New Canon Instant rebates are here. Click on the image above for savings on 60D, 7D, 5D, T2i, T3i and a ton of other lenses!

]]> http://dslrvideoshooter.com/instant-rebates-on-canon-cameras-and-lenses/feed/ 0 http://dslrvideoshooter.com/why-the-7d-is-still-my-favorite-hdslr/ http://dslrvideoshooter.com/why-the-7d-is-still-my-favorite-hdslr/#comments Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:11:52 +0000 Caleb Pike http://dslrvideoshooter.com/?p=3380

Over the past 3 years I have had the opportunity to shoot with a lot of cameras. Of them, I have found my favorite to be the old 7D. Sure it was my first video DSLR, sure 4 other Canon HDSLRs have been released since the 7D was birthed into the world. Sure, its not full frame, doesn’t have a flip out screen, yet it still takes 1st in my mind.

Allow me to expound.

The first feature that sets the 7D apart from the other cameras is its build quality. Its an elegant tank. If you have not held a 7D do yourself a favor and run over to best buy and check one out. Its a whole other world of difference from a T2i.

The grip on the 7D is perfect. I have large hands and the 7D just feels right when I pick it up. Over the past year I have switched from larger rigs to just the body lens and maybe a small rod system and when I use the monopod or tripod I actually use the 7D grip to pan and tilt rather than the tripod arm. Your T2i might brake in half if you try that, so don’t.

Another feature that makes the 7D invaluable to me is the HD monitoring. Unlike all the other Canon’s (Excluding the T3i) the 7D gives you an HD signal when you press record. This does matter as much for those who don’t use monitors, but the moment you try to monitor a T2i you will understand the world of hurt I speak of. This makes the 7D my number one pick for any shoot that requires a lot of focus adjustments. Trust me when I say focusing a 50mm at F1.4 is near unto impossible to manage at 480p.

The third feature that I love on the 7D over other cameras is the quality of the dials. I love the HUGE dial on the back, I love the joystick for menu and target movement, and I love the nice heavy wheel positioned right next to the shutter release. No cheesy or clicky buttons just smooth well machined controls.

Another feature that is exclusive to the 7D is the stop/start button. Doesn’t sound like a big deal but it is. A button with such an important function as capturing footage deserves good feedback and a high quality of build, both of which can be found with the 7D. This is something I hope to see on the 5D mkIII.

The other reason I love the old 7D is the sentimental value involved. She was my first HDSLR. I learned so much from shooting with it. Its helped me discover a new love for filmming and a new interest in photography. Through shooting with my 7D I’ve discovered the wonderful world of optics that was withheld from me for so long. So that just makes the camera even that much more awesome to me.

Of course there are several other things that are good too; extended ISO range, More custom settings on the dial (the C1, C2, C3), and all the other pro photography features that the 7D possess over the T2i, T3i, and 60D.

Finally the price is a fare one. Unlike the new 1D x, the 7D will only set you back around 1500 bones.

B&H Has listed the Canon 7D at $1,500!

Even with all these other cameras coming out, I am still a huge fan of my 7D. The pro level body and features have proved themselves time after time. And if another camera ever comes out that rivals it, I know the 7D has a great resale value. So take advantage of this great deal!

Also Check out the 60D rebates and the double lens rebates are back!

Our friends over at B&H are offering several instant rebates on Canon DSLRs. This is a great opportunity for those who have not yet invested in these cameras. This is also a great time to pick up a B-cam for those of us who need more than one camera body. To see all the rebates click here. DSLR Video Shooter is an affiliate with B&H. So if you do bye from this link you will be supporting future content on this site. And for that I thank you.

What the…

Robin Schmidt (also know as El Skid), recently posted a video and blog post showing off his “Beastmaster” rig. The rig is designed around two cameras. One 5D and a 7D. While this setup seems utterly absurd, there is logic and reason to the madness. Robin explains in his blog post:

“The kind of stuff we’re shooting involves some pretty crazy stunts, like walking down a busy high street wearing a bacon bikini etc. etc. and we really don’t want to hang around too long. Having the two cameras going at the same time means we don’t need to stick around for any longer than we need to. He does a lot of talking to camera and there’s usually a lot of cross-cutting.”

Robin goes on to share how he used the 5D as his main camera with the Canon 24-70mm L zoom lens, and the 7D with the Tokina 11-16mm for a wide B cam.

Why?

I have to admit at first I was questioning why one would go to such crazy ends to achieve this type of shoot. But I began to see some great uses for such a setup. A lot of people would probably just use the RED One and shoot it wide at 4K and crop the finally video to create several differently framed shots. But then you are loosing sharpness when you zoom in, and you don’t get the fun ascetics of a super wide lens. Some might ask me:  ”Ok then Caleb, why not just shoot with two different cameras with difference operators?” Well that is just it, not only would you need two people to operate, but they would be at different angles. What is so great about having the cameras right next to each other is the perspective. Since the talent was acting/speaking to camera, they didn’t have to cue him to look at different cameras. Brilliant.

Its obvious this sort of rig is not practical for many shoots, but it worked well for Robin. Be sure to check out his video describing the setup and his blog post.

In this episode we look at using close-up filters to shoot macro images on any lens. These filters are essentially a magnifying glass for your lens and are affordable.

Here are links to the different filter sizes available on B&H:

43mm, 46mm 49mm, 52mm, 55mm, 58mm, 62mm, 72mm, 77mm.

Other Links:

• The Beautiful Canon 50mm f/1.4
• My Sister’s Photography and Design Work

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QuickTime File: DSLR Video Shooter Episode #008.

8 Simple steps for getting started with DSLR video.

Alex Maximov recently messaged me with this question:

“I am getting into DSLR stuff and I am thinking of buying Rebel t2i camera.
What would be your advice for me as a beginning cinematographer?…”

I have been receiving a lot of emails from people asking where to start with learning DSLR video. This guide is my answer to those interested in getting started. This is also the process that got me started.

Should You switch to DSLRs?

Before you fully commit to shooting video with DSLRs, you should ask yourself why. Is it because you want more manual control, Lens selection, or because DSLR are hot? If you answer with the latter you are in for a painful, disappointing reality. While DSLRs seem to be the bee’s knees, you will quickly find them to demand a whole other level of discipline you aren’t ready, or want to engage in.

But if you are interested in more manual control and options to refine your footage, have a learners attitude, and are willing to work with the cons of shooting DSLR, your ready to jump in.

1. Choosing a DSLR

While this question seems like a daunting, it is rather simple. How will you use it. Before you begin to spend weeks studying the specs consider your current situation. Are you a student, hobbyist, or someone looking to switch fields? Than seriously consider a Canon T2i or Nikon D3100 (when it comes out). If you are a video professional, full time filmmaker/photographer, than the Canon 7D or 5D will be a more reasonable choice for you. Also consider if you will be making money with it or not. A lot of people I talk too say they are waiting until X camera comes out or until they can afford Y camera, but in reality they could have bought a T2i landed some jobs and been on their way.

The Point is don’t get hung up on the camera. I have worked a lot with the Canon T2i and consider it to be totally proficient for most situations. You can’t go wrong with this sub-$1000 camera. Get what you need not what you want and start shooting.

2. Learn the Camera

Of course buying a camera won’t make you a pro, so the next step is learning these cameras. Before I bought any lenses I purchased Philip Bloom’s Learn 2 Shoot Great Video On Your Canon 7D DVD. I highly recommend this for anyone. Phil really did a stellar job putting this together. He does offer a 5D training DVD as well. As you learn more about the camera you with become more comfortable with it. Also be sure to work through Ryan Koo’s The DSLR Cinematography Guide. Once you are well acquainted with your camera, you can fully focus on what your shooting and not what buttons to push.

3. Learn About Cinematography

To this some will respond “But I’m not going to be a cinematographer” Great! Now go learn cinematography… To really get the most out of these cameras you need to understand a few key concepts. What is depth of field? And more importantly how does one use it? What is the 180 degree shutter rule? Once you begin to understand and master these concepts, you will see the quality of your footage skyrocket. I highly recommend Blain Brown’s Cinematography: Theory and Practice for Cinematographers, Directors, and Videographers. It goes everywhere I do.

4. Figure Out What You NEED

Once you understand how to use and move your camera, you will start to see what you are going to need gear wise. We all want the Laforet Kit, but in reality we don’t need all that stuff. Most of my film, doc, video, and commercial work have been shot with a decent tripod, a fast 50mm and thats it. A great resource to help you figure out what YOU need is Adriel Brunson’s DSLR Buyers Guide. Its a 50 page guide walking you though some choices.

Basically, the “Needs” need to trump the “Wants.”

5. Practice Practice Practice

Once you are comfortable with the camera and concepts, its time to create something. By create something I don’t mean test videos. Create challenges for yourself. Create a visual short and lock the aperture at one level, experiment with shutter speed while shooting a sport or shoot a short action scene with friends, shoot a short sequence of camera shot locked down on the tripod. The point is create a really project to share with others and try new things. Even if it is a total flop you will learn from it.

6. Ask for Critiquing

Once you have something you would like to share, ask some people to critique it. Be open to their comments. Mentorship and collaboration are a huge part of creating visual art. Harness the power of the internet and video groups like Vimeo, and Exposure Room. If someone constructively rips your video, lick your wounds and apply what your learned to your next project.

7. Learn More

Now that you have studied, practiced and feel like your getting there, hit the learning circuit again. There are TONS of online resources for learning more about HDSLR uses, workflow, lenses, data rates etc. Don’t be afraid of it all. Embrace it and take it all in a step at a time.

8. Repeat Steps 5-7

You’ve arrived. Now start it all over again

If you found this post helpful please consider using our B&H link for your next purchase to support future original content. Thank you so much!

- Caleb Pike

I have been shooting a lot of podcast episodes for the Home Film School Student series and thought I would share how we shoot and put one of them together.

The Set

We have been shooting recent episodes in Guy Silagi‘s studio. The room has 15 foot ceilings which gave us plenty of room for lights. For the backdrop we used a 107″ x 12yds grey Background Paper mounted using a set of background stands. This backdrop is a must have for anyone shooting a lot of interviews and other sit down style productions. It allows one to use it as a canvas to sculpted custom background light configurations. More on that in a bit.

We also setup two directors chairs. These are nice because they are comfortable, and are taller than most chairs giving the camera operator more options for angles and positioning.

Lighting

Key Lights – For lights we used some borrowed lights. The two key lights are Interfit Stellar lights. Sadly they are FAR from stellar. While they are affordable, and produce decent light, we found these to be poorly made. Pieces jammed easy and are poorly designed. We also used some wrap to keep the key lights from spilling onto our background.

Background Lights – For the background we used Guy’s older Smith-Victor lights (New Equivalent). Using a color effects gel kit and black wrap, we could create different lighting patterns.

We typically shoot 2-5 episodes in a day, so this setup gives us a way to quickly change the lighting setup and get a fresh new look. One thing you could do to further diversify your lighting would be to use a cookie with the lights to give the set even more dimension.

Rim (Hair) Light – For the rim light we setup a Smith-Victor flood to help separate the subjects from the background. Mounting it was a Manfrotto Heavy Duty Boom and Stand. While this boom is a little overkill for the small light we mounted, it does come in very handy for mounting all sorts of microphones and lights.

Camera Gear Setup

For this shoot we had a Canon 7D and a Canon T2i. The T2i was used as camera A and was locked down on a bogan tripod. The 7D was mounted onto a Redrock Micro Shoulder Mount and was setup for mobile B cam. This setup allowed me to start the A Cam, pick up my shouldered B cam and shoot OTS (over the shoulder) and over angles during the interview. This triples the production value of the shoot. In the final product there is a diverse set of angles keeping the content even more interesting.

Lenses – On the T2i we had an old Pentax-A 50mm f/2.0. For the 7D I use both the Canon 50mm f/1.4 and the Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens. I used the zoom for tighter framing and OTS shots because the IS made for smoother shots. I used the 50mm for wider shots so I could still maintain decent depth.

In the future I will use the Canon 50mm on the T2i because the Pentax did not maintain consistent sharpness from edge to edge.

Audio

While audio is one of the most important parts of production, audio was also the easy to set up for this shoot. I get a lot of people asking me about what mics I use and other audio gear. But for a huge amount of my podcast and other shoots I use only the Zoom H4n… Thats right. Just the H4n. I find that if you are only recording 1 or 2 people the built in microphones work just fine. Here you will see my audio setup. Just the H4n mounted on a mic stand:

Usually I will position the mic above the talent but in this situation it worked just to place it below them.

Work Flow

Work flow is simple. I used two 16gb Sandisk Extreme cards, back up on portable HDs. Get back to editing suite and edited the two cameras together. Exported the project and use Mpeg Streamclip’s batch feature to export versions for iTunes, Vimeo YouTube etc.

Conclustion

With this setup we can prepare the set for an interview in about 20 minutes. And with these tools we get incredible production value and a low setup time.

I hope this has been helpful and informative. If you enjoyed this let me know and I will endeavor to do more of them. Until then, you can find all the images from this shoot as well as some screen grabs from the episode below. For the full episode from the shoot visit Home Film School Student to see it.

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PRODUCTION STILLS

A Simple solution to removing those nasty brown horizontal band lines from your DSLR video footage using Final Cut Pro’s 3 Way Color Corrector.

Excuse my cold. I see this problem a lot online in forum posts, Vimeo videos, and even Jem Schofield runs into it. While the best way to deal with it is not to shoot under older florescence lights, there is a way to fix previously capture footage.

UPDATE: on Vimeo Andrew James Sykes comments and reminds us:

“As long as you shoot around 50 for EU or 60 for US (or a divisible number of these) during lighting situations such as these you should be fine.”

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QuickTime File: DSLR Video Shooter Episode #006.