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Rolling Shutter: Sony A7s Compare to Other Major Players; Meh…

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One of the things that cinematographers care about when selecting a camera for shooting is how significant is the rolling shutter effect.

Rolling Shutter is a ‘side effect where vertical lines in the real universe appear as diagonal lines ‘on film’. For example it smears buildings when shot out of a moving car or create  a jello effect when the shooting camera is unstable, we explained this in length in this post.

The good guys at Cinema5D took the crown challenger – Sony A7S with its remarkable low light performance and put it to the test against some of the other leading video cameras in the market: Arri Amira, Panasonic GH4, (Canon C300), Canon 5D mark III and Canon 1D C. Sadly it did not do all that well.

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Gain Total GoPro Control By Accesing it Via Wi-Fi

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GoPro has some cool time lapse features, but they are somewhat restricted, especially the interval between shots parameter which is limited to 60 seconds. If the camera is close to a computer though, you can get total control over the camera by issuing simple HTTP requests.

Adrian Sitterle shares a complete list of HTTP GoPro commands as well as a simple script that uses them to take a timelapse with a 30 minutes interval.

Those commands control everything from waking the up the camera; through

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Epic Survival Test: Camera Straps vs. Tractor

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If there ever was a golden era of camera straps, I’d say this era is now. The amount of innovation and thought invested in this simple device is certainly reaching new peaks. Since straps are so different in the sets of features they provide, we wanted to subject them all to a uniform test. And what better test than to hook them all up to a farm tractor and see which strap lasts longer.

We tested a range of 6 straps (in no particular order):

We asked the incredible team of Simon Pollock And Benjamin Von Wong to conduct this highly scientific test while the elite video team of Kaveret documented the process.

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Deal Alert: Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera Under $500

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We don’t usually share deals. There are sites that do that far better. But this offer from Black Magic just can’t be ignored. Black Magic currently offers their Pocket Cinema Camera for $495 over at B&H. As it sold for about $1000 until 30 minutes ago this is not a bad deal at all.

This Pro-res capable, full HD, 13 dynamic stops is a steal for half a grand, especially if you already own any Micro Four Thirds Lenses to go with it. And while it does not pack all the features if its bigger 4K sister, it is still a great camera to be shooting movies with.

Usually, a steep drop like this means that a new model is coming soon (maybe a 4K version) and the company wants to clear shelves. Good for us.

Wonderful Movie Shows Video Capabilities of Nikon’s New D810

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If you’ve been wondering what Nikon’s new camera, the D810,  provides the in the video realm, you are gonna drool over this film from Preston Kanak. The movie called Every Moment Counts was shot entirely on the D810. The film is (wonderfully) graded so it does not really show the movie ‘out of camera’ but it definitely shows what the camera is capable of, in some challenging conditions.  (Look for low light, contrasty scenes and fine details)

The movie, aside from displaying impressive Nikon stance is certainly a gem:

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Fotodiox Excell+1 And Metabones Speedboosters Compared; Lead Is Pretty Obvious

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A few days ago we featured a new speedbooster adapter from Fotodiox, the Excell+1. The idea behind the booster is that is remaps the image crated by a full frame lens into a smaller sensor, thus both un-cropping the image and gaining a full stop of light.

Now, this is not the first speedbooster that has gone to the market, about one year ago Metabones introduced a similar series of speedboosters, but the pricing on the two products varies significantly. An Excell+1 would set you back about $160 where as a Meatabones adapter will cost between $490-$590.

Videographer Max Yuryev took the two adapters for a ride and the results seem pretty conclusive to me. You can watch the video above and make your mind alone.

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The Fotodiox Excell+1 Will Uncrop A Sensor and Gain You A Full Stop Of Light

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http://youtu.be/jB9rV8-42R8

Fotodiox just released a pretty cool accesory called the Excell+1. The Excell+1 is a lens booster which means that it has internal optics to concentrate the light coming from a lens into a smaller area.

now, why would you want to do that? [Read More…]

5 Reasons DSLR’s Are Obsolete In Today’s World By Martin Gillman

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OK, sure that’s a bold statement, and for me it just may be true. I believe that the mirrorless camera is and will continue push the DSLR as we know it aside. Its progress and its coming. If you do not agree you may just have to accept it, even the greats in Glass like Carl Zeiss are making lenses for the mirrorless systems, they see where photography is going too. So, let me tell you why I think so.[Read More…]

6 Reasons Why You Should Keep Your 18-55 Kit Lens

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There was an article recently here in DIYP about 5 reasons why you should own at least one prime lens, I strongly agree to this. I normally tell the new photographers that the next lens they should buy is a prime lens. Here is the thing though,  after buying a prime lens make sure not to sell your kit lens too fast. Here are my 6 reasons why you should keep your kit lens. I am a Nikon shooter, so expect Nikon examples, but everything here is true for Canon too).

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How To Improve The Function Of The Fuji X-T1 For Faster Focusing

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Photographer Eivind Rohne is a happy Fuji X1 shooter, but ever the greatest of cameras can use a small push to make it perfect.

Eivind shares that one of the most used functions on his Fuji X1 is the back panel direction buttons which he uses to move the focus point. He does that by assigning the front custom button to activate focus point selection.

While was almost perfect, Eivind made it even more perfect by adding a bit of Sugru to the camera:

When I shoot, I move the focus point around a lot. So on the X-T1 I’ve assigned the function to activate focus point selection to the front custom button. Then I can press it with my middle finger, and move the focus point with my thumb on the four buttons around the OK button. But I want to do this without having to take the camera from my eye to see which button I’m pressing.

So to work more efficiently with the camera, I rolled thin stripes of Sugru and applied to all four buttons around the OK button. I also put a small dot of Sugru on the front function button, the Focus Assist button, and on the AF-L button. Why not the AE-L button you might wonder? Because with only a dot on one of those two, I immediately know where on the back of the camera my finger is without having to look. And I chose red because it looked color than black.

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