Canon 5D tips » On the web

Need Adobe LightRoom? Here is a 50% rebate from Adorama!

Tommy — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 18:46:19 +0000

I usually try not to write article to promote a specific rebate (since I receive these kinds of email almost daily) but here is one that may interest a lot of you: Adorama is selling LightRoom 3 at 50% off! This is a time limited deal, so think fast!

While it is still twice as expensive as Aperture, if you have been considering joining the Adobe wagon, it could be the perfect time!

I switched to LR more than a year ago and I am quite happy about the move. While I think Aperture has better curve controls, for the rest LR is much better.

Here is the link

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LockCircle Making of video

Tommy — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 10:37:41 +0000

Do you know what the LockCircle is? It is a metal body cap for your camera EF mount which replaces the cheap plastic one provided by Canon. Useless accessory? Maybe, maybe not but one thing for sure: it is expensive at about 100$.

As some of you know, I have trie in the past to have some specific HDSLR parts manufactured so I was very curious when I received an email from LockCircle about their machining process. Take a look, it is pretty cool and it gives a good idea why these cant be sold for 10$ as some people requested. Are they a bit overÂ engineered? Probably. But I am pretty sure there wont be any knock off of these made in China!

LockCircle – The Making of – Canon 5d – Canon 7d from LockCircle on Vimeo.

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Donâ€™t switch to Adobe CS just yet!

Tommy — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 16:54:22 +0000

With the FCPX debacle, a lot of people jumped ship prematurely based on their emotions instead of sound reasoning. And, as most decision based on emotions, it is a bad choice, here is why:

First, the old and trusty FCP7 is still as good as it was two weeks ago. So, if FCP7 was good for you, it is still good now.

Secondly people are still discovering how to work with the software. Blame it on the lack of available training material but there are a lot of features identified as missing which are actually there under a different name or working in a different way. Spending some time with the software should actually fix most of these issues. I know because that is what happened with me!

But here is the most important reason why you should wait: according to my source, Adobe is going to start a switching campaign very soon to capitalize on the FCPX launch fiasco. According to this source, Adobe was not prepared for this since they were actually expecting FCPX to be a successful launch. Their planned response strategy was totally different than what they have to do now, hence the reason why you should wait a few weeks for the campaign to start if you want to benefit from it.

So, no matter what you are thinking about doing, you should take your time and wait before making any major decision.

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Pretty cool spot motion made with a 5DMrkII

Tommy — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:57:45 +0000

I love stop motion videos, problem is, I dont have time to even think about starting one! Here is a very nice one, which looks almost 3D if it was not for the BTS video. Take a look and dont think about how much time it takes to cut all these sheets…

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Introducting HDSLR101: your Q&A regarding HDSLRs!

Tommy — Wed, 18 May 2011 01:31:18 +0000

Earlier this week, I released my latest website: HDSLR101.com.

This is a very simple site: each post starts with a question and finishes with an answer.

Questions touch both video and stills and the goal is to cover all the most popular ones in the next few months. We are currently publishing one question per day, so you can either visit the website every day or subscribe to the RSS feed and get a new hint every morning.

Questions are submitted by you, the visitors, and can range from the very basic to the super technical. There is something for everyone. So please pay us a visit, add your voice to the answers or submit new questions!

We are also looking for people willing to help us manage the content. If you are interested, contact us.

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Technicolor released the Color compatible LUT file

Tommy — Fri, 13 May 2011 16:29:03 +0000

Thanks again to my friend Robert Cato for pointing to me that Technicolor has added an Apple Color compatible LUT file for their S-Curve LUT. It means you no longer have to use the LUT buddy plugin. It makes using Technicolor picture style even easier which adds another reason why you should be shooting with it!

You can get the file here.

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Can you really get the RigWheel cheaper over the net?

Tommy — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 20:52:27 +0000

I just received this email from Lance (RigWheel owner) in reply to J.R. Tabotier about places to get cheaper wheels for your rig. I think it is worth sharing this with your guys because too often people diminish the amount of work, testing & research that goes into developing rig part.

I know because I have been there. This is actually the reason why I gave up on the Cable Trigger. To make it worth for me, I had to sale it at a price point that most people would have complained about.

So here is Lance reply:

If he had done a little more research he would have found thatÂ www.newyorkmetal.com has a $100 minimum order and and $25 processing for orders under $200. Total shipped price atÂ www.cabinetmakerssupply.com is $138.53; About what I charge for wheels + international shipping. Lastly, it’s similar but not the correct part;)

I have received my set of wheels last week and haven’t had time to build my rig around it. Should come soon enough…

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I need more space on my DropBox

Tommy — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 02:43:52 +0000

Do you know DropBox? It is software that syncs your files online, across your computers and mobile devices.

It has to be the most useful app on my computer. The thing is, their free plan is limited to 2GB which may looks like a lot but isnt once you start to use it to backup pretty much everything and I am not quite ready for the paying plan.

Fortunately, there is a way to get more free storage: by inviting friends! For each invitee, I will get 250 more megs, up to 8gigs.

Registering does not cost anything, you end up with a true off-site backup solution and I get some more space. It is a win-win situation! So if you are interested, here is the link!

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Saturn Fly by movie

Tommy — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 23:46:12 +0000

This is not HDSLR related but I think it is cool enough that most of you will be interested. It has been out for a while but I just found out about it…

It is a video made out of composite images taken by the Cassini spacecraft. These are all still images, no CGI involved! While it looks gorgeous, I was really hoping to see some details of the rings but I guess their components are too small. This video is part of a Non-profit project. You can get all the details here.

Anyone doing astrophotography with their 5DmrkII?

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When the minimalistic approach yields big results

Tommy — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:26:14 +0000

We talk a lot about gear on this blog: tripods, rigs, lens, follow focus, etc… We take for granted that you need all of these to create anything that looks remotely professional. After all, if you dont have a super stable and sharp image, your end product can’t be good.

Well, Greg Watermann proves us wrong. Look at his coverage of the band Scars on Broadway.

Q: How many cameras do you think he used?

A: A single one and only two lenses: a Zeiss 1.4 prime and a venerable 24-105L4IS. Even better: he captured everything in a single night!

Last time Greg talked to me, the clip was in the YouTube top 50 music video, quite an achievement! His minimalistic approach gave great results and I am sure he will get more gigs in the future.

So what makes the clip so good?

First we have to give credits to the editor, Guzmanian, who did a great job keeping the intensity high during the whole clip. But he could only do this because Greg got such a broad variety of shots to pick from. And that is what I want to talk about…

What can you learn from this?

As I said in my last user submitted clip review, I only post clips shot by others when I think there is something to learn from it. In this case, Greg showed us how important it is to get A LOT of coverage (dont forget, he was the only shooter!). The more you have, the happier you will be when sitting in front of FCP.

The List

What ever you are shooting, would it be a concert, a conference or a wedding, capture as much as you can of everything! And dont stick with macro or close up shots. Use your wide angle to give a sense of space and dont be afraid to pan the camera too. This is something I personally have to work on, my clips tend to be too static (I blame my photography background for this)

Here is my quick mental list of must have shots, what ever the gig I am shooting:

People at the venue (dancing, drinking, talking to the camera,..)
Outside the venue (people in lineups, venue signs, shots of people inside from the window)
Props (glasses, microphone, console, napkins, anything that can be linked to the event)
Food (plates but also in the kitchen, plates getting prepared,etc)
Close up of actions (paying for tickets, drinks, people drinking, etc)
People putting their coats on/off
People moving in / out of the venue

All of these short clips can be used to put a sense of time/chronology to your film or can be used as transitions when you dont have anything else.

I never took the time to formalize, maybe I should. Do you guys use such a list?

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