NoFilmSchool » canon

Will Nikon Enter the Large Sensor Video Camera Market to Compete with Canon and Sony?

Joe Marine — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:00:07 +0000

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Nikon has been pushing video extremely hard with their latest DSLRs, the Nikon D4 and the Nikon D800, and at least in the case of the D800, they’ve got a worthy competitor on their hands. Somehow the D4 didn’t get the sharpness of the D800, but it still got full, clean HDMI that can be recorded using a number of external devices to get a better codec like ProRes. If you’re curious, that’s not a real photo to the left. It’s what would happen if the D800 and the C300 had a full frame 35mm video camera child. Far-fetched? Maybe not. (more…)

5D Mark III/D800 Hands-On Part 5: Mark II vs. Mark III vs. D800 - Candlelight Revisited

Joe Marine — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:28:01 +0000

The candlelight test that got an enormous amount feedback has returned. After a bit of a delay between this one and the last one (thanks in part to the craziness that is NAB), I thought it would make sense to really level the playing field between the two cameras since the exposure for the D800 is slightly brighter at equivalent ISOs. I’ve also done a little bit of color correction and noise reduction, and the results are certainly interesting compared to the last video. The test is embedded below, but be sure to go to Vimeo and download it in 1080p for the highest possible quality. (more…)

So Many New Camera Tests it's Hard to Keep Track: Phantom Miro, RED SCARLET, Sony F3, and Canon C300

Ryan Koo — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:56:43 +0000

We’re trying to share more actual shorts and not just camera tests here, as a difference of one stop in dynamic range from one camera to the next is not going to make or break your narrative or doc. From DSLRs costing hundreds to 4K cameras costing tens of thousands, there is a great camera out there for your budget. Still, one question all filmmakers will be asked is, “what do you want to shoot on?” and so it’s still handy to keep tabs on what’s available. Here are several new tests of some of the latest large-sensor imagers: (more…)

How Durable is Your Camera? A Canon 7D is Tested to the Extreme

Joe Marine — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:39:39 +0000

We’ve been testing cameras for performance in ideal conditions, and also in not-so-ideal conditions, but this is just ridiculous. Kai Wong and the guys over at DigitalRev were kindly donated a Canon 7D to see how much punishment that little camera could take. The 7D has a magnesium alloy body, so it’s much more capable of handling inclement weather — but what if it were frozen in a block of ice, or set on fire? Could it still take photos? Check out the video below to find out. (more…)

The Redrock microRemote is a Professional Wireless Follow Focus for Under $2500

Joe Marine — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:57:59 +0000

We’ve already shown off one of the cheaper wireless follow focus systems from JAG35. Now Redrock Micro has partially redesigned their microRemote Wireless Follow Focus system by developing their own motor and creating a new controller (in addition to the iPhone controller). They’ve also got a rig system called the ultraCage that is designed to be form-fitting to cameras like the Canon C300 or the Canon 5D Mark II and 5D Mark III. I had a chance to talk with Brian Valente and Loren Simons at the Redrock NAB booth, and you can see that video embedded below. (more…)

Want to Watch the Canon C500 Projected in 4K? Go Check This Out if You're in LA

E.M. Taboada — Sat, 05 May 2012 19:55:56 +0000

Curious about Canon’s EOS C500? Wondering what the footage actually looks like projected in 4K, and what the post-process workflow is like? If you’re in the L.A. area you should sign up for this free event being held by Canon — it’s a workshop geared around scratching just those kinds of questions. They’ll screen the C500-shot Man and Beast, previously shown alongside The Ticket at NAB, and have C500′s on-hand. Here are the details:
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The Battle of the Preamps: 5D Mark III vs. D800 Audio Recording

Joe Marine — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:35:35 +0000

Audio recording internally to DSLRs has been mediocre at best. It’s great for scratch audio when you’re doing dual-system sound, but for the most part, it’s a real pain. I’ve been testing the 5D Mark III and the D800, but one of the tests I wasn’t able to do as thoroughly as I wanted was to test the internal audio recording of both cameras with a proper microphone. I know that many out there would ask why you’d ever plug directly into the DSLR without some other external preamp box, but sometimes (like at NAB), having the least amount of equipment that can fail is best. I met Dave Dugdale at NAB, and in this video he takes the time to test out both the Nikon D800 and the Canon 5D Mark III for the quality of their internal audio recordings. (more…)

Magic Lantern is Working on the 5D Mark III After Canon Firmware Update

Joe Marine — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 11:34:16 +0000

Canon recently announced a firmware update for the Canon 5D Mark III, and that led the way for the great folks at Magic Lantern to begin porting their hack. Already a big hit on the Mark II and other Canon cameras, Magic Lantern could open up specific features many believe Canon should have included in the first place. Chuck Westfall has said that the 5D Mark III and the 1D X might never get a full, clean HDMI, mainly because Canon (obviously) puts more money and attention into the video features on their expensive video-centric Cinema EOS line (though he also says they are always listening to consumers). Most of all, they want to keep the two product lines separate, and possibly the only hope for this feature (and others like it) is for something like Magic Lantern to unlock the hidden power of the camera. (more…)

Canon Resolves the Curious Case of the 5D Mark III Light Leak

Joe Marine — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:00:39 +0000

That strange light issue I reported on not too long ago seems to have been resolved by Canon. Basically, while taking still photographs in very dark situations, the top LCD backlight would cause the meter in the Mark III to give a false reading, and the resulting exposure would therefore be incorrect. It looks like they are quietly fixing the issue on newer cameras, after they stopped shipments for a short period of time. If you are one of the lucky few who currently owns a 5D Mark III, then Canon has issued a response. (more…)

NAB 2012: Final Recap - Was This Really the Year of 4K? (Blackmagic Proves Otherwise)

Joe Marine — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:43:54 +0000

I’m still trying to catch my breath from this year’s NAB show, but all this week I’ll be posting more videos and a few more thoughts on what I saw there. This had been dubbed the year of 4K by many, but I’m not so sure we can call it that. 4K is still a couple more years from becoming mainstream, but there’s no doubt that manufacturers are pushing their televisions and cameras into the world of 4K2K and QuadHD. Even though there were a few devices capable of shooting in that frame size announced at NAB, none of them are currently shipping (though the FS700 is the closest – even though it won’t technically be shipping as a 4K camera). It was a big year for announcements, but a few companies stood above the rest, while others missed the mark. (more…)

NAB 2012: Day 3 Recap - Thoughts On 4K RAW Data Rates and Letting the Camera Roll

Joe Marine — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 10:58:10 +0000

I had a chance to stop by Atomos, RedRock, ikan, Jag35, Zacuto and had some great conversations with the people there. I will have video updates from all of these companies and more as soon as I can get them uploaded (again hotel WiFi is brutal, I know I am not the only one suffering from this problem). NAB 2012 is flying by and there is enough happening at this show that if it ran for a month it would still be impossible to cover everything in-depth. On a side note, if you’re going to make an app for your show (the NAB 2012 app), why not promote it a little more? This is probably advice for anyone making an app for any type of event like this, but promote it like crazy – from posters to telling people about it when they register.

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NAB 2012 is Underway: Canon, Sony, and RED are in a 4K RAW Battle (Panasonic and Aaton Aren't Far Behind)

Joe Marine — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 11:07:25 +0000

It’s that time of year again, when companies reveal what they’ve been working on for the past year, and quite a few prototypes that aren’t quite ready to see the light of day. A few have already thrown down the gauntlet for camera superiority, namely Canon and Sony (though Sony still might have one more surprise for us at the show). We’re still waiting on RED’s (and Panasonic’s) response to these new 4K RAW ready cameras, and Jim Jannard has been making some noise on the REDuser forums, showing his excitement for what they’ve got coming next. Hopefully we’ll get a glimpse of “Dragon” at NAB, but we’ve been told in the past on those same forums that we won’t see any new products until they are shipping. (more…)

The 5D Mark III and the Curious Case of the Top LCD Light Leak

Joe Marine — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 07:24:30 +0000

Many people have been reporting an issue with the 5D Mark III that Canon has now finally addressed. It seems that when the top LCD backlight is turned on in a dark environment, it’s possible that the camera’s automatic exposure will be affected and the resulting photos will not look correct. For video, this is a non-issue, but the fact that Canon is possibly going to fix or replace 5D bodies out there is a pretty big deal. They won’t go so far as to call it a recall, but it seems that essentially all cameras that have been released up to this point may suffer from the issue. (more…)

The Canon C300 (DeVito) Gets a Genetically Superior Twin, the 4K C500 (Schwarzenegger)

Ryan Koo — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:12:17 +0000

A $15,000 DSLR? Now we’ve seen it all. No, wait — we haven’t seen it all, as Canon is just getting started with their Cinema EOS line. And they’re also just getting started with 4K acquisition: their latest addition is to be the Canon C500 (pictured), which is essentially a 4K version of the C300. (more…)

Canon Announces World's First 4K Video Shooting DSLR: the ($15k) EOS-1D C

E.M. Taboada — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:55:53 +0000

Canon has dropped its bomb — the EOS-1D C . The world’s first 4K video shooting DSLR. Equipped with a full-frame 24mm X 36mm CMOS sensor that offers an APS-H sized area for video capture, and recording 8-bit 4:2:2 Motion JPEG 4K video to CF cards at 24fps, this camera packs a punch. Both in terms of its features — and the $15,000 price tag: (more…)

5D Mark III/D800 Hands-On Part 4: Mark II vs. Mark III vs. D800 - Candlelight

Joe Marine — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 02:27:05 +0000

Well it’s taking a bit longer to get these up than I’d hoped, but I think the evidence in this one is the most obvious of any test I’ve seen so far. This time the Canon 5D Mark II has been thrown into the mix, in addition to the 5D Mark III and the Nikon D800. We were in a room with large windows well into the night, and so there are a couple streetlights providing very basic illumination at the higher ISOs. Other than that the only light is the candle right in front of our model Sasha. (more…)

Can You Tell the Difference Between the ARRI Alexa and Canon C300 in This 'Game of Thrones' Test?

Joe Marine — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:36:20 +0000

Comparisons are fun, even more when they’re for expensive cameras. As I’ve said before, we try to look at all sorts of different topics from around the film industry, and we are not just going to look at DIY options like the hacked GH2. Shane Hurlbut, who runs a fantastic and informative blog himself, was recently shooting a promo for HBO’s Game of Thrones. He decided to shoot the Canon C300 alongside the Arri Alexa for the promo. Shane came up with some interesting results. (more…)

5D Mark III/D800 Hands-On Part 3: ISO Range Test

Joe Marine — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 23:30:00 +0000

During pre-production for the narrative film that I am shooting as a companion piece to the 5D Mark III and D800 test, which is now on part 3, we decided to see the entire ISO range of both cameras and see how well they handled under and overexposure. I wanted to see how the internal codecs would stand up to this extreme test, so both cameras were set to the variable bitrate 28mbps codecs in the camera. The lenses were kept the same – the best of the best from both Canon and Nikon, the 70-200mm f/2.8, with the Canon being the newer version of that lens. (more…)

LCDVF Viewfinder from Kinotehnik Introduced for the Canon 5D Mark III

Joe Marine — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:46:20 +0000

That didn’t take long. It was only a matter of time before companies began releasing loupes compatible with the new LCD screens of the 5D Mark III and the D800. Since the Mark III screen is slightly bigger, the old LCDVF for the 5D Mark II will not work correctly. Kinotehnik, who makes the LCDVF, is also planning on releasing a loupe for the other new DSLRs, including the D4 and the D800. (more…)

Removing the Front Optical Low-Pass Filter on the 5D Mark III for Sharper Video

Joe Marine — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 03:39:01 +0000

That’s not quite how I’ve been spending my time with the 5D Mark III, but thankfully James Miller was brave enough to try to get the most out of his camera by tearing it apart. We know that the Nikon did not completely remove the low-pass filter on the D800E, because it still requires the IR filter – but the Mark III seems to have two strong optical low-pass filters in front of the sensor. James explains exactly what he did below, and it is definitely giving his 5D Mark III a lot more detail than before – and he’s got some video to prove it. (more…)