Pulled the trigger and bit the bullet: the Canon 5D Mark 3 is mine

I've been wanting to go fullframe for quite a while and have waited till prices would drop on the 5D Mark 3. In addition to the other contender on the full frame front, the Nikon D800, I've also lurked over the Blackmagic Cinema Camera and the Sony FS100. I went with the Canon because of the fullframe, the look of the images, its lowlight ability and because I wanted a camera that shoots great stills as well as video.
I have an occasional photo-assignment and last year I borrowed a 5D Mark 2 and it made my photos -and me- look a lot better.
So I broke the piggybank and gave myself this huge present for my upcoming milestone birthday. I'll be able to make good use of it this year, with trips to London, Napels, Italy, Antwerpen, Florida and Honduras to look forward to!

I not only bought the Canon 5D Mark 3 but the kitlens, the 24-105 F4 L IS as well. I read great stuff about it and as an allround lens it should serve me well for photo-assignments as well as documentary filming.

I already own a bunch of aftermarket batteries for the Canon 5D that I bought to power my SmallHD monitor, I have a nice set of lenses, so I'm really trying to keep accessories to a minimum. Perhaps a flashlight or a CF card, but that's it... well, maybe a small microphone for the hotshoe, a batterygrip for those long video interviews... but that's really it... wait... the Atomos Ninja records the uncompressed HDMI signal ánd serves as a monitor as the same time, right... Sounds like a must have accessory. I swear that's the last of it!! (Is an SSD included..?)

15,- Pentax 6mm 1.2 (succes at last!)

I finally made myself a working Pentax 6mm! It took a lot of time, research, careful scrutiny and frustration and, most recently, the purchase of a Dremel but alas, I have a fast, wide lens that has infinity focus- and beyond! I also finally received my stepup ring so I could use my LCD variable ND-filter and shoot happily outside.

One armed bandit

This looks to be a nice single arm DSLR support rig: all aluminum and stainless steel, modular, lightweight and at $89,- very reasonably priced! I don't see a camera plate for the quickrelease plate so I'm curious how that works... I hope they don't charge 50,- just so you can mount your camera ;-)
This system has only been on the market for a few months so I'm curious about people's experiences. It's called the MagicRig which comes pretty close to Magic Spider Rig from GiniRigs. 'Magic' seems to be the 'magic word' when picking a name for a camera accessory. How about something more original, guys?

Cool DSLR app

Don't you just love this idea- and this iPhone app looks great, too.
For 8 bucks you can buy yourself the Swiss Army knife of DSLR-shooting. (although certainly not limited to DSLR's). Main features:

• Electronic Slate
• Viewfinder
• Daylight hours
• Shot log
• Depth of field calculator
• Spirit level

There's more in-depth information at the website. It's a Beta-release; on the website a few functions are mentioned that may behave 'erratically' but the developer seems to be serious about fixing these issues. It's to his credits that he mentions the shortcomings.

Is it a bike- or a steadicam?

If you like bikes and DSLR-gear, you must love this piece of homemade ingenuity. A steadicam made completely out of bike parts. (except for one part, I believe) I love it not only because it shows you how to recycle your old bicycle into a piece of gear, but for the sheer fact that someone came up with this idea. It's the summum of recycling!

To color correct or not to

"We'll fix it in post", is a much heard expression and its meaning is becoming more and more prevalent in video and filmproduction. The ability to correct and manipulate (the look of) footage has become more mainstream since the advent of tools such as Magic Bullet's Look or Colorista.

I wouldn't call myself a knowledgeable color corrector at all and I feel I make too little use of it. I have used presets from 'Looks' on a few clips and the response on Vimeo was so much more enthusiastic compared to 'unmanipulated footage'... it was a great stimulus to explore more of that area.

Mailbox: 3,- lens gear twist jar opener

a very small jar opener on a very small lens

A few months ago I watched a video about a great find by Tony Carretti in a GH2 Vimeo group. He ran across some US $3,99 twist jar openers that you could use as a type of focus-gear. I contacted my father in the States and sent him out on the hunt for these little devices. It took him 3 stores to find a place that had them in stock and he was finally able to send them to me. Everything great, except that he grabbed size Small. I am not going to tell him after all his efforts but I was a little disappointed when I opened the envelope and found these diminuative pieces of rubber... These were not going to fit my lenses.
But at second thought, the small rubbers (!) actually came in very handy. I've purchased several small to extra-small C mount lenses in the last month and the big jar openers would not have worked on them. These little guys are ideal; without them some C mount lenses would be impossible to focus during shooting. I'll get myself some extra jar openers when I visit the States this summer and make sure they are Large.

Twist jar openers XS

Pics by a 4,- lens: the Petri 28mm 2.8

I walked out yesterday with the Canon 550D with the 4,- 28mm lens mounted to it and realized too late I had forgotten my LCD viewfinder. Since 'summer' has hit Amsterdam a few days ago, light is bursting through every crack of the city and overexposing everything and everyone. Nobody's complaining, mind ya... We usually don't see this weather before June.
But it was impossible to judge exposure without an LCD viewfinder. And I didn't have the right size ND-filter. Here's nonetheless a few pics I took (click on them for larger size).

NOSHIE

On the waterfront

bridge

ONE LAST TIME: WATERFOUNTAIN AT 1/4000 SHUTTER SPEED

The next 4,- lens

As mentioned in a previous post a few days ago, I bought 6 lenses for a smashing total of 25 euro's just to see what these 'dump-priced' lenses are capable of. I am new to the 'wonderful world of lenses' and I am very attracted to the whole concept of aesthetic subtleties, the way one piece of glass treats light differently than the other and how that affects sharpness, color and bokeh. (the 'bokeh' phenomenon in and of itself is worth an essay all by itself: the mystical word, the way it occurs, the followers and haters of its varying appearances...) But also: the build of the lens itself. The differences and similarities between the way they were manufactured 10 or 50 or 100 years ago. And how old, useless lenses become hot items.

Mailbox: ziptie gear rings

I received my gear rings today from halfinchrails.com. Simple as can be. I got them in four sizes: S, M, M+, L. 4 plastic gear rings and 5 zip ties. (2 for the L gear ring) An invoice but no instruction sheet. These are budget gears but I find 10,- for a plastic ring still quite a bit of money. I understand we are paying mostly for research & development but still... if they were 5,- a piece it would have felt right and I would have bought ten or so. For the material and shipping it wouldn't make a difference.

S, M, M+, L

Mailbox: unboxing the DFocus V3

Just received my DFocus V3. First impressions: light, plasticky but solid, nice rotation with dampened friction. The big question with this product is, as far as I'm concerned, how it will stand the test of time. I'd be interested to hear from others how this thing holds after thorough use. I'll be posting a review after I've used it a few times.

Unboxing the DFocus V3 from Filmersblog on Vimeo.

In review: Varizoom VZ-LSP shouldersupport

I thought I wouldn't use it anymore after I bought my beautiful, modular Gini rig. But the Varizoom VZ-LSP has held its ground and remains my first choice when shooting with my Sony EX1R.
The biggest advantage over the Gini rig is weight, or the lack of it I should say. The second biggest advantage is the abdomen support. The rig just sits on your abdomen and takes away a lot of strain from  the arms.

Mailbox: 15,- multicoated UV filter and 2,- step-up ring

46-52mm step-up ring with 52mm LCW variable ND filter

Luxury problem: you have several camera's and want to be able to use your lenses and filters on both of them. Enter the world of adapter rings, step-up rings, stacking and threading.
I was particularly looking for a solution to mount my 55,- LCW variable ND-filter, which I bought for my Canon 50mm 1.8, on my Panasonic pancake 20mm 1.7 The step-up ring cost me less than 2,- and thus saved me over 50,- A great solution.

Lumix pancake with Kenko multicoated UV filter

I paid 350,- for the Panasonic pancake lens and needed to protect the glass with an UV-filter. The Kenko seems to represent good value for the money: 15,- for a multicoated piece of glass. I'll post some tests later to show the affect on picture quality.

Follow Focus on the way

I've ordered the D|Focus V3 and today I received an update that the unit is shipped. An acquaintance has had the V2 for a while and told me it is 'pretty good', especially considering the price. I figured the V3 must be better, perhaps even 'almost good'. I was looking at two Follow Focus options:

-The CineFocus R2 for around 430,- (including   shipping from England)
-The D|Focus V3 for around 160,- (including shipping from Finland. This price is only for businesses, for non-business customers you must add 24%)

Frozen fingers refuse service (part 2)

A few months ago I wrote about my fingers practically being frozen during a shoot out on the water. A few days after this shoot I noticed someone who was wearing gloves that were designed to allow control over equipment like phones or... camera's! It was my new discovery for shooting in the cold: filmers' gloves. (photographers probably have known them for ages) The fingerpart of the gloves can be removed to allow control over the buttons and scrollwheels. I bought a pair but regretted not buying the ones whereby you can also remove the thumb. The thumb is crucial! (but I was cheap and didn't want to spend the extra 20,- for a removable thumb)
For those who might need a pair: this store sells the ones with removable thumbs for a special price. Even including shipping across Europe it's still 10,- cheaper than the 35,- they ask here in Holland. Within Germany it's only 5,- shipping.
Get them while it's cold!

Mailbox: a strong arm

I received another package from mister Wong Mai Ming today from Hong Kong. (no relation, no business interest) Whereas the day before yesterday I had no clue as to why I bought the item (a C-shaped bracket), today I am very content with my new purchase.

It is an all-metal articulating arm which is definitely not a cheap copycat of a product. On the contrary, I believe this is exactly the same product that is being sold by major US companies for much, much more. I have owned and been a fan of the Manfrotto Magic Arm for many years and I think it should be part of everyone's kit. Whether it is for mounting a camera, a light or whatever in unusual places, this arm does the job.

Now there is this baby version, about 30 cm long. Twist one knob and it secures all joints. Combine this with the nano clamp and you are very close to owning a Magic Arm mini. Cheesycam has a little video on the articulating arm. This 'baby' sells for 79 to 99 dollars in many places, but I paid 44 dollars including shipping. Great deal.

My new prime lens collection

So you have a new set of lenses and the first thing that comes to mind is to take out the Lego trainset, strategically place assorted Toy Story, Teletubbie and other fantasy figures around the tracks and start filming. So that's what I did. I actually left out one lens that is part of this 'set': the Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 25mm f4 because I couldn't find it. So I owe you one.
No grading, no CC. Everything shot on a Canon 550D.

My new prime lens collection from Filmersblog on Vimeo.

Sharp lens, watch the cut

Finally able to play with my GH2, Canon 50mm 1.4 since I received my FD to micro 4/3 adapter yesterday. This a very sharp lens and so is the subject matter. Shot at 720P, no grading, no injuries.

Sharp lens, watch the cut from Filmersblog.nl on Vimeo.

Greedy & ignorant

That headline applied to me just yesterday. I walked by this giant thriftstore and there is all this delicious junk, used furniture, surplus inventory and entire households lying around like a huge yardsale. And there in a corner is a neat glass display that contains jewelry, porcelain, watches and other 'precious objects'. I naturally gravitate towards the case and instantly spot the familiar and most desirable black metal shafts: 'lens alert!'

True 24P out of the Panasonic GH2

24P out of the GH2 is wrapped in a 50i container, if I have read well. Now I'm not the most technical of persons. As long as it works I don't have to know how or why. But luckily for me and and many others like me, there are users and consumers very much involved in the inner workings of the soft and hardware that make up our cameras.
They know that these camera's can do better and they set out to prove it. Now someone has been able to figure out a way to record true 24P through HDMI onto an external recorder. It's a big deal, not necessarily because you get a much cleaner image but because it opens the door to many more possibilities on the GH2: the camera is not the impenetrable vault everyone thought it was. Here's the thread discussing this new development: http://tinyurl.com/6azfoya