Handheld with DSLR?

B

Bokes

Well-known member
I am thinking of selling my EX1 for the D5 mark2.
I love tyhe look but
I'm a bit worried about audio and focus issues going handheld.

I would most likely mount the DSLR on a monopod with a small monitor.
This should help some with focus.
Which lens is best for run and gun- handheld?
I do not want to go so wide it distorts.

Also audio? I realize most are using the juicebox- but does that work for a hand held situation?
 
Actually, many are using Zoom H4N for audio. As for a lens, it really depends on your situation, but definitely get something with Image Stabilization.
 
Bokes said:
I am thinking of selling my EX1 for the D5 mark2.
I love tyhe look but
I'm a bit worried about audio and focus issues going handheld.

I would most likely mount the DSLR on a monopod with a small monitor.
This should help some with focus.
Which lens is best for run and gun- handheld?
I do not want to go so wide it distorts.

Also audio? I realize most are using the juicebox- but does that work for a hand held situation?
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If you are making money with your EX1 I would keep it until the 5D comes out with a camera that has the problems more resolved. If you shoot with an external audio system you will have to slate the picture and audio every time you roll the camera. You won't have timecode either for post. I rent many different cameras, film and HD including the EX3 for work and picked up a 550D for tests until the 5D has what the 550D has in terms of camera speeds right from the factory. The 550D and the EX1 would be a great pair because they share the same camera frame rates out of the box. When the new 5D arrives you can get most of your money back on the 550D, or keep it as a B camera to the 5D.

5D is due for a new model soon which is probably why they are stalling the firmware updates. They want to release a new model for global attention, and then quietly send out the updates. The 5Dmk2 will be forgotten as fast as the 500D. The 5Dmk2 is a great camera, but old news.

Remember, Canon is business first and cameras second.
 
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i will echo much of what ROCKMORE has said.

i have an EX1 and a 5DmkII plus a HMC150. there are a bunch of things that i would never dream of shooting with the 5DmkII. for me its usually obvious which one gets picked for a given job since they are so different.

real low light...5D
dont want to have to mess with AF too much...EX1
shallow DOF...5D of course.
R&G with audio plus zooming...EX1
sports...HMC150

try to keep your EX1 is my advice at least for awhile. the T2i would be a very cheap alternative to the 5DmkII for the moments.

good all around R&G lens would be the canon 24-105mm 4.0 with IS. on the T2i this wouldnt be very wide though.

david
www.davidprobst.com
 
david_p said:
good all around R&G lens would be the canon 24-105mm 4.0 with IS. on the T2i this wouldnt be very wide though.
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With all my complaining about the 18-55mm kit lens, the kit was all I could get in the first shipment of 550Ds so I grabbed it. The lens is pretty damn good for a hundred bucks. It's also so small with the 550D body I think it will be my "never leave the house without it" camera.

I just wouldn't recommend any of the longer zooms with variable aperture. It really gets in the way as you keep changing your focal length when shooting HD. (Stills OK) I rarely if ever zoom while shooting but every time you go from wide to close, you have to take time to recheck and correct your exposure, then double check before rolling. With a slow lens this means sometimes having to change your ISO as well. It's a headache.

Aside from the 18-55mm hundred dollar miracle, I would NEVER buy a zoom with variable aperture. Sooner or later the 2 stops will cause a disaster.
17-40mm f4 / 24-105mm f4 are both decent choices at a good price. I also think investing money in APC-s EF-s lenses is a waste since for a little more you can cover FF as well, with much better built lenses.

As much as I love the 550D for what it is, the Sony EX-1 and EX-3 will still be the minimum I will shoot with my clients money. I have to eat, and the EX-3 has been putting food on the table.
 
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lol at someone saying the 5dmk2 is due for an update. it took forever to get the mk2, what makes uyo think after what a year or whatever its going to be replaced?
 
ROCKMORE said:
With all my complaining about the 18-55mm kit lens, the kit was all I could get in the first shipment of 550Ds so I grabbed it. The lens is pretty damn good for a hundred bucks. It's also so small with the 550D body I think it will be my "never leave the house without it" camera.

I just wouldn't recommend any of the longer zooms with variable aperture. It really gets in the way as you keep changing your focal length when shooting HD. (Stills OK) I rarely if ever zoom while shooting but every time you go from wide to close, you have to take time to recheck and correct your exposure, then double check before rolling. With a slow lens this means sometimes having to change your ISO as well. It's a headache.

Aside from the 18-55mm hundred dollar miracle, I would NEVER buy a zoom with variable aperture. Sooner or later the 2 stops will cause a disaster.
17-40mm f4 / 24-105mm f4 are both decent choices, I also think investing money in APC-s EF-s lenses is a waste since for a little more you can cover FF as well, with much better built lenses.

As much as I love the 550D for what it is, the Sony EX-1 and EX-3 will still be the minimum I will shoot with my clients money. I have to eat, and the EX-3 has been putting food on the table.
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Here's my take on zoom lenses with variable apertures compared to fixed. Variable lenses cost $100s of dollars less. the 18-55 is a great lens but at 55 it takes me to 5.6 which can be a slight problem. Having a zoom lens which starts at 50 mm would allow for an aperture of 3.5-4.0.


So if I am shooting a subject at 50mm distance with the kit lens my aperture would be 5.6, with a 50-200 variable lens I could get a lower aperture of 3.5 or 4.0 which is huge. Now if I were actually zooming in any kind of shoot then I would not use a variable aperture as the flicker of the light would be recorded.

In the end though I have seen many rental companies that rent these very expensive lenses for $50 a day, so if your doing a shoot that requires that and you are getting paid $50 a day is pennies.


My $0.02
 
Dont sell your EX-1. Really. There will be plenty of applications where the DSLR won't be the best tool for the job and you'll regret it. I'm ditching my 35mm adapter for a 7D but I'd never dream of ditching the EX-1. It is a professional video camera. The HDSLR is a DSLR with video.

At the very least, you can use your EX-1 to record sound with/for the DSLR.

As for running handlheld, my understanding is that it is not the easiest thing and that's why the various rigs have proliferated. On the other hand there are plenty of folks who simply brace it using a Z-finder or comparable item, using the finder to brace it against their face.
 
got it. I do feel completely comfortable reaching for the EX1.
I suppose my excitement is from reading a few DSLR blogs (phillip bloom, etc.)
- shooters who were high on the EX- now switching to DSLR.
I know the DSLR can look great in head and shoulder interviews.
I would just regret getting back from a shoot and watching a clip of my talent going in and out of focus on a walk and talk or pan around shot. Good to hear some real world experiences.
 
Bokes said:
got it. I do feel completely comfortable reaching for the EX1.
I suppose my excitement is from reading a few DSLR blogs (phillip bloom, etc.)
- shooters who were high on the EX- now switching to DSLR.
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Do not believe all the marketing hype just because a few evangelists say it's great. They are profiting from promoting this gear. Just look at how many of the pros who are advocating this technology are also running training seminars, selling DVDs etc. It's called viral marketing and it works. I firmly believe that if one of these guys advocated shooting with a (brand x) camera we'd all be on line buying it. I'm not trying to bash them, it's just the way that advertising is done today.

Now, off my soapbox: rent or borrow one. If it makes sense, buy it. If not, dont
 
Do not believe all the marketing hype just because a few evangelists say it's great. They are profiting from promoting this gear. Just look at how many of the pros who are advocating this technology are also running training seminars, selling DVDs etc. It's called viral marketing and it works. I firmly believe that if one of these guys advocated shooting with a (brand x) camera we'd all be on line buying it. I'm not trying to bash them, it's just the way that advertising is done today.
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If you follow their blogs closely you'd know this isn't their main motivation. Sure a few of them have their own training materials out, but most seem to be pretty open to any brand product that works regardless as to whether it's one of their affiliates. Bloom still raves about his Sony EX-1 and EX-3 and often notes the downfalls and frustrations of using DSLRs and I think he'd be the first to say not to sell an EX-1 for a DSLR, but to by a DSLR as an additional camera


Also, if you'd like to see what shooting hand held with a DSLR rig might look like, feel free to check out my tests: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=202917 as I am in the same boat of wanting to use DSLRs for hand held shooting, but hate all the obstacles you have to overcome. However, with the right gear you can make it work (still not as easy and convenient as using a real video camera though). And I don't sell training materials or have any brand loyalty, simply looking for the best solution that will work for me.
 
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Bobonli said:
Do not believe all the marketing hype just because a few evangelists say it's great. They are profiting from promoting this gear. Just look at how many of the pros who are advocating this technology are also running training seminars, selling DVDs etc. It's called viral marketing and it works. I firmly believe that if one of these guys advocated shooting with a (brand x) camera we'd all be on line buying it. I'm not trying to bash them, it's just the way that advertising is done today.

Now, off my soapbox: rent or borrow one. If it makes sense, buy it. If not, dont
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I think the only ones that are selling products having to do with this DSLR stuff is Bloom and maybe Laforet. Both of those guys are no where near the league of DP's like Shane Hurlbut and Rodney Charters. Both Hurlbut and Charters are using them in their production work and certainly wouldn't be if they weren't up to industry standard. Charters just uses them period, and it's kind of hard to find alot of articles of him talking about it outside of bits and pieces from his Twitters. Hurlbut has a blog and is probably the most valuable contributing DP on this subject. He's almost generous to a fault helping budding film makers with this DSLR tech. I haven't seen anywhere where either Charters or Hurlbut benefits from Canon DSLRs except from how this gear contributes to their production work. They just want gear that works, and they've found that the 5DII is up to the bar.
 
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I have a friend who is shooting a film on a 7D, and they've had to shoot action scenes with the HVX that the 7D can't handle.
 
Pad

Pad

rahn said:
That's not their shoulder pad is it? I heard that it's in development.
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No it isn't. The pad and handle grips are from www.indifocus.com

Go to the site and look for the upgrade package. It was a wonderful match up.

Had to make some of my own custom adjustments but in the in it all worked out nicely.
 
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subtleinspiration said:
I have a friend who is shooting a film on a 7D, and they've had to shoot action scenes with the HVX that the 7D can't handle.
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I guess the question is why? Was it his rig, was it his lens, was it him? Alot of questions there. I have had success doing handheld with the 7D using no rig. The rig has made it easier for me though.
 
It's the rolling shutter issue. If you want a scene to be shot in a particular way, and the rolling shutter starts giving you problems, you have to do something different.

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I AGREE
 
The EX1 is so neat, so handy, so fast

The cheapee cannon costs what?

A 50 1.4 cost what

THat gives you the cinema look for less than $1k

Keep the EX1 and move into DSLR as your budget allows

Even use the EX1 for dual sound !

S
 
subtleinspiration said:
It's the rolling shutter issue. If you want a scene to be shot in a particular way, and the rolling shutter starts giving you problems, you have to do something different.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: No media files are hosted on these forums. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website. We can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material. If the video does not play, wait a minute or try again later.
I AGREE
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Yeah that is an issue. But like many have stated the camera does fall under $2000.00. That being said I have seen and shot some really good stuff that I would have never achieved with an adapter due to size, weight and low light sensitivity. There are certainly ways to get around the issues we are facing with DSLR. I was an adapter head so for me these issue are minor 1s that call for a little more shot planning in some situations.
 
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