Photography-Cinematography

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera

2014-08-12T12:17:00.001-07:00

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera

A true Super 16 digital film camera
that's small enough to take anywhere!

Introducing the pocket sized Super 16 digital film camera that's small enough to keep with you at all times, so you'll never miss a shot! Get true digital film images with feature film style 13 stops of dynamic range, Super 16 sensor size, high quality lossless CinemaDNG RAW and Apple ProRes recording and the flexibility of an active Micro Four Thirds lens mount, all packed into an incredibly tiny size! The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera records 1080HD resolution ProRes 422 (HQ) files direct to fast SD cards, so you can immediately edit or color correct your media on your laptop. Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is everything you need to bring cinematic film look shooting to the most difficult and remote locations, perfect for documentaries, independent films, photo journalism, music festivals, ENG, protest marches and even war zones.

Shoot True Digital FilmThe digital film camera

that's always with you!

The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is a true high dynamic range film look camera in an extremely portable size, so now you can shoot cinema quality in situations never before possible! Imagine shooting a documentary, episodic television production, television commercial or independent film in the true quality of digital film. With its extremely compact size, you can covertly shoot important and historic events such as wars, protests and other conflict in cinema quality and get a morerealistic record of the event. Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is a true revolution in how you can shoot digital cinema!

Highest Quality

The technology of a digital film camera packed into a tiny size

Precision engineered with state of the arttechnology, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera takes all the high quality features of a professional digital cinema camera and packs them into an incredibly small size. This premium quality design features a solid magnesium alloy chassis, an MFT mount for interchangeable optics, Super 16 size sensor, 13 stops of dynamic range and high quality ProRes 422 (HQ) and lossless CinemaDNG RAW file formats! Every aspect of the image path has been totally optimized for quality!

Micro Four Thirds Lenses

Flexible lens mount for all types of quality glass

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera lets you use the most incredible range of lenses. With the Super 16 size sensor you can use a wide range of adapters for film quality Super 16 lenses, or use commonly available low cost Micro Four Thirds lenses and more. With full electronic control of your lens, you can simply point and set iris all on command! The Micro Four Thirds lens mount also gives you the flexibility to adapt to PL or other lens mounts as required.

Record to SD Cards

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera features a built in SD cardrecorder that captures stunning ProRes 422 (HQ) and lossless compressed CinemaDNG files to fast SDXC cards. As an open format, it's compatible with most popular NLE software so you get a digital camera that's perfectly designed for post production workflows. When you’ve finished recording you can easily mount the card straight into a laptop, ready for editing. You can even color grade direct from the card with the included DaVinci Resolve Lite! SD cards are commonly available and can be formatted for either HFS+ or exFAT, making them compatible with either Mac OS X or Windows.

Open File Format

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera records into high quality ProRes 422 (HQ) and lossless compressed CinemaDNG files so you retain fine image detail with wide dynamic range for amazing images. This means that Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is one of the few cameras to support true open file formats, so you're not locked into a strange file format that yourediting software can't handle. You get two dynamic range settings, film Log or video REC709, so you can choose the right dynamic range for your project. Using DaVinci Resolve Lite you can color correct files natively or transcode them into a different file format to suit your post production workflow.

2014-08-11T09:34:00.003-07:00

Blackmagic Design today announced Blackmagic URSA, a new high end digital film camera designed to revolutionize workflow on set. Built to handle the ergonomics of large film crews as well as single person use, URSA has multiple accessories built in, including a massive 10 inch fold out on set monitor, large user upgradable Super 35 global shutter 4K image sensor and internal dual RAW and Apple ProRes recorders.

Blackmagic URSA is designed to be used on high end feature films, commercials, episodic television production, documentaries, electronic news gathering, music videos and more. When used on jobs with a large crew, customers can easily dress the camera with high quality cinema lenses, rails, follow focus, matte boxes and more. With built in scopes for exposure, focus and audio levels, built in dual recorders and the large 10 inch fold out on set monitor, customers can dramatically reduce on set equipment because it’s all built into the camera.

The Blackmagic URSA features a larger professional size that has the space for powerful cooling that allows higher frame rates while keeping the chassis cool and the fan quiet. The sleek futuristic machined aluminum design is incredibly strong and has been designed for large film crews while being able to be field upgraded to new sensors by the user. Each area of the camera has been divided into separate DOP, camera assistant and audio engineer work stations. The DOP station features a large 10 inch fold out on set monitor and separate 5 inch screen for settings, camera status and scopes. The camera assist station features a separate screen for camera settings, status and scopes and an audio station features audio meters, controls and audio connections.

Black Magic URSA at a Glance:

Large high resolution 4K Super 35 mm sized sensor with superior handing of image detail.
Professional global shutter for smooth pans and image motion.
Wide 12 stops of dynamic range allows capture of increased details for feature film look.
Compatible with extremely high quality PL or EF mount lenses.
User upgradable design allows customers to upgrade and change the sensor and lens mount.
Built in dual CFast 2.0 card recorders allow unlimited duration recording in high quality.
Open file formats compatible with popular NLE software, such as Apple ProRes and compressed CinemaDNG 12 bit RAW. No custom file formats.
Support for ProRes HQ, ProRes 422, ProRes LT, ProRes Proxy recording at resolutions up to Ultra HD.
Features all standard connections, including dual XLR mic/line audio inputs with phantom power, 6G-SDI output for monitoring with camera status graphic overlay and separate XLR 4 pin power output for viewfinder power, 6G-SDI monitoring input, headphone jack, LANC remote control and standard 4 pin 12V DC power connection.
Built in stereo microphones for recording sound.
3 separate built in LCD monitors for camera settings and metadata entry. Large 10 inch screen folds out for full resolution HD monitoring with wide viewing angle and high brightness.
Supports Ultra HD and 1080 HD resolution capture in 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 30 up to 60 fps.
Features liquid cooling system allowing higher frame rates when future sensors support this feature.
Supports quick release tripod mounts and adding V-Mount and Anton/Bauer mount battery plates.
Includes full copy of DaVinci Resolve software color grading and editing software.

2013-07-30T07:01:00.001-07:00

Lytro: The Light Field Frontier

To my astonishment and delight, a truly innovative digital device recently hit the consumer market, and it did so about as quietly as a snowflake landing on cotton. No show-stopping CES announcement. No TV spot during the Super Bowl. Since the twitterati doesn't ignite the blogosphere over a new $400 camera with less resolution and a smaller display than an entry level point-and-shoot, it is understandable how such a device could go underappreciated. Despite the lack of fanfare, a Silicon Valley startup called Lytro released a camera that is likely to revolutionize photography.

The Lytro Light Field Camera's distinctive functionality and aesthetics challenge the prevailing device design paradigm in a way unseen since Apple's first iPod.
It is easy to confuse reiteration with true innovation. Our technoculture has become so focused on specs and gadgetry that we barely distinguish technology that is new from technology that is repackaged. We're accustomed to device reiteration; it happens at regular intervals and in predictable increments. Every six months, Mega Electronics Corp unveils a groundbreaking “innovation” that promises to reshape civilization in a manner unseen since ~~splitting the atom~~ the stone wheel. Inevitably, it's more of the same: more pixels, larger screen, more speed, brighter screen, more memory, smaller footprint—you see where I'm going. The Light Field Camera proudly flies in the face of that trend.
I suspect the Lytro camera may be a relic from the future, sent back to the present as an inter-generational gesture meant to draw imaging pioneers toward a new frontier. Lytro's Light Field Camera literally refocuses the focal point of digital imaging by capturing, processing and presenting photos that possess a spatial dimension that is completely new to commercial photography. Light Field Photography says farewell to static images and bestows upon us the interactive, Living Image.
Click the Living Image below to focus on what true innovation looks like...
Click to refocus; click+drag to shift perspective; double click to zoom. Please be aware that these files are very large and need time to load. It helps to refresh the page more than once.

Light Field Photography

Light Field Photography is a comprehensive system that captures one field of view from several points of view. It does so using a plenoptic lens system that divides the transmitted field of view into constituent rays of light. Instead of capturing a single focal plane, as with conventional photography, Light Field Photography captures light rays that can theoretically interpret any focal plane within the visual scene. These captured light rays form a new kind of digital image, one that can be focused and tilt-shifted after the image has been captured.
Given our common notions about how digital photography works and how digital cameras are used, referring to the Light Field Camera simply as a "digital camera" may lead to undue comparisons and expectations. This device exists alone upon the verge of commercializing a new kind of imaging device—it is neither a point-and-shoot novelty nor an obscure research instrument—it is simply a Lytro.
Like all digital cameras, the Lytro measures the amount of light to strike each pixel of the camera sensor, but it also records the angle from which the light waves reach the sensor as well as the direction by which transmitted light arrives at the camera. The Lytro uses these three dimensions of information to produce an image that is more representative of both the visual scene’s depth and the geometry of objects within the light field. Only light field photographs contain spatial resolution that allows users to refocus the photograph afterimage capture.
Light transmitted by the Lytro's camera lens is refocused by a microlens array (MLA) in front of the digital sensor. This series of microscopic lenses enables the sensor to record the light field from multiple points of view. Combining these variant perspectives into a three-dimensional light map is how a Living Image is conceived. This three-dimensional information preserves the spatial relationship of light waves within the field of view when the camera shutter is pressed. Analyzing the light wave's intensity, angle and direction is the process though which Living Images are born. Not only does a Living Image enable refocusing, it also allows the viewer to shift perspective by clicking-and-dragging the image.

Measuring the resolution of a light field photograph becomes a bit tricky because of an inverse relationship between the Lytro's pixel resolution and its spatial resolution. Optical engineering limitations dictate the resolution of Light Field Technology as a whole; increasing the camera's spatial resolution always accompanies a decrease in pixel resolution. The Lytro image sensor records 11 million rays of light (11 megarays). Photographers can refocus on almost any focal plane within the visual scene; each focal plane has approximately 1.2MP resolution.

The Camera

The differences between the Lytro Light Field Camera and other digital cameras start on the surface. The Lytro is a 4.4 x 1.6 x 1.6” rectangular solid made of anodized aluminum; its rear third is wrapped in a silicone rubber grip and a magnetic lens cap conceals the camera’s objective lens. The only indication of the metal block's purpose comes from a micro-USB icon on the rubber grip. Like the micro-USB port cover, the camera’s objective lens, display screen, zoom control, power and shutter buttons are built discreetly into the streamlined housing.
A fellow writer here at B&H saw the Lytro on my desk and proceeded with rapid-fire guessing, “Is that a flashlight? monocular? rangefinder? flask? pepper grinder? HARMONICA CASE? PENCIL CASE!” I pointed to the power button embedded within the camera’s rubber grip; my coworker removed the lens cap and was snapping Living Images within ten seconds.
When I first handled the Lytro camera, it was obvious that this thing was not a toy. The Lytro is surprisingly substantial. It looks and feels more durable than I expected. Most of that mass is probably concentrated within the rechargeable battery and glass optics. Nevertheless, the fit and finish of the aluminum housing and rubber grip are evidence of quality product design.
The Lytro camera’s unconventional silhouette certainly symbolizes something new to photography. I appreciate the camera’s unique aesthetic, it embodies Lytro’s desire to reshape notions about what a digital camera is. Lytro's product design is more iconic and symbolic than ergonomic. The camera looks great sitting on my desk, but it feels a bit awkward to shoot with. Since the Lytro is more useful to me as an imaging tool than as an attractive paperweight, I worked around its unfamiliar shape until I became comfortable with it. Nevertheless, I still use the included wrist strap as a precaution.
The 1.5" backlit LCD touchscreen includes strengths and weaknesses of its own. The screen itself provides adequate resolution for image playback and capture, but the display is difficult to see unless viewed at eye level. This shortcoming is bothersome but nothing a bit of neck contorting cannot fix.
Optically, the Lytro camera maintains a fixed f/2.0 aperture throughout the entire zoom range. The lens system transmits a 35-300mm equivalent focal length range, thanks to its 8x optical zoom. A touch-sensitive slider in the rubber grip controls zoom adjustments, allowing the photographer to make magnification adjustments in 0.1x increments. Complementing the broad zoom range is the Lytro's impressive close-focus distance, capable of focusing right up to the surface of the objective lens.
The Lytro camera is available in 8GB and 16GB versions, each capable of storing several hundred living pictures—350 for the 8GB, 750 for the 16GB. I have about 250 Living Images stored on my Lytro, and its memory icon appears to indicate more than 25% of available storage space. Considering the 16MB size of each Living Image file and how often I’ve been using the camera, I have been very impressed by both the 8GB storage capacity and run time of the camera’s built-in rechargeable battery.

The Interface

The Lytro's camera settings, exposure control and image review are easily accessible using swipe gestures on the glass touchscreen. Almost every in-camera function is just a swipe-and-tap away, and the Everyday shooting mode is as straightforward as pressing the shutter button. Just like any digital camera, simply pressing the shutter button returns the camera to shooting mode. The camera menus are foolproof, and the swipe gestures offer intuitive response. But if you have thick fingers or a heavy touch like I do, you may be in for some navigation blunders at first.

In Everyday mode, shutter, ISO and focus parameters are automatically set just prior to image capture. This default shooting mode is useful for worry-free photography right out of the box, but leaves something to be desired for those seeking more creative control. Fortunately, the Lytro camera is also equipped with a Creative mode that is a mere swipe gesture away. After I switched my Lytro into Creative mode, it was there to stay. Once they get the hang of the Lytro, most users will probably feel more comfortable in Creative mode; it generally yields better living images, thanks to the enhanced control of the primary focus and spot metering functions.
Although the spatial resolution of a Living Image is the same regardless of the mode used to capture it, Creative mode allows the primary point of focus (and metering point) to be set simply by tapping the LCD screen. Selecting a primary point of focus is great for designating a specific element to pop within the Living Image or simply to set the median distance between foreground and background elements. You will still be able to focus on other focus planes within the Living Image, but the element of primary focus will have the highest degree of detail and will be the default focus point during image review.
For even more creative control, the Lytro camera's manual exposure settings enable Shutter Priority, ISO Priority, and a full manual mode that is supplemented by a neutral density (ND) filter. Since the Lytro imaging engine controls ND filter compensation, results tend to be hit or miss. However, the Shutter Priority and Full Manual modes (without ND filter) reliably deliver the exposure I'm looking for. AE Lock further enables exposure control and helps when composing a shot that has a harsh backlight.

A useful addition to the Lytro Desktop Software is its Living Filter pane, which offers nine distinct Living Image filters. Most of these filters adjust the color characteristics and will dynamically adjust the image upon refocusing, zooming and even perspective shifting. Of the nine Living Filters currently available, three of them were especially useful to me during my month-long Lytro test drive. Blur mode simulates that soft bokeh that wide-open-aperture shooters go for. It also creates a more dramatic separation between the primary focus plane and others in front of and behind the focus point. For me, the Blur filter was useful on most shots, lending a more conventional look to some Living Images. Other standout filters include Crayon and Film Noir. Film Noir is a black-and-white filter with some Blur-like qualities along the edge of the image, whereas Crayon is an interesting filter that saturates the color of Living Images, depending on the selected focus plane.

Overall, the Lytro Desktop Software is a passable digital image repository. It is easy to navigate the software functions as well as manage your library of Living Images. And, like the camera firmware, the desktop software has been regularly updated with useful new features. The most exciting new feature is the Perspective Shift processing capability. It can take several minutes to run a single image through the perspective shift processor, but it certainly makes for some click-and-drag amusement once the 11-megaray interactive image has finished compiling. Perspective-shift interactivity is certain to delight tablet users.
Once the desired focus point has been set in the desktop software, a 1080 x 1080 jpeg image of the selected "slice" of the light field can be exported. As of now, Living Imaging can be published three ways: by uploading to your own gallery on the Lytro website, embedding a Living Image window using HTML, or sharing on Facebook.

The Future

Since the first batch of Light Field cameras shipped in late 2011, the Lytro team has continued to improve the desktop software and camera's firmware. The latest Lytro camera firmware (v1.1.2) includes perspective-shift capability and manual exposure control, among other subtle tweaks. The Lytro-user community requested a self-timer—the Lytro support team delivered within weeks. Light Field pioneers raised concern over the camera's dynamic range—the Lytro support team developed an ND filter update. Last week, the desktop software alerted me of another update: a touch-activated magnification indicator that floats just under the zoom slider. Lytro's helpful and responsive support team is a selling point in itself.
As soon as Lytro releases an API or software development kit, LOOK OUT! The open source community and Lytro forums will abound with uploadable patches and alternate GUIs that surely will catapult Light Field pioneers deep into the frontier. Camera functions such as a remote shutter release capability or intervalometer may trickle in at first, followed immediately by a surge of metering modes, shooting modes, image manipulation tools and more. On the desktop software front, I look forward to 3D interpolation, animated GIF generator, focus stacking, depth mapping, and more functionality than my shallow focus can resolve.
By the time light field photography has evolved into a venerable creative medium, the torrent of media created by the intrepid pioneers may inspire new ways that we all interact with digital images. I'm thinking of hands-free, real-time dynamic focusing that is driven by eye-tracking software; in time, the Living Motion Picture that is focused entirely in post production.

The Bottom Line

Light Field Technology available at a consumer-level price is a quantum leap for digital photography. As an imaging platform, the Lytro camera has a long way to go and its functions are sure to be refined. However, the ingenuity and potential built into Light Field Technology is undeniable—and revolutionary.
I admit being skeptical of the Lytro camera. I was ready to give this "fad-cam" a panning for the ages. But I cannot argue with results. Light Field Photography is not a fad, gimmick, reinvented wheel or any other derogatory term usually associated with the techno-schlockery that angry fanboys devour for sustenance.
Outlining ways that a point-and-shoot or DSLR camera outperforms the Lytro is as misguided as comparing apples to ~~oranges~~ plutonium.
Initially, I was dissuaded by the underwhelming 1.2MP (1080 x 1080) resolution of exported jpegs and the, at times, wonktastic user experience. Then I shifted focus from the pixel count and interface to the Lytro’s bigger picture. The Lytro will almost certainly be hailed as the device that ushered prospectors into the Light Field frontier. However, a failure to balance their forward-thinking design priorities with the practical needs of everyday photographers may halt Lytro’s Light Field expedition before it reaches the vanguard.
Incremental advances in material science and nano-scale engineering may help to silence some of the loudly voiced criticisms related to the Lytro’s image quality. A multicoated low-dispersion glass MLA would probably improve image quality in addition to low-light performance and spatial resolution. Moreover, the sooner the Lytro is "cracked" for open source development, the faster we all shall proceed into the uncharted lands of the light field frontier.
The Lytro camera has many strengths and innovative features previously unavailable to the consumer market. The combination of a stout metal housing, touchscreen interface, and steadily improving firmware and desktop software make the initial offering from Lytro very promising. Years from now, you may be reading B&H’s InDepth hands-on review of the LytroPRO Light Field Camera, perhaps a rubber-armored magnesium dodecahedron equipped with a large format light field sensor and a beast of an image processor. Until then, have a long and prosperous journey, Light Field Pioneers.

	16GB	8GB
Light Field Resolution	11 Megarays	11 Megarays
Sensor Type	Light Field	Light Field
Sensor Size	6.5 x 4.5mm	6.5 x 4.5mm
Aspect Ratio	3:2	3:2
File Format	Light Field Picture File (.lfp)	Light Field Picture File (.lfp)
Storage Type	Internal Flash Drive	Internal Flash Drive
Storage Capacity	16GB	8GB
Photo Capacity	750	350
Aperture	f/2.0 (fixed)	f/2.0 (fixed)
Focal Length (35mm equivalent)	35 - 300mm	35 - 300mm
Optical Zoom	8x	8x
Digital Zoom	none	none
Exposure Modes	Everyday; Creative (Shutter Priority, ISO Priority, Manual)	Everyday; Creative (Shutter Priority, ISO Priority, Manual)
Exposure Lock	Yes	Yes
ND Filter	Yes	Yes
Shutter Speed	8 - 1/125 sec	8 - 1/125 sec
ISO Sensitivity	80 - 3200	80 - 3200
Display	1.52" LCD touchscreen	1.52" LCD touchscreen
Computer Connectivity	Micro-USB	Micro-USB
System Requirements	Mac OSX 10.6.6 or later; Windows 7 (64-bit), Windows 8 (64-bit)	Mac OSX 10.6.6 or later; Windows 7 (64-bit), Windows 8 (64-bit)
Power Supply	Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery Pack	Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery Pack
Dimensions	4.4 x 1.6 x 1.6" (112 x 41 x 41mm)	4.4 x 1.6 x 1.6" (112 x 41 x 41mm)
Weight	7.5 oz (214 g)	7.5 oz (214 g)

2013-07-29T05:56:00.000-07:00

One-point perspective

One-point perspective exists when the painting plate (also known as the picture plane) is parallel to two axes of a rectilinear (or Cartesian) scene – a scene which is composed entirely of linear elements that intersect only at right angles. If one axis is parallel with the picture plane, then all elements are either parallel to the painting plate (either horizontally or vertically) or perpendicular to it. All elements that are parallel to the painting plate are drawn as parallel lines. All elements that are perpendicular to the painting plate converge at a single point (a vanishing point) on the horizon.

Two-point perspective

Two-Point Perspective.

Walls in 2-pt perspective.
Walls converge towards 2 vanishing points.
All vertical beams are parallel.
Model by "The Great One" from 3D Warehouse.
Rendered in SketchUp.

A drawing has two-point perspective when it contains two vanishing points on the horizon line. In an illustration, these vanishing points can be placed arbitrarily along the horizon. Two-point perspective can be used to draw the same objects as one-point perspective, rotated: looking at the corner of a house, or looking at two forked roads shrink into the distance, for example. One point represents one set of parallel lines, the other point represents the other. Looking at a house from the corner, one wall would recede towards one vanishing point, the other wall would recede towards the opposite vanishing point.

Two-point perspective exists when the painting plate is parallel to a Cartesian scene in one axis (usually the z-axis) but not to the other two axes. If the scene being viewed consists solely of a cylinder sitting on a horizontal plane, no difference exists in the image of the cylinder between a one-point and two-point perspective.

Two-point perspective has one set of lines parallel to the picture plane and two sets oblique to it. Parallel lines oblique to the picture plane converge to a vanishing point,which means that this set-up will require two vanishing points.

Three-point perspective

Three-Point Perspective

Three-point perspective rendered using IRender nXt from computer model by "Noel" from Google 3D Warehouse.

Three-point perspective is usually used for buildings seen from above (or below). In addition to the two vanishing points from before, one for each wall, there is now one for how those walls recede into the ground. This third vanishing point will be below the ground. Looking up at a tall building is another common example of the third vanishing point. This time the third vanishing point is high in space.

Three-point perspective exists when the perspective is a view of a Cartesian scene where the picture plane is not parallel to any of the scene's three axes. Each of the three vanishing points corresponds with one of the three axes of the scene. One-point, two-point, and three-point perspectives appear to embody different forms of calculated perspective. The methods required to generate these perspectives by hand are different. Mathematically, however, all three are identical: The difference is simply in the relative orientation of the rectilinear scene to the viewer.

Four-point perspective

Four-point perspective, also called infinite-point perspective, is the curvilinear variant of two-point perspective. As the result when made into an infinite point version (i.e. when the amount of vanishing points exceeds the minimum amount required), a four point perspective image becomes a panorama that can go to a 360 degree view and beyond – when going beyond the 360 degree view the artist might depict an "impossible" room as the artist might depict something new when it's supposed to show part of what already exists within those 360 degrees. This elongated frame can be used both horizontally and vertically and when used vertically can be described as an image that depicts both a worm's- and bird's-eye view of a scene at the same time.

Like all other foreshortened variants of perspective (respectively one- to six-point perspective), it starts off with a horizon line, followed by four equally spaced vanishing points to delineate four vertical lines.

The vanishing points made to create the curvilinear orthogonals are thus made ad hoc on the four vertical lines placed on the opposite side of the horizon line. The only dimension not foreshortened in this type of perspective is the rectilinear and parallel lines perpendicular to the horizon line – similar to the vertical lines used in two-point perspective.

Zero-point perspective

Because vanishing points exist only when parallel lines are present in the scene, a perspective with no vanishing points ("zero-point" perspective) occurs if the viewer is observing a non-rectilinear scene. The most common example of a nonlinear scene is a natural scene (e.g., a mountain range) which frequently does not contain any parallel lines. A perspective without vanishing points can still create a sense of depth.

Other varieties of linear perspectiveOne-point, two-point, and three-point perspective are dependent on the structure of the scene being viewed. These only exist for strict Cartesian (rectilinear) scenes. By inserting into a Cartesian scene a set of parallel lines that are not parallel to any of the three axes of the scene, a new distinct vanishing point is created. Therefore, it is possible to have an infinite-point perspective if the scene being viewed is not a Cartesian scene but instead consists of infinite pairs of parallel lines, where each pair is not parallel to any other pair. Zero point perspective view is also known as elevation of any object

2013-07-19T14:02:00.006-07:00

5 Ways to Strengthen the Message and Story of Your Photographs

Photographers decide what is in the frame and what is not. We cant always control every single item the frame. We can however, control of position relative to the subject and when we press the shutter button. Here are 5 ways to to improve our photographs.

Obvious Subject

Our brains analyze what the eye sees instantly. The subject and story of a photograph must be identified quickly by the viewer. If the viewer cant figure out what the subject is…. all interest is lost.

Brightest

Our depth perception of a photograph creates a 3D effect. The brighter objects appear nearer, darker objects recede further back. If the subject is ‘near’ to the viewer it has to be brighter then the rest of the frame. Dodging in post processing accentuates the subject while burning recedes.

Sharpness

Human brain focuses on sharp items in a photograph next. Photos with shallow depth of field are so pleasing to our eyes – we dont need to search for a subject as its the only sharpest part of the photo.

Size

The largest item in a photo – and our eyes go straight to it as we begin to ‘digest’ the photo. It is possible to have the subject as the smallest item in the picture, what then? Make it the sharpest and brightest!

Color

The 3 primary colors Red, Green and Blue – the colors which are noticed first. When photographing people outside in a park – get as little of the 3 primary colors in the frame. Sounds easy? Well, when in a park green and blue are unavoidable. If those colors are minimized and then desaturated in post the subject will stand out more in the final photograph.

2013-07-19T13:56:00.002-07:00

How to Use Leading Lines for Better Compositions

A leading line paves an easy path for the eye to follow through different elements of a photo. Usually they start at the bottom of the frame and guide the eye upwards and inwards, from the foreground of the image to the background, typically leading toward the main subject.

The easiest place to find a leading line is on a road. Roadways are inherently leading because they go somewhere, give us a feeling of motion, and the lines often point so far inwards that they reach a vanishing point – the place where two or more lines converge into theoretical infinity.

The leading lines of the road converge to create a sense of infinity.

When leading lines, such as roads, connect the foreground to the background of a scene, they help to create depth and dimensionality which draws the viewer into the image.

Leading lines are all around us in cities and in nature. Your job as the photographer is to find them and arrange them in your photograph so that they lead towards something, even if that something is infinity.

The logs on the beach draw the viewer’s eye into the frame and lead up to the house.

When you’re setting up a shot, take a moment to examine the scene for its prominent lines. Clear your mind, relax your eyes, and notice where they are naturally drawn to.

Pay special attention to man-made things such as:

roads
fences
boardwalks
bridges
bricks
anything in a row such as lamp posts
buildings
doorways
window panes

In nature, pay particular attention to:

rivers
shorelines
waves
sand dunes
trees
tall grass
cliffs
rocks
sun rays

The soft leading line of the river’s edge creates depth in the image.

Once you’ve identified your strongest lines, consider how you can use them to enhance your composition. Depending on your intention, you might:

create depth and perspective by positioning a strong line leading from the foreground to the background;
create a visual journey from one part of your image to another;
place your subject where the lines converge to give the subject more importance in the frame and draw the viewer’s attention directly to it; or
make a cyclical composition, with the lines leading the eye in a circular motion and never out of the frame.

Arranging the elements in the frame may involve the use of different lenses to change perspective, but usually you can accomplish it simply by moving yourself so that the point of view you choose is purposeful.

The leading line of the path leads the eye directly to the maple tree.

Leading lines are the key compositional element that carries our eye through the photograph. They can be used to tell a story, to place emphasis, and to draw a connection between two objects.

Band Pro to Distribute SI-2K Camera

2012-07-27T03:17:00.000-07:00

Silicon Imaging, the developer of the award-winning SI-2K Digital Cinema camera and Stereo 3D recording systems, has named Burbank-based Band Pro Film and Digital to be its exclusive distributor in the United States and Latin America.

“We're very excited about our newest strategic partnership to expand our sales and service for the SI-2K Cinema Cameras,” says Ari Presler, CEO of Silicon Imaging. “The recent success of the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire has opened up new doors and increased demand for our digital acquisition technology. Band Pro will brings their wealth of experience outfitting digital cinema production equipment and will provide best-in-class technical support, education and service to our growing base of TV and film production clients. Their Burbank and New York facilities are centrally located for access to studios and post production facilities leading the digital acquisition and file-based workflow transition.”

The SI-2K camera system offers unprecedented image quality, modularity and instant editing. It offers up to 11 f-stop dynamic range, a Mini remote head for handheld or stereo-3D shooting and Iridas Speedgrade embedded for 3D-LUT and live green screen keying visualization. It records direct-to-disk in 12-bit uncompressed or encoded to CineformRAW AVI or Quicktime files. These files can be immediately placed on the Apple Final Cut timeline and edited with real-time playback without the need for format conversions or proxies.

Unlike modern HD cameras, which develop and compress colorized imagery inside the camera, the SI-2K streams data as uncompressed raw 'digital negatives' over a standard gigabit Ethernet connection. An Intel Core 2 Duo processor-based computer embedded in the camera, or a laptop tethered up to 100 feet away, process the digital negatives, where they are non-destructively developed and colorized for preview using the cinematographer's desired look.

The SI-2K is fully controlled with an intuitive touchscreen driven display with digital zoom, focus-assist histogram and false-color exposure tools. The integrated P+S Technik Interchangeable Mount System gives the user the flexibility to use a variety of optics including PL, Nikon F, C-mount, and 2/3” B4 HD lenses for shooting with the Zeiss DigiPrime family. An Optical Viewfinder is available with the B4 Lens mount, as well as, an SVGA OLED Electronic Viewfinder for use with the recorders.

Band Pro offers a host of cine-style accessories for the SI-2K including Chrosziel matteboxes and Follow-Focus systems as well as the world-respected Zeiss DigiPrime and DigiZoom lenses. According to Michael Bravin, Chief Technologist at Band Pro, "The DigiPrimes and DigiZooms provide the SI-2K imager with a clean, high contrast, low flare image, resulting in a spectacular picture and unequaled performance, especially in low light levels and backlit scenes."

“Band Pro has been a leader in bringing high end digital acquisition technology to the market and it was only natural for us to form a relationship with Silicon Imaging,” says Band Pro owner Amnon Band. “The new form of capture and workflow is the next big step in cine technology and Band Pro will, as always, put our usual high standards of technological and educational resources behind every SI-2K camera package.”

How to Create Backlight or Hairlight outdoors with Natural light?

2012-07-13T23:46:00.000-07:00

A good portrait is all about contrast. Contrast is the difference between lights and darks or sharps and blurry’s in a single photo. Contrast makes a subject stand out. And isn’t that what we want in a beautiful portrait?

Backlight or Hairlight is a great way to make your portrait subject (a human model) stand out. The light comes from the back (hence the name Backlight) and creates a rim of light around the edges of the subjects hair (hence the name Hairlight). This rim of light creates a perfect border of contrast between the model’s head and the background. So what ingredients do we need to create backlight in a natural outdoor environment?

1. A source of light, mostly the Sun.
2. A darkish background.
3. A good placement of the subject.

Light Source

When using the sun as a light source, the light must be coming in from a low angle. This means that we are either in the early or mid morning or in the mid or late afternoon. Because long loose hair will be subject to movement by the wind, it’s best to have the wind going into the direction of the Sun. This means that if the wind is coming from the East, it’s better to shoot in the afternoon, when the Sun is in the West. If the wind is coming from the West, it’s better to shoot in the morning.

Background

So we need a darkish background for the rim of light to stand out. It’s not necessary for the background to be very dark, just a little darker than the subject or the surroundings is enough to create the necessary contrast. A dark background could be formed by some trees with dark leaves and shadows, a dark wall or the shadow side of a building, etc. The key is to take some time and look around. If you just give yourself a minute, you will find the best spot.

Placement of the Subject

Now onto the last part of the job: placing your model in the right place. It’s important to get an even distribution of light around the hair. This means that the Sun must be right behind your subject, or just a little off-center. So now we know that the Sun must be in the same direction as your dark background.

That is the direction that you should be looking at to find your best spot. Now that you found your spot, be sure not to shoot directly into the Sun in order to avoid lens flare (the light that hits your lens directly and causes a blurry haze in your image). A lens hood comes in very handy when trying to avoid lens flare. You may also choose to purposely get lens flare it you want to have that effect in your photo.

Remember that when shooting a portrait, the most important thing is make your subject look good. So whatever you do to get a nice backlight, don’t forget to pay attention to the other details that you normally take care of. Good luck!

5 Tips to Shake Up Your Travel Photography

2012-07-07T09:33:00.002-07:00

I love to look at travel photography, but man, sometimes it can all just seem mind-numbingly similar.

Put a cabin, some rocks, grass, or sand in the foreground, a lake or ocean in the middle ground, and a sunset or mountain in the background, preferably during a slightly cloudy day.

Shake. Rinse. Repeat.

I do this frequently; everyone does. But that’s the problem. Sometimes we need to break away from the formulas of what we think photographs should look like. We need to think outside of the box and try to do things a little differently.

So here are a few tips and thoughts to help you create unique travel photos.

1. Forget the stock photos and focus on daily life.

Man with Bread, Florence.

When we’re in a new place, sometimes all we can think about is taking photos of the beautiful architecture, the monuments, and the wonders that we travelled to see. We have these thoughts from the countless guide books we’ve read and from the imagery we’ve seen over the web. We want to take those same pictures to have for ourselves (and we should take these photos.) But these things are not necessarily what gives a place its essence and its soul.

Stop and think about how you feel. What is it that is creating that feeling? Is it that tiny, bustling restaurant, lit up at night and filled with regulars? Is it the well dressed men in expensive suits and shoes riding their bicycles to work? Is it the chaos and constant traffic on the streets? Is it the food vendors on the side of the road? Is it the fresh bread and cheese?

For instance, what describes Italy better? Is it your typical capture of the Duomo or the Ponte Vecchio, or is it a detail shot of an older man in a well-made suit walking on wet cobblestones and bringing home fresh bread at the end of the day?

2. Combine the old with the new.

Old Florence Door with Pizza Menu.

Detail Shot.

We all want to photograph another time period. I would do anything to photograph the Venice or Florence of a couple hundred years ago. Unfortunately, we can’t and we need to come to terms with that. If we are walking around searching for only painterly moments that look like they were taken fifty or a hundred years ago then we will miss out on so many fascinating modern and poignant moments.

Try to seek out moments that combine the old and the new – that pay homage to the past but update it with a modern twist, such as the above shot of the old, ornate Florence door combined with the modern pizza delivery menu – a quirky take on a classic city.

Tattooed Gondolier

3. Turn your camera away from the sunset and shoot a tryptic.

Sunsets are gorgeous but they can also be cheesy. If you are like me then you’ve shot hundreds of them and they all sit on your harddrive, all looking basically the same. Instead, turn your camera around and focus the colorful effects of the sunset on the local architecture or landscape.

Then, take this further by creating a tryptic. Over the course of a couple hours, the light from a sunset will constantly change colors, from orange, to purple, to blue. Set up a tripod, grab a good book, and take identical shots of your surroundings with different color pallets. Then, frame them side by side on your living room wall. They will look stunning.

Manarola Sunset 1

Manarola Sunset 2

Manarola Sunset 3

4. Combine a simple detail shot with a great story.

In 2005, I crashed a moped on the swirling roads outside of Siena. My left arm and my Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8L lens still hold the scars to show for it (both are fine). You know you’re a photographer when you crash a vehicle and the first thing you do is check to make sure your camera equipment is okay.

The moment when everything went wrong.

Arriving in Montalcino a couple days later and deathly afraid of mopeds, I intelligently decided that it would be a fun idea to rent a crappy bicycle and ride it down one of the tallest hills in all of Tuscany with a tripod and a huge bag of my heavy (and most of it unneeded) equipment.

The ride down was fantastically fun, speeding without ever having to pedal and stopping frequently to photograph the freakish grapes and old wineries. After a significant amount of time going downhill, however, I suddenly realized that I would eventually have to return the way I came. By this point I was too far invested and so I kept going downwards and photographed in the surrounding area for the rest of the day.

I returned to the gigantic hill exhausted at the end of the day, 6 kilometers from the top, but psyched myself up to make it up the hill. I balanced myself on the cheap bike with my lenses and tripod on my back and proceeded to pedal hard and fast and sped up the hill confidently. A minute of this confident pedaling later and my muscles froze. I stopped, rolled off the bike, and proceeded to gingerly walk up the hill. The next few hours were a miserable pattern of 5 minutes of walking and 30 seconds of riding. I finally arrived at the town late in the evening starving, exhausted, and numb but euphorically relieved.

Unfortunately, I would soon realize that all of the restaurants had closed for the night and food was nowhere to be found.

5. Capture the Locals.

Dock Worker, Sikinos

Ultimately, it is the locals that give most destinations their true feeling, so go out and capture them! Hang around in a busy area for an hour and do some people watching. Capture the locals candidly as they go about their everyday lives. Mix these shots with your shots of the local architecture, the details of daily life, the monuments and of your personal stories and you will have a more complete document of the destination when you return.

The point of this list of tips was not to say that you shouldn’t take the typical travel photos. That’s just not true. But you should also try to push yourself outside of the norm whenever possible. Try to create the type of photos that stand out and are unique.

Black Magic Cinema Camera

2012-07-04T10:30:00.001-07:00

Add the timeless beauty of feature film quality to your production work

Elegant, sophisticated and jam packed with the latest digital cinema technology, Blackmagic Cinema Camera gives your work that timeless feature film look! Blackmagic Cinema Camera features an amazing 2.5K image sensor with a wide 13 stops of dynamic range for a true digital film camera. You get a built-in SSD recorder, popular open standard uncompressed RAW and compressed file formats, compatibility with quality EF and ZE mount lenses, LCD touchscreen monitoring plus metadata entry, all packed into an exciting hand held design!

Move to Digital Film

Blackmagic Cinema Camera features a high resolution sensor with wide dynamic range so it’s perfect for independent film, television commercials and episodic television production. DaVinci Resolve software for Mac™ and Windows™ is included so you can work at the highest quality and get the best results. Blackmagic Cinema Camera is both affordable and a complete solution because it includes a built-in recorder and monitoring, so it’s perfect for displacing video-only cameras for work such as sporting events, weddings, music videos and more!

13 Stop Dynamic Range

Regular video cameras clip video so you are locked into images that look cheap. Blackmagic Cinema Camera eliminates this problem as it captures a super wide dynamic range of 13 stops into 12-bit DNG files, so your images look truly cinematic. This preserves detail in both shadows and highlights, and even handles indoor shots while keeping the details of any images captured through windows. This means you keep all sensor data so you can make creative decisions during DaVinci Resolve color grading!

Premium Quality

Building one of the finest cameras in the world requires attention to every detail. Blackmagic Cinema Camera’s premium quality design features a machined aluminum chassis, interchangeable optics, high resolution 2.5K sensor, 13 stops of dynamic range and 12-bit RAW uncompressed and compressed file formats! Every aspect of the image path has been totally optimized for quality, so this means you always get the quality you need for the most demanding work.

EF Compatible Lens Mount

With Blackmagic Cinema Camera you can use the most amazing optics from the world’s leading lens crafters such as Canon, Zeiss and many more. Blackmagic Cinema Camera is compatible with EF and ZE mount lenses, so you can use the lenses you already own! With Blackmagic Cinema Camera you are not locked into any specific lens and you can choose the lens you need based on the creative style of your shot! Blackmagic Cinema Camera allows full electronic control of your lens, so you can simply point, set iris and focus on command!

Metadata Entry

Blackmagic Cinema Camera is the first camera to feature built-in metadata entry so your files include information compatible with popular editing software. This dramatically speeds up the whole post production process! Entering metadata is easy. Simply tap the capacitive LCD touchscreen to display the slate where you can enter information such as shot number, search tags, scene number, timecode and more! You can even set shot number and other data to increment automatically!

Built-in SSD Recorder

Blackmagic Cinema Camera features a built-in SSD recorder that allows 2.5K uncompressed CinemaDNG RAW 12-bit capture as well as Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD compressed video formats. All file formats are open standard and used by NLE software so you get the only camera designed from the ground up to be part of a whole post production workflow! When you’ve finished shooting, simply connect the SSD to your computer and edit or color your shots straight from the disk!

HDR Photography

2012-07-04T01:32:00.000-07:00

HDR Photography has been around since the days of film, but has become extremely popular in recent years. High Dynamic Range, or HDR, is essentially a way of processing photos that allows for a wider and deeper range of colors. This type of processing makes an image appear much closer to what the human eye sees as opposed to what your camera’s sensor allows. In example, the photograph above shows the natural rich colors of the building as well as the natural rich colors of the sky. Without HDR, the sky could either be well exposed and the building silhouetted, or the building well exposed and the sky blown out. Creating an HDR photo however will allows both elements to appear natural and rich in color.

One method of making an HDR photograph is to combine multiple images with different exposures together. This tutorial will explain how this photo was created and in using the same process, how you can create your own HDR photos.

Step 1. Bracketing Your Subject

Bracketing is done when several shots of the same subject are taken with varying exposures. This can be used for almost any occasion or type of photography and is a good way to ensure that you’ve gotten the shot you wanted when you sit down to edit. For example, you will set your camera on a tripod and take one shot at 1/200 another at 1/400 and another at 1/80. Now you have 3 different shots of the same image, but each shot will have a different exposure. Each setting and subject will vary obviously when it comes to bracketing, but many cameras have a built in bracketing feature that will do the work for you.

For this photo there are only two key elements, the building and the sky. So the first shot that will be taken will be to get a proper exposure of the sky:

As was mentioned above, the sky is well exposed but the building is silhouetted. This was taken with a faster exposure to ensure the colors of the sky would be rich and deep as opposed to blown out.

Now the second shot will be taken to get a proper exposure of the building:

The building is well exposed in this shot, but again, the sky is blown out. This was taken at a slower shutter speed in order to reduce the silhouette effect the bright sky gives.

Now that we have our two images, we will combine them to get the best of both.

Step 2. Combing the Photos

Photoshop is a great tool to use in HDR photography because it is fairly easy to combine photos. So let’s bring both images into Photoshop.

The photo with the correct exposure for the building (left) will be moved on top of the photo with the correct exposure for the sky (right).

Now that the photos are layered on top of each other we will combine the two. Our top layer has a well-exposed building and a blown out sky, so let’s remove the sky of this image. In order to remove the sky we will first select the top layer, and then choose the magnetic lasso tool. With the magnetic lasso tool we will select the entire sky. This is where an ok HDR photo can turn into an awesome HDR photo. The more time you put into being exact and making sure that you don’t miss any pieces, the better and more natural your photo will look.

Then we simply hit the delete key and voila! Our well exposed sky replaces the blown out sky.

The photo is then put into Lightroom and edited a bit more…

HDR photography can have some amazing results if done correctly. The key is to not go to the extreme and combine dozens of photos leaving every pixel of the photo well exposed. Leave room for natural shadows and use moderation when combining images.

Aperture

2012-06-22T02:36:00.000-07:00

In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are, which is of great importance for the appearance at the image plane. If an aperture is narrow, then highly collimated rays are admitted, resulting in a sharp focus at the image plane. If an aperture is wide, then uncollimated rays are admitted, resulting in a sharp focus only for rays with a certain focal length. This means that a wide aperture results in an image that is sharp around what the lens is focusing on and blurred otherwise. The aperture also determines how many of the incoming rays are actually admitted and thus how much light reaches the image plane (the narrower the aperture, the darker the image for a given exposure time).

An optical system typically has many openings, or structures that limit the ray bundles (ray bundles are also known as pencils of light). These structures may be the edge of a lens or mirror, or a ring or other fixture that holds an optical element in place, or may be a special element such as adiaphragm placed in the optical path to limit the light admitted by the system. In general, these structures are called stops, and the aperture stop is the stop that determines the ray cone angle, or equivalently the brightness, at an image point.

In some contexts, especially in photography and astronomy, aperture refers to the diameter of the aperture stop rather than the physical stop or the opening itself. For example, in a telescope the aperture stop is typically the edges of the objective lens or mirror (or of the mount that holds it). One then speaks of a telescope as having, for example, a 100 centimeter aperture. Note that the aperture stop is not necessarily the smallest stop in the system. Magnification and demagnification by lenses and other elements can cause a relatively large stop to be the aperture stop for the system.

Sometimes stops and diaphragms are called apertures, even when they are not the aperture stop of the system.

The word aperture is also used in other contexts to indicate a system which blocks off light outside a certain region. In astronomy for example, aphotometric aperture around a star usually corresponds to a circular window around the image of a star within which the light intensity is assumed.

In photography

The aperture stop of a photographic lens can be adjusted to control the amount of light reaching the film or image sensor. In combination with variation of shutter speed, the aperture size will regulate the film's or image sensor's degree of exposure to light. Typically, a fast shutter speed will require a larger aperture to ensure sufficient light exposure, and a slow shutter speed will require a smaller aperture to avoid excessive exposure.

Diagram of decreasing aperture sizes (increasing f-numbers) for "full stop" increments (factor of two aperture area per stop)

A device called a diaphragm usually serves as the aperture stop, and controls the aperture. The diaphragm functions much like the iris of the eye – it controls the effective diameter of the lens opening. Reducing the aperture size increases the depth of field, which describes the extent to which subject matter lying closer than or farther from the actual plane of focus appears to be in focus. In general, the smaller the aperture (the larger the number), the greater the distance from the plane of focus the subject matter may be while still appearing in focus.

The lens aperture is usually specified as an f-number, the ratio of focal length to effective aperture diameter. A lens typically has a set of marked "f-stops" that the f-number can be set to. A lower f-number denotes a greater aperture opening which allows more light to reach the film or image sensor. The photography term "one f-stop" refers to a factor of √2 (approx. 1.41) change in f-number, which in turn corresponds to a factor of 2 change in light intensity.

Aperture priority is a semi-automatic shooting mode used in cameras. It allows the photographer to choose an aperture setting and allow the camera to decide the shutter speed and sometimes ISO sensitivity for the correct exposure. This is sometimes referred to as Aperture Priority Auto Exposure, A mode, Av mode, or semi-auto mode.

Typical ranges of apertures used in photography are about f/2.8–f/22 or f/2–f/16, covering 6 stops, which may be divided into wide, middle, and narrow of 2 stops each, roughly (using round numbers) f/2–f/4, f/4–f/8, and f/8–f/16 or (for a slower lens) f/2.8–f/5.6, f/5.6–f/11, and f/11–f/22. These are not sharp divisions, and ranges for specific lenses vary.

Virtual Studio

2012-06-22T01:44:00.000-07:00

The term virtual studio can refer to any number of technological tools which seek to simulate a physical television and/or movie studio. One such use of the term follows.

A virtual studio is a television studio that allows the real-time combination of people or other real objects and computer generated environments and objects in a seamless manner. For that integration we will use chromakey technology. A key point of a virtual studio is that the real camera can move in 3D space, while the image of the virtual camera is being rendered in real-time from the same perspective, therefore, this virtual scene has to adapt at any time to the camera settings (zoom, pan, angle, traveling, etc.). This is what differentiates a virtual studio from the traditional technique of chromakey. It also differs from techniques used in film, in which scenes are edited later. A virtual studio does not need any post production because it is in real-time.

There exist many technical solutions for creating virtual studios, but most of them include the following components:

Camera tracking, that uses either optical or mechanical measurements to create a live stream of data describing the exact perspective of the camera.
Realtime rendering software, that uses the camera tracking data and generates a synthetic image of a television studio.
A video mixer, which combines the video from the camera with the video from the realtime rendering software to produce a final video output. One of the most common ways to mix the video to replace a chroma key background.

A major difference between a virtual studio and the bluescreen special effects used in movies is that the computer graphics are rendered in realtime, removing the need for any post production work, and allowing it to be used in live television broadcasts.

Floatcam Dolly Crane

2012-04-22T02:59:00.000-07:00

Composing Your Shots

2012-04-15T02:17:00.000-07:00

Home Video Hints: Composing Your Shots

Shooting great looking video can be as simple as solving a few problems with composition.

The key to good-looking video is a well-composed shot. What exactly is composition? Technically, composition is the relationship between two or more objects in a picture, where one of the objects shows dominance. This involves careful placement of your subject in your shot so that it looks good and grabs the attention of your audience. In this column, we will provide a list of common composition problems and their solutions.

Shaky Shots

Problem: Your footage is shaky and difficult to watch.
If you have to hand out Dramamine before showing your videos to friends, you might suffer from shaky cam syndrome. Tromboning (using the zoom too often like the slide of a trombone), hosing (panning the camera back and forth like a fire fighter) and constant stopping and starting movements all are symptoms of this problem.

Solution: Compose a shot, roll tape and hold still.
You should always compose your shots before you push the record button. Once you press record, hold the shot for at least five seconds before moving the camera. If you do have to move the camera or zoom, do it slowly and deliberately without stopping until the movement is completely done. Always know where you want to move the camera next, and plan your moves before you make them. It is easier to hold wide shots steady than telephoto shots. For best results, zoom out to the widest angle your lens permits and move closer to your subject.

The Slippery Slope

Problem: Your shots are tilted, making your subjects look like they might slide out the side of the picture.
This problem is obviously caused by the camera being tilted sideways at an angle. It doesn't have to be a very big angle to distract your viewers. Is the water in that gorgeous sunset over the lake running out of the side of your shot? If so, you may be sliding down the slippery slope of composition.

Solution: Check your horizontal and vertical surfaces in the shot to make sure the picture is level.
The real key to this solving this common error is to pay attention to the frame while you shoot. Find a building, doorway or some other straight and vertical or horizontal object and use it as a guide to keep your picture straight and level. If you are shooting a horizon, especially one with a perfect edge like a lake or the ocean, line the surface up with the top or bottom of the viewfinder and then carefully tilt back to compose your shot. Try to place your horizon on the top third of the picture or the bottom third depending on what is more important, the sky or the foreground. Never depend on the leveling bubble on the tripod, which only shows the tripod to be level and doesn't account for the parts of the tripod and camera above the level. Therefore, you should only use the leveling bubble as a quick reference point.

Manual Focus

2012-04-15T02:15:00.000-07:00

Getting Started: Manual Controls

Sometimes it pays to be a control freak

Automation is nice. Heat sensing microwaves that can tell how long to heat leftovers, say, are very convenient. But sometimes you need to override the automatic settings to cook things just the way you like them.

The same holds true for camcorders. While most camcorders automatically adjust the focus, audio levels, shutter speed and iris to ambient conditions, your videos might look better if you override some of your unit's features and take control of your shots.

But with everything set automatically, why bother? Well, you may encounter situations where your camcorder, for all its technological wizardry, just can't make heads or tails of what's going on. Or you may want to create a visual effect that goes against the grain of your camcorder's automatic sensibilities.

In any case, taking control of your camcorder's functions is simple enough.

Manual Focus

Generally speaking, your camcorder determines focus by finding a well-defined object in your frame--typically whatever is in the center of your shot--and using that as a reference point for deciding how to focus.

Regardless of how handy autofocus can be, there are situations when your camcorder finds it difficult to locate the subject of your shot. When there's not enough light, perhaps at night or in a dimly lit room, objects tend to blend into one gray mass as far as the camcorder can tell.

Your camcorder, desperately trying to locate the subject of the shot, goes in and out of focus rapidly. With manual control, you can use your eye, which is infinitely more sensitive to light than your camcorder, to focus the shot instead.

Manual focus allows you to add certain effects to your video. For example, there is a manual focus technique called rack focus that camera operators use to bring the foreground and background alternatively in and out of focus. Racking focus allows you to direct the viewers' attention within a given shot by focusing on different objects successively, each time blurring the other parts of the shot.

You've probably seen this technique in a movie or television program: a close-up shot of the telephone, sitting on the edge of the desk, ringing off the hook. The background is blurred just enough to obscure it. The camera operator then slowly shifts focus from the telephone to the background where a man sits in an easy chair. As the man comes into focus, the phone blurs.

You may want to blur your shot as a segue from one segment to another. You can create a unique transition from shot to shot by ending and beginning each shot out of focus. One gray blur looks pretty much like another; by blurring your shots this way, you can cut from shot to shot creating an interesting in-camera transition effect.

How do you switch from auto to manual focus? Most units have a button somewhere on the camcorder that will toggle autofocus on and off. You'll have to consult your manual for the specifics regarding your camcorder.

The convenient thing about autofocus is that when you turn it back on, your shot will automatically focus itself. This is useful if, as I described above, you want to begin your shot blurry and rapidly bring it back into focus. Use manual focus to blur your subject first, then after a few seconds of recording the blurred image, turn the autofocus back on again. Your subject will come into sharp focus as your camcorder takes over for you.

PRIMO ZOOMS

2012-03-31T08:52:00.000-07:00

The Primo® Zoom is the only family of zoom lenses that are built to specifically compliment the color and performance of the Primo Prime lenses.

Optically, the family of Primo® Zoom Lenses combines high contrast and resolution, even field illumination and negligible veiling glare, ghosting and distortion. The overall performance of the Primo® Zoom, including matched color balance to the full range of Primo prime lenses, makes for seamless intercutting of shots from primes to zoom. Because of the great flexibility and excellent imaging performance of the Primo® Zoom, they are suitable for all types of production and are intended to be used for both zooming and at fixed focal lengths.

4:1 Primo Zoom - SLZ

Introduced in 1988, the 4:1 Primo Zoom is T2.3 with a focal length range of 17.5-75mm. Its speed makes it an ideal choice for low level, night cinematography. The lens maintains a constant aperture at all zoom and focus positions. It has continuous close focusing to macro 1:6 with a minimum distance of 2½ feet. There is minimal breathing when focusing at short focal lengths.

The overall performance of the 4:1 zoom, including matched color balance to the full range of Primo prime lenses, makes for seamless intercutting of shots from primes to zoom. Because of the great flexibility and excellent imaging performance of this lens, it is suitable for all types of production and is intended to be used for both zooming and at fixed focal lengths. With the optional Primo 1.4x extender it becomes a 24.5-105mm, T3.2 lens with a 1:4 macro magnification and a close focusing distance of 2 feet 10inches.

As with all Primo lenses, focus, T-stop and zoom scales are engraved on both sides of the lens.

11:1 Primo Zoom – SLZ11

Introduced in 1993, the 11:1 Primo Zoom is a high ratio, high performance zoom. With an aperture of T2.8 and a focal length range of 24-275mm, it has become an essential tool for nearly every production. The lens maintains a constant aperture at all zoom and focus positions. It has continuous close focusing to macro 1:3.5 with a minimum distance of 4 feet. There is minimal breathing when focusing at short focal lengths (24mm-60mm).

The overall performance of the 11:1 zoom, including matched color balance to the full range of Primo prime lenses, makes for seamless intercutting of shots from primes to zoom. Because of the great flexibility and excellent imaging performance of this lens, it is suitable for all types of production and is intended to be used for both zooming and at fixed focal lengths. With the optional Primo 1.4x extender, the lens becomes a 34-395mm, T4 lens with a 1:2.5 macro magnification and a close focusing distance of 4 feet 1 inch. As with all Primo lenses, focus, T-stop and zoom scales are engraved on both sides of the lens.

3:1 Primo Zoom – SLZ3

Introduced in 1994, the 3:1 Primo Zoom is a high speed, high performance telephoto zoom, with an aperture of T2.8 and a focal length range of 135-420mm. The lens maintains a constant aperture at all zoom and focus positions. It has continuous close focusing to macro 1:6 with a minimum distance of 8 feet. There is minimal breathing when focusing at short focal lengths (135mm-200mm).

The overall performance of the 3:1 zoom, including matched color balance to the full range of Primo prime lenses, makes for seamless intercutting of shots from primes to zoom. Because of the great flexibility and excellent imaging performance of this lens, it is suitable for all types of production and is intended to be used for both zooming and at fixed focal lengths. With the optional Primo 1.4x extender the lens becomes a 190-595mm, T4 lens with a 1:4 macro magnification and a close focusing distance of 8 feet 7 inches. As with all Primo lenses, focus, T-stop and zoom scales are engraved on both sides of the lens.

Primo Macro Zoom - PMZ

Introduced in 2001, the Primo Macro Zoom is T2.2 with a focal length range of 14.5-50mm, and is a versatile zoom lens that can replace a set of close-focus primes. It combines wide angle zooming and continuous close focusing in a compact, lightweight design weighing only 9.5 lbs. It utilizes two aspheric elements, making it the most advanced Primo zoom in the series.

The color and performance is matched to the Primo prime and zoom lenses, and the Macro zoom also covers Super 35 format over its entire zoom range and down to 15 inches close focus. This lens will not accept any lens extender attachments. Includes MBPMZ Primo® Macro Zoom clip on matte box. As with all Primo lenses, focus, T-stop and zoom scales are engraved on both sides of the lens.

All Panavision Zoom lenses are equipped with a silent, high torque motor and include zoom controls and cables.

Black Swann - RC Stealth Helicopter Shoots Videos

2012-03-29T14:16:00.003-07:00

Gyro Balanced / 6 - 8 Minutes Flying Time / Records Video to MicroSD Card / Flashing Lights / Trim & Stabilisation Adjustment / 3D Multi-Directional

Controls / Bonus Spare Set of Rotors.

When it comes to indoor choppers, the Black Swann is a military secret that's hard to keep

With its matte black coloring, sleek lines and quiet operation, the Black Swann
is like the real stealth helicopters designed to be invisible to radar. It's the perfect
RC chopper for your covert combat missions behind enemy lines. Even better,
the Black Swann has a built-in camera and records 640 x 480 video to MicroSD
card in flight. Once safely home, you can review whether your mission has been
successful by transferring and viewing the AVI video files on your PC.
The Black Swann has a built-in rechargeable 3.7V Lithium battery that
charges in 70 minutes directly from mains power to give you 6 to 8 minutes
of all-action flying time. The remote control transmits using a powerful
27MHz radio frequency allowing the chopper to fly faster, higher and
further up to 100ft (30m). It's perfect for pilots of intermediate skill with
the ability to simultaneously change flight speed and direction. Vary how
fast you fly using the 2-speed tail rotor controller, stabilize flight levels with
Swann's Easy-Fly Gyro technology and use the 6-way multi-directional
controls to move up, down, backwards, forwards and make left and right turns.

Downloads

SWTOY-BSWANN Brochure (BROCHURES - PDF, 552kb)

SWTOY-BSWANN Manual (MANUALS - PDF, 1712kb)

Product Image - High Resolution - Web Ready

Product Info

Flying fun you can see
The Black Swann is designed to impress. Its powerful 27MHz radio frequency allows for flying
over longer distances up to 100ft (30m) away. Its sturdy yet lightweight construction is tailor
made for indoor use.

Complete control in your hands
The game console-style remote control makes Black Swann simple to fly with
Easy Fly Gyro technology to self-stabilize flight levels, 6-way up/down,
forward/backward, left/right turn flight movements and the ability to vary flight
speed using the throttle control stick.

Capture your flying missions on video
Record all your missions on video at the push of a button by adding a
Micro SD Card (takes up to 32GB). Then easily transfer the files to your PC
using a standard SD card reader. From there it's easy to share your exploits
with family and friends by uploading the videos to your favorite websites
such as Youtube, Facebook and more.

Simple to setup & charge
It's easy to get started. Simply add 6 x alkaline AA batteries to the remote
control then use the included cables to charge the chopper for up to 70
minutes from the AC power adapter. Once charged, you're up and away
with up to 6â€“8 minutes stealth flying time per charge!

Specifications

SWTOY-BSWANN
	General
Rotor Diameter	10.8" (275mm)
Dimensions	15" x 2.4" x 5.9" 380mm x 60mm x 150mm
Weight	0.29 lbs / 130g (Helicoptor only)
Helicopter Battery	Built-in 3.7V Li-poly Rechargable from AC mains
Media Type	Micro SD 1GB (supports up to 32 GB)
Record Time	10 Minutes = 450MB AVI Video
Helicopter Flight Time Per Charge	6 - 8 minutes
Helicopter Battery Charge Time	70 minutes via AC mains
Remote Control	27 MHz radio frequency
Remote Control Battery Type x Qty	6 x AA * Batteries NOT included.

Labelled Diagram

What's in the Box?

Contents

- Black Swann RC Helicopter
- Remote Control
- Micro SD Card 1GB
- Micro SD Card Reader
- Spare Rotors
- Charging Power Adaptor
- Operating Instructions

SWANN Wearable Action Video Camera

2012-03-27T12:29:00.002-07:00

Line up your shot or view recorded footage on the included 1.5" LCD screen.

Waterproof / High Definition 1080p recording at 30 fps / 8MP Still Camera / Removable 1.5" LCD Screen / MicroSD up to 32 GB (not included) / Included Mounts and Remote Control

Housed in a waterproof case the Wearable Action Video Camera allows you to Share Every Legendary moment!

SWANN INTERACTIVE PRODUCT DEMO
Check out interactive product demo to see features, images, videos, downloads & more.
CLICK HERE!

The Swann Freestyle HD Action Video Camera is the ideal accessory if you're a
weekend warrior that likes to play like the pros. Capture the time you
catch the perfect wave, land an awesome jump, play a stellar riff or your kids first
strokes in the pool - all in High Definition 1080p video or as 8MP still images.
The best part? You can share every one of these moments with your friends
and family by uploading the footage to a computer via USB or straight on a
TV using the HDMI connection.

Video is recorded to a Micro SD card up to 32GB (not included) for up to 10 hours of recording time. Recording can be activated either by the camera's buttons, with VOX voice activated recording or from a distance via the included remote control. The Swann Freestyle HD Action Video Cam is powered by a removable Lithium ion battery providing up to 2.5 hours of recording time per charge.

Getting the Swann Freestyle HD wet is no problem either. Simply slip the camera body into its waterproof housing and it's protected in up to 65ft/20m of water. Included in the pack is a range of mounts including a helmet mount and 2 different sized universal mounting brackets perfect for flat surfaces such as skateboards, bikes, snowboards and more. Even better you can instantly line up your shot or view your recorded footage on the included 1.5" LCD screen viewer. The viewer sets the Swann Freestyle HD apart from many of the other cameras around, giving you instant playback when you want it.

So whether you're surfing, skiing, car racing, cycling, hiking, horse riding, making music, kit surfing,
motorbike riding, roller blading or engaging in any other action packed activity you can share
every legendary moment with the Swann Freestyle HD Action Cam. Get your hands on one NOW !

Downloads

Product Information

Specifications

Labelled Diagram

What's in Box?

Where to Buy?

Downloads

Freestyle HD SportsCam Manual (MANUALS - 0.PDF, 1209kb)

Freestyle HD SportsCam Brochure (BROCHURES - PDF, 2974kb)

Product Image - High Resolution - Web Ready

Product Info

Record professional high definition action videos at 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels),
30fps with 3x digital zoom & stereo audio
Catch activity with 8 mega pixel JPEG images with continuous and triple shot burst modes
Great for any conditions with waterproof casing to 65ft/20m below the surface
Watch live video & playback footage on the detachable 1.5" LCD screen or on
HD TV using the HDMI connection (cable not included)
Record up to 10 hours* continuous footage to SD card up to 32GB (not included)
or use the USB cable to transfer to PC or Mac for easy uploading to your favorite websites
Convenient removable lithium-ion battery is rechargeable from
USB with up to 2.5 hours recording per charge
Easily mount accessories to your helmet, bike, snowboard, surfboard and
more to catch the best angle
Create hands-free action video while cycling, mountain biking, motorbike riding,
car driving, skiing, snowboarding, surfing, swimming, running, walking, rafting, skydiving,
making music or enjoying any adrenaline-pumping activity

To TOP

Specifications

	Video
Video Format	Video Format MPEG4 Codec, MOV File Format
Resolution	1080p (1920 X 1080) 30fps 720p (1280 X 720) 60fps
Photo Format	JPEG
Photo Resolution	Photo Resolution 8MP / 5MP / 3MP
Capture Mode	Single Shot, Continuous every 2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 30, 60 secs, self timer every 0, 5, 10 secs
Optics	135 Degree angle view at 1080p resolution 170 Degree angle view at 720p resolution
	Audio
Microphone	Yes - Built in
Audio Format	Stereo 48kHZ, AAC compression
	Recording
Storage Type	MicroSD Card (not included)
Storage Capacity	Up to 32GB
	General
Record Time	Up to 2.5 Hours per charge
Battery Type	Rechargeable Lithium-ion (1000mAh)
Charge Method	USB (computer or charger)
Dimensions	2.36" x 2" x 1.6" / 60mm x 51mm x 42mm
Weight	2.9oz / 82g (without screen) 3.8oz / 108g (with screen)
Storage Temp	-4 degrees F ~ 140 degrees F -20 degrees C ~ 60 degrees C
Working Temp	-4 degrees F ~ 122 degrees F -20 degrees C ~ 50 degrees C (When inside waterproof housing)

To TOP

Labelled Diagram

What's in the Box?

Contents

Freestyle HD Wearable Video Camera
LCD Screen
Waterproof Case
Remote Control
Carry Pouch
Helmet Mounting Bracket
Universal L Shaped Mounting Bracket
Universal Low Profile Mounting Bracket
Connector Tray Bracket Accessory
Flat Adhesive Mounting Pad x2
Curved Adhesive Mounting Pad
Wrist Strap
USB Cable & AV Out Cable
Power Adapter
Instructions Manual & CD

Midland XTC300 Camera Flight Test

2012-03-27T00:22:00.000-07:00

Midland Radio, known to many of us from our older CB Radio days, has launched a new wearable sports camera and we got our grubby hands on one this week and started putting it through it’s paces. There will be a full review as we try out more of the different options and modes so this is just a quick demo of it in flight.

Below you can see a comparison in size between the GoPro HD Hero and the Midland XTC. On the bottom of the XTC is a standard tripod mounting screw where the GoPro has no mounting option without its extra housing. This small feature does make it easier to mount the XTC but there is no built-in option to record the video upside down so you will have to process that in post production which may take longer than normal depending on your software/hardware.

The camera was hard mounted on the bottom of the Walkera MX400 for a quick test flight. You can see from this quick test that it’s not immune to the rolling shutter Jell-O effect. Stay tuned for more information and the full review to come later.

Safari Mall Qatar Add Film

2012-03-23T03:24:00.001-07:00

Direction: Anwer Paleri, Cinematographer: Rafeeq Rasheed, Editing & Grafix: Aneesh Valiyaveettil.

Sony PMW-EX3 Review

2012-03-20T03:05:00.001-07:00

INTRO
It is no secret that I’m a massive fan of Sony’s XDCAM HD Optical Disc System and the SxS system. I personally own an F350 and have spent 4 months using an EX1 solid-state camcorder too. This review is not going to be incredibly long or extensive, simply because I’ve already done a very extensive review on the PMW-EX1 (see under the camcorder reviews section). The PMW-EX3 is the latest addition to the EX family, and it is basically an EX1, only in a new semi-shoulder mount design and with ‘EX-Mount’ half-inch interchangeable lenses. So for this review I’m basically going to concentrate on the differences between the smaller EX1 and this new EX3.

The PMW-EX3 uses all the same components as the PMW-EX1; same 1920x1080 half-inch CMOS chips, same circuitry, same 35mbps codec, same features. So the picture quality from the PMW-EX3 is identical in every way to pictures taken using the PMW-EX1. If you want to read more about the image quality of these EX series camcorders, read my comprehensive review on the EX1.

NEW SHAPE
The first thing you will notice about the PMW-EX3 is its shape. People (myself included) are comparing the shape to that of Canon’s famous XL series camcorders, with the wedge/chainsaw ergonomics at the back end. Sony has designed the camera in this way to help make shooting more comfortable. Due to the extra weight of this camera, as well as the extra weight of larger lenses, it has been designed and shaped as a ‘semi-shoulder’ mount camcorder, just like Canon’s XL H1. The EX3’s extendable shoulder rest sits at the front/top of your shoulder. This makes holding the camera much easier than the ‘out front’ method you would use with a Z1 or EX1. It takes away a bit of the weight, though you still have to firmly support the camcorder with your right hand. It also aids in stabilizing the camcorder too as it is not being held in mid-air. The shoulder rest/pad can be extended away from the EX3’s body by about 1.5”, this is done by pushing in a small metal device on the base of the camera toward the back. Once out, it locks in place. To push back in, simply push the metal device in again on the base of the camera.

Overall I found the semi-shoulder mount system of the EX3 to be much better than the Z1, EX1 ‘out in front’ design. Weight is better distributed and stabilization is greatly improved. However, I found my right forearm to be angled back at an angle so my hand was almost touching my shoulder. This felt a bit uncomfortable for me, but this is probably because I’m used to a full-size shoulder-mount camcorder were your forearm is more vertical. It’s been a while since I owned a Canon XL1 so I can’t comment on how they compare. But from my vague memories I think they are roughly the same.

UP YOUR NOSE
If you have never heard of the ‘up the nose’ look, you are about to be educated. We’ve all seen the 6-oclock news on the box. How many times have you seen a pack of journalists and cameramen flock towards the exterior courtroom steps on the street to get an interview with some famous, or infamous… probably hundreds. The camcorders used for these ENG events vary, Sony’s DSR570 and DSR450 are favourites, and at the low-end of the spectrum Sony’s HDV Z1 camcorder is even being used on occasion. When watching these news stories, it is blatantly obvious which shots were done on a Z1 (or other similar ‘out in front’ style hand-held camcorder). This is because most Z1 type shots suffer from what is known as an ‘up-the-nose’ look, when used in ENG shooting situations. Because the Z1 is a hand-held camcorder, cameramen often make the mistake of holding it at chest height when doing reporting jobs hand-held, this results in the up-the-nose look due to the camcorder not being on the ‘eye-level’ of the person being filmed, instead, because of the slightly lower shooting angle, the lens is looking slightly up the subjects nose, which looks amateurish, and just plain bad from a compositional point of view.

The reason for this short lecture in ENG journalism, is simply to let you know that the new PMW-EX3 does not suffer from ‘up-the-nose’ compositions, due to the fact that it is not held at chest height, instead, it is at the same level as full-size professional shoulder-mount camcorders so you are on the same eye-line when filming people in a standing position. So not only is the EX3’s image quality good enough for ENG broadcast, but the compositions are too.

INTERCHANGEABLE LENSES
We all know that the EX1 has fixed built in lens like the PD170 and Z1 models. The EX3 is the first EX series camcorder to feature an interchangeable lens system. Sony is calling this new half-inch mount the ‘EX-Mount’. Although it is half-inch, it is not the same half-inch mount that Sony’s full-size XDCAM camcorders use; however, Sony are including a half-inch B4 mount adaptor with the EX3 so you can still use professional half-inch lenses from full size half inch XDCAM camcorders if you choose. The EX3 comes with a standard lens, this is basically the same as the lens that is built into the EX1, only with the new EX-Mount on the back so it is interchangeable.

Sony has informed me that Fujinon are going to be manufacturing a wide-angle zoom lens in the dedicated EX-Mount specifically for the EX3. This will be good for corporate videographers and wedding videographers who often need to film in confined spaces.

35mm lens adaptor manufacturer Letus, are also making an adaptor to allow their Letus Extreme 35mm lens adaptor to be fitted directly onto the EX3 bypassing the lens altogether. This means the picture quality will be superior, as it will only be using the 35mm lens fitted to the front of the Letus Extreme.

So why would you need a camcorder with interchangeable lenses, as opposed to a built in lens like the EX1?

The chances are if you are a corporate or wedding videographer, or just a keen hobbyist, the chances are that you will be happy with the built in zoom lens of the EX1. However, if you are an independent feature filmmaker, or a wildlife videographer, or even a corporate or event videographer who wants variation, the interchangeable lens system will be indispensable. Independent feature filmmakers will need to use 35mm lenses for depth-of-field purposes, whilst wildlife filmmakers will need long telephoto lenses.

You will need to ask yourself what kind of productions you do and if you need extra wide-angle or extreme telephoto lenses, or 35mm lenses. If the answer is no and you are happy with a standard zoom lens, then save yourself £1,500 and buy an EX1 with a tripod and some lighting equipment instead. Or perhaps you will like some of the other features that the EX3 has over the EX1. There is a little bit more to the EX3 than just the interchangeable lens system; read on.

VIEWFINDER
Apart from the interchangeable lenses, the second most important thing you will notice about the EX3 is the viewfinder. Sony has decided to ditch the somewhat questionable quality viewfinder from the EX1 and do an incredible Monocular viewfinder conversion job to the LCD screen instead. The LCD screen on the EX3 is identical to the superb LCD screen on the EX1, only this one has a special coating on it to improve the viewing image quality even further when it is being viewed through the monocular lens. This design is what Canon use on their famous XL series, only Canon’s screen is microscopic in comparison and the resolution on the XL viewfinder is nowhere near that of the EX3, in fact the EX3 viewfinder is in a different league altogether. Sony has done what Canon should have done many moons ago.

When you flip the monocular lens out of the way the EX3’s LCD viewfinder can be viewed just like the fold-out LCD screen on the smaller EX1. The quality is just as superb and unlike most other fold-out LCD screens, this one CAN be used to adjust focus and even exposure. I found that viewing the LCD screen directly (not through monocular lens) it is good enough for focusing purposes, and you can press the ‘expanded focus’ button on the handgrip to aid further. The expanded focus option zooms in on the image on the LCD screen and stays zoomed for 5 seconds to allow critical focusing. It only zooms on the LCD, and does not affect the recorded image. After 5 seconds the LCD image reverts back to normal automatically, or you can press the button again before the 5 seconds are up to revert to normal beforehand. For the record, the monocular can be totally removed, as well as being flipped up and out of the way. You can even get a good idea of ‘white balance’ using the LCD also, not for critical white balance, but for a general check it is fine.

vWhen you flip the monocular lens down in front of the LCD you can then put your eye up to it just like a regular viewfinder. Viewing this way has to be seen to be believed, it is incredibly sharp and seriously high-definition. If you think the LCD screen looks great when viewed naked, the monocular takes it one step further, if that is possible, adding that extra ‘je ne sais quoi’.

Checking exposure on this new LCD/Viewfinder is also very possible indeed, something that was not really possible (not for serious applications anyway) in the past with LCD screens. The EX3’s LCD screen can be viewed from various angles with little change in contrast and brightness, making it ideal for setting/adjusting exposure. The EX3 (like the EX1) also has an exposure histogram that can be turned on/off. It shows up at the bottom/right corner of the LCD screen and can be used to aid when adjusting the exposure. The histogram works incredibly well. You aim to get the spike in the exposure to the general middle position as a rule of thumb, depending on the light. You will get used to how the histogram works after a few hours of shooting.

Another great feature of this newly designed viewfinder on the EX3 is that it has dials on the front for Peaking, Contrast and Brightness, as well as a Mirror Image switch, Display Batt Info and a Zebra switch. This design is more in keeping with that of a full-size professional viewfinder. Because of this, setting up and calibrating the viewfinder to ‘Bars’ is easy.

FRAME-RATE DIAL
We all know that the EX1 has an overcrank/undercrank variable frame-rate feature for slow and quick motion, but it has to be accessed via the menus, which can be time-consuming, and a bit of a pain if (like me) you use it all the time. The new EX3 has moved this feature out of the menus, and directly onto the body by means of a push button dial. Now all you have to do to change the frame-rate is simply push and hold the Frame dial in for 3 seconds (the 3-second system is done for safety reasons, in case you press it accidently), it will then light up with a funky blue ring light around it to inform you that you are now in variable frame-rate mode. Then it is simply a case of turning the dial and setting the frame-rate as desired, the frame-rate is displayed and can be checked via the LCD screen display. Like the EX1, the EX3’s variable frame-rate can be set from 1 frame to 60 frames per second in 720p mode, or from 1 to 30 frames per second in 1080p mode. The Frame dial cannot do ‘frame cranking’ like a proper film camera, that would be asking just a little too much, and it would probably put Super16mm film camera manufacturers out of business too.

OTHER DIFFERENCES
Apart from the semi-shoulder shape design, interchangeable lenses, new superb viewfinder design and variable frame-rate dial on the outside, there are a few other little differences also.

The audio dials have a plastic door cover, which prevents accidental change in audio levels. Other features over the EX1 include professional BNC connectors for timecode in/out and genlock in, as well as the usual HD/SDI out. There is also an 8-pin connector for studio operation camera contro. You can adjust shutter for instance, but no focus or zoom control (lens control is undertaken on the Fujinon lens connector as per the EX1). This 8-pin studio connector is meant for camera engineers to use in conjunction with a camera op, it does not have 'VTR' control though. this controls many features of the lens such as exposure and white balance etc. The rear end of the EX3 looks much more professional due to all these BNC connectors, as opposed to the rather bland rear end of the EX1. Other connectors have been moved to the side of the camera. The SEL/SET push/dial and the CANCEL button have been moved from the back and put in a more convenient place on the left side. The PICTURE PROFILE and CAMERA/OFF/MEDIA buttons have also been moved from the rear end of the camera to the left side. With the STATUS and MENU button also along this same row on the left side, all related buttons/dials are now on the same side of the camera making operation less fiddly than the EX1.

On the right side of the EX3 we now have a BNC MONITOR OUT, an S-video output connector and phono outputs for AUDIO OUT CH-1 and CH-2, as well as a COMPONENT OUT and USB; the latter is now very easy to get to, unlike the EX1, which requires some rather awkward fiddling around under the hand grip. The audio select inputs and audio level dials on the side of the camera also gives the EX3 a more professional feel. This makes the EX3 the most versatile HD camcorder in its class.

There is also an additional hotshoe mount to the rear of the handle of the EX3, as well as the one on top of the built in stereo mic. The rear one is designed for the PHU-60K SxS Professional 60GB HardDisc Recorder. While I’m talking about the PHU-60K hard disc recorder, I’ll also mention that the SxS card door works in a slightly different way to the one on the EX1. To open it you have to push it up a few millimeters, then open it out like a door on hinges; as opposed to the slide-only door on the EX1. This has been designed with the PHU-60K in mind, as the PHU-60K hard drive plugs directly into the rear card slot B.

BUILD QUALITY
I was surprised at how light the EX3 actually is. I thought it would be considerably heavier than the EX1, but it is only slightly heavier. The overall build quality of the EX3 is identical to the EX1. It is not as robust as the Canon XL H1, which for me is one of the better-built prosumer camcorders out there. The EX3 also doesn’t feel as solid and chunky as JVC’s ProHD camcorders such as the GY-HD111E. Both the Canon and JVC models are more ‘metal’ in build and feel, you can clearly see and feel the metal construction. The EX1 and EX3 on the other hand look and feel plasticky in comparison with no metal (externally at least, internally is a di-cast aluminum chassis) in sight. If the Canon XL H1 and JVC GY-HD111E produced the same image quality of the EX1 and EX3 I’d recommend them over the Sony’s any day, but sadly they don’t.

Having said that, it is no worse than Sony’s own Z1 or Panasonic’s HVX200. But if Canon and JVC can do it, why can’t Sony and Panasonic; after all, Sony and Panasonic are the leaders in the Broadcast sector. Considering that the EX3 comes out of the same factory as Sony’s professional DigiBeta models, I would have expected a little bit more in the way of external metal parts and overall build quality. That said, you don’t hear of that many broken Z1’s, so I’m sure there won’t be any issues with the EX1 or EX3 models in years to come. Like the EX1, the EX3 is built around a tough di-cast aluminum chassis so there should be no real problems using it in the field. I must confess to being the fussiest guy on the planet when it comes to build quality. If I pay £6,000 for a camcorder, I expect it to feel just a little bit more substantial than a Fisher-Price toy (though as any parent will know, Fisher-Price toys are indestructible and are made out of very good quality tough plastic; they just don't break). This is one reason I prefer my F350 XDCAM camcorder. Although the picture quality of the F350 and the EX3 are identical, at least when you pick up an F350 it feels like a serious piece of kit and you are inspired to get down to some serious shooting. Whenever I pick up a ‘Z1-type-Plasticam’ camcorder, it all feels very lack-lustre to me and I’d rather go back to bed.

If you own a PD170, VX2100, Z1 or a HVX200, you will feel right at home with the build quality of the EX1 and EX3, like I said, I’m just a fussy bugger.

NOT SO GOOD BITS
Although Sony has informed me that the Camera/Off/Media switch has been redesigned, it is still just as fiddly to use as on the smaller EX1 i.e it is too easy to turn the camera into Media mode when you think you have turned the camera off. The same applies to the ND switch on the camera body. Trying to set it to position 1 is a nightmare, it flicks straight past the 1 position into position 2, you have to grip it with your fingernails and try and ‘nurse’ it into the middle position. My tip here is to not cut your thumb and index fingernails for two weeks before a shoot; you’ll need them. The SEL/SET wheel is still way too small and sunk back into the camcorder’s body, making it difficult/fiddly to scroll through the menus; I’d much prefer to see a dial more like the ones Canon use on their EOS 40D and EOS 5D digital stills cameras. Most of the controls (with the FRAME dial being the exception) are too small and tricky to use; the words ‘Magnifying Glass’ and ‘Tweezers’ spring to mind with regard to some of the tiny switches; AUDIO SELECT switches for example. As for the BARS/CAM and PICTURE PROFILE buttons, you almost need a pen or pencil tip to push these buttons; that is how tiny they are. The ASSIGN 4 button is still impossible to find and use by touch, you have to flip the camera upside-down with the base towards you and lens pointing skywards; very awkward indeed, especially when there is in fact enough room to put this button next to the other 3, where it would make more sense. Finally, the buttons for ejecting the SxS cards are just too small and they don’t pop out enough. Again, you almost need the tip of a pen to eject the cards. Even when the SxS card does partially eject, it’s only by about 4mm, so you almost need a pare of tweezers to grab the tiny bit of card that is sticking out to be able to remove it, I often found that when trying to grab the SxS cards, I accidently pushed them back in by mistake.

SUMMING UP
At £5,995 inc vat the PMW-EX3 represents incredible value for money in terms of the superb image quality it produces, the same can’t really be said of the overall plasticky feel to the camera. When you pick it up, it doesn’t feel like you are holding a piece of kit that cost £6,000. If superb image quality for ‘full’ broadcast applications is what you are after, the EX3 makes the grade with ease. In fact the EX1 and EX3 are the only camcorders in their class (compact non-shoulder) that actually meet full broadcast requirements. Unlike the HDV format which can only be used for ‘no more than 30% of the total programme length using approved HDV camcorders, maximum 1 minute contiguous footage’ with Discovery HD (Silver Level) for example, the EX1 and EX3 can be used for 100% of the coverage of the programme (after some acceptance trials for Discovery the EX1 is accepted as Silver). This is a first for a camcorder of this small size and price.

Twelve Helpful Tips for Shooting Great Video

2012-03-13T02:49:00.000-07:00

Use manual focus if your camcorder has it.
Set white balance at every location.
When shooting outdoors, keep the sun behind you.
Plan your shoot.
Use a tripod or other image stabilization device.
For handheld stability, imagine that your camcorder is a very full cup of hot coffee.
Use the zoom to compose your shot. Avoid zooming while the tape is rolling.
Move the camcorder only when necessary.
Shoot to edit.
Keep your average shot length between 5 and 10 seconds.
Keep the shot steady (no zoom or pan) for at least 10 seconds.
While shooting, be as inconspicuous as possible to best capture the true behavior of your subject.

HD Miniature Cameras

2012-03-11T04:37:00.003-07:00

Jonathan Watts and Rafeeq Rasheed

Jonathan's expertise in building and filming with "onboard cameras" has not only jumped to HD on eagles and peregrines etc but is about to go 3D in a 100gram package.

British Technical Films offers purpose built miniature camera systems for almost any application!

British Technical Films has developed systems weighing as little as 11g up to 50g HD and even a 100g 3D system used extensively on birds. Subsequent scientific analysis of footage has unlocked many of the secrets of pigeon navigation and the flight dynamics of birds of prey.

Work has also been carried out on car crash testing (Fifth Gear C4) , on arrows, fireworks, building explosions etc.

Jonathan Watts was nominated for a Royal Society award in 2008 for developing an 11g camera system to mount on the tail feathers of Caledonian crows for an Oxford University research team. He was also nominated for an Emmy award in 2001 for his miniature camera work on the “Animal Camera” series, BBC1 and winner of "TV Moment of the Year Award" (factual) for BBC's "Serpent Special".

For More details please click this link britishtechnicalfilms

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