My Sony F3 with S-log upgrade

Big news from Sony USA this week. You can now purchase the S-log upgrade for your F3 for a mere $899 US. This is no doubt a direct response to the launch of the Canon C300. The S-Log upgrade was $3800 and came on a SxS card. The $899 price lasts until March with one small catch – the offer is only available currently to those purchasers in the US and if you already own the F3 the camera must be sent to Sony’s US service centre to have it installed. You can of course just buy a new F3 in America with the option already loaded for an additional $899. For those of US users who already paid $3800 for the upgrade you can get a $2500 discount on the Sony 18-252mm zoom lens or the SR1 recorder as a kind on consolation prize. It is unclear how this quite works when Sony USA is already offering mail in rebates already when buying the zoom or recorder.

Also this new offer only applies to people purchasing in the US so it screws me . A lot of overseas customers like me who paid full price for S-Log will be very angry with Sony and will get zero rebate!

This is however great news for people wanting to invest in a new F3 because it really makes it an interesting comparison with price and performance against the C300. While I still believe these cameras are quite different and both offer their good and bad points it shows Sony is worried about possible sales drops of the F3 with the C300 now available.

S-log For Dummies from Matthew Allard on Vimeo.

The C300 is retailing for $16K US while the F3 with S-Log is now $14,859. Sony also have incentives on new purchases of a FS100, offering Sony Vegas Pro and a free SDHC card. This will coincide with a firmware update in March 2012 that will make the FS100 a true world camera by enabling both PAL and NTSC frame rates (currently it is either a PAL or NTSC only model).

Speaking of firmware, there is a new version 1.31 for the F3 which has enabled a few new things and some updates. This from Sony:

3D-Link:
3D shooting with 3D-Link and a power zoom lens is enabled (optional CBK-3DL01 3D-Link Option, 3D-Link cable, and SCL- Z18X140 power zoom lens are required):
• Linking function of the lens position (zoom, iris, and focus) on the main unit and sub unit, either constant linking or temporary linking enabled
• Iris offset adjustable when the lenses on both units are linked to move in sync
• Status indication of the lens condition (zoom, iris, etc.) on the main unit and that on the sub unit may not be the same even after the lens positions on both units has been synchronized.
• If Iris Position Sync, Focus Position Sync, or Zoom Position Sync under 3D-Link of the OTHERS menu is set to On for constant linking, pressing the assignable button to which the corresponding linking function is assigned does not activate temporary linking. Set the constant linking function to Off for activating the temporary linking. The linking function of this unit does not guarantee synchronizing in the same phase.

MF Assist setting:
The default setting for MF Assist of the CAMERA SET menu has been changed to Off

The Sony 18-252mm and 11-16mm lenses

Also available to order from today is the new Sony PL mount 11-16mm T3 short zoom. I was lucky enough to get one a few weeks ago to try out.

Below is my video lens review of the new Sony 11-16mm T3 PL zoom and Sony 18-252mm F3 mount zoom lenses.

Sony 11-16mm T3 PL and 18-252mm Sony F3 Lens Review from Matthew Allard on Vimeo.

This was all done in 3 hours on an afternoon in Tokyo. I was lucky enough to get Sony Japan (through System 5) to lend me these lenses to test. I do not have any commercial arrangement with Sony or System 5 and nor did I receive any of these products for free. If I want them I have to buy them like everyone else.

I’m not normally in front of the camera so please excuse the rambling and mistakes that are made.

More of a review than a test there are no charts, just me using the lenses for a few hours to get a general feel for them and to help me evaluate what I liked and didn’t like about them.

The Sony 18-252mm in use

I missed a few things in my video as I ran out of time. A few of the key things I forget to mention were that the 18-252mm zoom can be controlled via the F3 remote control. This is quite a cool feature and would be very handy on a jib, slider or dolly. The zoom itself is quite smooth and not jumpy but I didn’t check to see in the menus anywhere whether there was a way of increasing or decreasing the zoom speed. The auto-focus function was very slow and pretty much unusable. Another small concern is that the servo motor on the lens is quite loud, although in saying that I couldn’t hear it on the recorded audio. It would also be interesting to see if the remote connection on the back of the camera could be used with an external zoom controller as this would make the ease of use of the lens so much better. I didn’t notice any breathing (if there was it was very minimal) and I found it seemed to hold the focus through out the zoom range.

Would I buy either of these lenses? Thats a good question. The 18-252mm has a lot of strengths and some weaknesses. What it does offer is something that no other product has done before. A zoom rocker controlled Super 35mm lens with a big range. Yes it’s not fast aperture, but if your using it outside or in controlled lighting situations it’s pretty good. You can still get reasonable shallow depth of field despite it not being a fast lens. It’s not perfect, far from it, but it does offer a lot of convenience and a pretty nice image up until about 220mm.

The 11-16mm is quite nice. It’s fast for the range at T3 and is very sharp. It also handles flare and highlights very well. It is very expensive and probably too expensive in my belief. If this lens was $3-4k I would buy it on the spot, but $7K ! that’s a lot of money for any lens.

If you have any questions about either lens feel free to comment and I will be happy to answer. I’m sure I’ve missed out lots that people want to know!

Life in Singapore from Rick Macomber on Vimeo.

For me travelling to Singapore has become like slipping into my favorite pair of shoes – Comfortable. It’s become my favorite city to visit – metropolitan, diverse people, great food and they speak english. And I’ve also grown somewhat accustomed to the long flight. Not that I’m advocating drugs… but self medication is a must to help pass the time quickly.

For this trip I was lucky to have the use of a Kessler Pocketdolly thanks to my friend Mike Sutton (@mns1974 on Twitter). When I travel I like to pack light. The Kessler Pocketdolly is the perfect size to slide right into your one checked bag along with shirts, pants and undergarments. All used as extra padding. A few shots here and there with the Kessler Pocketdolly adds nice production value to any film. Since I packed the slider, I left my sticks home, instead going for my trusty Gorillapod. It saves space and added weight from your luggage. I’ve really become adept at finding new ways to use it on DSLR shoots.

As a TV photojournalist I’m big on the handheld run and gun style of shooting. Especially with these small cameras. Much easier than the huge monster Sony XDCam 700 I shoulder at CBS Boston. For the Singapore film I used creative handheld methods like slow rocking on my feet to get a fluid look as well as finding level surfaces to place either a camera or the Pocketdolly. The subtle side to side or pushing in and out rocking shots look much better than trying to handhold a camera perfectly still. You will always see those tiny vibrations that way.

I brought two cameras with me safely tucked in my carry on backpack along with my carry on 15″ Macbook Pro laptop bag (where I keep my meds stashed). I used a Canon 60D and my new GoPro Hero 2. For lenses I was packing my lovely Canon 50mm f1.4, Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 and my run and gun fav – the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8.

I got some surprisingly good timelapse stuff with the GoPro, although I had to crop in during the edit to lose the exaggerated fisheye perspective. I left a few of those shots “as is” for the effect. During the morning sunrise timelapse a huge crow landed right next to the GoPro and tried to grab it. Lucky for me I was standing right there or we would have had another “GoPro Stolen by Seagull” type episode!

I also did some timelapse work with the 60D and the Tokina 11-16mm lens because the GoPro does not hold up well once the sun goes down. The GoPro has too much gain noise from the auto settings.

Most night shots were done with the 50mm f1.4 as those extra stops become precious on a shoot like this! I tried to “find the light” when I could. That lens also has great bokeh.

As for audio, I have discovered with DSLR one man band travel shoots, nothing beats the Rode VideoMic Pro plugged directly into the camera. It packs well. Setup is fast and it’s not complicated to operate. The key to success is manual settings in the camera menu so there’s no auto gain (AGC) issues. It’s a must. Check your levels and you’ve got a nice shock mounted mic for great nat sound. Just don’t fiddle with the camera when recording and make sure you keep an eye on the cable connection. If you move around a lot it can come loose.

Here’s a great example of good nat sound captured with the Rode mic:

11-11-11 One Day on Earth – Boston from Rick Macomber on Vimeo.

Finally, this time I wanted to add narration to the film to give it more of a mini doc feel or Henry Hill feel from “Goodfellas”. So I asked two of my Singaporean friends, Rosa Selamat (@rosarecruits) and her husband Rizalie Mohamed (@LambchopMojo) to donate their services, again using my Rode mic to gather the sound. To do this correctly you must do the interviews in a controlled, quiet location and you have to get the mic in very close to your subject. If you are doing on camera interviews it helps to use a portrait lens like a 50mm or 85mm on a tripod. For my film, since I was planning only to use their audio for narration over b-roll of them, I just handheld the camera and did the interviews off camera. If I had more time and gear I would ideally have lit a room or found some good natural light and done their interviews in front of the lens. However, because of their work schedules, location logistics and my vacation I decided this would be the best choice. Besides, I like the style of not seeing a talking head on the screen. Sometimes that’s just darn refreshing.

About Rick Macomber
DP/Editor, photojournalist and multimedia specialist Rick Macomber is the winner of four prestigious Emmy Awards, nominated for eight Emmys in Videography and Editing and ten time first place winner for the Boston Press Photographers’ Association. You can see more of his work at www.macomberproductions.com

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.

Wide angle users with APS-C/Super35mm cameras are well catered for by the excellent Tokina 11-16mm f2.8. It’s my personal favourite ultra wide angle zoom thanks to it’s constant f2.8 aperture and 77mm filter thread size. It is now firmly established as the number one choice for many large sensor video camera shooters because there is no direct equivalent from Canon or Nikon. Duclos lenses makes an excellent conversion of this lens which adds better geared manual focus, aperture rings and optionally a PL mount.

The Tokina AT-X 11-16 f/2.8 PRO DX Ⅱ

This week Nikonrumors.com is reporting that Tokina has announced a version 2 of the lens which they have said has a new aspherical element, ultra-low dispersion glass and faster autofocus motor (not that I would use AF for video with this lens). It’s too soon to say if this version 2 lens is substantially better than the old one, but if it is then it is sure to be popular. Availability is said to be March for the Nikon fit version and July for the EOS one.

Fotodiox filter adapter for Nikon 14-24mm f2.8

Right in time for the launch of the Nikon D4 and Canon EOS-1DX comes an elegant front filter solution from Fotodiox that allows the use of screw in neutral density filters on the popular 14-24mm f2.8 Nikkor lens. The lens is very sharp and has been very popular with both Nikon and Canon shooters (who use a G lens adapter) looking for a fast ultrawide zoom. There are few full frame alternatives and none at f2.8.

For video DSLR use there has always been the issue of how to fit a ND filter. Up till now there hasn’t been any simple screw in solution for an ultra-wide zoom lens on full frame cameras. The only option was to add ND to the Nikkor 14-24mm was to put gels on the back of the lens, or buy a custom Lee filter square filter holder.

The Fotodiox adapter kit complete with 2 ND filters

The Fotodiox solution consists of a metal adapter ring that attaches to the lens that has a huge145mm filter thread on the front and a custom lens cap. ND filters in this size would usually be quite expensive but Fotodiox offers their own moderately priced ND4 and ND8 filters along with a circular polariser. Hopefully they will bring stronger ND filters as well soon. The price for a kit with the adapter, cap, ND4 and ND8 is $299.95.

You can see more about here.

Lens adapter maker Metabones and Conurus have developed a smart adapter to allow the use of Canon EF glass on Sony NEX cameras like the FS100, NEX5n and VG20. It gives control of aperture and also apparently image stabilisation too. It is similar to the MTF services adapter which we previously featured this adapter differs in that it uses the camera body’s controls to adjust aperture and does not have an external box or power. It is also much lower cost and could prove a welcome addition for FS100 shooters looking to use EOS lenses – how it actually works for video shooting is still to be seen.

This from their website –

This Smart AdapterTM has the following features:

Note: vignetting at corners may occur for certain EF-S lenses because they are designed to cover a 1.6x crop image circle but Sony NEX has a 1.5x crop sensor.

More details 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.

Smiles all round - James Velacott and Andy Jackson with the C300

After a long day shooting out on location with a pre-production Canon C300 I invited DOP Andy Jackson, James Velacott of Cherryduck productions and Guardian freelance shooter Felix Clay to discuss their thoughts about the new camera with me. Below is a quickly thrown together video of our discussion.

Dslrnewsshooter C300 discussion from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

As described in my previous post the idea was to try the camera on a ‘real world’ assignment where time was limited and events were beyond our control. After some discussion we chose an idea that James had come up with – Damyns Hall airfield near London where an aviator called Bob Pluck keeps his microlight.

Andy Jackson and myself filming Bob and his microlight

To keep everything realistic we then sent the rushes out to Paul Cope and Adam White of the post production team at Cherryduck for editing and grading. The footage looked very clean and detailed on the monitors in the edit suite, to my eyes far less digital than many other large sensor cameras I have tried.

The end result (bottom) can be seen below alongside a 1080P ungraded version of the edit for comparison. The camera was set in Canon’s C-log gamma curve and frame rate was 25P.

Bob the Aviator- Canon C300 short (ungraded version) from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

Bob the Aviator – Canon C300 short (regraded version) from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

For me the camera is great advance over the Canon DSLRs like the 5DmkII and although it it not cheap it does do almost everything that I need out of the box. I look forward to buying one if I can only find the funds for it.

My new object of desire

I’ve been lucky enough to test a pre-production Canon C300 for the past few days. I’m really happy to post this short story collabrative project shot entirely on the camera.

I was joined last Sunday by DOP Andy Jackson who regularly shoots for the BBC, James Velacott of Cherryduck productions and freelance shooter Felix Clay who works mainly for the Guardian.

The idea was to film a mini-documentary in just one day. It was then edited and graded by Cherryduck’s in house team. I’ll be talking about our experiences shortly, but for now I hope you enjoy the results.

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.