IndieV
Resources For the Indie Film-maker
Adorama Zacuto Z-finder jnr special – $100 off
Nov 10th
Just a heads up that Adorama have a special discount going on with the Z-finder jnr viewfinder.
The regular price here is $251.75 but with the following coupon code: S0830111 the price should drop to $151.75
The deal expires on the 12/31/2011
Red steals the spotlight from Canon’s “Historic” launch
Nov 4th
Canon releases what appears to be their biggest mistake ever, a 4k sensor camera that only outputs 1080p in standard framerates and 720p at 60p. Here’s some of their C300 specs:
IMAGING SENSOR
Effective Pixe ls: 3840 x 2160 pixels; Approx. 8.29 megapixels
Total Pixels: 4206 x 2340 pixels; Approx. 9.84 mega pixels
Sensor Type: CMOS (single-panel), equivalent to Super 35mm
Sensor Size: 24.6 x 13.8 mm effective screen size (6.4 x 6.4 ~m pixel pitch)
Scanning System: Progressive
Number of Sensors: 1
Filter: RGB Primary Color Filter (Bayer Array)
FEATURES AND PERFORMANCE
Playba ck: Index Displays: Index Display, Normal, “OK Mark” Index,
“Check Mark” Index, “Shot Mark” Index, Expand Index, Photo Index
Clip Playback: Forward Search (xS, xlS, x60), Reverse Search (xS,
xll, x60), Forward frame Advance, Reverse Frame Advance, Record
Review, Clip Jump (Forward and Backward), Skip Playback
Playback Functions: In ter-media Copy (Single Clip, All Clips, Last Clip);
Clip Delete (Single Clip, All Clips, Last Clip)
Still Image Playback: index, single playback, erasure, protect
Slow and Fast Motion Recording:
50 Mbps ·1920 x 1080 (Playback Rate: 29.97p/23.98p/24.00p)
Record Rate: 1· 30 (Playback Rate: 50i/25p) Record Rate: 1· 25
so Mbps · 1280 x 720 (Playback Rate: 59.94p/29.97p/23 .98p/24.00p)
Record Rate: 1·60 (Playback Rate: lOp/lip) Record Rate: 1·10
35 Mbps ·1920 x 1080 (Playback Rate: 29.97p/ 23.98p/ 24.00p)
Record Rate: 1· 30 (Playback Rate: SOi/2 Sp) Record Rate: 1· 2 5
35 Mbps · 1280 x 720 (Playback Rate: 59.94p/29.97p/23.98p/24.00p)
Record Rate: 1·60(Piayback Rate: 50p/ 25p) Record Rate: 1·50
25 Mbps ·1440 x 1080 (Playback Ra te: 29.97p/23.98p) Record
Rate: 1·30
Special Recording Function s: Relay Recording*; Double-Slot
Recording”; Copying between Media
• Not available during Slow Motion 50 Mbps recording
“Not available in combination with Slow and fast motion recording
Photo Recording: Available; Images captured to SD Card (1920 x 1080)
Waveform Monitor: Available
Vectorscope: Available
Exposure I Focus Aids: Peaking (2 types), Zebra Pattern’, Magnify,
Edge Monitor Focus Assist, Black and White Mode
• Can be output via the SDI or HDMI Jack (HD Only)
Interval Record: Available; Interval can be set in 25levels ranging
from 1 second to 10 minutes. (1s/2s/3s/4s/ls/6s/7s/8s/9s/10s/11s/
20s/ 30s/ 40s/ 50s/ 1 m/ 2 m/ 3 m/ 4m/ lm/ 6m/7m/8m/9m/1 Om)
NTSC 59.94i/29.97p/23 .98p/24.00p: Selectable between 1, 3, 6, 9 ~ames
NTSC 59.94p: Selectable between 2, 6, 12 frames
PAL 50i /25p/ 50p: Selectable between 2, 6, 12 frames
Frame Record:
NTSC 59.94i/23.98p/24.00p: Selectable between 1, 3, 6, 9 frames
NTSC 59.94p: Selectable between 2, 6, 12 frames
PAL 50i/2Sp/50p: Selectable between 2, 6, 12 frames
Pre-Record: Yes, 3 seconds cache (Audio and Video)
Scan Reverse: When using a Depth of Reid Converter or other lens adapters
it flips or reverses the image automatically so it is recorded correctly.
Time Code: Drop Frame’(DF) and Non-Drop Frame (NDF)
‘Drop Frame works with NTSC models only and is not available in 24P
Time Code Modes: Regen, Record Run , Free Run and External Source
Drop Frame and Non Drop Frame available
Dynamic Range: up to 800% with Canon Log Gamma and ISO 850
(+2.5dB) and above
‘ ISO 850 or above – gain 2.5dB or above
Imaging Processor: DIGIC DV Ill
Retail price was announced as around $20k but that includes Canon cinema lenses or a lens of some sort.
Despite not having a 4k Raw image that everyone was expecting you can’t argue with the picture quality. Here’s Vincent LAforet’s film shot with the C300 and Canon new cinema lenses.
Red on the other hand announces the new Scarlet specs as follows:
Super35 sensor: (Binned Epic sensors put to a better use)
5K: 12fps HDRx: 6fps
4K: 1-25FPS
4K QuadHD: 30fps
3K: 48FPS
2K: 60FPS
Base INCLUDES: Brain, Side SSD
Includes aluminum Canon mount
for under $14k
Words from Jim Jannard from Red:
FAQs
The Bomb Squad will be buried for the next week or so… so please expect delays. We would encourage you to read the FAQs (we will update) and try and resist the temptation to call in unless you have a question that we can’t answer here.
When will Scarlet-X begin shipping?
Dec 1st, 2011 for Scarlet with aluminum mount. Orders for Scarlet with a Ti PL mount will ship November 17th. Add $1500.
Are there any considerations or discounted packages for RED ONE owners on Scarlet-X?
No. RED ONE owners have special consideration for EPIC upgrades only.
How can you offer Scarlet-X at this price when EPIC is so much more?
Data rates and processing power. ASICs that weren’t fast enough for EPIC… just became a gold mine for Scarlet.This, and board component reduction, allows us to lower the data rate throughput and significantly reduce our costs over volume.
Why can’t I shoot 24fps 4K HDRx?
Data rates and processing power. *We are working on a future version of HDRx with modified compression to enable this possibility. It will be a firmware upgrade and free.
Can Scarlet-X be upgraded to the new Dragon sensor when it is released?
Yes. However the upgrade will be more expensive than upgrading an EPIC due to the necessity to change several primary boards. There will still be data rate limitations to Scarlet after the upgrade as compared with EPIC.
When will the Dragon sensor upgrade be available?
2nd half of 2012.
Will I be able to get RED Armor extended warranty for SCARLET-X?
Yes, RED Armor will be available for SCARLET-X for $1500.
Will firmware upgrades be free for Scarlet-X as they are for EPIC?
Yes.
Does Scarlet have the same native dynamic range as EPIC?
Yes.
Will all features be enabled in Scarlet-X when it ships?
No. We will continue to add features as time goes on, some of which were never expected. Scarlet-X feature additions and improvements will happen simultaneously with EPIC.
Will there be a different REDCINE-X Professional for Scarlet?
No. REDCINE-X Professional works both EPIC and Scarlet-X files seemlessly.
Will all EPIC Modules work on Scarlet-X?
Yes.
Are there any modules that are specifically for Scarlet-X?
No. EPIC and Scarlet share exactly the same accessories.
Since Scarlet-X has a lower data rate, does it burn less power and have greater battery life?
Yes. More than slight and less than a lot.
Does Scarlet-X have the same user-interface as EPIC?
Yes. They are brother and sister.
Is the side SSD module on Scarlet the same as the one on Epic?
Yes.
Will the Ti PL Mount and Ti Canon Mount work on Scarlet?
Yes. All mounts for EPIC work with Scarlet. Everything in the EPIC/Scarlet system is interchangeable.
Can I upgrade to the Ti Canon mount or Ti PL mount instead of buying the Aluminum Canon mount?
Yes. You just pay the difference in price. And it will not hold up your order. Actually, it will ship 1st because we have a supply of Ti PL mounts.
Will anything be is short supply when I order my Scarlet?
Yes. Side Handles, REDmote and EVF. Any delay in Scarlet is most likely to be caused by the Canon aluminum mount.
When will you get production of all parts up to reasonable levels?
February. We have spent a ton of energy to get out of back order status. The team has targeted February as the “end of pain” month.
How much does Scarlet weigh?
Exactly the same as EPIC.
Will Scarlet have Playback enabled?
Yes. Playback is being released before shipping.
Jim
So basically it’s the Epic-s that use to be a Scarlet returning as a Scarlet. A 5k still camera that shoots 12fps and can also shoot 4k movies for under $14k! Same DR as the Epic but limited to 50MB/s data-rate. What else needs to be said.
I think all FS100 and AF100 owners out there have breathed a sigh of relief. Me personally will be saving my dollars for the Scarlet. Hopefully production keeps up with demand which Jim from Red thinks they will have nailed down by Feb of next year.
B&H announces Massive price drop on Sandisk cards!
Nov 2nd
Looks like Sandisk have taken a cue from Transcend and have made all their CF and SD cards more realistically priced to what the actual components cost. No more high priced marketing bullcrap, which is a welcome surprise from this premium CF and SD card brand.
For a taste of the savings:
Sandisk 32GB CF extreme 60MB/s are now only $79.95
Sandisk 32GB CF Extreme Pro 90MB/s are now only $99.95
Sandisk 32GB SD Class 10 30MB/s are now only $51.95
For the full list of Sandisk card pricing click here.
At those prices I hope Transcend have a similar story to announce as their low-cost/high-quality appeal has gone from a 10 to a 1.
Zacuto EVF – Review
Oct 30th
Just received my Zacuto EVF Pro kit today. It’s in pretty much brand new condition and I saved quite a bit from buying new thanks to eBay. This is the first product I own from Zacuto considering most of their products are not cost efficient enough for me but I guess that’s what you get when you are paying for a lifetime warranty. Although the EVF I bought only comes with a 1 year warranty which is a bit short but is a standard length for most electronics out there.
I’ll start out by listing some things I don’t like about the EVF. I’ll get to the good stuff later on:
- It only comes with one mounting point at the bottom. This limits the number of options of mounting the EVF to my rig. It would have been nice to at least get another mount at the top and side. You can flip the image though so it can be mounted upside down.
- 1080p output on my FS100 doesn’t work. Even though I updated to the latest firmware which says it now supports 1080p, the image on the EVF becomes stretched and unusable. Edit: (1/11/11): I don’t know why Zacuto can’t get this to work, it’s been an issue for a while now and despite saying it will be fixed in the next firmware update, we’re still here and it still doesn’t work. 720p output works and looks beautifully smooth. It also appears sharper than the 1080i output but 720p output doesn’t work when I’m shooting 50p for Slow-mo. 1080i also has noticeable jaggies when I use the 1 to 1 zoom in function. Update 13/11/11: Another issue I’ve found with 1080i is that when Zebras are turned on, you’ll get little distracting flashing dots that show up on the interlaced lines. The OSD output (audio levels, shutter/gain display settings) from the FS100 also slightly jitters up and down on 1080i mode.
- This may rattle a few people but I feel the optics on my LCDVF is better than the optics on the included Z-finder. The image through the Z-finder appears to be pin-cushion distorted and the magnification is a touch too much (Edit: adding one extender frame makes the magnification much better for my eye). I really can’t wait until the makers of the LCDVF release their own EVF. The rubber eyepiece is also too big and floppy for my liking and is a dust and hair magnet.
- Only comes with one peaking option with 3 levels of strength – I really hope they add a peaking option that highlights the edges in Red or yellow in future firmware updates. The current peaking option seems to sharpen everything, including the high gain grain which can become distracting in low light settings.
- The image seems to strobe when panning. I don’t know about other EVFs out there but my Ikan v5600 didn’t strobe like this. There also appears to be slightly more noticeable lag than my Ikan v5600 monitor.
- Doesn’t work with the HDMI out from the GoPro Hero 2. My Ikan v5600 on the other hand works just fine with both recording and playback. A shame because the small form factor of the EVF LCD screen would have went really well with the GoPro.
Now the things I do like about the Zacuto EVF are:
- Well built – It’s made out of some tough plastic kind of material that seems to be built pretty tough.
- Long battery life – One battery is said to last around 6 hours.
- Its lightweight which is good for the rig and my back. Also allows it to be mounted securely to a cheap articulated arm
.
- The picture quality is excellent. The IPS panel shows true colors with a wide viewing angle.
- Easy firmware updates – Just plug in a usb stick with the latest firmware and go. It’s also nice that they are constantly adding new features.
So far, being able to make my shoulder rig more ergonomical has been a big plus. Hopefully with future firmware updates, they can improve some of the negatives I had and maybe release more options for the eyecups but that’s really just down to personal preference.
Another “Wow” demo from Siggraph
Oct 26th
Another tech that Adobe can buy and insert into Photoshop and After Effects just like they did with Content Aware fill, Warp Stabilizer and Auto Roto amongst other things they have picked up from Siggraph.
Easy insertion of lights and 3D objects into photos. I don’t see why video can’t also be used.
Rendering Synthetic Objects into Legacy Photographs from Kevin Karsch on Vimeo.
This takes one of the most difficult jobs in 3D insertion (realistic lighting) and makes it a simple point and click affair. No more complex virtual lighting rigs and HDR chrome balls on set. I don’t see a bright future for the 3D lighting department when this gets released.
New 700 LED lights with color temp adjustment
Oct 24th
Just received a pair of 700 LED, Color adjustable lights from eBay seller PhotoLight
.
The lights arrived quickly from China via DHL which was nice not having to wait a month. Upon opening the package I was met with a solid, compact, well constructed LED panel with the words 500 LED on the back. Thinking that I had been scammed and after a lot of cursing, I decided to count the number of LEDs before sending off an angry email and opening up a paypal dispute. Thankfully I had done that because, sure enough, even on this compact panel they have managed to squeeze in 700 LEDS, half tungsten and half daylight balanced in the same chassis as the 500 LED light.
Not actually 500 LEDs but 700
I know that the 600 LED Panels labeled CN-600HS have been all the rage. There are lots of reviews from many satisfied people who have purchased these lights and have praised the build quality and light output. American led panel manufacturer Litepanel were so threatened by these cheap panels that they have attempted to block their imports in to the US.
The panels I bought are so new, I haven’t been able to find any reviews on them yet but from the first quick impressions here are my thoughts:
- Excellent build – Passes the shake test where I shake the light for any loose or rattly bits. Not a sound and feels very solid. The materials don’t feel flimsy at all.
- V-mount battery option – With a sony style V-mount battery
this light can be run for hours and hours making it an excellent portable light solution.
- Compact – They have managed to squeeze in 700 LEDs into a 500 LED enclosure. This makes it more compact than the 600 LED light and makes it that much easier to travel around with. It also outputs more light I’m guessing.
- Light output is excellent – far more than I need for my FS100 and 7D set-up for most scenarios I usually shoot in.
- Color adjustable – I can dial in my perfect color temperature to suit the scene. One dial for the tungsten LEDs and one for the daylight. No more carrying around slap/slide on gels. Also mixing color temps for stylistic purposes is now a breeze.
- Yoke mount – Just like the 600 LED light, this light has a yoke to control the angle of the light. 100x better and more solid than the flimsy tilt mounts.
- Value – I bought two of these lights, couriered to my door for only $586US. Thats cheaper than any 600 LED that I could find and the benefits over the 600 far outweigh them.
I’ll add more details later when I actually use these lights in the field but so far, I’m quite impressed.
My Lanparte and Shoot35 FS100 Shoulder Rig
Oct 19th
I think I’ve just about put together my perfect shoulder-mount FS-100 rig. As it stands it currently composes of:
- The Shoot35 AF100 baseplate – I’ve also got the Lanparte baseplate that has an easy adjustable height but the bottom of that gets in the way of the shoulder pad underneath. The shoot35 baseplate has a flat base and is solidly made. The only downside is to adjust the height you have to place and screw-in plastic blocks underneath the quick release plate which doesn’t offer quick adjustability and is also a bit cheap and tacky.
- Lanparte handle grips
– These handgrips offer alot of flexibility in how I want to position my handles and are easy to adjust quickly in the field. A major downside is that they are prone to slipping in certain configs because the ball joint only has friction grooves covering half of the ball. My remedy for this was to hit the other half with a Dremel tool with an engraving tip to add some grooves for the holding screws to grip onto. Now they lock a heck of a lot better.
- Lanparte C support with top Handle Grip
- Lanparte Shoulderpad
to use as extra padding and will be attaching it via velcro.
- Ikan v5600 monitor with a Hoodman Sunshade
– I will be replacing this with a SmallHD evf soon. It is attached to the rig with one of these articulating arms with a rod mount adapter
. The Ikan is adequate in getting a composition and in finding focus but it’s color accuracy is way off and its hard to judge exposure with its
low contrast milky screen(after using it for a full day for a wedding shoot, the contrast is actually fine with the sunhood and when the brightness and contrast settings are turned down). The plusses to this monitor is it is small and light. I’ll be running it off one of these these batteriesthat I will velcro onto the back. The lack of a peaking and any exposure tools such as zebras is also why I am going for the
SmallHD evf(I’ve since bought a Zacuto EVF pro that I got for a decent price on eBay).
Despite the few negatives, I’m very happy with the Lanparte rig parts and it is very well machined and put together. Jerry from Lanparte showed me this picture of their new handles which uses a rosette locking mechanism and so should be alot more solid. Hopefully they will let me exchange my handles.
The only thing missing is my Fotga Follow Focus which is currently out of action because the screw for the quick release rod mount got cross threaded and stuck. When i went to try to unscrew it with a pair of pliers, the screw head snapped clean off. It’s as if it is made out of soft, cheap aluminum, which it is. Apart from that, the follow focus mechanism itself seems pretty solid with minor play. Waiting on my replacement rod mount to come through before I can use it again. It’s annoying but you do get what you pay for.
Adobe Sneakpeak – Blur Removal
Oct 12th
Adobe has been at it again with their voodoo like image manipulation algorithms. In this video you can hear the gasps from the crowd as the presenter demos a de-blurring app within photoshop that analyzes how the picture was taken and then removes the blur producing a sharp image. This would be brilliant if it eventually makes its way to After Effects. It could provide motion blur free image stabilization amongst a ton of over things.
FS100 – Quick thoughts
Oct 11th
I previously said that because of Canon and Red’s big November 3rd announcement, I wasn’t going to buy the Sony Nex-FS100 and was going to hold out to see what will come. Well things have come up and after getting the go ahead on a couple of big jobs, I needed to replace my ailing old Canon XH-A1. It was no longer cutting the mustard for a number of reasons.
- The HDV codec just plain sucks. Even comparing it to the video from my 7D, the HDV footage looks grainy and low res in comparison because it actually is low res (1440 x 1080)
- Tape sucks. After filming for an entire day, the last thing I want to do is relive the experience in real time again while capturing the footage. This literally eats up hours and hours of time that could be spent straight editing. Using a blazing fast Lexar Card Reader
, I can copy and start editing in a matter of minutes instead of hours.
- Tape sucks part II – I don’t know what it is, whether my XH-A1 is giving up the ghost but I can rarely if ever now capture a full tape without dropping frames and the audio going out of sync. This again eats up a lot of my editing time having to find and resync the audio to the video. Because I always shoot two camera jobs, this hasn’t really been too big of an issue but its just a major pain in the cushion cheeks.
So now that I have the FS100 what are my thoughts?
- A lot of people have complained about the cheap plasticky feel to the FS100 and its buttons. I’m going to have to agree. Straight out of the box and into my hands, the camera does feel alot less finessed than say a Z1 or a Xha1 where those cameras feel “thick” the FS100 feels “thin and flimsy”. The scrolling menu and iris wheel feel second rate.
- But putting the camera on a simple rig does make the cheap feeling go away. Mostly because you aren’t touching it so much. I’ve got mine on the Shoot 35 AF100 rod set-up. It’s simple and straight forward and does the job. Once my lens adapters get here, I’ll mount my Nikon and Canon lenses and a follow focus.
- The 18-200 Sony lens that came with the camera is just sublime. This is going to be my go-to lens for a lot of corporate recording gigs as the auto focus works better than most video cameras I’ve ever used. The picture quality is also amazingly good.
- The low light capabilities of this camera beats any DSLR out there hands down. It kills my 7D even if I was using the kit lens on the FS100 and a 1.4 stop lens on the 7D, This camera is basically close to noise free and when I crank it all the way up to 30db of gain, the noise doesn’t look offensive at all. It just looks like fine grain instead of the muddy, blocky mess you’d get from a DSLR at 6400iso. 30db on this camera equals about 16000iso!
- Phantom power dual XLR inputs are a godsend. Being able to record one mic to both channels and being able to set each level separately is a huge welcome coming from the limited XH-A1 (not the XH-A1s model).
- The camera only has one SD slot which is a real downside. The only way to record to two storage devices at once (for backup) is to either get something like an Atomos Ninja or the expensive Sony FMU 120 SSD drive. I’ve gone with the FMU option as it is just a heck of a lot less hassle and makes my set-up more compact. The Atomos does record to pro-res though which is a big plus but it adds bulk.
- The sony Mic that comes with the camera is a cheap electret condenser mic. Not a true condenser and it sounds so with a thin sound. I’ve attached a Sontronics STC-1
with a hypercardioid capsule
which fits perfect in the mic holder. I’ll talk more about this mic some other time but it really is a great bang for your buck mic.
- The camera shoots in AVCHD codec which is really quite a robust and high quality codec compared to say HDV. At 24mbs, I can fit close to three hours of the highest quality 1080p footage on to one 32GB Transcend 400x SD card. Forget about tape changes in the middle of an important speech! I bought 4 of these cards off Amazon and they should last me a full day. The footage will also be simultaneously backed up onto the FMU-128 SSD drive I mentioned earlier. Always a good idea when you are getting paid for your work!
- Lens options galore! I can mount pretty much any type of old or new lens out there from my m42 collection, Canon FDs to Nikons and EOS although the Canon Eos still hasn’t got a good aperture changing adapter on the market yet. Birger was going to release one but no updated word from them yet. Adapters are plentiful and cheap on ebay.
- 1080p at 50 frames per second. So full HD slowmo that the camera records at 28mbs so there should be some quality loss if its recording twice as many frames at only an extra 4mbs but it still looks great!
The camera arrived this morning, just in time for a job for tomorrow and the rest of the week. I’ll let you know how it will hold up for 4 full days of shooting. Hopefully well considering the FMU-128 hasn’t arrived yet so no back-ups until it gets here from new york!
Update: After logging over 30 hours on this camera, I’d have to say this is just about the perfect camera for me. Controls are where I need them to be and with a Fader ND, keeping good exposure outdoors is childsplay.
Being able to record to the FMU-128 and the SD card simultaneously gives peace of mind that is worth the high price for the FMU.
The lowlight capabilities of this camera still astounds me. I don’t have to worry about not having enough light, ever again. It’s freedom. If I’m in a pitch black area, a small z96 LED light, provides plenty of light for a noise free image, even if I’m at 15db gain! And talking about gain, I no longer dread having to use it. I know even at 24db of gain, I’m still going to have a very clean image. Above that and the grain looks organic and non-offensive.
My next camera will be a Red Scarlet but until then, this camera will do me just fine and even after then, this camera will pick up the slack where the Red can’t shine such as an easy post workflow, run and gun and long recording times.
Massive price drop on the 5d mark 2 – 5d mark 3 imminent?
Sep 24th
Henrys, Canada’s largest online camera store, have just dropped the price on the canon 5d mark 2 to $1999. It shouldnt be long until these price drops follow around the world.
With Canon to announce their big new arrival on November the third, could they be introducing the Canon 5d mark 3? Even though this goes against all rumors out there, why else would they drop the price?
Here’s hoping for a 4k, full frame, dslr form factor camera from Canon. I’ve fallen in love with using the relatively small, lightweight rigs. Even with the audio issue, recording to the zoom and syncing in post is no fuss and easy with Dual Eyes and Plural Eyes.
Hopefully November will be a ground breaking month for all independent and low budget film makers out there.
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