Panasonic GH2 hack showreel

Here's a 'showreel' of GH2 hack patches: footage that was shot with all sorts of different experimental hack settings by Nick Driftwood. It will tell you nothing unless you download the original file and compare that to your own, stock GH2 footage. But Driftwood posted a download link on Vimeo to the original, uncompressed footage for us to scrutinize.

These are considered experimental patches and I would not suggest using these on a paid job. You need extremely fast SD cards and they fill up in no time.

Sell all your gear and buy an iPhone 4S...

...and buy this shooter while you're at it. All you really need is a good eye and a recording device. Allright, and someone who knows how to edit. A good soundtrack. A house to edit in. Computers, software... A girlfriend would be nice... Or boyfriend, depending on your sex and taste... A big wad of money is also very helpful... And a purpose.

And then you're all set and you can make a video like this.

Anyway, well done...

Pitfalls of perfection

I did a shoot with a philospher a few months ago and the discussion came upon technical perfection. He mentioned that Americans are often obsessed with technical perfection. He himself was less concerned about technical perfection: getting the message across was more important to him.
His words got me thinking: was I obsessed with technical perfection? Looking at my work, I would not draw that conclusion ;-) I have a lot to learn. I am far from perfect and so is my work. But I do strive for a certain aesthetic ideal. What that is, I cannot define and it is certainly different for every project. But there are certain qualities I like. To name a cliché, I like (as many of us) most of Philip Bloom's aesthetic approach to shooting video. He makes 'everyday things' look extraordinary. His work is visually subtle, warm, never over the top. And most importantly, it is 'real'. In the sense that it is not contrived. It stems from genuine curiosity. But I'm digressing. Good form = content, is perhaps what I'm trying to say.
I saw a film at IDFA (International Documentary Festival Amsterdam) and it won the Public and Special Jury Award. It's called '5 broken camera's'. (great title) and tells the story of a Palestinian filming his life, his family, his village and the suffering they experience. The camera work is not pretty. It is point and shoot footage. But this Palestinian man was not interested in making aesthetically pleasing pictures while filming the bloody history of his village & people.
I was moved to tears by this film.

It is is good to strive for technical perfection. But beware of preoccupation with looks and styles. Pleasing aesthetics can provide a momentary rush but a true story will leave a lasting impression.

Top Docs

LIVE FROM IDFA: 8 HOURS OF NON-STOP MOVIES!

Live from the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam(IDFA): I am spending the entire day in a theatre watching one doc after the other. I've seen 7 documentaries (5 today) during this edition of IDFA and these films cut straight into your soul.
Whenever I see a well made doc, I wonder why anyone would ever go out and make fiction..?! Nothing beats a good doc as far as originality and drama is concerned. Fantasy is never more outrageous, scarier or funnier than reality.

Two of the top docs I recommend:  'To be Heard' by Edwin Martinez and 'Bobby Fischer against the World' by Liz Garbus:

Pocketsize teleprompter

Usually if you're working with a teleprompter(aka 'autocue', a device that that allows you to read text while looking straight into the camera), you're not going anywhere. I worked with one a few months ago and found it completely impractical. These things are so big and heavy that you need super heavy-duty tripods, leveling is a b*tch and you're basically stuck to one location. But now this company came up with the idea to use iPhones and iPads as a basis for teleprompters! This is absolutely brilliant: a portable package for spitting out long slabs of text wherever you want.

Where the hell is my Manfrotto monopod??!!

Manfrotto: where art thou?

Weifeng: the budget alternative

7 weeks ago I ordered and paid for a Manfrotto BHDV-1 (monopod with fluid head) and I'm still shooting handheld... I could really use it for a project I'm working on -a tripod is not an option- and I hold Manfrotto responsible for all the jittery footage I have shot... Manfrotto could have given me some service by sending me the monopod first and the head later, but it's been 8 days since I asked them to do this and I haven't heard anything since.
 I'm looking at alternatives now and I found a Special Deal on Personal View. At $189,- it's a lot cheaper than the Manfrotto model at $300,- Plus it's carbon (and thus lighter) but lacks the three little feet I'm really attracted to. (I have a feet-fetish, a 'feetish' you might say) But I'm not sure how practical the feet really are and how much I would miss if I didn't have them...
An entirely other option is buying a 'bare' carbon monopod and mount my Weifeng 717 fluid head on top... I'll be all set for $130 then...
 I'm going to give Manfrotto a few more days and then cancel my order if they don't come through, somehow...

Eat your heart out, Philip Bloom!

Cameraman/DOP Philip Bloom is arguably one of the best timelapse photographers out there (at least from what I've seen...) but in this case the problem was that he actually wasn't out there... Somebody beat him to this one. This is timelapse photography at a higher level...
I feel humbled in many ways: by the power of these pictures, the fact that I feel like a sub-level atom after viewing this and by the knowledge that I cannot produce anything even close as impressive as this marvelous footage.

Hacking the GH2: a friendly tutorial

For all those who -just like me- have held off hacking their GH2's because you were insecure about it and/or didn't feel like spending days on geek-forums trying to get some straight answers from this enormous pool of information, there is now an EZ guide to hacking your GH2. Well done, Sam Mallery! (and why didn't you do this BEFORE I spent 2 days and nights roaming the forums...;-)

GH2 shoot with compact rig

Compact GH2 rig 'on the job'

Did my first official shoot with my GH2 today and built this compact rig to suit today's needs. Was shooting with kids at a school and running about in the woods so I need something small and light. I took along my Pentax 6mm 1.2, my Panasonic Lumix 20mm 1.7 and my Canon FD 50mm 1.4. I wound up using the Panasonic most of the time because it is wide and will easily tell me at what aperture I'm shooting at. The Canon is too tele for handheld work and the Pentax aperture ring was too hard to see...
Audio was recorded on a Zoom H4n in combo with the Sennheiser G2 wireless series. My partner was doing the audio.
I planned to use my SmallHD DP4 but I was moving so fast I skipped mounting it most of the time. Can't wait to look at the (hacked GH2) footage.

Gettin' Jibby Wit It

I took my 4 foot jib out for a first real spin and it was a blast! As opposed to the steadicam devices I have tried, this will get you smooth, professional looking shots the very first time you use it. This is so much fun to work with and this jib is a real solid product.
The portable side to it is very relative, if you consider the heavy duty tripod and weights you have to bring along... Moving the whole setup is a pain and you ought to take the camera and jib off the tripod before setting up somewhere else, even 100 meters down the road. I picked up the whole thing and walked 50 meters, risking tripping or crashing in the process. I would strongly suggest not doing that...
Leveling is a bitch, too, you need 4 hands and a heavy duty tripod head to hold all that weight. And you need a heavy tripod: my Manfrotto 503 fluidhead performed great.

I had my Sony EX1R still set to DVCAM from a prior shoot and I forgot to set it to HD. That's too bad but the action is just as smooth in SD as in HD :-)

Sweet 'n cheap follow focus?

$99,- for a good follow focus?

Vitaliy Kiselev, the man responsibe for hacking the Panasonic GH1 and GH2, runs a forum called Personal View. He has some nice deal going on once in a while, whereby he appraoches dealers to give a special deal for his members. For the dealers it's nice because they get publicity and sell a bunch of units at once.
Now there's an interesting little FF being offered as a special deal. I think Vitaliy generally knows what he's talking about and he says this unit is better than another respectable budget follow focus, the DFocus. (I own one but it has some annoying play and it doesn not mount as easily as this one) This unit that's being offered could have 'minimal play': I'm curious to find out how that translates into real life... You have to be a member of Personal View to be able to get in on the deal. US $99,- seems to be a pretty sweet price.

Nice feature: on and off without waiting in line!

Coldfinger...

Neoprene gloves with three removable fingertips

With my newly acquired neoprene shooting gloves, I keep access to all my buttons, rings and controls without freezing fingers. Or without having to take the entire glove off, which can be tedious and timeconsuming. Last year I bought similar gloves but regretted not buying the ones where you can use your thumb as well. (probably the most important finger, along with the index finger)
Tip: look for these in an army/navy store. I bought this set at an army dumpstore in Amsterdam for about €10,- At outdoor/camping stores they can run as high as €35-40 Good deal! 

Velcro for securing fingertip-compartments

Good deal on DSLR Cage

PROAIM: decent cage, decent price

I've spent a few hundred euro on my Gini DSLR rig only to discover that the setup I bought was not ideal and I added a cage and top handle. I think with a DSLR a cage is the way to go. Add arms and grips for handheld work if you wish but start with that basic cage setup that will allow you to expand and build upon. I noticed Indian company ProAim has a good deal on eBay for their 6' DSLR cage: for US $145,- you get:

• 2x Brackets with 15mm rod  holders, 

• Top Handle with soft-grip 

• Quick Release sliding plate with adapter

• 2pc of 15mm Carbon Fiber Rods 450mm long

• 4pc of 15mm Carbon Fiber  Rods 225mm long

That's not a bad deal and it's a great starting point if you're building a new rig. ProAim is obviously not high-end gear but that's mostly noticeable in the finish (rough edges, plastic knobs) for the price it's very decent. I would recommend getting the 9' cage if you have a battery grip. I would also recommend getting a tripod mounting plate if you don't have one yet. The kit including this plate goes for $195,- 

6' cage kit with tripod mounting plate

Best Documentaries in the World

The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has opened its doors to the general public today. This is the ultimate documentary festival in the world and it runs until november 27. For the last couple of years I have immersed myself in great films during IDFA, watching one film after the other, eating fast food inbetween, drinking a few beers and on to the next movie... This year I bought a ticket for Best of IDFA, which shows on the last day of the festival from 10 am till 6 pm: six of the most highly rated films by the public. If you can't make it to the festival, some of the best films from the last years (called 'IDFA Delicatessen') can be seen online. My aim is to have my own documentary, I am Innocent, ready for IDFA 2012! Here's the first trailer we made:

Filming a chair... in space

Why bother faking this in Photoshop when you can go through the trouble of launching a real chair into space, along with a camera? Well, maybe because you'll never recover the footage after the whole damn thing crashes back into earth...

Beautifully shot, nice cut

These guys (and girls) must have had a ton of beautiful footage. This is one photogenic environment. What I like about this short is that it is so well proportioned and stylishly edited. Music is kept nice 'n low. Often you see directors and/or editors go over the top with these type of spectacular subjects. This is sensational yet subtle.

Review: budget DSLR viewfinder

Solid attachment via click-system

About 3 weeks ago I received the 'Perfect' DSLR viewfinder for $46 shipped. I've had the pleasure to shoot some video with it and my conclusion is that 'cheap' in this case does not mean rubbish. Obviously they had to save somewhere and that's on the construction. This little viewfinder is not the most sturdy device and it's an all-plastic design (including the VF). I also have a clone LCDVF and that plastic is quite harder/thicker than what is used here. But it does not feel flimsy. (the weak part in this construction is the hinge)

plastic hinge: doomed to break..?

The way the viewfinder clicks to the (glued) metal frame is a delight and it feels very sturdy. I like this much better than the magnet alternative that you can more easily push off. Then there is the +- diopter which is nice for people who wear glasses. In the last year I have had to start using reading glasses so this adds a little confidence to focussing. The rubber eyecup is soft and comfortable to the eye. For review or settings it is really nice to have the flip-up design where you can switch between magnification and viewing the entire LCD without having to take off the entire device.

This viewfinder has made it possible for me to shoot video with my Canon 550D/T2i without using some kind of stabilization. I also own a SmallHD DP4 but sometimes you just want to shoot fast & simple: with the 'Perfect' viewfinder and your camera you can do just that.

practical flip-up design

Video in an envelope

I'm very curious to see what this looks like in real life: a small flat lcd screen that starts playing a videofile when you open the sleeve/booklet or whatever package you choose to deliver your movie in. It's a fun idea and starting at €15,- it is not just for big budget-productions. Good for getting your showreel under the attention or as an alternative to dvd's for a (corporate) customer!

Here are some specs for the basic version:

Video format	All video formats
Resolution	320 x 240 pixels
Speaker	2W built-in mini-speaker
Battery	Built-in rechargeable Li-ion battery, 4,7V, 600mAh
Flash memory	128 MB
Accessories	USB cable for charging battery

Extra options are: 512MB or 1 GB flash memory, 2.4, 3.5 or 4.3 inch screensize and 1,2 or 4 controlbutton options. Video length: up to 8 minutes.

Magic Bullet Looks coming to FCP X

It's taking a while longer than planned but Magic Bullet Looks is coming to FCP X. This is important news for us but for Apple as well because many shooters/editors have held out switching to FCP X because they would have to miss third party plugins like Magic Bullet Looks.
I've had FCP X for quite a while but find myself still using FCP 7. I can't get myself to start learning the new FCP. Maybe I'll just have to ask Santa for a crashcourse FCP X and immerse myself into this new software for a week. Anyway, with Magic Bullet Looks, FCP X is becoming a lot more attractive.

For real easy filterwork Magic Bullet has Mojo 1.2 on offer for only $49,- for a limited time only. That's a good offer (50% off) and naturally this new edition is compatible with FCP X.

Mailbox: $4 of Chinese stuff

It's nothing mindboggling (to understate it...) but very nice to finally have: an ultra-minijack (2.5mm) to (3.5mm) female jack cable so I can use a decent microphone on my Panasonic GH2. 99 cents shipped- and it even works! ;-)

2.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable for GH2

And for $2,99 I received 2 rear lens caps for micro 4/3 lenses. I didn't need the body caps (Unfortunately I only have one body ;-) and asked the eBay-seller I could get 2 rear caps instead of 1 rear and one body cap. No problem- and now they just sent me 2 sets and charged for one... Now I can leave all my lens adapters on my c-mount lenses (like my Pentax 6mm 1.2) and store them safely. 

M43 lens caps for C-mount lenses