2012: The Year of the Dragon from Jonah Kessel on Vimeo.

The plan was simple: to one-up ourselves.

One year earlier friends and filmmakers Paul Morris, Kit Gillet and myself decided to make a short video documenting some of the fireworks in Beijing as China celebrated the Lunar New Year.

In fact, I even wrote about the experience on this blog here. Exactly one year later — we decided to do it again. However, this time — we wanted to go bigger. Much bigger.

This is a really interesting experiment: to come back to a video you made exactly one year later and reevaluate its strengths and weaknesses, and then try again. I believe this experience is a good check on your progress as a filmmaker and makes you step back and evaluate everything you do from shooting, to workflow to the art of story telling itself.

2011: The Year of the Rabbit from Jonah Kessel on Vimeo.

After we screened last year’s video we all agreed — it was kind of a stereotypical DSLR video with no real narrative. Pretty pictures, not enough of a story. There are a lot of these on the web.

This year, we wanted to tell the story of Chun Jie (Chinese New Year). However, we wanted to do it in such a way that would require very little dialogue. We wanted images to tell the story, but still have some voices in the piece — with the goal of keeping our own voices out of it. We wanted it to be cinematic but at the same time — real and unrehearsed. And while last year, we had no imposing deadlines, this year we would need to turn the video over in 36 hours to the New York Times. Now the experiment became — how to tell a story better than we had last year, shoot, process, translate and edit the footage — and transmit on China’s dodgy internet connections in less than 36 hours.

As we planned for the story and began to factor in the chaotic nature of China — we decided to bring in some more friends. Shooters Jim Fields and Keith Bedford would join our team, allowing us to be in multiple locations at once showing a wider variety of images from the celebration. We crafted a schedule, shot list and found an old man who via an interview we would setup as the story teller of Chun Jie, allowing us to dip out from narration.

To help to visually enforce the man as a story-teller and not just some old guy off the street, we put a pretty strong grade on his shots. We added about 15 points of sepia, added a vignette, desaturated, added contrast and sharpened a small bit. The hope was to visually represent the traditions that go along with this holiday for Chinese people by making him a bit more historic looking.

We encountered some of the same difficulties we did last year. The rolling shutter issue being a big and relatively unsolvable issue. While DSLRs are great for many things — for fireworks they are not. We did some tests and while we know we couldn’t stop it from happening, we did find ways to mitigate the effect. We found if fireworks were exploding at a fast enough pace to cause the rolling shutter, it would show up significantly less if the angle of the camera was in a relative perpendicular axes to the exploding object. Pulling further away from the object also helped a lot. However, in general, if you are using a DSLR and information is being recorded across the sensor in a horizontal motion as they do, and your subject happens to be exploding at an extremely high speed — you are simply using the wrong camera.

Nonetheless, we avoided it as much as possible and wrestled with the other innate problems of shooting fireworks such as exposing for something that (a) hasn’t happened yet and (b) you don’t know what will happen when it does explode. Dealing with quickly dying batteries in -15 C weather and trying to be setup in time to capture someone setting off a firework without telling them what to do is also an enormous challenge.

After 13 hours of shooting we all reported back to begin the editing process. We would have 23 hours left before deadline but there was much work ahead. Because of China’s slow web and long transmitting times for files the conversion files to Prores, translating, grading and creating the script would have be done with at least 2 hours to spare. This meant no sleeping, a lot of junk food, fast food and when things became painful, some beer. Days later, I made visual representation of this relatively comical 36 process to get this short film out.

ROLLING SHUTTER: 36 Hours in the Making of The Year of the Dragon from Jonah Kessel on Vimeo.

When we hit our deadline everyone was sleeping except me. Minutes before I was about to pass out, the video posted — and it posted front and center on the Times’ home page.

It was an amazing bit of timing and in one moment — the pain of the past day in half was gone and for just a brief moment, the world got a glimpse of an ancient Chinese tradition.

Happy New Year — 新年快乐

Jonah M. Kessel is a Beijing based freelance visual journalist working with the New York Times. Visit his web site here or follow him on Twitter here.

I can break all reviews into two categories: those that are solicited, and those that are not. This is the latter. And I write this unsolicited review because I believe Blackrapid’s straps have changed my life in a significantly positive way.

DSLR News Shooter is a great resource for finding out about new gear and user opinions of the most up to date technology. Looking at the past couple weeks there are reviews of new cameras, new sliders, new glass and even a new user medium. As technology (and our gear habits) advance its easy to forget about some of the most basic parts of our kit.

But its ok, Blackrapid has not forgotten. The relatively nascent company rethought the most basic element of our kit — the strap.

Here’s how it works:

FasternR System: Each strap uses a small screw which attaches to your cameras tripod mount. Between the screw and the camera is a small rubber washer unit which both protects the camera from getting scratched as well as stops the screw from unintentional loosening. After two years of using the system — the screw has never become loose enough to which it came even close to following off. I’ve climbed mountains, crossed rivers and sat on the side of helicopters with cameras hanging from this screw.

ConnectR System: On the other side of the camera mount is Blackrapid’s ConnectR System — which is essentially a carabiner that allows the FasternR to swivel. These two items together make an amazing combination because you can have the camera move at your side, without the strap moving — or without needing to adjusted your clothing as you move. The straps then sling either diagonally (RS models) across the chest or vertically down the torso (DR models), distributing weight across the entire body.

Comfort Level: The strap has done wonders for my physical health, but beyond general comfort Blackrapid has made a strap that is completely adjustable to any body type. On each strap — there are two “stoppers” which can be placed where the user wants the camera to either fall or stop when at desired shooting position. If you place these right, pulling your camera up from your side will be smooth and the camera will stop exactly where you feel comfortable shooting. In addition, Blackrapid make’s male and female models for … varying chest shapes.

Health: For years after work I had neck and back pain from using traditional camera straps that place a heavy weight across the neck. Within weeks of changing straps, I actually felt physically better. I was less soar, my posture improved and I even began to sleep better.

Mobility: Here I am in sunny India. I often find myself shooting in crowded places. With Blackrapid’s straps, the camera hangs upside down, and you can rest the camera either on your hip or toward the small of your back. Either way, the camera isnt sitting right under your face like a bullseye. This is great for a number of reasons. In a crowd like the on above you can sneak through protecting the camera with your body. Second, the straps allow you to hide the camera. In Bihar, India (where the average annual income is $350) you might stick out a bit being foreign and walking around with $10,000 around your neck. When using Blackrapid straps in dodgy places, you can keep the camera out of direct site, making it a little easier to blend in and possible — a bit safer.

The system also allows you to use your hands for other stuff, while still keeping the cameras safe. Below, I’m using a Blackrapid DR-1 Double Strap, moving a three meter jib with a Canon 60D on it, with a Canon 7D and Canon 5DMII safely at my sides.

For video oriented DSLR photographers: These things are great. I hate shooting video with a strap attached to the camera. Blackrapid straps come instantly on and off. Since I normally have multiple cameras rolling the straps come in handy all the time when one camera becomes unneeded but I want to have either a lens or a camera on standby.

In addition, in between shots I often have to move small distances that would be easier to not have a camera attached to a tripod, but not far enough away where I want to put a camera away. These straps make it easy for me to not completely disable, but partially de-rig and move from place to place without carry all the weight of the camera all the time.

For still oriented photographers: These things are also great. Above, I’m at a Prada Show shooting a new collection of clothing. While its great to have 10 lenses with you, sometimes space is an issue and being nimble helps. With one Blackrapid DR-1 Double Strap I can shoot all night with two cameras, no bags and no accessories needed to tie around my waste. For fashion, news and wedding photographers two cameras and two lenses is often enough.

MODS: There’s also a ton of add-ons and modifications that work with these things. when shooting stills a Brad which helps stabilize the camera a little.

Normally, I’m not so head over heals, “ready to propose” about a product — but between the utility and the physical health benefit — this one definitely has me.

• Blackrapid DR-1 Double Strap sells for $129.95.
• RS-7 Strap with FastenR-3 – $58.95
• BRAD Modification – $15.95

– Jonah M. Kessel is a Beijing based freelance visual journalist working with the New York Times. See his web site here and follow him on Twitter here.

Yesterday I had a chance to get a hands-on with a pre-production Nikon D4 at the company’s UK headquarters. James Banfield of Nikon UK demonstrates the video functions in the video below.

We tried the camera’s clean HDMI output with the Zacuto EVF and Atomos Ninja and I can confirm that it works. We also tried the headphone output and the audio functions of the camera and I’m pleased to report they also work as expected.

Testing the HDMI out of the D4 with the Zacuto EVF and Atomos Ninja

I was allowed to see the images on a monitor but not take any away for publication. What I did see (admittedly in a dimly lit Nikon showroom) looked pretty nice with no obvious false colour artefacts. James said that given that the camera is pre-production the picture might not be representative of the finished product and that they are still tweaking the image settings of the camera. Proper assessments of the image quality from the camera (and especially its HDMI output) will have to wait until production cameras appear.

Testing the headphone output and audio input with a Juicedlink DT454

Hopefully I will get to test a production unit soon. Like many others I’m keen to see how this camera stacks up against the competition – namely the Canon 1D X, C300, Sony FS100, F3 and Panasonic’s offerings. These are certainly interesting times.

The Sony F3, Canon C300 and Nikon D4 - how will they compare?

Below is Nikon’s first sample video from the D4 by shooter Corey Rich.

WHY – Nikon D4 Release Video from Corey Rich on Vimeo.

And some initial thoughts from AFP shooter Leon Neal.

Many people forget it was the Nikon D90 that started the DSLR video revolution. It predated the launch of the Canon 5D mkII by several months. Sadly Nikon didn’t take the lead in DSLR video, instead leaving Canon to rule the roost. Nikon have put video into their recent DSLR cameras, notably the D7000 and D3s, but the image quality of the footage was frankly not as good as the competition (except that the D3s did do very well in low light). All this might be about to change with the launch of the D4. Nikon have finally given DSLR video users some of their most requested features.

In terms of video the D4 can shoot full 1080p or 720p at 29.97, 25 and 24.98 frames a second (fps). It can also shoot standard def 640×480 at 30 or 25 fps. Interestingly, according to Dpreview, it crops the output of the video in FX full frame mode to 91% of its sensor width (I’m not sure why Nikon have done this and I’m trying to find out). Rolling shutter and skew is said to be improved over previous Nikons.

Capture time is limited to a strangely arbitrary 20 minutes in 1080P Highest quality – I have no idea why this might be. I assume this has something to do with file size. Hopefully you can restart recording immediately but this too needs to be tested. In other modes is can record for 29 minutes 59 seconds.

Audio is the main leap forward in the D4. Along with a regular 3.5mm mic input jack there is also a headphone jack – a first for a DSLR and a feature I have been wanting to see since the Canon 5D mkII first landed in my hands. The level of the headphone output can be adjusted. There are also on-screen audio level meters and the recording level can be adjusted manually in 20 steps. The quality of the mic input also needs to be tested out.

As well as manual focus you can autofocus in video mode. Again details are scarce but Nikon claim it is faster than the D3s and you can use face detection if you feel the need to. Before recording you can magnify the image to confirm focus but not during recording – similar to other DSLRs.

The D4 records to either CF or the new XQD memory card using H.264 encoding at 24Mb/s with B-frame compression. How good this will look compared to the much higher bitrates from Canon’s 1D X using I-frame compression will be interesting to see. For web video – as well as news photographers just grabbing a quick video clip – it will easily be good enough. For higher quality, Nikon has another trick up its sleeve – uncompressed HDMI output from the camera for higher bitrates and better quality. Better still, you can have the camera’s rear LCD active whilst still sending video out of the HDMI port. At this stage all I know is that the signal is a 1080i one that supposedly outputs at 8 bit at 4:2:2. I do know that Nikon have demonstrated this working with an Atomos Ninja external HDMI recorder. It is also unclear if Nikon have any log type tone curves that are applicable to this output. Audio is passed out on the HDMI. It will be interesting to see just how good the image from the D4 really is when fed to an external recorder.

Nikon have also introduced crop sensor shooting which allows different fields of view with the same lens. Utilising the fact that the sensor has over 16 millions pixels this feature is similar to the ETC mode on a Panasonic GH2 and effectively gives you a digital telephoto effect without much too loss in quality. There are both DX (approx 1.5x crop) and 2.7x (actual 1 to 1 pixel) crop modes. The DX crop mode in particular will be of use allowing lenses like the Nikon 17-55 f2.8 and 12-24mm f4 which are designed for that sensor size to be used. The 2.7x crop will be useful in news situations where even your longest lens isn’t long enough to fill the frame.

Video can be triggered using the shutter button, the dedicated video button or – importantly – an electronic cable release. This is similar to the Canon 1D X and makes for much easier triggering on rigs and when you install the camera in remote places. If you add the new WT-5 wireless transmitter there will be even more remote control options with the possibility of iPad/iPhone control, you can set most functions but again controls can’t be adjusted when recording starts.

Exposure has seen improvements for video too. You can adjust the aperture, shutter speed and ISO manually as with other cameras. Aperture can now be controlled using the new ‘Power aperture’ feature in 1/8 stop increments using buttons on the camera before shooting. Strangely this is disabled once recording starts and you are back to using 1/3 stop increments on the camera’s control dial.

With fully featured large sensor video cameras like the Canon C300, Sony F3 and FS100 gaining popularity I don’t think there are too many purely video shooters who will be looking to buy a Pro DSLR costing $6000 (although I may be proved wrong). If on the other hand you are a photographer first and foremost, but also shoot video, then cameras like the D4 are welcome option. News agencies like Agence France Press who already use the D3s for video reporting should benefit a lot from the D4.

Choosing between Canon’s 1D X and the D4 will be interesting. The D4 clearly has more video oriented features but the 1D X is no slacker either. I wait to see image comparisons and field tests of the two cameras side by side.

Below is a preview video from What Digital camera.

Here’s the full press release from Nikon:

The Nikon D4 – Built to push limits

I’ve been using Mike Tapa’s adapters for 35mm lenses for several years now. I first came across them when trying to mount Nikon long lenses onto my Sony EX3 – a long time before the advent of HDSLRs. Since then his company MTF Services has expanded its range of products to include lens adapters for many popular large sensor cameras such as the Panasonic AF100, Sony F3 and FS100. I took the opportunity of meeting Mike and visiting his London workshop over Christmas.

A Canon B4 mount broadcast lens fitted on the Canon EOS60D using a MTF adapter

His latest two adapters are a B4 broadcast lens to EOS / Sony F3 / FS100 adapter and an electronic EOS to Sony F3 / FS100 / Micro 4/3 lens adapter which offers full aperture control and image stabilising with appropriately equipped lenses.

The B4 lens adapter has been the dream of many DSLR and large sensor camcorder users who might occasionally want the flexibility of a long all-in-one zoom and ENG style lens operation – without the expense or bulk of a proper 2/3 ENG camera. Developed by Mike with cameraman Alistair Chapman (of XDCAM user fame) it physically adapts a 2/3 inch broadcast lens to a Canon EOS mount. At the same time it optically expands the image so that it is large enough to cover a Super35mm sensor size. To do this requires the user to engage the 2x range extender built into many broadcast lenses, which is then combined with extra magnification from the MTF adapter.

This does result in approximately 2.5 stops of light loss, but given the high sensitivity of new cameras this is less of a problem. The depth of field characteristics will remain the same as if you were using the lens on a regular 2/3 inch camcorder – don’t expect super shallow depth of field when using it. The adapter does not power the electric functions of an ENG lens so there is no servo zoom or VTR trigger sadly. If you do want to enable the zoom servo motor there is a possible solution to power it using an adapter cable from Ebay.

Please note that it does not cover the full frame sensor of the Canon 5D mkII or 1D X, but does work with the 7D, 60D, 600D/T3i, 550D/T2i (and should work with the C300 too). The adapter can also be used in combination with a EOS to Sony F3 or Sony NEX adapter to allow the B4 lenses to be used on these cameras. Price is not yet confirmed but should be in the £800 – £900 + tax range.

As you can see from the video above I’ve been testing the B4 adapter on a Sony F3 and also a Canon 60D and so far the results are pretty good, even though I only have access to older standard definition 2/3 lenses at the moment. My old Fujinon A15x8 broadcast lens does show some chromatic aberration and softness at the edges of the image but this is to be expected on a lens that can be bought for less than £500 these days. I would expect much better performance from a newer HD lens. Hopefully I’ll get to try one of those with the adapter soon. The only competing adapter I have seen so far is the HDx35 B4/PL Optical Adapter from Abelcine and costs $5800 US. I have not been able to compare the two.

The MTF EOS electronic lens adapter is the first to actually be available to order for the Sony F3 and NEX. It also works with Micro 4/3 cameras like the Panasonic AF100 where it joins the already available Redrockmicro livelens adapter in offering aperture control, but adds the benefit of image stabilisation. American company Birger Engineering have also been working on a similar adapter for some time now and have even shown it working at the NAB show, but it is still not available to buy.

The MTF adapter consists of two parts – a control box and an interchangeable lens mount in either Sony F3, Sony NEX or Micro 4/3 fit. If you change or add cameras you can simply add another mount part and use the same controller box.

A Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS lens with the MTF EOS adapter on a Sony F3

The control box is metal and powered by 4 AA batteries. It has an illuminated LCD that shows aperture value, focal length and whether stabilisation is on or off. Aperture can be adjusted in 1/8th stop increments using the control dial.

I’ve been testing a pre-production unit and found the aperture control to be quite reliable. A word of warning though – don’t spin the aperture dial too fast or the lens will have trouble keeping up, although the lens will eventually correct itself.

Mike tells me that pretty much all EF lenses work, apart from those few that use fly-by-wire manual focussing. The main lens of this type that doesn’t currently work is the 85mm f1.2L USM lens. Mike says he’s trying to fix this.

In use the adapter does pretty much what it is supposed to and I’m rather happy with it. The only downside is that the control box is a bit on the large side and adds bulk to the camera. The production version of the box has 1/4 20 mounting holes to allow positioning of the adapter on a rig or camera. That said I would rather have a smaller control box without AA batteries inside, running instead from a power tap cable. Maybe we’ll get this in a future version?

The image stabilisation seems to work well on a Sony F3, although I need to do more testing.

The control box is priced at £645 + tax and the matching lens adapters are £350 + tax each. More details soon on the MTF website.

But let’s start by reviewing those additions. Super 35mm sensor cameras, 4K and 5K cameras and external recorders were the big movers this year. For the majority of DSLR news shooters there wasn’t that much change. Only a handful of new cameras and no new Canon 5D Mark III in sight.  Towards the end of the year Canon did announce the 1Dx and a 4k concept camera – there is also a strong rumor of a 7D mkII release early in 2012.  The video features of the 1D X are probably a strong indication of what’s to come in the 5D mkIII (or whatever it’s officially called).   I’m expecting the 5D mkIII will probably only have minor changes in video mode over the current model and probably have similar video functions to the 1D X.  The release of the C300 and a 4K concept camera has pretty much assured that as Canon are unlikely to want to compete with their own products.  

Canon's C300 and 4K concept DSLR

How much will the 4K concept camera be?  Well given the 1D X is going to be between $6-7K US I can’t see it being any less.  How the 4K camera will record and to what media remains to be seen.  Regardless of price and features I’m sure the 5D mkIII will be a big seller for Canon. The 5D mkII still remains one of the best bang-for-your-buck cameras around. In my view DSLR cameras with HD video will continue to flourish. The quality of the image and the price point ensures they will remain relevant for years to come.

My Sony F3 rig

Earlier in the year we saw the Sony F3, FS100 and the Panasonic AF100 come to the market.  All these cameras were revolutionary and have proved to be very popular in the market place.  The  biggest announcements of the year were the much publicized Canon C300 and the RED Scarlet.  Both cameras had been in the works for quite some time. They are both great cameras but very different. For me there is no such thing as a clear winner when it comes to cameras – all have their strengths and weaknesses.  I recommend you buy the one that has the most strengths in the areas that you require the most – always use the appropriate camera for the job.  The other key message is don’t buy a camera just because someone recommends it. Do your own research, watch as much actual footage as you can and go and try the camera for yourself.  Reading reviews and blogs can help but make sure you don’t just take one person’s opinion and base your purchase on that.

I added a Sound Devices Pix recorder to my kit

Another big equipment mover in 2011 has been external recorders.  The Nanoflash from Convergent Designs and the Ki Pro Mini from AJA were pretty much the only low cost external recorders available at the start of 2011.  We now have the Atomos Ninja and Samurai, the Sound  Devices PIX 220 and 240, the Blackmagic Design Hyperdeck Shuttle as well as the Convergent Designs Gemini.  External recorders can extend the life of older cameras as well as give you higher codec recording options for newer cameras like the Sony F3 and Panasonic AF100.  A word of warning though – don’t expect external recorders to suddenly turn your vision into something spectacular and don’t expect them to work well with a Canon DSLR (even a hacked one).  Your camera does the important work – the external recorder just lends a helping hand.  I have both the Sound Devices PIX 240 and a Blackmagic Design Hyperdeck Shuttle.  To be honest if I show a normal person vision recorded at 35Mb/s on my Sony F3 compared to material recorded at 220Mb/s they can’t tell the difference. Uncompressed 4:2:2 is a different story – the image quality is so clean but so it should be. At over 1200Mb/s it produces ridiculous file sizes and even a 250GB SSD drive will only give you 25 minutes of record time.

Uncompressed is great but like 4K recording it’s not suitable for a lot of the work I do.  I will post a review of both the Sound Devices PIX 240 and Blackmagic Design Hyperdeck Shuttle at a later stage.

Filming the aftermath of the Tsunami in Japan last year

All that said, as I mentioned earlier, I feel we are becoming obsessed with wanting the latest product.  I have been guilty of this too:  I own a lot of equipment I wish I had never purchased or simply never use.  Buying the latest and greatest of everything doesn’t make you a better cameraman or film maker.  A great camera definitely helps – but it isn’t the most important thing. Pretty pictures are great but without your film/news story/personal project having good characters and an interesting story it will lack depth.  As human beings we relate and identify with other people.  A good film makes you feel something.  Whether that emotion is fear, laughter, suspense or happiness is not important.  What is important is whether the viewer feels one or more of these emotions when they are watching your film.  You want to identify with the characters.  To be sad for them, laugh with them or root for them in a tough situation. People go to see most films because of who is in it and what the story is about, not because it was shot at 4K or on a RED or Arri Alexa.  We in the camera world get too caught up with cameras and equipment rather than the story and characters.

To get a great final product everything – the story, characters and pictures – have to blend together in harmony. But please, never forget that the story and characters are King. I cannot stress this enough.

Also don’t forget that you can never know or learn enough about film making.  I’m still learning new things every day after 22 years in the industry.  To quote the famous New York Yankees baseball player Mickey Mantle “It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about the game you have played your whole life”.  Keep learning and asking questions: it’s the only way to get better.

I’d like to finish on this note.  I’m lucky enough to travel the world with my job and see the best and the worst of humanity. Why do we whinge and complain about a camera not having this feature or that? or why I can’t afford that particular camera? Let’s put things in perspective.  A great deal of people in the world have almost nothing and struggle to survive day to day.  As 2012 begins let’s stop complaining and create the best content we can with what we have. Anyone who gets to make films for a living or just does it as a hobby is extremely fortunate.  Sometimes we forget how lucky we are.

Not everyone is as fortunate

About Matthew Allard, Aljazeera Senior Field Cameraman, Kuala Lumpur:
Matt has been a Camera/Editor in TV news for more 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 is a multiple ACS (Australian Cinematographers Society) award winner. His Sword Maker story that was shot on a 7D won the prestigious Neil Davis International News Golden Tripod at the 2011 ACS Awards. He has covered news events in more than 35 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, the Sony F3 as well as new Canon DSLRs.

I’m back in the UK on the 9th and 10th of January 2012 for more training workshops run with the Jacobs Pro lounge in London’s New Oxford Street. As before there will be two days of training aimed at photographers and videographers looking to shoot video in real world situations on DSLRs. It will be useful for anyone shooting news, features, documentaries, corporate assignments or just walking around.

These are guaranteed small group workshops with only a handful of places available so everyone will get some hands on tuition.
 
On Jan 9th I will cover the basic of DSLR shooting and how I work day to day. It will include the use of ND filters, audio adapters, support rigs, led lights, sliders, LCD magnifiers and EVFs. I will demonstrate my personal approach to shooting, illustrated by examples of my work. There will be plenty of tips learned from experience on assignment.
 
 On Tuesday the 10th January will be an intermediate level and storytelling workshop which picks up from the previous day. It will also be suitable for anyone who has previously attended the introductory workshop or already has a good knowledge of DSLR video. We will discuss planning a shoot and story, practical sessions on interviewing technique, how to use motion to tell a story, more advanced audio techniques, multi camera shooting, timelapse and slo-mo.
 
The workshops will be £150 per day and will take place in the Jacobs Pro lounge, 74 New Oxford Street, London WC1A 1EU.
 
To book a place please contact Filip or Donal on 0207 436 6996, or e-mail prosales@jacobs-photo.co.uk

Participants should bring their own equipment if possible but there will be a limited amount of demo kit on show too.
 
Members of the British Press Photographers Association receive a 10% discount.

Wukan Video Journal from Jonah Kessel on Vimeo.

Using a fat Chinese man, a large backpack, a baseball cap and the hood from my sweatshirt, I attempted to hide myself.

I was sandwiched in between the beefy man and a f-stop Satori backpack jammed with gear on the rear of his motorcycle. He drove me down a dark dirt road in the middle of the night near the uniquely autonomous village of Wukan, Guangdong Province, China.

I was hiding from police and those who might not want attention drawn to the small village of about 13,000 people.

Earlier in the week, pissed off villagers had overthrown their leaders and in mass numbers chased the police out of town. When the police came back, they set up barriers and created a stronghold in their fishing community, only letting sympathizers and foreign journalists into the village. These outsiders started to grow in numbers and after a couple of days, a small media circus had developed.

The New York Times’ Edward Wong described the situation like this:

“The outsiders had come to see how furious residents had transformed their village on China’s southeast coast into a temporarily autonomous zone. Their anger focused on two issues: what they called illegal land sales by village officials, and the death on Dec. 11 of a village advocate while he was in police custody. The villagers chased out Communist Party officials, repelled an assault by police officers and barricaded all roads leading into Wukan with tree trunks. The two police stations in the village stood empty. So did the headquarters of the Communist Party committee.”

The villagers used this media circus and created a bit of a propaganda war. They shared their homes and food with us and drove us around on their motorcycles whenever we needed. This was a funny sight: I would be on the back of a motorcycle with a DSLR rig hung to the side, flying through small alleys and passing other motorcycles — all carrying journalists on the back as well.

With the global spotlight on this village, provincial officials were cornered and agreed to start negotiations with the angry mob.

Within 24 hours I filed one basic news video and one video journal (above) on my experience in Wukan. The video journal was paired with a text journal by Edward Wong. You can read his story “Canny Villagers Grasp Keys to Loosen China’s Muzzle” here. I shot mainly with one camera and a prime 24mm lens. While I love using jibs, sliders and mechanical movement, this video journal seemed most real shot hand-held.

While there was a lot of media there, I was the only DSLR video shooter (that I saw). All other newspapers, TV stations and wire service photographers were using standard video cameras — and with good reason. This was a tricky shoot and using a standard camera would certainly have been easier.

However, I knew it would be tricky and planned accordingly. Before I left I was told to pack light — bring no bells or whistles. Nothing extra. There would be limited car space, I would be riding by motorcycle and I would most likely have to run, so should bring only one bag.

Knowing this I created a really small franken-rig and minimized everywhere I could. Above, you can see what the franken-rig looked like disassembled and in use.

Above: f-stop Satori bag, Blackrapid RS-7 strap with Canon 60D with Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L USM, Canon 5DMII with Canon 24mm f/1.4 L USM, 2x Redrock Micro microHandGrip (Part # 2-19-0009), Redrock Micro Handlebar clamp (Part # 2-017-0002), 2x 18″ 15mm carbon fiber rods (Part # 8-011-0002), Porta Brace Universal Shoulder Pad, Jag35 Top Handle, Jag35 Tripod Plate Pro, Jag35 Quick Release Gorilla Stand with Zucoto Gorilla Plate, D | Focus Follow Focus, Jag35 90 Degree Clamp with ball head attached to a Ruige 5″ TL-S500 On-camera HD LCD monitor, Genus Counterweight for CSMK Shoulder Mount System (3.5 lb) and topped with a Rode VideoMic Pro Compact Shotgun Microphone.

I got all of this to fit into a single f-stop bag. The rig was small enough to fight for territory in press scrums and stable enough to run around in a less than stable environment.

This setup was also small enough to take onto a plane without checking anything. I kept one small tripod with me — although I barely used it.

The videos were largely edited during during the middle of the night or in the back of moving cars as I was fighting US East coast deadlines.

To see the strange conclusion to this story see my blog post “Wukan Journal Unfinished.” To see how this story unfolded check out these stories:

• Canny Villagers Grasp Keys to Loosen China’s Muzzle
• Demonstrators Who Took Over Chinese Village Halt Protest
• Officials Meet With Protesting Chinese Villagers
• Wukan Protesters Seek Return of Xue Jinbo’s Body
• Wukan Revolt Takes On a Life of Its Own

– Jonah M. Kessel is a Beijing based freelance visual journalist working with the New York Times. See his web site here and follow him on Twitter here.

I’m generally not into hacking cameras myself but the new Christmas release of the Magic Lantern hack for Canon 550D (t2i), 60D, 600D (t3i), 50D and 500D is certainly very enticing.

Magic Lantern offers a greatly improved feature set which makes Canon DSLRs into much more fully feature video cameras. You simply download the files to each memory card you use, pop it into the camera and load the new firmware. Then each time you start the camera it can automatically find the firmware on your memory card and reload it.

However, in my past experience I have found it to be less than 100% reliable in critical conditions, with the occasional lock up that require me to reboot the camera by reinserting the battery. For this reason I have stayed away from using it for news or documentary shoots where missing a key moment is not an option.

It is also technically going to void any warranty you have on the camera and there is always that slight chance that you could irreversibly turn it into a paperweight.

All that said it is amazing that a global team of hackers working together have added video features to existing Canon cameras that are not even to be found on the as yet unreleased C300 or 1D X.

The Magic Lantern Christmas edition running on a 60D

If you are willing to take the risk (and many users have without issue) then there are many benefits including the an expanded focus box during recording, audio monitoring, on-screen audio level meters, increased bitrate recording, false colour for setting correct exposure, peaking, custom aspect markers and much more.

This Christmas the newest features are the ability for these cameras to have enhanced frame rate control and the addition of a HDR video mode.

Instead of 25 frames per second (fps) you can now undercrank to as low as 4fps with a 1/4 of a second shutter speed – giving an motion blurred effect that is most useful in very low light. On the 60D you can also overcrank to 35fps in 1080p – not a major increase but useful for a slight slo motion effect when played back at 24 or 24 fps. The team has also hacked the older 50D to shoot HD video – it doesn’t even have a video function by default! Although there is still the drawback that it has no sound recording in camera.

The high dynamic range (HDR) mode seeks to allow the camera to capture greater shadow and highlight detail in scenes of high contrast. It is slightly complex to use but basically the camera takes consecutive frames at different exposures which you need to combine/interpolate afterwards in post-processing. Because of the way this is done it is only really suitable for slower moving subjects. It seems very experimental right now – there is more discussion of this here.

Magic Lantern HDR video workflow test from DavidJFulde on Vimeo.

The firmware is free to download from the Magic lantern site but for a small donation you can get a ready to run version of their HDR workflow as well as a preview version of their upcoming 5D mkII firmware improved hack. Full details here. Install hacked firmware at your own risk – don’t blame me if it kills your camera!

Below is a video from Andrew Reid at EOSHD.com showing the features of the upcoming 5D mkII Magic Lantern hack:

Meet the new 5D Mark II Magic Lantern Unified from Andrew Reid on Vimeo.

The new Kesslercrane Stealth slider

It’s no secret that I am a big fan of Eric Kessler’s dollies and sliders. I’ve been using them for a lot of my work and I’m one of the featured shooters on the Kessler Video University.

I have a big Kesslercrane Cineslider but I choose to use the smaller Pocketdolly V2 most of the time for my news and docu work because of it’s smaller size (the traveller version fits perfectly in my suitcase). Whilst the Pocketdolly is very good I do miss the silk smooth motion of the Cineslider when travelling around.

Enter the new Stealth hybrid slider which takes the Pocketdolly’s portability and combines it with drag control and a super smooth rolling precision stainless steel ball bearing wheel system on the carriage. It does not have the crank handle from the Pocketdolly and the overall design is more sleek than previous dollies. It can be used with DSLR as well as larger cameras like the Sony F3 or even some broadcast models.

Eric explained the reasoning behind the Stealth, as opposed to the Phil Bloom Signature dolly or Pocketdolly, in this way – “We had a number of requests from customers that said they liked the Bloom, but would prefer it in black. As well we had requests to have a slider with the belt drive and drag, but they did not need or want a crank handle. Like the Bloom is a hybrid between the Pocket Dolly and CineSlider, the Stealth is a hybrid between the Pocket Dolly and Bloom.”

Like the Pocketdolly V2 the Stealth can be fitted with the ElektraDRIVE motor system for motion control automation. Visit the ElektraDRIVE page for options.

The Stealth features a drag control

The Stealth is available in two lengths, the Standard 3′ version and the shorter 2′ Traveler size. They Kesslercrane webstore currently lists the Stealth at $799.95 for the standard length. Availability is slated for January 2012. I am hoping to test one very soon.

Technical Specs:

Standard size
- Length: 40.5″ (102.9cm)  

- Weight: 7 pounds (3.2kg)
- Travel: 31″ (78.7cm)




Traveler size
- Length: 28.5″  (72.4cm) 

- Weight: 6 pounds (2.7kg)
- Travel: 23″ (58.4cm)

A spirit level is a welcome addition to the Stealth

In the interests of full disclosure I am a Kessler shooter but this site is not a sales affiliate of Kesslercrane. Below is one of my videos shot using the Pocketdolly V2 with ElektraDRIVE system.