Telephoto Handheld Samples : 85mm and 180mm

K

Kholi

Section Moderator


Someone on Cinema5D had a question about micro-jitters and handheld in general. I've been trying to make it clear the importance of weight on your camera, but maybe text doesn't do it...

Here are examples from a shoot, shots that I got in-between takes, illustrating how fluid and stable the image can be if you create a weighty, balanced rig.

I'm using my hybrid Redrock and Zacuto rig which weighs 14lbs with the camera and a lens set to it (or around about 14 to 16lbs), no follow focus-- pulling focus by hand-- and no monitor, viewing the Canon 7D's LCD with my head craned... it hurts, but do what you have to. The lack of a proper way to view while I'm shooting is what's really getting me, but that'll be corrected soon and it'll be that much more stable and fluid.

I'm comfortable with operating handheld up to about 300mm.

Micro-Jitters are the bane of the DSLR's existence. Even pulling focus can cause the image to erupt into a frenzy of shivers and it's a bit of a doozy to correct! But, you can get there.

Hopefully this helps some people.
 
one problem i notice right away is your subjects keep moving in and out of your narrow DOF. Also while im amazed at how still you can keep zoomed in, you still have enough shake to make maybe 1/4-1/3 of that as being usable footage.

Can you post a pic of your rig?

I have a 70-300mm lens but ive never even tried to shoot any video off it. (i use pretty much only my 50mm 1.8 and 28mm 2.8)

Then again i dont get to shoot during the day to often (full time job), but ill have to try it next time as soon as i either buy a rig, or make one of those cheapie home depot options.

jon
 
jonE5 said:
one problem i notice right away is your subjects keep moving in and out of your narrow DOF. Also while im amazed at how still you can keep zoomed in, you still have enough shake to make maybe 1/4-1/3 of that as being usable footage.
Click to expand...

Definitely becomes a doozy just recording unscripted material and trying to pull. I also remember continuously going backward, because I'm using two different sets of lenses, one focuses to the right, the other to the left. Brain cramp!

As for the shake or drift, however, it's no worse than Michael Douglas' handheld Medium on a 100mm in Fatal Attraction. In the end it's down to taste.

Can you post a pic of your rig?
Click to expand...

Had some photos of it, dunno where they went! Will find them.

I have a 70-300mm lens but ive never even tried to shoot any video off it. (i use pretty much only my 50mm 1.8 and 28mm 2.8)

Then again i dont get to shoot during the day to often (full time job), but ill have to try it next time as soon as i either buy a rig, or make one of those cheapie home depot options.

jon
Click to expand...

I think I'm as much'a fan of a longshot as I am wides, anything in between a 28mm and 100mm for me isn't as fun. Haha. But, I'm weird.

Will post pics of the rig, though.
 
hi kholi,

i think the steadiness looks very good. its floating like a heavy shoulder camera. for me i can accept some movement as long as it moves in an elephant like motion vs a jack rabbit jerkiness. Kholi, you definitely have some weight on your shoulders so the creamier movement makes sense.

question for you. is the rig balanced equally on your shoulder...meaning, front and back? does it want to fall forward? ive been using the Multirig Pro. there is a monopod that supports the front weight and attaches to your waist. very solid and can hold the rig for a very long time with not much fatigue. even though is pretty darn steady...i dont think it has quite as much of that heavy "large shoulder camera" like motion as your rig.

i also focus my 5DmkII with my left hand, no FF unit. if i have my monopod attached to the multirig then im not having to hold the cameras weight...its stable and i can focus with left hand and my right hand is on the front/right handle grip. do you have to "work" to keep your rig "up" and not fall forward?

id love to try a decent rig out someday. would have to drive to chicago to find one though. it might be a necessary trip in the near future.

on another note i dont know whey anyone would want to pull focus using the LCD...? Zfinder-Hoodloupe? i dont see the LCD being anywhere close to being as accurate as an attached eyepiece.

david
www.davidprobst.

{lastest music video...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4sQfHD_b_E}
 
david_p said:
hi kholi,

i think the steadiness looks very good. its floating like a heavy shoulder camera. for me i can accept some movement as long as it moves in an elephant like motion vs a jack rabbit jerkiness. Kholi, you definitely have some weight on your shoulders so the creamier movement makes sense.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. It's strange that we're all (me included) trying to get away from the big camera and geared out setup, when it's because of those things that budget productions look so damned good. That and the talent, of course. Ironic.

question for you. is the rig balanced equally on your shoulder...meaning, front and back? does it want to fall forward? ive been using the Multirig Pro. there is a monopod that supports the front weight and attaches to your waist. very solid and can hold the rig for a very long time with not much fatigue. even though is pretty darn steady...i dont think it has quite as much of that heavy "large shoulder camera" like motion as your rig.
Click to expand...
Fairly well balanced front to back no matter which lens is on, I believe that's because the weight is directly on my shoulder and everything else is sort of balanced to that. When you see pics, I think you'll see what I mean.

The issue I have right now is balancing left to right. The shoulder pad is too wide! But it'll get fixed.

i also focus my 5DmkII with my left hand, no FF unit. if i have my monopod attached to the multirig then im not having to hold the cameras weight...its stable and i can focus with left hand and my right hand is on the front/right handle grip. do you have to "work" to keep your rig "up" and not fall forward?
Click to expand...
Newp, no falling forward. Which is great for tilts etc. I also use my left hand to focus, right hand's on the Z-Grip or Redrock Handle (depending) and it's all good for pulling.

on another note i dont know whey anyone would want to pull focus using the LCD...? Zfinder-Hoodloupe? i dont see the LCD being anywhere close to being as accurate as an attached eyepiece.
Click to expand...
The LCD, for me, is plenty accurate. The flaw, again for me, is that it's not articulating. If it were, that'd be incredible. I've got an Ikan 2.5" LCD that I used for a few days and I can pull focus on that just fine, it's SD and definitely nothing to praise.

Just couldn't get it setup right due to powering it etc!

Putting the camera body right in my face with a Hoodloupe just doesn't sound right. But, that's probably me.

Edit here: nice video by the way.
 
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Asap. I'm doing some tooling on the overall setup. Wanted to see if I could lower the rig a bit more and balance it out a smidge.

But soon! Sorry about the delay...
 
now now now! :)

i think i have the simplest rig ever... i've shot 4 fight scenes and 3 shorts with it so far... i want to compare
 
jenningsp said:
now now now! :)

i think i have the simplest rig ever... i've shot 4 fight scenes and 3 shorts with it so far... i want to compare
Click to expand...


Haha. My rig's not in any way simple so I'm sure you've got me beat there! Compare by posting up footage from telephoto glass, though. You're welcome to post here, as well.

For me, if you're confined to anything below a 50mm then you could just use a neckstrap or hold a tripod up and get the same effect. Ideally, you should be able to hit 100mm and operate perfectly fine. 135+ is sickness.
 
give me a few days and i can post some 85mm handheld footage shot out the passenger window of a car going 30+mph doing a 360 around 2 guys beating the sh!t out of each other in a car park at night time....
 
ok hear it is... shot this about 2 months ago. finally got the files

link - http://vimeo.com/8428764
password - prettyplease

1080p25
1/50th
cant remember the ISO maybe 1250
85mm f/2 Nikon AIS

this is just one shot out of 50 we did that night. and it's about 1/10th of the fight :) i just grabbed a random take. it's probably not the best one either. roughly graded but it looks completely different form the prores file... wtf?! any way excuse the framing.. it's quite hard to battle against the G's of going that fast around in a circle... it doesn't look fast.. but that's as fast as we could do without spinning out.

graded
CC.jpg


raw - neutral 0 sharpness -2 contrast
noCC.jpg
 
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