T2i Just shot my first commercial using the T2i

S

super_plus

Active member
Just shot a commercial for a local car dealership and I am pretty impressed with the results from our simple rig which consisted of a T2i on sticks, a DVC80 capturing audio and Lowel light kit.

I have never shot any client work with DSLR and was a little nervous but everything seems to have come out OK but there are some issues that I need to work on.

First of all I need better lenses. We only used the kit 18-55 on this one because....that's all we have right now, but it got the job done. I noticed that on my wide shots the kit lens is really soft even to the point of being out of focus. I'm glad the T2i has a focus assist to make sure or I would have gone a bit crazy. I'll probably be getting a monitor for the next shoot

I also had issues with chromatic aberration on the grills of the cars and the talents glasses... Is this an issue with the lens or just one of the drawbacks to Canon DSLR's?

Either way I want to upgrade to nicer zoom lens with a similar range, most likely the Tamron 17-50. Can anyone speak to the sharpness of this lens wide?

I did get the overheating icon about an hour into the shoot but it didn't seem to cause any problems. I just finished the shot and turned it off for a few minutes, didn't get it again for the rest of the shoot.

I did get the typical "Whats with the still camera?" and "Your using that little thing?" from the clients to which I just assured them that the quality is top notch and I didn't hear anything else.

So that's my experience! The T2i is definitely living up to my expectations after primarily working with an HVX for past few years. Just need to add some pieces to my rig but that will come with time.
 
I have a similar thread on my first DSLR commercial shoot as well, and found the same things. I did a lot of testing before the shoot but that's like rehearsing in a band, it's nothing like the real performance (or shoot in this case). Even though it was 2am when I got back I just had to view the footage, hoping I didn't waste the whole shoot with unusable footage. It looked great!

I mostly used the stock lens set at 18mm, but when I switched to my 50mm prime, it looked REALLY good, so I reshot a lot of stuff with that lens toward the end of the night, I prefer it to the stock lens as you said, but had to go way far away from the actors to get any kind of medium shots. So definitely more wide primes is on my shopping list.

Also an external monitor would have been nice, you miss a lot of nuances looking at a tiny screen (like a lavalier wire poking out, making a whole take unusable).

I had the overheat light show up an hour into shooting as well, but it only showed up once.

So congrats on your first DLSR commercial!

-Dave
 
How did the lighting kit hold up? Are you satisfied with your use of Lowel lights? I'm thinking about some Lowel's myself, so I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
 
joelaready said:
How did the lighting kit hold up? Are you satisfied with your use of Lowel lights? I'm thinking about some Lowel's myself, so I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
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I used the Lowel kit all through college and now in most of my pro shoots. It's an extremely versatile kit. It's gotten me through basically every shooting situation I've been in (with the addition of some cheap fill lights/larger soft box). For small scenes or interviewing it's really great
 
The chromatic abberations are definitely a result of the camera, but nicer glass will definitely help. I got a 24-70mm L series zoom lens (cost more than the actual camera) and it's definitely the sharpest zoom I've seen and has the best range.

Mind showing us the commercial?
 
Angry Leprechaun said:
The chromatic abberations are definitely a result of the camera, but nicer glass will definitely help. I got a 24-70mm L series zoom lens (cost more than the actual camera) and it's definitely the sharpest zoom I've seen and has the best range.

Mind showing us the commercial?
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It's going to be on the shelf for a few days while I wait for some footage from Nissan and Chevy. I'll post some stills so you can see what I'm talking about as far as the softness CA goes.
 
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You can see the CA around the more shiny areas of the frame and the overall softness of the image
 
Looks like CA to me too. The patterns aren't all that tight on the last grill to be moire. In doing the few test shoots I've done so far, I would say get the external monitor before your next shoot. It's too hard to find critical focus on the LCD screen without straining your eyes.
 
I bet this looks great in motion. I don't have the kit lens, rather the 18-135mm Canon lens. The rainbow pattern is aliasing. The only thing you can do besides trying to fix it in post is to stop the lens down more and defocus slightly for deep DOF shots. Your lighting looks good with the Lowel equipment. It's not terrible that the windows are a blown out because the focus of the viewer should be on the cars and dealers.

I am concerned with the softness of the screencaps. Are they sharper when viewed straight from the cam on a monitor? I've ran into some trouble with how my computer handles h264. Not all decoders are created equal. The best is COREAVC.
 
Artscroll said:
I bet this looks great in motion. I don't have the kit lens, rather the 18-135mm Canon lens. The rainbow pattern is aliasing. The only thing you can do besides trying to fix it in post is to stop the lens down more and defocus slightly for deep DOF shots. Your lighting looks good with the Lowel equipment. It's not terrible that the windows are a blown out because the focus of the viewer should be on the cars and dealers.

I am concerned with the softness of the screencaps. Are they sharper when viewed straight from the cam on a monitor? I've ran into some trouble with how my computer handles h264. Not all decoders are created equal. The best is COREAVC.
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The video is a little sharper although not by much. I'm not that worried about it though because it's going to be SD with tons of graphics. I agree that stopping down a few would have helped but I was limited with the amount of lights we had. Next shoot I will probably be looking to rent some L glass.
 
super_plus said:
The video is a little sharper although not by much. I'm not that worried about it though because it's going to be SD with tons of graphics. I agree that stopping down a few would have helped but I was limited with the amount of lights we had. Next shoot I will probably be looking to rent some L glass.
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One thing to check even on the camera's LCD is the digital zoom. It definitely helps for checking accurate focus. I use it religiously.

And stopping down will definitely help. But I think the soft focus is a lot more distracting, so more than anything make sure to get that accurate.

Aside from that though I have to say the lighting was very good.
 
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