Renting a 5D to try it out. Advice on shooting (coming from HVX200)?

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filmguy123

Veteran
Anything to know, watch out for, etc? I am shooting a montage for a banquet video and want to use this as a chance to really try out the equipment and shooting style. My HVX200 will just be used to capture the event from a static camera with audio, I'll do the montage on the 5D.

Was thinking of renting the 5D + the canon 24-70 (2.8) lens - should this be good for running and gunning around the banquet? It should be a dimly lit banquet, how will this be for image quality/low light? Also if I have to open the aperture up all the way how will that be for DoF?

I was thinking of using my DV Multi Rig Pro stabilization system with the rented 5D - should that work?

Rental comes with 4 2-3 hour batteries and 4x16gb CF cards and a reader so I can dump it to my MBP via firewire 800.

Anyway, zero experience shooting with the 5D and was looking for some tips, tricks, thoughts on lenses/lighting/settings/techniques, mistakes to avoid, etc. etc. All that good stuff.

Thanks!
 
Here's a few tips ...

Lighting or lack there of is going to be your biggest battle if it is as you say "dimly lit" . The event stuff that I have done always tests how fast glass you have and specially since it will be dim. The other concern is trying to use IS lenses with your shoulder rig. I think the 24-105 f4 IS is a great daytime all in one lens but won't work well in low light. I personally find with the 5D I am always at 105 on that lens so now I just use a 70-200 F2.8 IS for almost all shots and a 16-35 f2.8 or 24-70 for wider stuff. If it gets dark both of these are not really going to be enough and that's when you need 1.4's or lower. I always carry a 50 1.4 and 85 1.4 just for this reason.

I guess the other concern might be monitoring ie... a Z Finder or similar is just great for event hand held and shoulder rig stuff.

The last thing... I have found is at event gigs a monopod is my number one friend. I can attach a shoulder rig to them so running around all day doesn't turn into a sporting event or just throw a camera on one and go to wherever i need to without setup time.

hope some of this could help you :)
 
I think the biggest challenge is going to be lack of continuous AF - in all honesty a 5D would be better suited for the static shots and your HVX200 would be much better for the run-and-gun work, but I also understand wanting to learn to use the 5D in a run-n-gun setting. You're gonna need f/2.8 lenses or faster, that's number one. The 24-70 f/2.8 is a good start, but definitely get something faster in case you need it - I'd either go with a 24mm f/1.4 L or 35mm f/1.4 L. There are lots of ways to skin this "cat" if you will - but what I would do is take a step back for a second and consider the camera. If you're choosing a 5D the big benefit is the massive sensor size, and where this is a real benefit is in ultra-wide territory. If you want to shoot in the 24-70 range, you might be better served by the 7D + 17-55mm f/2.8 IS, you'll get the light-gathering power of f/2.8, but you'll get depth-of-field in the f/4.5 ballpark which will give you a bit of lattitude when you run and gun in terms of focus. Since you're looking at a 5D however, I might just say go nuts and rent the Canon 14mm f/2.8 L as your only lens. It's fast, sharp, and even at f/2.8 you'll get fairly deep DOF, you won't lose too many shots due to being out of focus, stabilization is less of an issue as at 14mm on a FF sensor it's gonna be quite smooth even if you go handheld (not saying you shouldn't stabilize at all). Ultra-wides is where the 5D really shines, and for a shoot like this you're probably not going to have too many issues with moire/aliasing/jagged lines, get up close and personal with your subjects with the 5D and the 14mm and it should offer a really cool perspective - you could also do this with the 24mm f/1.4 L which might also be a good choice for this - stop it down to f/2.8 most of the time but open 'er up if you need more light. This is about as tough a scenario you can put a DSLR through, in all honesty - it might be really really frustrating if this is your first go with a DSLR - this kind of shoot doesn't utilize any of the strengths of what a DSLR can do other than low-light gathering capability (which I know is not insignificant) but all the things that DSLRs don't do well are going to be turned up to 10 on a shoot like this. So again, focusing going to be your number one challenge, I'd say go really wide, hyperfocus and try to keep your subjects within the hyperfocal distance.
 
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