I Live For Video » canon 7d

DIY Jib on music video shoot

admin — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 22:37:06 +0000

hello world. quick post just to show some more footage shot with my diy jib. this was shot on set for a new music video for con bro chill. i met him through a great bunch of guys and we decided to form rainbreak, basically a bunch of guys getting together and doing stupid/creative stuff with video. hope you enjoy the video world, and major thanks to my bro brian for the amazing jib shots, first time at it and the dood rulez!

rainbreak dewds

DIY 7D Jib

admin — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 23:04:45 +0000

hello internets, how was your weekend? oh mine, well i finally got bored and decided to go out and make my own camera jib instead of spending the hundreds of thousands of dollars on one. how you might ask? well, i went to home depot, grabbed a shopping cart and walked around the store looking at hardware that i thought would work well on a jib. turns out that most the hardware you will need is in the fencing and bolt isles. so anywho, here’s a list of what i used:

2 8 foot square aluminum tubes
1 flat fencing mending plate (later bent into L shape for camera mount)
5 10 inch mending plates (found near the door hinges and such)
2 eye bolts to keep the sand bags on
a bunch of good old 1/4 inch nuts and bolts to keep the thing together

total cost ~ 75 bucks (way cheaper than anything you can get online)

viola! camera jib!

now i know it’s not the most sophisticated piece of equipment, but it works and i have plans in mind for a jib 2.0 to correct some of the mistakes that i have made on this one. but hey, it’s my first jib and since i have never used one or really seen one, besides pics on the nets and such, i figure its a pretty good first try.

many thanks to thomas rangner for helping me out with the construction and also my brother for taking the pics, letting me use his backyard, and garage!

prost netz!

i finally bought a zoom h4n

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:08:15 +0000

so i have been researching the best way to get audio when recording with the canon 7d and everything always pointed to the zoom h4n, but being the researcher before buying person that i am i have been weighing the pros and cons of it forever. well, a project finally came up that i need to shoot and it is imperative that i have great audio, so i broke down and bought the h4n. let me tell you, this thing is amazing! It records everything from .mp3 48khz to 24bit 96khz. It has built in stereo condenser microphones and two XLR inputs which means you can record 4 channels of audio at the same time. It records onto SD cards and runs on 2AA batteries for about ten hours. It costs about $299. sure recording video and audio on 2 separate devices could add a little time in post, but to me having phenomenal audio is worth it. also, with applications like plural eyes, which does the syncing for you in a matter of seconds, it’s a freaking cinch!

i purchased the h4n at a local audio shop called superdigital and if you are in the market for anything audio i would suggest going there or ordering online. donnie(sp?) is the gentleman that helped me and i honestly have not have better customer service anywhere compared to how he treated me there. he took the time to show me all the important things about the h4n, answered all of my questions, stupid or not, and also made it a point to introduce himself and get my name as well, AND he remembered it. the topping on the cake was that he even let me know that if i had problems on my shoot that i could give him a call and he would help me fix anything i had going wrong with the h4n. definite props to superdigital, thanks a ton donnie(sp?)!

prost netz!

Canon 7D/Sony EX1 Hybrid Short

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:05:49 +0000

honorarium is a short film shot by steve mims last fall. the reason why i’m going to talk about it is because he shot the half the film on the 7D and the other on the EX1. i recently came across this video of his on vimeo where he shows some of his shots used in the short and also identifies which shots are which with supers. it’s a great quick vid comparing the two cameras and to me really shows that if you know what you are doing you can use any camera to make a great film. also, shows that the canon 7D can keep up with the more expensive cameras.

HONORARIUM (selected shots) from Steve Mims on Vimeo.

you can also read the article he wrote about the creation of the short here, it’s a great read.

prost netz!

quick post

admin — Tue, 25 May 2010 17:31:29 +0000

just wanted to put up a quick post for my friend brian because i know he loves all the time lapses i do. i can’t help it, i think they are amazing and when i see something that i think would make a good lapse i shoot it. hahaha so here’s a quick one for you, shot from the fire escape at my work, which is why there are rain drops on it at the end.

Shot with Canon 7D, ISO 100, f/22, 1/30 shutter

prost netz!

New Canon Pro HD Camcorders

admin — Tue, 11 May 2010 16:38:49 +0000

wow world.. .not sure how i missed this one, i’ve been obsessing over my canon 7D so much that i haven’t really considered looking to see the next big camera to be coming out. well here it is, canon is realeasing two new hd camcorders to their line, and what do you know, they have finally done away with tape. an article about the new cams can be read here and the camera models are going to be the XF305 and XF 300. basically think xh a1 and g1 but with much better sensors, CF hot swappable recording media, choices of bit rate, frame rate, and resolution, and yes for the crazies out there like me, it will shoot in 60 fps so we can get nutz with some slow mo action!

it’s about time that canon comes out with their own line of tapeless pro camcorders, i mean i love my xh a1, but ever since getting my 7D i have realized how much i hate tape. these cams aren’t going to come without a major cost, the cheapest being just below 7 grand, but the 50 mbps 4:2:2 recording @ full 1080p res definitely make it a very enticing product to think about. of course for the vids i am currently working on my xh a1 will do just fine and i would have to sell my car and half my apt to get the newest and best… plus, think of how many 7D’s i could get for that price! hah!

prost netz!

video dslr changing how video is made

admin — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 23:15:04 +0000

big news coming about with the season finale of House MD being filmed entirely on the canon 5Dmii video dslr. this is going to be amazing.. as many of you know i have a canon 7d and think the video from it is amazing and have used the 5d and know the video from it is amazing also. and now to see an entire television episode being filmed on it is just going to show how these cameras are changing the face of how we make videos. i first read about this on philip blooms blog which can be read here: http://philipbloom.co.uk/2010/04/10/house-season-finale-shot-entirely-with-canon-5dmkii/

basically the director held a q & a on twitter which can basically be summed up as saying, it was easy to film with, they didn’t have to change much in order to film with it and the video dslr is the future. i agree, the filming i have done with the 7d is amazing and having it come from such a small camera you can pretty much go anywhere with these things.

happy weekend netz.. prost

Moon time lapse

admin — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:45:14 +0000

so time lapse are becoming my new obsession and sitting on my balcony the other night i noticed the clouds blowing in front of the moon and new it would make a great lapse. so i broke out my 7D and let it run for a few hours. hope you enjoy.

canon 7D shutter speed 15 seconds, fstop 16, ISO 640, focal length 28mm

prost netz!

Recent trip to Indianapolis time lapse

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:14:39 +0000

so i recently went to indianapolis for some work and was lucky enough to have a hotel room right outside of lucas stadium where the colts play. well, for some reason I couldn’t sleep while I was there so I decided to start a time lapse at night around 4 am and let it run while i tried to go to sleep. then i had to wake up at 8 for work. so here is the 4 hours starting at night and going till morning. this is my first time lapse going from night to daytime, so i hope the world thinks it turned out ok. it’s a little shaky at times, i think it’s because of the heater turning on in my room. to get the angle and shot i wanted i had to prop one leg of my tripod on the heater and when i did this i am pretty sure that’s where the shake comes from… it was shot with my 7D on auto shutter, ISO 800, and f-stop 3.5. let me know if you have any suggestions on anything i might be doing incorrectly.

prost netz!

Canon 7D slow motion

admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 08:15:09 +0000

alright world… i am in love with my canon 7D! here is a quick comparison video i made of shooting in 720 60p and stopping it down to 30 and 24 fps. i have found many different examples of slow motion video shot with the 7D online, but haven’t really seen any comparison’s so that people could see what the difference is like. thanks a ton to philip bloom, his work with the 7D and 5D, and also the great tutorials he has made that have helped me along the way.

so here’s my comparison, basically just a quick thing of me pouring a beer. yes i know it’s a terrible poor and will have a ton of head, but i wanted to do that so it would show all the bubbling action in slow motion.

thanks to mano-destra, as always, for the beatz and i hope everyone enjoys. have a drink on me world!

prost netz!