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Introducing RigsEnvy.com!

March 11, 2011 By

After a small delay, here comes my first release for 2011: RigsEnvy!

RigsEnvy.com

What is it?

RigsEnvy is like Flickr but it replaces dogs and flowers pictures with HDSLR rigs. I wanted to create a microsite for HDSLR users to showcase and talk about their rigs.

The site is still in beta, but I invite you to check it out now and tell me what you think.

Dont be shy, whatever the rig you got, publish it! The goal is not to showcase the cream of the crop but to show the rest of the world what people are actually using to get the job done.

The site is voluntarily feature limited right now. Before committing more time to the project, I want to get some feedback from you, the users. I have some great ideas for the site but, in the end, it is your participation, that will turn this into a success.

Feel free to contact me if you have any ideas/suggestions/what ever.

What is next?

RigsEnvy was just a small first step. I am currently working on two other web applications (!), much bigger in scope and impact. And guess what is the best way to be informed about these? Joining the mailing list! (look in the column at your right).

So dont be shy and visit us at www.rigsenvy.com

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Canon announces T3I & T3

February 7, 2011 By

I am not the first to cover the news so lets go straight to the interesting parts. Forget the T3, it only record in 720p, lets look at the Canon T3i which is the only real option for HDSLR shooters.

Features

The spec sheet is looks pretty standard/expected until we hit these two points:

  • Improved EOS Full HD Movie mode with manual exposure control, expanded recording with new Movie Digital zoom and Video Snapshot features for enhanced video shooting options.
  • Vari-angle 3.0-inch Clear View LCD monitor (3:2) for shooting at high or low angles and 1,040,000-dot VGA with reflection reduction

Improved movie mode

The big word here is not the manual exposure control (and the 720p60!) but the new movie digital zoom. In the description it says:

magnify the center of the image by 3–10x while at the same time maintaining gorgeous Canon Full HD image quality

I just dont understand how they can do it! To zoom 10x while still reading 1080 pixel high means the sensor would have to have at least 10,800 pixels! I think this is a typo and the 10x zoom is only available when shooting in 640×480 mode. Anyone can confirm this?

Vari-angle LCD

Clearly Canon realized the demand for vari-angle LCD and is acting on it. If you think it is useless, it is simply because you have never tried it! The question is: are they going to add this feature to the other, more advanced, camera models? I hope they do (at least up to the next 5DMrkIII or 7DMrkII) but I doubt it.

What about the stills?

For those who still enjoy taking pictures, Canon improved the automatic mode (they now call it A+) and the metering/autofocus. I have no idea how much of an improvement this A+ mode is since I have not used the Auto mode in the last 8 years… I am not a big fan of camera deciding how to exposure my shots but I am sure this camera will be very popular among soccer moms and amateurs.

Value proposition

Priced at about 800$, the Canon T3i is an incredible deal for someone getting into HDSLR video. At least on paper! Lets all hope Canon keeps the ball rolling and gives the same level of improvements to the next 5D!

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Filed Under: News Tagged With: , ,

The Rookie

July 13, 2010 By

A few weeks ago, I was looking for contributors to the blog and Jeremy was one of the selected few. Jeremy will publish periodic articles about the life of a rookie HDSLR worker. I am sure his experiences will connect to a bunch of readers. My goal is to cover the spectrum from both end: Jeremy is the “Rookie” and I have another contributor coming up who is a full time pro. I hope you enjoy these posts.

After my post requesting help, I received a lot of applications from all kind of people. I selected Jeremy because he is a perfect example of the new generation of HDSLR film maker: people with no formal film school training who decides to make an important career change. He is embracing the HDSLR revolution and will probably rise with it.

Film is fun. Let me clarify, making movies, weather it is for business or pleasure has it’s ups and downs, but if you are reading this there is a 90% chance that you agree that film is fun. I am at the belief that sometimes your career ends up finding you, the thing that you really want to do kinda springs out and place itself in your lap. Maybe it was a friend who called you up to be an extra in a movie they were making for laughs. Maybe it was creating a skate board video with friends that planted the film seed in your mind. But somewhere, along the path of life you have made the decision to move in the film direction and that you were not going to settle for being second best, you were going to do it and do it right.

That is me. I got a taste of film from college where I just pumped out the videos with my Sony Handycam with friends and found a passion. Of course life had taken me in a different direction, I got a job marketing for a real estate firm and one thing led to another, my Handycam was shuffled to the back of the closet and was forgotten about.

6 months ago I was laid off from my job. The high end real estate that I was marketing stopped selling because short sales were up, the company I worked for had to let me go and I was left with two options. Find a job doing what I was good at, or make a career for myself with what I wanted to do and that I truly believe I will thrive at. The film seed was still in my heart, it just needed to be watered.

This blog will be about my life creating a film career for myself. I have invested a lot of money into the required programs and computers. I am armed with my 7D, several lenses, a Zoom H4n for recording audio and a very basic lighting kit. I will admit I feel over whelmed with the things I need to learn, the equipment I will need to purchase, the techniques I will have to harness and mistakes I am already anticipating, but the seed is growing now, and I can’t wait to see how high the bean stalk will take me.

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Filed Under: From the contributors Tagged With: , ,

Canon Rebel T2i: 7D killer?

February 10, 2010 By

If there is one thing no one was expecting this week, it has to be the release of a new HDSLR camera. Yet, that is exactly what Canon did. The new Rebel T2i is, on paper, an incredible package priced ridiculously low.

For the photographer

18mp on a 1.6x crop factor, I will have to see some real life sample shots to judge image quality but it is interesting to see the ISO going to 6400 (extendable to 12k) for an entry level toy. That is quite good if image quality is at the rendez-vous.

It also benefits from a lot of features that used to be restricted to the double prosumer bodies like improved auto focus and light metering. From a photographer perspective, it should be considered a decent upgrade for any 50D or older camera owner (if you dont need the burst rate). At least, from a specs sheet perspective.

For the videographer

Remember how 5DMrkII owners felt when the 7D was released? Well, 7D owners are now feeling the same! The new rebel can shoot video full manual and has variable frame rate (24p, 25p, 30, 50p and 60p), something to make 5DMrkII owners jealous. I know because I am!

Of course, the camera will probably not have the same low light image quality as the 5DMrkII (and maybe the 7D) and it is not full frame so it does have its limitations. Yet, it is a fraction of the cost of its ‘better’ alternatives. [Read more...]

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Filed Under: News, Photo, Video Tagged With: , , , ,

HDSLR from Zero to Pro training=> next Sunday in Montreal

January 25, 2010 By

I am giving an HDSLR training class next Sunday. If you are in the Montreal area and would like to know everything there is to know about HDSLR, contact me! The course is for photographers who want to shoot video so we are starting from the very basics and end at the moment where the files are imported in FCP. You will learn everything in between!

The class will be in French and will last  around 3 hours, more if needed. It is mostly targeted at 5DMrkII owners but 95% of the content is also valid for 7D and 1D owners. Users of other brands can attend but about 25% of the content wont be relevant to them (ex: I dont know how picture style works with the D300s).

For the amount of content I am packing in and the small size of the class (5 learners), this is ridiculously cheap @ 130$ for what you will gain.

So, if you are interested, contact me for more details.

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Filed Under: News, Video Tagged With: , ,

It is a HDSLR not a HD DSLR!

January 12, 2010 By

This one has been one of my biggest pet peeve for a while and I think it is time to use my very limited influence to correct this:

We should say HDSLR, not HD DSLR!

You probably know what a SLR camera is: SLR standing for Single Lens Reflex. A few years ago, the D was added for “Digital”. Actually, it should have been NSLR for Numeric SLR (since the SLR at the time were already using digital technologies) but I think marketing departments thought it did not sound cool enough and went with DSLR.

Fast forward a few years and the term HDSLR starts popping around as an acronym for Hybrid Digital Single Lens Reflex. By hybrid we mean a camera that can take both stills and videos.

The fact that the first popular HDSLR (Nikon D90) recorded in HD made a few people call these HD DSLR for High Definition Digital SLR but if you think for a moment; it does not make sense because:

  • DSLR already produced high definition images
  • It does not say anything about the video capability of the camera.

So a DSLR that can shoot video should be called HDSLR! Pass the word.

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Best products of 2009

December 31, 2009 By

Now that 2009 is almost over, it is a good time to look back at all the products we have tried during the year and see which one stood above the rest.

My first idea was to name a product of the year but I quickly realize that it would not work and I should split the contenders in various categories.

Shoulder rig

While not a rig by it self, the Shape telescopic arm has to be the best stabilization device one can get. With some tinkering, it could be installed on pretty much any rig or even at the bottom of a bare camera. I can foresee similar version of this product to be in the catalog of every manufacturers in 2010.

[Read more...]

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Filed Under: News, Review, Video Tagged With: , , , ,

DFocus DSLR mount = follow focus without rails!

November 18, 2009 By

D-Focus came up yesterday with a new innovative product: it is a camera plate with an adjustable arm to install a follow focus. Dave calls it the DFocus DSLR mount.

dslrmount_thumb

This is a genius idea! This little gadget allows you to use a follow focus with small rigs like the Zacuto Gorilla series without upsetting too much the rig center of gravity.

I have yet to try it out but, from a requirement perspective, this is the product I have been wanting for a while without even thinking about it. No need to carry my indi rails and camera plate anymore!

On a side note, I guess it means I will have to revise my post about the 350$ follow focus rig now. The price got slashed almost in half!

My only complain so far: it should be called the DFocus HDSLR mount…

You can order it here

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Filed Under: News, Video Tagged With: , ,

I am going to be a speaker at the MtlFCP meeting

October 17, 2009 By

Things might have been quite on the blog but not for me! I have been invited to present HDSLR at the Montreal Final Cut Pro user group. This is a great honor for so many reasons, the first being that the MtlFCP group is huge and the tickets for the show sold out in less than two days! Of course, the attractive and unbeatable price of 5$ per tickets might have something to do with its popularity.

So, if you are from the Montreal area, don’t miss the conf. It is going to be good! Mathieu and me are going to cover pretty much everything there is to say/know about filming with HDSLR in less than 3 hours. We will have gear for you to try out from pretty much every manufacturer too so it will be a great opportunity to play with the rigs you have always been dreaming of buying.

If you cant make it, no worries. All the content will be put online via the Final Cut Mtl podcast.

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