7D Projected?

C

csuchorsky

Member
I bought a 7D recently and I absolutely love the look of the video. I love it so much that I'm thinking about buying a second one to use multi-camera setups for a new documentary I'm starting. Does anyone have any info as to how well the 7D image will project on the big screen and how well it'll hold up if it's transferred to 35mm film? I know there was some concern considering it records at an h264 codec.

Thanks,

Chris
 
csuchorsky said:
I bought a 7D recently and I absolutely love the look of the video. I love it so much that I'm thinking about buying a second one to use multi-camera setups for a new documentary I'm starting. Does anyone have any info as to how well the 7D image will project on the big screen and how well it'll hold up if it's transferred to 35mm film? I know there was some concern considering it records at an h264 codec.

Thanks,

Chris
Click to expand...

Shoot flat picture style. This way you get the widest dynamic range for post.
NEVER overexpose.
 
Paul Jay said:
Shoot flat picture style. This way you get the widest dynamic range for post.
NEVER overexpose.
Click to expand...

That's one way to do it, but there are some that would argue that getting your 'look' in-camera is better in the long run.

I think it depends what source format you use to project it from, if it's a digital projection. Dvd will look like crap compared to a prores output directly from a computer.

Film, I couldn't say, but I imagine the extra grain from the stock will help it.
 
James Longley which has made "Iraq in Fragments" did some tests with 7D footage transferred to film 35mm and projected at Alpha Cine in Seattle, I have not seen the test but apparently they were all very satisfied and impressed by the footage.
You can follow his opinion and comments on d-word.com
I consider this process (any digital to 35mm) the ultimate test for large screen projection.
 
Very good to hear, Alex. (Anyone who hasn't seen "Fragments" owes it to themselves to see it.)

I'm not sure, however, that I'd consider digital-to-35mm to be the ultimate test. The digital-to-film transfer can hide some imperfections in the original source through softening (somewhat) and grain. I think equally important would be viewing the digital files in a digital-cinema environment, perhaps using Sony's 4K Digital Cinema Projection System. If footage looks good in that environment, I'd say it's game, set, match.
 
The projection I saw was all digital, straight off a BluRay I made.

Workflow was 5d original > BluRay AVCHD > Projector

Looked pretty darn good to me.
 
Hard question to answer. Basically, it will probably look fine, but could definitely look better. You can think of the film transfer as an added generation of lossy encoding, in a way, which is always bad news when you're starting with a fairly compressed stream already.

Having said that, lots of folks send their high-end XDcam or whatever footage away to be graded and get it back from the post house in DVCPROhd, and no one seems to bat an eye at that.

Do you have any experience transferring HD video to 35mm? You may want to have a go at that and devlop a relationship with your guy at the film transfer place before beginning the project. Film transfers to 35mm are unbelievably expensive, so be prepared for that.
 
The odds of it being transferred to 35mm or slim. Budgets for distributors have been cut to nothing and documentaries aren't making much at the box office anyway. I'm just curious as to whether it would hold up if the option were made available.

I have the 7D and I have a Panasonic HPX170 with a Brevis 35mm adapter. The Brevis is great, but the colors are just so much richer from the 7D. That's why I'm thinking of shooting the interviews with two 7Ds and then shoot the majority of the run-around doc footage with the HPX. Originally I thought I could use the HPX170 with the Brevis as the main interview camera and the 7D and the secondary interview camera, but the look is too different. The colors from the Brevis seem to be a bit washed out and don't match the saturation of the 7D.

So here's a new question... How much better is the DVCPRO HD codec as opposed to the H264 the 7D is shooting with?
 
I watched some 7D footage of mine on a 2k Barco projector at an academy screening room here in LA. I have to say it was great how well it held up on the big screen.

Even at iso 1250 it looked better than many other cameras out there (cough cough HVX at 0db gain cough)

The best thing you can do is make friends with a projectionist and let them in on the tests and make them feel a part of the situation of testing the new cam. Chances are they will be excited and want to help you.
:2vrolijk_08:
 
Dan_Kanes said:
I watched some 7D footage of mine on a 2k Barco projector at an academy screening room here in LA. I have to say it was great how well it held up on the big screen.

Even at iso 1250 it looked better than many other cameras out there (cough cough HVX at 0db gain cough)

The best thing you can do is make friends with a projectionist and let them in on the tests and make them feel a part of the situation of testing the new cam. Chances are they will be excited and want to help you.
:2vrolijk_08:
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GREAT!!!!!

we want to bring some 7D's along on a doc production in africa coming up next month. i would kill to see that footage projected in the next few weeks. using such small and stealthy cameras could be a serious boon, it could change the entire product drastically. (in a very awesome way). Playing around with the cameras so far has been really great. to use them seriously = very exciting.
Please let me know if there are any other screenings in LA coming up or what i can do to get that to happen!
 
csuchorsky said:
Originally I thought I could use the HPX170 with the Brevis as the main interview camera and the 7D and the secondary interview camera, but the look is too different. The colors from the Brevis seem to be a bit washed out and don't match the saturation of the 7D.

So here's a new question... How much better is the DVCPRO HD codec as opposed to the H264 the 7D is shooting with?
Click to expand...

It isn't the saturation. The entire color is different, all colors slightly different. It is the color science, the way the information gathered by the sensors is expressed.

Canon's colors are fantastic, not for anything do so many photographers shoot fashion, and any other photo kinds of high end photography with Canons. Nikon ain't too shabbey eitha.

PerroneFord said:
Who says it's better? 48Mbps of AVCHD is a LOT of room to stretch out.
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0.02, I'd say it is, barely, but enough to notice easily when pushing it hard.

Does anyone know where I can watch a 7D to 35mm transfer in LA?
 
I second that.. anyone know where one can watch 7D footage projected in Los Angeles??

anyone want to partner up in somehow making that happen?
 
USLatin said:
0.02, I'd say it is, barely, but enough to notice easily when pushing it hard.
Click to expand...

Right, so don't push it hard. Back the saturation down, record flat and clean, transcode to ProRes, DNx, Cineform, or some other quality 10-bit codec, and go to town.
 
I do all of that, also did that on my HVX, and well exposed HVX footage held up a bit better when pushed hard.
 
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