Resources For the Indie Film-maker
Archive for March, 2010
Zoom H4n – Quick Review
Mar 23rd
Just got the Zoom H4n in the mail from the eBay seller, . These guys appear to have the cheapest price on the H4n anywhere. For $299US plus shipping I also got a Transcend 16gb SD card, a wired remote and a useless little tripod.
There are quite a few opinions on the preamps on the H4n. A few people even seem to think they can only get about 10 minutes recording before the batteries run down with phantom power enabled. After testing this out with my mkh416, I can safely say that 10 minutes sounds a little too extreme and I’ve managed to record a 50minute clip with near empty batteries that showed NO BARS on the battery indicator. Even when the “Low Battery” indicator was flashing, I manage to record a 6 and a half minute clip before the Zoom shut it self down. When I turned it back on with different batteries, it managed to save that last clip.
I’ve yet to test it out with fully charged batteries but I’m thinking over 3 hours is possible using the 48v option. There is also a 24v option that allows for even longer battery life. I couldn’t tell the difference in audio quality between the two so I’ll be using 24v with my 416 although Zoom does mention in the manual that not all mics work on 24v. There’s also been instances where a high pitch squeal gets introduced when the batteries go half empty. I haven’t experienced this problem so I’m thinking maybe it’s dependant on the mic.
So far, the ease of use and compactness of the Zoom H4n has been a winner for me. A few negatives I’ve noticed are:
- Clickity buttons that set the record volume up and down. They are clearly audible when you use the onboard mics. A volume knob would be a much better option.
- Unable to adjust each channel independantly in stereo mode.
- line and headphone input are the same. You can’t monitor with headphones if you’ve got a line in to your DSLR.
- The plastic shell feels a bit cheap and flimsy.
Review – Manfrotto MN361 Shoulder Brace with the 7D
Mar 18th
After using this for a few weeks with my Canon 7D, here are my thoughts:
- Works quite well on it’s own. Brace it against your shoulder or chest and it smooths out the micro jitters fairly nicely.
- Works quite good on its own with the LCDVF. More stable then just the LCDVF on its own but not by much.
- With a monopod, it works really well if you plant the monopod into the ground. Makes a good tripod replacement.
- Even if you plant the monopod into your belt buckle, it works very well but if you have to walk and shoot, forget about it.
- Combined with the LCDVF and monopod, it works alright but it feels more comfortable using the monopod and the LCDVF on its own as it takes quite a bit of manouvering to keep the shoulder brace against your body.
- Using it with the monpod, without the LCDVF, it’s more stable then handheld and allows you to walk around with it. You can’t walk around with it if you have the LCDVF against your eye as it transfer all the movement in your body into the recorded image.
At under $25US, it’s one of the cheapest options out there for a DSLR stabilizer. It’s also alot less obtrusive then those other methods out there. I’m sure there are countless other ways you could use this to help get steady shots. Get it cheap
More actual pictures of my setup to come soon. As soon as I get another camera as my only camera is now the 7D. Also will be posting video shot with my stabilized rig.
5D Mark II – Welcome to the family.
Mar 17th
Most of you might have found out by now that the long awaited new firmware for the 5D II has finally been released. It now allows 24p, 25p and proper 30p frame rates, plus manual audio levels and other interesting features. In other words, the camera is now a fully fledged cinema capable tool instead of being the crippled step child it once was.
Here’s the full list of changes:
* Adds 23.97 frame rates to 1920 x 1080 and 640 x 480 resolution modes
* 30fps is now actually 29.97 frames per second
* Adds manual audio control for adjusting sound recording up/down 64-levels
* Ability to display the histogram (brightness or RGB) when shooting movies with manual exposure
* The audio sampling rate was increased from 44.1 to 48 Khz
* Fixes a problem caused by firmware version 1.2.4 where communication between the camera and the attached lens was sometimes interrupted after manual sensor cleaning.
* Adds Shutter-Priority AE mode (Tv) and Aperture-Priority AE mode (Av) to the shooting modes when shooting movies.
The servers over at Canon are getting hammered and actually downloading the firmware seems to be a nightmare of a waiting game. If you want to free your now then I have uploaded the firmware to this site. If you don’t have a
, the cheapest place to get it is
Download (was the old firmware so i’ve pulled it)
5D MK II Firmware for Windows
5D MK II Firmware for Mac
Update 19/03/10
Canon have pulled the firmware due to a bug in the manual audio settings.
Quote from Canon
” Recently we have discovered a malfunction that occurs with Firmware Version 2.0.3, in which the manual recording levels for C1/C2/C3 are changed and the camera becomes unable to record audio if the power is turned off (or if Auto power off takes effect) after registering “Sound Recording: Manual” in the camera user settings.
We apologize very sincerely for the inconvenience, but we are going to stop making this firmware available for download. For customers who have already updated to the new firmware, when using the camera with the mode dial set to C1/C2/C3, please either set the sound recording settings to Auto.
We are currently preparing firmware that will correct this malfunction. As soon as those preparations have been completed, we will let you know on this Web site. In the meantime, we apologize for the inconvenience this represents, but please wait until the fixed firmware is ready.”
Update 19/03/10 again
Canon have already release new firmware that fixes the problems.
Download it here.