d90 footage - quick test in Toronto subway

Matthew Bennett

Matthew Bennett

Well-known member
So of course one of the first things I wanted to do was get the d90 into a subway setting : The link below is the result of a quick half hour of messing around... Only really happy with a couple of the shots, but I learned a lot in the process..

THE SUBWAY in metro Toronto...
A typical nightmare for anyone with a prosumer or above videocamera w/adapter... low to no light, security guards on your a$$ in a minute if you show tripod, and people generally making a huge fuss because they think they are getting videotaped...

Aside from the constant stabilization challenge, the d90 shoots in ANY light (albeit with grain), and is completely INVISIBLE to civilians. No one gave me a second glance for a moment. Great fun. I can't wait to do a more polished 'scene'. I also attempted to use the rolling shutter issues as an 'effect' in the edit, not sure if it works all the time, but I'm trying to deal with it as an opportunity rather than a curse...

And of course all post is targeted towards an SD or small web finish.

http://www.qmediasolutions.com/guest/CAMERA_TESTS/SUBWAY_edit_sharp_h264.mov
 
Matthew, heartily encouraging stuff. I'd give you an award for the first D90 mini-narrative posted here. I thought your camerawork was excellent; Jello-O was unobtrusive (this hothouse of propellerheads may disagree, god love 'em) & your use of focus was dramatic. Of course, the music helped …

More evidence that, in skilled hands, any tool will suffice when bent to an appropriate use. What lens(es) did you use, etc? All metadata appreciated.
 
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Wonderful. This proves that the D90 has a place for serious work. I'm sure this would have been MUCH harder to shoot with a "real" video camera and large, light eating DOF adapter.

I don't think the rolling shutter skew was a big issue either. It was pretty obvious in the one train shot, but it just added an edging sense of motion.
 
John Sandel said:
Matthew, heartily encouraging stuff. I'd give you an award for the first D90 mini-narrative posted here. I thought your camerawork was excellent; Jello-O was unobtrusive (this hothouse of propellerheads may disagree, god love 'em) & your use of focus was dramatic. Of course, the music helped …

More evidence that, in skilled hands, any tool will suffice when bent to an appropriate use. What lens(es) did you use, etc? All metadata appreciated.
Click to expand...

Just a bunch of old manual lenses, 50mm 1.8, 24mm 2.0, 180mm 2.5, mostly.
I shot wide open which can lend a bit of gaussy haze to the image sometimes.

I let the camera have its way as far as exposure, ISO and shutter, just exposing constantly and then locking it down.
 
It looks excellent, Matthew. But I can see big issues with the rolling shutter in several occasions.
 
The look of it is pretty nice. This would be such an amazing tool if it wasn't for that rolling shutter. My lord that is a defect and a half.

So far, keep the d90 on sticks or warp reality.
 
OH!

I like what you have put up on here on the boards so far!


A++++++ and keep up the good work! :beer:
 
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wow, great work, and it think it looked fantastic! now i really want a D90 even more!
i say despite its shortcomings, this proved that the camera is totally usable. just have to learn to get around its limitations.

now i'm just curious about the limitations, as in, when will skewing occur? the subway train was skewed in a couple of shots, but not in the other shots and they're all moving.
 
fahreza said:
now i'm just curious about the limitations, as in, when will skewing occur? the subway train was skewed in a couple of shots, but not in the other shots and they're all moving.
Click to expand...

Skewing will occur on any fast motions on the horizontal plane. This means if you make a fast motion panning as an operator, or if something moves very quickly horizontally through your static image..

UP and DOWN motions are allright, though! (at least we have that..)


I guess with those subway shots you can get a good idea of what speed through the horizontal will begin to reveal skew...
 
Matthew Bennett said:
Skewing will occur on any fast motions on the horizontal plane. This means if you make a fast motion panning as an operator, or if something moves very quickly horizontally through your static image..

UP and DOWN motions are allright, though! (at least we have that..)


I guess with those subway shots you can get a good idea of what speed through the horizontal will begin to reveal skew...
Click to expand...


i see. thank you for the explanation.:)

it has to move horizontally -really fast , for the image to skew. i was beginning to wonder if it has anything to do with color, or light or shape. so we'll just avoid fast pans and fast moving objects like speeding cars or passing trains.
 
Excellent look! Looks like a commercial. What did you do in camera or in post to bring back the shadows? They don't look all black and crushed like in every other clip I see. What's your secret?
 
I cant see the stair stripping lines on this footage, how did you avoid those artifacts?!

thanks for such a great footage. nikon has to give you some money for this one. hehe if you please, it would be great to watch this footage in full resolution.
 
Totally awesome! I'm so looking forward to seeing more of this type of work coming of this unit!

And you're not talking a lot of setup time for these shots or setting up lights :)

How much fun was it maintaining focus? You did an awesome job. Did you punch in using the lcd magnifier before the shot, adjust, punch out?

You said you were shooting wide most often, did you find your self needing to give it a few more stops to avoid a narrow dof to maintain focus?

I feel there was very little jello! Favorite stabilization tricks?

Do you feel that $2k worth of gyro kit under the camera would have made a real difference to this style of shooting / piece or no need?
 
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