on a Canon 16-35mm f2.8 it will quickly become 32-70mm, just something to keep in mind.

I have had a chance to play with the Sony and to be honest it didn’t impress me that much. The lack of progressive recording (although it is actually recording 1080p wrapped it into a 1080i container), poor audio imputs and rather cheap build quality were a let down. On the positive side it was rather easy to use and the image quality wasn’t too bad.

Of course the Sony camera is only $2000US while the Panasonic AG-AF100 is $5000US. Why the big difference in price? Well the Panasonic is fully Progressive, has variable frame rates, proper XLR inputs and full HDMI out and HDSDI out. For those who may not know what HDSDI is; SDI stands for Serial Digital Interface. It is basically the professional TV industry standard for transfer of HD material. It is normally only found in professional equipment. So why is this a good thing on a $5000 camcorder? Well it enables you to take the very best image available from your camera by sending an uncompressed output to be recorded by a HDSDI recorder like the Convergent Design Nanoflash or Aja KiPro at much higher bitrates. Instead of recording internally on the camera at 24Mb/s you can record it as high as 280Mb/s on the Nano Flash. In plain English this means you can record the vision at more than 10 times the bit rate that the internal codec does in the camera. This makes a huge difference to the image quality but it comes at a cost. Your $5000 camera just became a $8000 camera with the addition of a Nano flash. This is an interesting camera and is capable of producing very nice images at a high bit rate (with addition on a 3rd party recorder). With proper audio, viewfinder, no record time limits and far less rolling shutter and moire there are a lot of things to like. There is a reasonable selection of pretty good lenses and lots of adaptors to enable you to run Leica, Nikon and Zeiss lenses. There are also adapters for Canon EF mount but they don’t have an electronic connection to the Panasonic mount so you would be stuck with a fixed aperture (eg. a Canon 16-35mm f2.8 lens when used on this camera would be locked at f2.8). There are to my knowledge a couple of manufacturers working on an electronic adaptor mount that will fix this problem.

Who can I see buying this camera? This is an interesting question. I have no doubt they will sell like hotcakes. For people who are not getting paid to shoot, $5000US is a lot of money to spend on a camera and if you want to record at the higher bit rates you will be forking out more like $8000US. This camera I imagine will become very popular with indie film makers who maybe once used a EX-1 or Sony Z1 with 35mm adapters like the Letus Ultimate. There will also be a lot of people who will run out and buy this camera just because they can and because its the first camera to come out with all the features that HDDSLR owners are craving. This camera is certainly not the death of the HDDSLR and I’m sure there will be plenty of similar products coming out in the next 12 months. The question as to whether you buy this camera comes down to what you need your camera to do and what your budget is. It is very important to remember this is a video camera not a DSLR and you should look at it in this way.

Be very careful watching videos that have been put up on the web from this camera as you don’t know in some cases whether the vision was reordered at 24Mb/s a second or 280Mb/s. Some videos will tell you what bit rate they used but others won’t. Doing your research online is a good start when buying anything but the only way to judge a camera is to physically go and look at it, play with it and make your own conclusions. Would I buy one? The jury is still out. I’m holding out at the moment for something more high end.

About Matthew Allard, Aljazeera Senior Field Cameraman, Kuala Lumpur:
Matt has been a Camera/Editor in TV news for 20 years, previously working for both Channel 9 and Channel 10 in Australia. Twice Network Ten Australia’s cameraman of the year as well as being a Walkley Finalist for outstanding camerawork in 2006 (for coverage of the Cronulla Race Riots) and a Logie Finalist for outstanding news coverage 2006 (Bali 9). He has covered news events in more than 30 countries, from major sporting events to terrorist bombings. Based out of the Kuala Lumpur broadcast centre in Malaysia he is an avid user and follower of new technology, shooting stories on HD broadcast cameras as well as new Canon DSLR’s.

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Posted on October 25th, 2010 by Matthew Allard | Category: DSLR video news, Panasonic cameras | Permalink | Comments (15)

Speaking about HDDSLR in the UK – the Canon Pro Solutions show and F-Stop academy workshops

Following the launch of my training DVD, DSLR Video on Assignment, I’m back on the road again for the next couple of weeks, this time in the UK. I’ll be talking about HDDSLR shooting and how to create cinematic imagery in the real world. This past twelve months have been really hectic – I’ve been to the USA twice for events and held workshops in the Philippines, Singapore, Australia and China, but it’s really good to get back to the UK and speak to a home audience.

First up I’ll be speaking at the Canon Pro Solutions show at the Business Design Centre in Islington. It’s on the 26th and 27th of October and entry is free if you register in advance or eight pounds on the door.

I spoke at the Canon show last year and it was great to meet up with so many other HDDSLR shooters. I expect this year to be just as good so register now and pop down for my talk as well as the other speakers including the legendary Philip Bloom. I’ll be talking both days about my latest work from North Korea, Mongolia and South America and showing how I did the assignments.

Also, there are still a handful of tickets available for the HDDSLR workshop I’m holding with Den Lennie of the F-Stop academy. It’s going to be the first event of its kind I’ve ever done in the UK. Steadicam and Tiffen are supporting the all day event on the 29th of October (the day after the Canon show) at The London Filter Company. I’ll demonstrate the way I work and how the kit is set up for going into live events. It’s limited to a small group so there will be plenty of time for hands-on tuition. More details of how to sign up are here.

Here are just some of the happy students I’ve had the pleasure of teaching this year:

Leading a workshop at Beijing Foreign Studies University (Photo by Ping Liu)

Teaching video to newspaper photographers from New Zealand and Australia at the PANPA Future Forum in Sydney.(photo by Lucy Tan)

Teaching video to newspaper photographers from New Zealand and Australia at the PANPA Future Forum in Sydney. (Photo by Lucy Tan)

Posted on October 21st, 2010 by Dan Chung | Category: DSLR video news | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sean Gallagher shoots multimedia for the Pulitzer Center with a Canon 7D

The Chinese Alligator: Species On The Brink from Sean Gallagher on Vimeo.

In April of 2010, I was awarded a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, to cover the issue of China’s disappearing wetlands. This provided me with the first opportunity to seriously shoot video on assignment with a Canon 7D. As I am primarily a stills photographer, I was keen to embrace video and start to use it to tell stories better.

Having interned at Magnum Photos during 2004-2005, I took workshops under photographers such as David Alan Harvey and Alex Webb, serious proponents of the “one body, one lens” mantra. I adhered to this fairly strictly in my still photography and always kept my gear to a minimum. I knew that by embracing video, it would force me to use a lot more equipment.

I spent six weeks this summer on the road for the Pulitzer Center, travelling mostly on my own across China through urban and rural areas. I had to keep my equipment to the bare minimum as it would be only me and I needed to be able to pack everything into one backpack, including clothes and other essential items. I took on the concept of ‘Backpack Journalism’, coined by Bill Gentile of American University, whom I met in Washington DC last year when giving talks about my environmental work. His philosophy was key in aiding my transition to becoming a video-shooter.

Canon 7D with Zacuto Z-Finder and 70-200mm lens

My basic travelling kit consisted of one Canon 7D body, back-up 50D body with 16-35 F2.8, 50mm F1.8 , 70-200 F4.0 lenses. I also took with me a Zacuto Z-Finder, M-Audio Microtrack II, Slik tripod, TC-80N3 time remote controller for time-lapses and a LED light (generic Chinese brand). Storage-wise I travelled with my MacBook and 500GB Buffalo Portable USB 2.0 hard drive. Shooting was done onto six 8GB cards.

The 7D has been great to use and I am constantly amazed by the visuals it produces. There have been a lot of limitations I have found that need to be overcome.

Audio is a challenge. I use the M-Audio Microtrack II which is a great little recorder producing very good sound. I tend to assess the situation before I shoot it to determine whether or not I will need high-quality audio from it. I use voiceovers from experts a lot, so I separately record audio by using a lavalier mike and syncing sound later in post. I’ve found noise-reducing earbuds to be essential when recording.

Shooting with the Slik tripod

I quickly learned that handheld shooting wasn’t really much of an option.To get the visuals I want my tripod has become my new best friend and I’d say I now use it for 95% of my video. In the Chinese alligator piece, I was using my 70-200 F4.0 lens a lot which meant using a tripod all the time. Hand-held would have been out of the question.

Overheating was a little bit of a problem too. I was shooting a lot in the height of summer in sub-tropical southern China and I occasionally got the overheating warning sign. Stopping for a few moments, ejecting the memory card and letting things cool down usually worked okay.

My goal for my work for the Pulitzer Center is to produce stills and video and combine them together in a series of multimedia pieces, rather than just straight video.

The biggest challenge of embracing video has been to learn when to know when is the right time to shoot either stills or video. It is inevitable that when you are shooting video, you will miss some great stills and vice versa. If you are able to accept this, you learn to quickly assess the action as it unfolds in front of you and determine what each situation requires. I’ve learnt to change the setting on my camera almost blindfolded, so I can change them as quickly as possible when shooting and adjust to what’s happening in front of me.

Before I began my travels I read many books on documentary video shooting, to give myself a foundation from which to build. Having a great camera was all well and good but if I had no idea how to shoot good video, then I knew I’d run into problems quickly. I highly recommend Directing the Documentary by Michael Rabiger and Shot by Shot by Steven D. Katz as reference books for those just starting out.

About Sean Gallagher, Freelance Photographer and Videographer, Beijing:
Sean has been based out of Beijing for four years, shooting for editorial and commercial clients. His work focuses mainly on environmental issues and has been featured in National Geographic China, TIME Europe and with the New York Times. He is a two-time recipient of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting travel grant (2009+2010) and was the first recipient of the David Alan Harvey Fund for Emerging Photographers, in 2008.

Posted on October 18th, 2010 by Sean Gallagher | Category: Canon Eos7D, Journalism | Permalink | Comments (2)

British Journal of Photography Open Shutter awards – aimed at HD-DSLR filmmakers

UK shooters now have a competition of their own to enter, thanks to the BJP in association with Canon. The new award is open to all kinds of HD-DSLR films from any genre, from documentary through to commercial promos. On the judging panel are commercial director Nicholas Barker; Dominique Green, managing director of the charity PhotoVoice; and portrait photographer Brian Griffin.

According to the BJP website:

The judges will be looking in particular for films that make creative use of the new technology, or use it to tell stories that otherwise would have been too costly, or in which the camera would have been too intrusive, to deliver professional standard films.
Entrants should also demonstrate a good understanding of some or all of the following attributes: structure and narrative development, professional requirements for sound and editing, and evident technical ability. But above all, they are looking for credible and engaging films that can hold an audience for the length of the film.

The grand prize is a Canon 1DmkIV which will be awarded at a ceremony in London this December.

For full details on how to enter hop over to the BJP website.

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Posted on October 15th, 2010 by Dan Chung | Category: DSLR video news | Permalink | Comments (0)

Shooting a live broadcast from Tokyo on a Canon 1D Mark IV – Al Jazeera’s Matthew Allard tells how

Canon 1D Mark IV Live Cross on Aljazeera from Matthew Allard on Vimeo.

I have to do a lot of live crosses as part of my job. Whether they be via Bgan satellite terminal, the internet through Quicklink or through a SNG they all can present difficulties. Shooting live crosses in hotel rooms at night is a nightmare. My normal broadcast camera (Sony XDCAM HD) is not very good in low light. To be able to get enough light on the subject and make a very dark background not look like a black abyss is virtually impossible. With the introduction of DSLR cameras with great low light capabilities there finally is a tool that can help in these situations. The Canon 1D Mark IV shows almost no noise at high ISOs. By running 2000 ISO and using minimal lighting i was able to bring the background back to life.

The Live position set up with Litepanels LED lights

So how did i do it? There is a lot of problems associated with getting a clean output out of a DSLR camera. What i managed to find out by experimenting is there is a way to get around this. But before you get too excited it does require some extra expensive equipment (I’m sure there may be a cheaper way). By taking a composite video output of the 1D and running it into a SONY XDCAM HD F70 player/recorder. From there I am able to take a firewire output from the same machine and it becomes a loop through DV device that i can use for Quicklink Live (the software Aljazeera uses for live transmission).

The Sony XDCAM HD F70 recorder

Setup for taking a live feed from the 1DmkIV

The camera does have to be in record mode for this to work. If the camera is in live view mode and not recording it will auto shut off after a few minutes. By turning off the display information you get a clean signal out of the camera minus the focus bars and red record dot. For the audio I had the choice of running a microphone straight into the F70 or looping it through the Zoom H4n. By doing either one of these things the video and audio appear together once it goes back through the firewire connection. Using a DSLR for live shots is still very risky, there is a lot that can go wrong. For this particular situation it worked really well, bringing out the lights of a dark Tokyo while still providing good exposure on the correspondent.

About Matthew Allard, Aljazeera Senior Field Cameraman, Kuala Lumpur:
Matt has been a Camera/Editor in TV news for 20 years, previously working for both Channel 9 and Channel 10 in Australia. Twice Network Ten Australia’s cameraman of the year as well as being a Walkley Finalist for outstanding camerawork in 2006 (for coverage of the Cronulla Race Riots) and a Logie Finalist for outstanding news coverage 2006 (Bali 9). He has covered news events in more than 30 countries, from major sporting events to terrorist bombings. Based out of the Kuala Lumpur broadcast centre in Malaysia he is an avid user and follower of new technology, shooting stories on HD broadcast cameras as well as new Canon DSLR’s.

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Posted on October 12th, 2010 by Matthew Allard | Category: Canon EOS-1D Mk IV, DSLR video news, Journalism | Permalink | Comments (10)

Spaces available on October 29th for my first ever London workshop with the F-Stop Academy

I’ll be back in the UK at the end of this month for my first ever UK workshop on HDDSLR. Here’s the full info:

Den Lennie & F-Stop Academy presents:

A one Day DSLR Video Workshop featuring Dan Chung
29th October 2010 10am-5pm Lunch and afternoon tea included
Venue: The London Filter Company, Details here

Den Lennie instructing at a previous F-Stop Academy workshop

Following the launch of DSLR Video On Assignment, Den and Dan will share the details of their Malaysian filming project and also share their experience shooting DSLR video on location. Photographers owe it to themselves to give DSLR video a go, to find out if they are any good at it or not and this workshop is designed to help you do just that.

Who’s it for:
It’s for news photographers and photojournalists who can’t afford to miss the action, but it’s also for documentary makers, event videographers or keen amateurs; anyone who ever needs to film with a DSLR in a real world environment.

Whilst I mainly use Canon DSLRs in the DVD I believe the majority of the techniques apply whatever brand of DSLR you are using.

The Day will be broken up into these core sections:
• Inspirational films and the story behind each one
• What kit we recommend and why
• Demo’s of various kit configurations including recording audio
• Using a Matte Box, focus control and filters for video
• Steadicam demo and chance to fly yourself
• Lots of hands on with plenty of Q&A

In addition to the workshop there will be an opportunity to get hands on some specific film making gear.
“ Essential Motion Picture Tools for DSLR Filming”.

This is your chance to learn how to get the best results from the huge potential of DSLR film production tools and accessories. With high quality professional equipment within reach of many, only the few with the right skills and know how will succeed. Get ahead, be one of the few and learn about;

Steadicam & Hand-held support systems
Camera Filtration for constant shutter speed & continuity
Matte Box’s and Follow Focus units that aid production
Lowel lightweight lights for location and studio shooting
DFX Filter & Lighting Software for pre-visualization and editing.

Cost is £125.00 + VAT and you can book here

There are only 16 places available. This will be a very intimate workshop with lots of hands on opportunity with plenty of kit on hand.

Posted on October 8th, 2010 by Dan Chung | Category: Canon EOS-1D Mk IV, Canon Eos500D/EosT1i, Canon Eos5DmkII, Canon Eos60D, Canon Eos7D, DSLR video news | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dying To Live – inside South Korea’s ‘Coffin academy’ by Al Jazeera’s Matthew Allard

Dying To Live from Matthew Allard on Vimeo.

In South Korea, many people “die” to learn how to live. The country’s Coffin Academies may sound strange, but they have become very popular and even large companies like Samsung have made it mandatory for employees to attend. The idea is for individuals to think about what they have done with their life and to try to make it better. South Korea has the highest suicide rate in the developed world and organisers hope that people attending these seminars come out with a better appreciation for life.

Correspondent Steve Chao and I travelled to Daejeon in South Korea to witness one of these coffin academies. I already knew from doing some research what was involved in the process and that most of the seminar was going to be undertaken in very dark conditions. I chose to use a Canon 5D and 7D and a variety of fast lenses to capture the story. The people attending the academy were paying to be there so I needed to be very respectful of their space and try not to interfere with their experience. I was not able to use any lighting other than what was available, making this shoot particularly tricky. I was going to have to shoot a lot of the scenes with nothing more than a few candles providing the ambient light. As much as I love the 5D for its low light capabilities I was wishing I had a Nikon D3x in my kit: the D3x is the ultimate low light camera that can run incredibly high ISOs (up to 20,000) without any noise in the picture.

The 5DmkII at work in the ultra low light. Photo shot on Sony NEX-5 at f2.8 ,ISO800, 1.3 sec exposure

The seminar started in a normal conference room with overhead fluorescent light. As soon as the attendees had written their own obituaries and how they would like to be remembered, the overhead lights were turned off and only a single small candle provided illumination for each person. Using a combination of fast lenses (mainly a Canon 50mm f1.2) I was able to limit the ISO to no more than 800-1250. As good as the 5D is, anything over about 2000-2500 ISO and you will start to get significant noise in your picture.

The main part of the seminar – where people read out their obituaries and spend time in a real coffin – proved to be one of the most difficult situations I have ever had to shoot in. It was in a pitch black basement with no windows and the only light was coming from less than 20 small candles. It was so dark that it was hard to see with the human eye. The whole process was to take no more than 10-15 minutes.

I couldn’t get people to wait for me to set a shot up, I couldn’t get them to do anything more than once. Everything happened very, very quickly. Having to run as much as 6400 ISO on a f1.2 lens provides major focussing problems. High ISO and super fast aperture also create a lot of noise. I managed to get what shots I could in the little time I had and was fortunate enough to have already placed a GoPro Hero HD camera on the lid of one of the coffins facing down for a shot to show what the participants were experiencing inside the coffin. To provide a tiny bit of light inside it I placed a Switronix LED torch light near one of the participant’s arms.

Interviews lit with Litepanels LED lights

The interviews were all shot after the seminar on a Canon 70-200 f2.8 US IS II and lit using Litepanels 1×1 LED panel lights with Dedo lights illuminating the background.

I also spent time in the coffin once the seminar was over to experience what it is like. In complete pitch black darkness, with no noise for just ten minutes, it was something that really made you think about your life.

The author spending time in a coffin

I was happy with the end result given the conditions and time I had to shoot this story. Without using a DSLR it would have been virtually impossible to shoot – my Sony XDCAM HD would have been useless in these lighting conditions.

One other thing I’d like to mention. Whenever you are shooting, try and shoot the material as if it was going to be the finished product. Too many people these days just say “I’ll fix it in post.” DSLR cameras may have huge sensors but they can’t capture in RAW. h.264 has a far lower bit rate and way less colour information than a camera such as the RED which can shoot in RAW. What this means is that DSLR cameras have far less tolerance to change things such white balance, black levels and contrast than cameras that can shoot RAW. Yes, there are lots of picture styles out there designed to give you a very flat neutral image with reduced sharpness and saturation, but unless you are careful you can end up with an image that you may not be able to use. Remember anything that you are adding in post is artificial……whether it be more saturation or sharpness. Shooting in a neutral picture style may be fine for people making short films, but in the world of news people are watching on HD television sets and expect to see vibrant, sharp images. The lesson here is to think about what you are aiming for and who your audience is. Post-production is all well and good, but the less time you have to spend doing it the more time you can spend shooting. Trying to get it right when you shoot it is far more rewarding than spending hours trying to fix it in post. The lesson for today: In news as in life, it is better to make the most of the moment than regret messing up once you get to the end.

About Matthew Allard, Aljazeera Senior Field Cameraman, Kuala Lumpur:
Matt has been a Camera/Editor in TV news for 20 years, previously working for both Channel 9 and Channel 10 in Australia. Twice Network Ten Australia’s cameraman of the year as well as being a Walkley Finalist for outstanding camerawork in 2006 (for coverage of the Cronulla Race Riots) and a Logie Finalist for outstanding news coverage 2006 (Bali 9). He has covered news events in more than 30 countries, from major sporting events to terrorist bombings. Based out of the Kuala Lumpur broadcast centre in Malaysia he is an avid user and follower of new technology, shooting stories on HD broadcast cameras as well as new Canon DSLR’s.


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Posted on October 7th, 2010 by Matthew Allard | Category: Canon Eos5DmkII, Canon Eos7D, DSLR video news | Permalink | Comments (3)

New Rode Lavalier microphone tested – plus handy audio tips from Guy Cochran at DVEStore

RODE Lavalier Microphone from Guy Cochran on Vimeo.

One subject I’m asked a lot about is lavalier microphones and how to use them. Shooters ask why I place my lav upside down on someone’s lapel while recording, or how do I hook up a lav to my audio recorder and my camera? Guy Cochran explains all the answers in this excellent short video. Guy also shows how to hook the lav up to the new Zoom H1 recorder and then to the 5DmkII and some headphones, letting you hear what the hole combination sounds like.

The new Rode lavalier has a number of tricks up its sleeve that make it practical for news and documentary work. First it uses changeable Micon connections which allow you to switch from XLR, to minijack, to Sennheiser radio mic all using the same mic – for me this is a huge bonus as I usually end up carrying two or even three lav mics each with a different connector. With this mic I could go into my Juicedlink DT454 using XLR, a Zoom H1 or Sony recorder using minijack and my Sennheiser or Sony radio mic using a dedicated Micon connector. Better still Guy assures me that the Micon connector is the same as the one on the Hosa Tech Que audio mini shotgun mic that I’ve just picked up so I would reduce what I need to carry.

Second it come complete with the furry windjammer that is essential in windy conditions on the road. Thirdly it comes with a waterproof case in the package. It looks like Rode have really thought about this one.

The mic is competitively priced at $249 US with a 5 year warranty.

You can find out more about the new Rode mic from Guy at DVEStore here

Posted on October 6th, 2010 by Dan Chung | Category: Audio, Canon Eos5DmkII | Permalink | Comments (0)

Juicedlink giving away a Canon T2i and lens – subscribe to their blog for a chance to win

Audio adapter maker Juicedlink have a great Canon T2i with 18-55mm lens to giveaway at the moment. It’s their barely used test unit and if you have an address within the 50 States of the USA (or have a friend who does) then all you have to do to stand a chance of winning is to subscribe to the Juicedlink blog and reply to the confirmation email.

The camera they are giving away to the lucky winner is the actual one featured in these videos about their DT454 audio adapter (like the one I personally use all the time).

The Juicedlink DT454 audio adapter for DSLR

Full details of the giveaway are here.

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Posted on October 4th, 2010 by Dan Chung | Category: Audio, Canon 550D / T2i | Permalink | Comments (0)

New lightweight Jib from ABC designed specifically for HDDSLR

DSLRnewsshooter.com contributor Michael Schmidt takes a look at the jib that might be light enough to work for solo shooters.

Photo by Sascha Plagge

The new ABC DSLR Light Jib seems like a nice tool for HDDSLR work. It was first shown at Cinec 2010 show in Munich, Germany. So here are some facts about the jib to share with you.

- Its made of carbon tubes so it should be lightweight (around 3.9 kilos / 8,6 lb)
- Total max length of the jib arm is 1,52m (5 feet) that should be enough for some nice moves / shots
- Max payload is 4.5kg /9,9 lb (so you could even use XH-A1 or HVX 200 type camcorders)
- The jib should be easy and quick to mount
- The jib head can set at “infinite” positions and locked (will keep the angle during movement) it can also set to tilt “automatically” during a move. (angle can be set)

- It has a horizontal and vertical brake as well as a bubble level
- There is a very handy is a LCD monitor bracket that can be mounted on the head (left or right) or the jib arm.

- The jib can be mounted on every 75 and 100mm tripods  (and very handy as well as 1/4″ or 3/8″ stands via adapter)
- For “transportation” the jib can be “reduced” to a small packing size

- pricing is arround 1.190 EUR (without tripod or stand though)
- should be available December 2010

Overall it’s a nice little jib for nice moves. I hope to get one in my hands to test it in real working conditions as soon as it comes out. My experience at the Cinec show with the jib was great. I was able to get the mounted 5DmkII in some nice angles / settings and managed to make some real nice smooth moves. It’s very user-friendly, easy and “light” to operate. It has adjustable angles and head tilting. The monitor arm was great too. I’m really looking forward to use it again sometime.

I was told there will be more info at the ABC Website shortly.

Also check it out in this short video I made at the show.

Cinec 2010 a lil Best of from unique_design on Vimeo.

Michael is a video & sound Editor from Germany.
You can read more about the Cinec show and Michael’s work over at A Final Cut User’s blog.

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Posted on October 4th, 2010 by Michael Schmidt | Category: Camera support systems, Canon Eos5DmkII | Permalink | Comments (1)

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