Transitioning DSLRs to Video: Possible Problems

[Michael Erlewine]

Transitioning DSLRs to Video: Possible Problems

These are probably small problems in the larger scheme of things, but even little problems can eat up your time, and here are a couple:

(1) Quick-Release Clamps
Many of us are using quick-release clamps from RRS or Kirk Enterprises (Swiss-Arca-style), the ones with the little knobs that you tighten to engage. They are great and I prefer them to the ones with the levers.

As we start to stop thinking of DLSRs as just still cameras and get ready to shoot some video footage, we won’t be doing it on our ball heads and Gitzos. Why? Because the camera stability issues involved with video panning and movement depend on fluid movement and continuity rather than snapshots.

Video tripods are generally sturdier and use fluid-heads rather than ball-heads. Plus, and here is the problem, fluid heads generally have wider and longer base plates than do DSLR.

For example, I have two Sachtler video tripods, generally considered a good brand for video work. Each of them has its own quick-release plate on top of which I have to mount an Arca-style quick-release plate. The RSS and Kirk quick-release clamps with the little round knobs won’t work on the larger video-tripod plates because those knobs (made for the tiny DSLR plates) stick below the level of the flat bottom of the plates, thus not allowing that plate to be mounted on a larger flat-plate. That is a problem.

I called around to different companies and find that the DSLR companies don’t know much (yet) about video tripods and vice versa. I spent time on the phone and a dozen emails just trying to get them (the video tripod guys) to understand our problem. When they finally understood it, no one seemed in a big hurry to do anything about it, although this will be the tip of the top of the iceberg as DSLR folks migrate to making movies, etc. You get the idea.

RSS does make a lever-action quick-release clamp, and the lever does not protrude above or below the thickness of the plate, but they say that unless you have their Arca plates, they won’t guarantee it to work, so that Kirk plates, etc. may not work. I have ordered one to find out, because I have a ton of Kirk plates that I love.

So that is one problem that I would love to hear your thoughts on.

(2) Lighting
The other problem is lighting. Our Nikon CLS (Creative Lighting System) wireless flash strobes are good for taking stills, but for video we need continuous lighting, not flashes. I don’t see any technical hurdles here, just financial ones, as we will need a whole new set of lights for serious studio or film work. All of the gobos, diffusers, reflectors, etc. that we have for studio still work and will be great for doing videos as well.

I am sure there will be other problems and I would like to know what some of you are discovering. I am working with the Nikon D3s for which I don't find a forum here, but the issues are general.

Thanks,

Michael Erlewine
Heart Center Studios

[Jim Klatt]

No issues here. I use my Bogen/Manfrotto tripod, a quick release plate, and a shoulder rig. Works exactly the same as my EX1 setup.

[damonb]

The reason for going dslr in my view is good, interchangeable lenses, large sensor, and in Nikon's case, the tone of the image.

Generally speaking, I think the aim is to try and approximate the form-factor of the video camera in order to get the best out of it - rails, a small swing-away matte box, follow focus, maybe shoulder mount connected to the rails, maybe a monitor. A reasonable video tripod with quick release. Some people won't need these things, of course, but for getting a conventional, quality image I think they're a must. You must be able to focus, and to focus you cannot rely on turning the lens barrel with your hand, hence the follow focus. To know you're in focus, you may need something more than the lcd back, hence the monitor.

The companies you are talking to probably don't get it yet, but with your camera in a rig, you're really looking at a video camera that weights around 5kg, and that they will understand, and be able to recommend the right tripod, or steadicam-type device.

Most of the stuff you use for stills will be very useful for video but yes, not flashes. You can always rent light kits. Don't you sometimes use continuous lighting for stills in the studio?

[Michael Carter]

I've only been playing with my D90 for a matter of days, a few things to think about:

I use a Manfrotto video tripod with the 501 head for my DVX; I just screw a spare release plate onto the D90 motor drive and it works fine. About to try it on my crane.

For a matte box, I have a screw-on bellows hood from one of my Mamiya 6x7 setups, works fine for flare & filters - haven't gotten rails for the DSLR yet. An eBay screw-on hood (with step-up rings as needed) could be fine for getting started with wider glass; the appropriate hood for any still lens (say the stock hood for the 85 - 1.8) seems fine for flare in video use - just doesn't look as cool.

Focus: a follow focus seem pretty necessary for me unless your shots are very static. I've been shooting Nikons for ages and have two or three manual lenses that are really well damped (AF lenses always seem way more "loose" to me). The stiffer focusing lenses are easier to work with IMHO - plus you get better manual control and don't have to twist the lens loose for full aperture control. But if I'm gonna do anything "real" with the D90, a follow focus/rails is next on the list.

Lenses: don't forget the older manual Vivitar primes - some of those are fine considering the video compression. There's not much Tokina/Sigma etc from the old days. Nikon Series-E lenses are fabulous for video, really underrated glass in their day, esp. the 100mm. A fast 28mm or 25mm seems like the best "first lens" to me, as it's close to "normal" on the D90. I like the extra width of the 28 myself.

You'll need a mini-plug extension (basically an iPod headphone extension cable) to use a monitor with a crane (just use the stock Nikon video cable with an extension); HDMI port kills the LCD, but the analog port sends video out and leaves the LCD running, too.

It's fairly impossible to get good handheld shots with the D90. I'm going to throw together one of the "ghetto-gimbal" rigs for now and see how it works. I have a fig rig, but I find the D90 is just too light for steadiness, YMMV.

Luckily, as a still shooter, I got fascinated with cinema lighting long before video was a viable possibility - I still look for fresnels and open faced stuff on eBay. If you're a still studio shooter, chances are you have a ton of light stands, grip, scrims & flags. I shoot Speedotron and I can use many of the modifiers, with just the modeling lights, for video - but there is fan noise and they max at 250 watts. Handy for fill, and a 250 with a reflector and grid is fairly bright - it's the scrims/softboxes that kill your output (I love the metal grids for still shooting, but with video you can really see all those "dots", be advised). If you've only shot on-camera and small flash units, you'll want to buy or rent. For outdoors, there's a ton of DIY butterfly solutions on the web.

Everyone talks about the D90's low light ability, but I find it needs a lot of light to look clean enough to be useful. Been shooting 500-750w through scrim fabric to kill the noise.

[Michael Erlewine]

http://www.vimeo.com/7997178

Some of you may wonder what kind of detail the new Nikon D3s puts out. Here is a sample, but please note the following:

(1) Raw Footage – No correction or sharpening of any kind. It would need some processing, but most of all proper lighting.

(2) Lighting – Taken in a studio without enough light. I grabbed a tiny clamp-on light from one of the editing desks and placed it to the left, and another high up, but this shot would need to be properly lit with studio lights, so overlook that.

(3) Camera -- Nikon D3s with Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 VR II lens, aperture priority set at F/8. Tripod mounted.

(4) Sound – 2.3mm input jack on the Nikon D3s to XLR and a Sennheiser shotgun mic on a stand near singer.

I guess the point to me here is that the D3s will be perfect for the work I do, which is studio work and interviews, and perhaps some macro work in the summer. So, knock the video qualities of the D3s those who will, but with my great collection of Nikkor lenses, this will be perfect for my use. Now I need a second one!

This rehearsal recorded in Live Room 1 of the Heart Center Studios in Big Rapids, MI. Legendary Michigan singer/songwriter and jazz singer Robin Lee Berry is going over a classic tune with Grammy award-winning harmonica player Peter ‘Madcat’ Ruth. Samuel Seth Bernard was the producer.

[Zim]

Looks good.

The big thing I've noticed so far is these new video DSLRs (D90, D300s, 7D D3s etc) need to be on a tripod or have a good stablizer. If you do that you are going to get a pretty good video. To many people trying to walk around with them. One of the things I've been doing is interviewing people in bands. These kinds of cameras would work great in that area.




http://www.vimeo.com/7997178

Some of you may wonder what kind of detail the new Nikon D3s puts out. Here is a sample, but please note the following:

(1) Raw Footage – No correction or sharpening of any kind. It would need some processing, but most of all proper lighting.

(2) Lighting – Taken in a studio without enough light. I grabbed a tiny clamp-on light from one of the editing desks and placed it to the left, and another high up, but this shot would need to be properly lit with studio lights, so overlook that.

(3) Camera -- Nikon D3s with Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 VR II lens, aperture priority set at F/8. Tripod mounted.

(4) Sound – 2.3mm input jack on the Nikon D3s to XLR and a Sennheiser shotgun mic on a stand near singer.

I guess the point to me here is that the D3s will be perfect for the work I do, which is studio work and interviews, and perhaps some macro work in the summer. So, knock the video qualities of the D3s those who will, but with my great collection of Nikkor lenses, this will be perfect for my use. Now I need a second one!

This rehearsal recorded in Live Room 1 of the Heart Center Studios in Big Rapids, MI. Legendary Michigan singer/songwriter and jazz singer Robin Lee Berry is going over a classic tune with Grammy award-winning harmonica player Peter ‘Madcat’ Ruth. Samuel Seth Bernard was the producer.

[Michael Erlewine]

Zim:

Me exactly. Bands, performers, studio, concerts, interviews, etc. I see no reason why the D3s won't be as good as anything with the proper lighting. I wonder what cheaper camera might work for a second camera?

[Zim]

D300s would work. The video I've seen with it in interviews seems good. Have you tried a Zoom for audio?


Zim:

Me exactly. Bands, performers, studio, concerts, interviews, etc. I see no reason why the D3s won't be as good as anything with the proper lighting. I wonder what cheaper camera might work for a second camera?

[Zim]

This is still one of the best D300s videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAGS3d4i-DE

[Michael Erlewine]

I have Zoom H4n for interviews, etc. But so far, the stereo out jack on the D3s seems to be doing a great job. Listen to the sound. It is better than the video perhaps.

One thing I did find is this: I shot perhaps a hundred or more photos during the recording session, still shots. But when I looked through them, as usual, 90% of them were no good because of one reason or other, like: time moved on, low light, etc. I did not have a flash unit with me and could not have used it in a studio anyway.

But when I looked at the video footage, I was able to pull a lot usable single frames out. They are not huge, but are big enough for web work and so on, which nowadays is almost the whole world. I am surprised about how little I need giant finished stills now, even if shot with the D3x… when all is said and done they get on the web and much lower resolution.

[damonb]

Michael, I have no doubt you can get usable frames from the video. Neither the D3s video or
Nikon dslr video in general requires a defensive attitude on our part. While some other manufacturers have made it easier to tame dslr video, the Nikon video in the right hands competes with all of them, and for many people the look (if not the absolute resolution) of Nikon video is superior and certainly more film-like.

It seems as though you're really enjoying exploring what your new camera can do which, let's face it, is an essential element to improving our work. The D3s is not a camera one grows out of or grows beyond, I think.

[Jim Klatt]

...and the D3s has aperture/iso controls(even while you are recording you can change them).

Now I just need to win lotto.....