movie auto focus with DSLR

Here's a hand held movie clip capturing a slice of humanity on the streets of Saigon in the build up to xmas 2010. It demonstrates focussing of the EOS 7D done manually just using the ring on the lens and my bad eyesight looking at the camera's live view screen. I'd need a third hand for zooming at the same time, so there's none.

Now for an interesting comparison with Sony's SLT a33, which is one of the first dslr's to have auto focus in movie mode, here's an example I found online:

http://vimeo.com/15917919

With the Sony, you can zoom and focus at the same time obviously. A downside is the phase change AF system requires the maximum lens aperture to operate, so the depth of field is minimised. Still, that means you'll be achieving that cinematic look most people are after....also, was that noise on the Sony clip (...apart from the wind), the auto-focus engine?

comparing HD shooting between dslr and film cams

Well apart from the obvious, like that you can take great still shots with your (say Cannon 7D) DSLR, what at the pros and cons of buying a DSLR for movie making compared with a purpose built film movie cam? Starting with the poo: -most DSLRs lack good continuous focussing capability (note: Sony have started tackling this), have recording time limits of 5 minute bursts of continuous shooting (which is hopeless for docco / interview situations, but no problem for most scripted situations), have nasty rolling shutter effects on fast pans (though iMovie 11 is tackling this with good results), and small crops of their images dont blow up as well as film. BUT there are plenty of positives. For example, the vastly lower price of purchase and operation (-having said that, watch out on this one as you'll probably want to pimp your DSLR with follow focus, monitor, etc). Then there's the fact that you can use all the lenses you might already have, which gives you amazing shooting potential and reuseability to save costs....and the quality of image can look fantastic! They are low light experts and some way outshine film cams in this area. When things get really dark you'll still have colourful images instead of those monochrome wash outs you see with infra-red techniques on film, and the colour noise can be very acceptable. DSLRs are also compact, which means they can fit into small shooting spaces and can be less intimidating for your subjects. Then there is the fact that the digital DSLR output brings in the advantage of easy digital workflow and immediate online capabilities. Gotta love 'em.

free online photo editing apps

sound design for Inception

Insiders' word on sound design for Inception.

"Inception" Sound for Film Profile from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.

Guitar Monster

Here's an informal rock guitar clip I shot featuring Seth Dodd. This clip was shot at Lemongum (Recording) Studio using my Canon 7D. Light was from a single domestic 40 W lamp and a computer monitor, so hardly any (!) and there is plenty of colour noise as a result. Still, on this occasion the fruit salad adds to the grit and slots in pretty well anyway. The 7D was pushed to ISO 6400 at f1.8 and shutter at 1/50.

Seth - Guitar Monster from Simon Ladd on Vimeo.

Proaim Linear Camera Slider Review

Only $200 AUS to buy a 3 foot slider and have it sent to my door, via ebay. Too good to be true?

The price, service and packaging were excellent, but what about the product?

Sadly the Proaim 3' Linear Camera Slider performs like it costs. Despite the good packaging the product arrived bent. Bends can cause different amounts of force to be needed in moving your camera along the rails, as the 4 separate sliding interfaces hit small humps or slumps and grab, particularly if you are using a weightier lens. This can result in jerky motion. The lack of sturdy design means the slider is vulnerable to further bending.

Most annoying for me is the fit of the base plate to rails. The tolerances are big enough to allow a measure of rocking which can cause camera jolt, particularly when you have a heavy lens. If you tighten the 4 grub screws provided you can reduce rock, but then you are stuck with a stiff and non-slidey experience.

This piece of equipment may be fine for hobbyists but pros will get frustrated...(and they will spend more on an alternative product anyway!) Despite this I would not write off other products from Proaim, but will check the reviews first.

Happy Dogs

I started out wanting to do some colour isolation using Photoshop but then changed my mind to see if a similar result could be achieved in the basic Sony Vegas Platinum Pro software in rapid time. What you see here involves no layers, just one video track, with a some tweaking of colour and saturation. There are a few little breakouts for sharp eyed, but generally a good result for a proof of concept.

Happy Dogs on King William Rd from Simon Ladd on Vimeo.