DerranNL

The New Steadicam Merlin 2

noreply@blogger.com (DerranNL) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:42:00 +0000

Tiffen unveiled their brand-new Steadicam Merlin 2 camera stabilizer system at CES 2012.
It looks a lot like the original Steadicam Merlin, but it's more robust and has some functional refinements.

The new Steadicam Merlin 2

Sony 500mm F/4 G Lens Coming - CES 2012

noreply@blogger.com (DerranNL) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:52:00 +0000

Sony Alpha 500mm f/4 G SAL500F4G Lens (image: www.ephotozine.com)

At CES 2012 Sony displayed a chrome 500 mm F/4 G lens, that's currently in development. The SAL500F4G.

... Read more »

The new Nikon D4!

noreply@blogger.com (DerranNL) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:24:00 +0000

The new Nikon D4

"French magazine Réponses Photo has spilled the beans on the Nikon D4, one day ahead of its official announcement. A two-page scan from the magazine leaked onto the Internet, revealing photos of the camera and confirming the specs that we shared yesterday and last December. Some confirmed details: 16 megapixels, ISO 100-12800 (expandable to 50-204800), 51 autofocus points, 100% viewfinder coverage, 10-12fps, 91000 point metering system, 1080p video recording, CF/XQD card slots, 1.34kg weight, and a price of €5,800.

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Video: NEX-FS100 on the Pocket Dolly

noreply@blogger.com (DerranNL) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 22:27:00 +0000

I've made a short movie called "Deserted Mall"with the NEX-FS100 and the Kessler Pocket Dolly.

Click here to watch it on YouTube.

I didn't really had a plan when I went filming at the mall, but just went with the flow. It was on Boxing Day and it was very quiet there at the time. I spent about an hour filming on different locations and ended up with enough footage to make this short movie. It's the first video I created with the Kessler Pocket Dolly. In editing I decided to go for the 'Deserted Mall' theme and luckily I had enough footage without people walking around on camera.

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3x Unboxing the Kessler Pocket Dolly

noreply@blogger.com (DerranNL) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:04:00 +0000

Anyone who has ever seen one of my videos, will know that I love to work with a moving camera. I have a Steadicam which gives me the freedom to steadily move the camera around in space, which I really like to use on shoots. But on some occasions you want a more subtle movement of your camera. That's why a few years ago, I came up with a solution which I thought hadn't been invented yet (haha!)... A small long platform to put on your tripod, where you can mount your camera on top, to dolly it from one side to the other. Sounds good right? Well apparently that's why others also came up with this idea, which I found out, after I created a 3D model to visualize such a camera slider. Since I don't have the tools, resources, nor the skills to build my own camera slider (other then a 3D model, which is difficult to travel with...), you can imagine how happy I was to find out that sliders just had been invented and actually being build.

Now that you know a little bit about my history with camera sliders, you won't be surprised to hear that I bought one over a month ago. A month ago I tell you? Yes one month ago... one, un, en, ein, jeden, ένας, één, uno ...month ago. Then why not blog about it sooner - I hear you ask via your computer microphone or cool looking headset - ? Well, because I had a bit of a rough start with it.

Let me begin by saying that nobody is to blame. Not the store I bought it from, not the manufacturer and not me. Just a great example of bad luck rearing it's ugly head. But why is it alway's showing it's face to me, I ask..

Unpacking the Kessler Pocket Dolly V2.0 for the first time, looks awesome!

Shooting Deer (With a Camera)

noreply@blogger.com (DerranNL) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:25:00 +0000

I didn't have much time to process and place these pictures online, but I thought it would be nice to show my hunt for shooting deer. Yes with a camera of course! It's almost Christmas time and after all, they look like Reindeer.

It was a really cold morning and it took a long time before I was able to make a good photo. I did saw a lot of deer, but the camera unfortunately saw little of them.

Couldn't get any closer in the beginning

3D Gold Logo Animation

noreply@blogger.com (DerranNL) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 11:46:00 +0000

This is a (logo) animation I created with Cinema 4D that I would like to share with you. The black screen you see at the end of this animation, is due to logo restrictions.

Click here to watch it on YouTube

A lot of hours went into modeling and animating this intro, placing all the gears and having them interact with each other. But I'm happy with the result. Here are some screenshots of the project:

... Read more »

Balancing the NEX-FS100 on Steadicam Merlin

noreply@blogger.com (DerranNL) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 17:15:00 +0000

The last few weeks I received a lot of questions about the two Steadicam videos you can see below. One of them was if I used the Steadicam Merlin Arm & Vest - which I did not use for these videos - and the other one was which setup I used for the Steadicam Merlin.

This is why I decided to post them here and hopefully give you a good starting point in balancing your NEX-FS100 on the Merlin. It's very important to use these settings in combination with the camera configuration I've used. If you use a different lens or even an other battery, it can throw of your balance completely and you might nog be able to balance it properly, using these settings.

... Read more »

Details Firmware Update NEX-FS100 (Early 2012)

noreply@blogger.com (DerranNL) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:47:00 +0000

Information about the first firmware update for the NEX-FS100.
Looks very promising and I'm especially looking forward to the additional 4x and 8x Expanded Focus magnification (with selectable focus area) and that the camera will work on both 50 and 60hz systems!

Scheduled for early 2012. No cost. You will download package from FS100 webpage, connect PC to camera via USB and run user installable update.

Autumn Forrest - NEX-FS100 & Steadicam Merlin

noreply@blogger.com (DerranNL) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 22:42:00 +0000

I've made a new short film with the NEX-FS100 on the Steadicam Merlin.
It's called "Autumn Forest" and yes, I came up with the title! What... you don't like it? Alright, specially for you I have another title: "Lots and Lots of Leaves on the Ground".

Click here to watch it on YouTube

The lens I used on the FS100 is the Sony 16mm F2.8 pancake lens (SEL1628) with the Ultra Wide converter (VCL-ECU1). I bought this lens specifically for the Steadicam, because of the auto iris and focus. Which isn't a luxury at all when you consider that you'll need both hands to operate the Steadicam.

... Read more »

Sony NEX-FS100 Nikon & Sony 18-200mm Lens Comparison

noreply@blogger.com (DerranNL) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:11:00 +0000

Quick (and simple) comparison video between the Sony "E 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS" and the "AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II" on the Sony FS100. The Nikon lens was placed on the NEX-FS100 with a Novoflex adapter. No camera or color settings were changed between shots, only the lenses.

Click here to watch it on YouTube

Sigma Germany announces SD1 "Wood Edition"

noreply@blogger.com (DerranNL) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:10:00 +0000

Picture from PhotoScala.de

Now this is... ehm... well... special?

One thing is for sure it's pricey at €9,999!

Link: Sigma SD1 "Wood Edition" (dpreview)

Steadicam Merlin vs Steadicam Pilot

noreply@blogger.com (DerranNL) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 22:07:00 +0000

I came across these two video's.
The cool thing about it is that two Steadicam operators had an offline meeting on a great location (shikinomori Park) with their Steadicams. One brought his Steadicam Merlin with him and the other his Steadicam Pilot. They both made a video from their meeting and placed it on YouTube.

They are both great Steadicam operators and it's nice to see these two Steadicams in action together.

Raincover for the NEX-FS100 (review)

noreply@blogger.com (DerranNL) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 23:17:00 +0000

I was looking for a raincover for the NEX-FS100 but couldn't find it anywhere. The camera has been out for several months but still no sight of a raincover. When you go to manufacturer website's you will find all type of camera's being mentioned, but none of them talks about the FS100. In my desperate search for one I even tried to contact PortaBrace, but unfortunately I never received any response. Maybe everyone is busy working on it or we're just not allowed to take the NEX-FS100 outside?

At one point I came across the - insert name of famous camera store here - website and under 'Essential Accessories' for the NEX-FS100, they listed the Petrol - PR415 raincover. Officially it's being sold as a raincover for the Sony PMW-EX3, JVC GY-HD series and similar size camcorders, but apparently it should work fine for the NEX-FS100 as well. Unfortunate for me it was out of stock and I really needed one for a shoot later that week, so I went on a search for this particular raincover. Just my luck, I couldn't find it anywhere in stock. I started to look around for other raincovers that might be able to fit on the FS100 and found the Petrol PR410 Deca Transparent Raincover and this time it was in stock!

The Sony NEX-FS100 with the Petrol PR410 raincover