Philip Bloom » Reviews

Edit: Next batch for sale Tuesday…. The BEST slider ever made and it’s got the best name too!! :)

Philip Bloom — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 04:37:22 +0000

EDIT: Next batch will go on sale Tuesday 24th April at 11am Eastern USA time and 9PM Eastern USA Time! Sorry these are in so short supply but demand is huge and each one is handmade. Kessler Crane are looking for new factories to help make more but quality is paramount. The add to cart option goes live at the Kessler Site here at the above times.

Philip Bloom Signature Series Pocket Dolly Overview from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Kessler Crane Philip Bloom Pocket Dolly Review from Chris Weatherly on Vimeo.

The 3 foot version

Honestly, I find this hard to believe myself, but I actually have had a piece of gear made to my specifications and being sold with my name on it! Blimey! I am a very humble guy and am utterly flattered that this has been made! I cannot thank Eric Kessler enough! Although doesn’t a Philip Bloom Pocket Dolly sound a bit wrong and kind of blow up? Not that I could imagine anyone EVER wanting one of those (apart from my cats?!)

So…finally after much teasing, the “Philip Bloom Signature Edition” Pocket Dolly is out for sale, both in 2 foot and 3 foot versions…and before you ask, yes I can write and that is my actual signature not some font (which a lovely lady friend said she liked the dolly but didn’t like the font! )

With the advent of DSLRs shooting video, sliders have become an essential part of any filmmaker’s kit. The ability to do small dolly moves can make your shot so much more cinematic.

I have been using various sliders for almost two years and none of them ever fulfilled my needs completely. Too heavy, not smooth enough etc…

The Kessler Crane Cineslider has been by far the greatest slider I have ever used with two downsides for me. The size and weight. I fly a lot and it is simply too big without its own case, and it needs support on either end ideally or a heavy duty tripod. I often use lightweight tripods and wanted the design of the Cineslider combined with the weight of the Kessler Crane Pocket Dolly. The Pocket Dolly V2 is a superb dolly but I personally missed the features of the Cineslider.

With a 16mm Bolex on it!!

The 2 Foot version

This is the best piece of kit I have ever used and I am incredibly proud for it be the first piece of gear to ever bear my name!

It is completely compatible with the Elektra Drive and Oracle motorised system. Simply remove the drag control and fit the motor on exactly as you would do with the Cineslider.

This slider is SERIOUSLY smooth, I call it a “one take slider”, you only need to do the shot again if you cock up, not the gear sticking on you!

It comes as a kit only with the outrigger feet, lovely case, dolly 2 foot or 3 foot and the flat head tripod adaptor. Both the 3 foot and 2 foot are $995 intro price, then it’s $1,095 after the first 12 have gone…I LOVE this dolly. Yes it is more money than the Pocket Dolly V2 but it is essentially a lightweight Cineslider with all the perks of that model and then some, you get the outrigger feet and head mount too. The dolly is also tested for completely smoothness to a 100 feet using a laser for pinpoint accuracy.

Measuring tape for use with elektra drive and oracle motorized system

2 nights in Mallory Square from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Shot on the Canon 5D MK II to test out the Kessler Crane Pocket Jib and the new special Philip Bloom Pocket Dolly.

Filmed over two evenings at Mallory Square in Key West, Florida

Video review of the Canon XA-10, XF100 and XF105

Philip Bloom — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 00:38:59 +0000

Ethics statement: I have not been paid by anyone to do this. I did this review off my own back and purchased both cameras.

Sorry for the delay on this, but it’s worth the wait. I was able to spend a couple of months with the cameras before doing the review which is far better than a knee jerk one.

Why review a small chip camcorder? Are they not a thing of the past? Actually they are a very valuable tool. Easy to operate, stuff is in focus. Great B cams. Yes you don’t get the stunning aesthetic of a DSLR but you don’t get image issues and sound is a piece of cake. These cameras are great cameras for certain jobs and can work well in conjunction with the DSLRs.

First off is the video review, it’s quite long but covers all the info you need, hopefully, then there is some test footage I shot one afternoon whilst on my holiday in Greece with a Gitzo stills tripod.The flickering at around 4 minutes is some glitch. I will go back to the edit…

Enjoy!

Review of Canon XA10 XF100 XF105 from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Chania: Test shots done on the Canon XF105 from Philip Bloom extras on Vimeo.

Some test footage I shot in May 2010 with the Canon XF105.

Check out my review of this camera and the XA10 at www.gopb.co/xf

Music is Nana Mouskouri,Mera Mayiou

Filmed on the Island of Crete in Greece whilst on holiday!

Although all cameras have the same sensor the XF100 is by far the best feature/ price camera out of the three.

The XA10 is lovely and small, has the same lens and produces great images, the detachable handle is excellent, the in built memory is useful… but it’s these below things that should make you want to look at it’s bigger brother:

The lack of customisable picture profiles that that XF line has.

Proper switches and buttons in the right place, not touch screen.

Superior codec, 50mbs 4:2:2 is a big deal for such a small camera. You don’t have to record in that high if you don’t want to but it’s there and the files are not that big!

Slow motion, both 720p 50/60p or proper overcrank in those modes. Having slow motion is such a bonus and doesn’t have image issues like the 720p of Canon DSLRs. It’s sharp and looks great upscaled.

Fantastic exposure assist histograms.

Better quality PCM sound on XF series.

Did I mention it has proper buttons?!

Only get the XF105 is you need the Genlock and SDI out. It’s a $1000 more.

You can order from B&H below, although stock is scarce…

Large chip camcorder comparison: AF100 vs F3 vs FS100. Includes FS100 review in Part 2

Philip Bloom — Thu, 05 May 2011 00:14:35 +0000

BLOG DISCLAIMER:

This comparison has be done by myself and with the help of Suresh Kara from Documovie.co.uk for fun. We have tried be as accurate as possible but there will always be anomalies due to the shoot being conducted in the “real world” not in a studio. Do not treat anything in here as gospel. We don’t therefore neither should you!

Neither Canon, Sony or Panasonic have paid us any money for this. Sony did supply me with the FS100 to check out but no money exchanged hands, they simply wanted my opinion on it.

This was done in our own free time to give people more information about these new camcorders. Both myself and Suresh are AF101 owners and have been very curious how the new FS100 compares. I am also a recent Sony F3 owner. This is not a Zacuto shootout or anything similar. It is primarily about camera operation and features with a few shots thrown in to compare. I am coming at this from a cameraman’s point of view as to what it is like to shoot with this.

Of course the temptation to obsess over the difference in each image is strong, resist it. Sure, do that with the Zacuto “Single chip camera evaluation” shoot out but not this. There are far too many anomalies for that. Even my first low light test I screwed the AF settings up and had to reshoot it. This was done for fun and to give more information to people out there like myself and Suresh. Never buy a camera based upon one person’s opinion. Always try it out first, especially if you are spending thousands!

Well It’s finally here. I had to split it into two parts as it was simply impossible to manage as one and far too long for internet viewing.

This is nothing like the upcoming Zacuto shootout which is coming out in June. For starters I am looking at just 3 cameras and focusing much more on features and operation than just the image. The Zacuto Shootout when it comes out will be fantastic and perfect for people to really obsess over images!

So myself and Suresh Kara from Documovie.co.uk made this little comparison video as a “real world” how these cameras operate in the field test with some image comparison.

It’s split into two parts. The shooting is part 1 and my thoughts and overview are in part 2. Both together function not just as a comparison but as a review of each camera going in depth into what they have to offer. But I have designed that you can learn most of what you need from Part 1 .Part 2 is there if you want more details, it’s less interesting as it’s just me at my kitchen table going into the ins and outs of the cameras, the pros and cons in detail.

Do check out my earlier blog with some bits of pieces on there and some links to downloadable pro res lt files!!

I will be doing a separate blog on the comparison between stuff recorded on the Atomos Ninja versus in camera at a later date.

I used the AF100 Picture Profiles by Abel Cine which you can see here and an adaptation of my EX1 picture profile settings for the Sony Cameras which meant -7 detail and various other tweaks, but they aren’t perfect.

Thanks to Kessler Crane, Rule Boston Camera, Marshall Monitors, Atomos, MTF services, Phil Arntz, Arnie Bloom and Sony Europe.

The majority of this was shot with the AF101 apart from the opening introduction which was on the F3. Part 2 has lots of shots from the Canon XA10 as cutaways.

Brought to you in association with Kessler University.

AF100 vs F3 vs FS100 Part 1: The Real World from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

AF100 vs F3 vs FS100 Part 2: In depth and conclusions. from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

The Bloom Danube: Sony FS100 Smooth slow motion test from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Marshall 5″ LCD monitor versus the Small HD 5.6″ DP6

Philip Bloom — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 18:25:01 +0000

Small HD on the left. Marshall on the right

THE MARSHALL:

I have both the 6.5″ and 8″ Monitors from Marshall as well as their 17″. I have been a Marshall user for over 3 years but I also have an amazing Panasonic HD-SDI monitor. All great monitors and essential tools for me whilst filming. The 6.5″ is my go to monitor every time. BUT, it’s expensive. Over $1600. It has great features like peaking, false colour etc..

It’s lower resolution than my 6.5″ which is 1024×768, the 5″ is 800×480 but it’s a REALLY high quality panel. Resolution is not the be all and end all. It costs just under $600

The Marshall has peaking for focus assist. It seems better than my 6.5″ for some reason at this, not sure why. It also has false colour to help with exposure. Edit: when you hit record on the 5d it does not do anything it just drops to 480p but as the resolution is only a bit lower than the native resolution so you do not notice it as much as you do with the higher resolution panels. BUT you can hit the pixel to pixel mapping button and it enlarges the screen making it almost the same size as without. This pixel to pixel mapping is a huge plus on the 7D, 1dmkiv and 60D as it zooms in a about 2.5x to help you get focus whilst recording which you cannot do on the Canon LCD screen.

It runs off of 4 AA batteries. This is good and bad. They last just 2 hours. So invest in some rechargeable ones or power it using a different power system. AA batteries are good simply because you can get them anywhere…I have an AC adaptor for it which helps of course but I much prefer to keep my monitors battery only.

It’s a pretty simple monitor connection wise. HDMI only.

SMALL HD DP6:

I have the larger original Small HD but was disappointed with it. I really did not like the panel and the controls were awful. I am happy to say the DP6 in a massive improvement. The panel is 100x better than the previous one, the menu system has been totally redesigned, using a wheel at the top. The 5.6″ panel is a very nice high resolution 1280×800 and it’s pretty damn robust with a Solid Aluminium shell.

Jon Connor from Canonfilmmakers.ocm using the DP6 on a shoot

The one I have on loan is the basic version, it has HDMI, component and composite which costs $800. The HD-SDI version which really interests me as I have cameras with this connection as well as HDMI retails for $1300.

If you are a 5Dmkii or T2i user the DP6 in DSLR mode will auto scale the 480p signal to fill the screen. A really nice plus.

The menus are very comprehensive with all sorts of options. It has a nice peaking feature which simply ups the sharpness of the display. It also has a focus assist mode, but I found this hard to use and see what I was doing. I prefer the peaking in the Marshall. The black and white image with red edges to show what is in focus. The DP6, like the Marshall also has false colour to help your exposure and a histogram.

It has a USB port to allow it to have firmware updates. Another great feature. You can also add a USB powered HDMI splitter!!

The panel is a bit too reflective for me. I really much much prefer matte screens. Also the screen can scratch easily that’s why they sell an essential acrylic screen protector.

One of my favourite things they sell is the Canon battery plate for LP-E6 batteries which runs for 4 hours on two batteries. They have their own proprietary battery system too.

I have to say it’s really well made and such a massive improvement over the previous one I had. Night and day really.

So which is better?

Well that is a tough question to answer, they are both excellent monitors…let me run through their plusses and minuses.

Both are small, but that is the point. These are designed for on camera monitoring and especially handheld. Want a bigger screen then get a bigger monitor.

The panel of the Small HD is bigger and has higher resolution than the Marshall. Although I definitely found the Marshall panel to give a more accurate colour reproduction and generally more pleasant image, but that’s not to say the DP6 image isn’t really good too. It is! The higher resolution does make focusing slightly easier BUT the pixel to pixel mapping of the Marshall is better because the panel is lower resolution which makes the zoom in way more useful. Both are reflective but the Small HD is more reflective meaning you really need a sunshade when using it, but I absolute HATE the sunshade of the DP6, but that’s because I cannot touch the fabric it is made of. I have a phobia of it For most people it’s great though!

I prefer the peaking of the Marshall to the DP6. Seems to work better. Although the DP6 keeps the image in colour with peaking on. The Marshall goes black and white. Don’t get the focus assist on the DP6, I need to use it more to get my head around it!

The DP6 has way more tweaks available in the menu for the image, the menu system is very nice and much improved BUT i still like the instant access buttons of the Marshall on the front.

The battery system of the DP6 is better than the Marshall. Using Canon Batteries is a nice plus for me but it does drain them. The Marshall only gets 4xAA battery option which last just 2 hours. Tough one that!

The DP6 has component and composite making it a much more flexible monitor. The HD-SDI even more so. But you do pay for it. The basic DP6 is 50% more the the Marshall and the HD-SDI version more than twice the price.

I have to say I am really impressed with both of them. In a way I don’t see them competing against each other. For me the Marshall is the first truly useful budget monitor out there. Every one I have used prior to this have been not good! This is sub $600 (probably a lot more in the UK as usual) and excellent and totally usable for focusing and framing etc…The DP6 is more expensive but has more flexibility, options, features. So you have to decide what is important to you and what your budget is…

There is one thing that bugs me with the Marshall is the on off switch is right at the back on the bit that juts out so when I rest it on the table when powered off it turns itself off. I also prefer the placement of the DP6 HDMI cable, dropping down is better for me than sticking out…

So after all that there is no conclusive winner. I like them both and will use them both, especially if I have a 1st pulling focus. The small size of them is great.

The DP6 is like a mini computer, with firmware upgrades promised and the ability to upgrade to HD-SDI a huge plus. It really is a very flexible little monitor. I am very impressed with it.

The Marshall has a great image and is the first usable budget monitor I have used.

I can’t decide! Just get both

It’s a real shame I don’t have the HD-SDi version of the DP6. Would be really useful for the Panasonic AF-100 I get tomorrow. Oh well…

Excellent new DSLR training video for single operators from Dan Chung

Philip Bloom — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 13:56:12 +0000

I have known Dan Chung for many years. We both covered news in London at the same time so we were often stuck on the same doorsteps, for a snapper he was actually a nice fellow! Generally the video boys and the snappers kept themselves to themselves but occasionally we crossed the floor to speak to each other But normally our dialogue would be kept to us pushing them out of them of the way and grunting and them screaming at us “Oie TV, out of the way!”

For 17 years I covered news, although in the latter years I spent most of my time covering foreign stories and doing the long form and documentary work. There was one occasion about a year ago where I found myself in a media circus situation and one of the snappers recognised me from my DSLR work and quizzed me on what to get. I needed to get a shot not long after but the photographers were all in the way. He shouted out “Oie boys, TV needs to get the shot, get out of the way”. That made me chuckle!

Anyway back to Dan Chung…he works for The Guardian newspaper and website in China these days and he was one of the very early photographers to cross over to shooting video too at the request of his company. He shot on video cameras like the EX1 but now does pretty much all on his Canon 1 man band DSLR set up. He also runs the website DSLR News shooter and is a huge asset to the DSLR community, very active of twitter, always there with advice for people. He also speaks at many events, in fact we are both speaking at the Canon pro photo solution show at the end of October.

His training video, although aimed at one man bands in very useful as it covers so much more ground than just operating on your own. He knows his stuff and some of the info in there is invaluable. I myself picked up some really useful tips myself from watching it. It’s nice and in depth. Is 2 hours long and takes you out with Dan as he covers a video assignment in Malaysia.

Here is the trailer:

Thaipusam Trailer from Den Lennie on Vimeo.

This is some of the info from F-Stop Academy, the company who produced my two training products:

This is a one-stop shop for shooters looking to up their game, explaining not just the technical stuff but Dan’s whole approach to shooting, including how to prepare for events and navigate your way through them. But instead of talking at you, he takes you with him on assignment; the whole DVD was shot in the run-up to and during the Hindu festival of Thaipusam, held annually in Malaysia’s Batu caves.

Whether you’re a documentary maker, keen amateur or photojournalist, you can’t afford to miss the action. This shows you how to capture it all – covering everything from focal lengths to audio recording and carrying out a recce.

He mainly uses Canon DSLRs in the DVD, but the majority of the techniques apply whatever brand of DSLR you are using.

Here’s what you’ll find on the DVD download:

Chapter 1 Understanding D-SLR Functions
We look at the core differences and similarities to photography and we spend some time setting up the a Canon to shoot in Video Mode.

Chapter 2 Lenses, Focal Length & Crop Factor
Understanding the effect of crop factor has on effective focal length.

Chapter 3 Light control, Picture Styles and using Filters
The optimum set ups to give you the most control visually.

Chapter 4 Camera Movement And support for Video
Moving the Camera. All the techniques that are largely specific to shooting video. This is a steep learning curve for photographers but I walk you though clearly and concisely.

Chapter 5 Shooting in Low Light
Low light shooting on the 1D Mark IV- This section covers working at night in a Hawker market, demonstrating the incredible low light and resolving capability of the Canon 1D Mark IV

Chapter 6 Basic Audio recording techniques
In a busy restaurant I demonstrate 3 separate ‘simple’ audio recording techniques.

Chapter 7 How to record advanced audio for DSLR
Recording Advanced Audio, we return to the Hawker market but this time I share an advanced ‘Dual Sound system’ for recording audio that gives me more control.

Chapter 8 The Pre Assignment Recce
I spend 4 hrs scouting the location in advance of the assignment. I will walk you through my thought processes and how the shoot will differ from a straight stills only shoot.

Chapter 9 Pre Assignment Final Kit Check
Working solo in movie mode requires some extra kit, I explain how the kit breaks down and what to carry without compromising on quality.

Chapter 10 The Assignment
This is a very intimate journey, working side by side with me in the thick of a festival with over 1 million devotees, body piercing, rituals and stunning images make this the climax of the training documentary.

Click the image below to be taken to the store to buy it!

And here are a couple of great pieces of work from Dan…

Mongolian Racer from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

A horse trainer and his 10-year-old jockey face the biggest day of their year at Mongolia’s Naadam festival, which dates back to before Genghis Khan’s time and celebrates the ‘manly sports’ of wrestling, archery and racing.

By guardian.co.uk staff Dan Chung and Tania Branigan.

Shot on Canon 1DmkIV, 5DMkII, 550D and GoPro HD cameras. For more details on how it was shot please head over to www.dslrnewsshooter.com

See http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/20/mongolia-nomads-livestock-winter-poverty for more on Mongolia from the Guardian.

China’s 60th Anniversary national day – timelapse and slow motion – 7D and 5DmkII from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

The parade in Tiananmen Square to mark the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China – as seen in timelapse and slow-motion.

Slow motion shot on a 7D at 720p/60
Time lapses on Canon Eos5DmkII and Nikon D700.
Edited on Final Cut Pro

For more details on how this was shot head over to www.dslrnewsshooter.com

For more on China from the Guardian go to www.guardian.co.uk/china

My first look at the Gh2…Clean HDMI out?!

Philip Bloom — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 23:24:54 +0000

Today, amidst the disaster zone that is my house thanks to the WORST kind of cowboy builder who took my money and did sod all work, in fact did worse than that, he created work, quit 3 weeks in and left my house in a dangerous state with exposed still connected gas pipes, but more of that another time, don’t get me started on a rant!…I got two new cameras on loan from Panasonic and Canon today. Some good news…shame I have to give them back! The GH2 from Panasonic and the 60D from Canon.

I know the Canon has been out for a week or so and there are some reviews on it but I still want to give my opinion on it. I will do this asap, it’s basically a better T2i with a lovely articulated screen and with some better features than the 7D… a mid market camera…more to come soon.

The Gh2 is very interesting, it’s much improved over the Gh1 but the 24mbs bit rate is only available in 24p mode. The 25p mode is still the inadequate 17mbs mode. I told the guys there today they need to fix that as in Europe we need 25p bit rate equal to the 24mbps. I know a lot of people have the Gh1 with the hack with crazy high bit rate. This I can tell you straight off will not be as good as that in bit rate terms but it does out perform the GH1 in low light straight away. It also has a myriad of new features that I will go into when I actually review it properly. There are manual audio controls and levels on the screen whilst recording, although they cannot be adjusted whilst recording and there is no headphone jack and it has a sort of in camera over and undercranking, albeit in a very consumer-esque way…

A big improvement is you can now use a monitor whilst recording with the Gh2, before when you hit record it switched off. Now this is where it gets interesting. The LCD screen stays on when the monitor is being used. Something the Canons cannot do, a MASSIVE plus BUT can you record onto something like a Nanoflash or a Kipro using this? Yes and no…The HDMI is completely clean if you press the display button a couple of times but is 1080i 50i (on EU model, 60i on US model) until you hit record, then it goes to 1080p 24p but with a record symbol and a timer. Damn! I told Panasonic straight off that I need that to go off please. So Panasonic PLEASE with the production model can you put this in? The one I am using is a pre-production model. It can’t be hard to add this in the final firmware? We all want it so please please please please please pleaseplease please pleaseplease please pleaseplease please pleaseplease please please PLEASE add it! Ideally please can we have a menu option for HDMI display so we can keep the useful graphics on the internal screen and have clean on the HDMI, I am convinced it would be very easy and this feature alone would be worth the upgrade from the GH1 and would turn it into a VERY powerful little movie making machine!

Clean 1080i 50i before hitting record

But hit record and you get a record symbol and a timer

Whilst live monitoring before record on the EU camera we have 1080i 50i

Hit record and we have lovely 1080p 24p BUT it's not completely clean...

The 3D refers to a a twin optical lens 3d lens that is coming out soon, stills only

The upcoming 3d lens for stills only

I haven’t shot anything with it yet so this is not a review, that will come. There are so many cool features and improvements. It’s just a shame about that HDMI…then of course the new AG-AF100 will have clean Hd-SDI out and many of the other features we want but it costs 4 or 5 times as much as it a proper video camera, I will be getting my hands on one very soon according to Panny… in the meantime the Gh2 looks pretty promising. As a new Leica M9 owner with some nice lenses and a micro four thirds adaptor i have some absolutely pucker glass to use on this camera as well as the lovely 7-14mm wide angle from Panny and a nice Nikon adaptor from Fotodiox…Give me some time and I will see just how much better it is than the Gh1, especially against the hacked GH1 (although it’s not possible to buy a GH1 now and hack it as the firmware prevents it…)

The articulated screen is very nice, it’s touch screen too, oh and it has an EVF…no costly additional expense needed here and it’s works well, I am not sure but I think it is higher resolution than the GH1 one…anyway that’s enough for now. Had the most stressful of few days trying to get home from the US and my “builder” destroying my house. Got a lot to sort out and am back in the US on Wednesday for the Vimeo awards. Blimey. I need a clone or two please! Canon? Panasonic? Can you help me there? I don’t mind it I have bit of rolling shutter or moire!

Wireless HD streaming from HDMI or SDI…a very cool product

Philip Bloom — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 00:24:58 +0000

I have been dreaming of the day we can use our ipads and iphones to view live images from cameras being used on productions. That ipad screen is perfect for use as a monitor, but so far we can’t…but…

Teradek, a company based out of Irvine California have come out with a damn impressive product. I saw it in action for the first time at the Santa Monica meet up and was blown away by it.

I saw it on top of a 5DmkII, not the ideal camera for this as I will explain later, and used in conjunction with a Macbook pro. The Cube was mounted on the hot shoe of the Canon, powered by the D-Tap of a Switronix Powerbase 70 and plugged into the HDMI of the Canon. Now, as we know the Canon has the annoying habit of turning the LCD off as soon as an HDMI lead is plugged in, a real pain. What I use in these cases is the JAG35 HDMI powered splitter and my Marshall monitor. I wish there was a way of the LCD screen staying on but currently that is not possible. Anyway, I digress…

The Cube creates an ad-hoc wifi signal that the computer simply connects to by selecting it in the wifi selection of your computer and through “Bonjour” and using the free piece of software called VLC player you can view 1080i, 720p or 480p video streamed wirelessly to your laptop. Now the quality can be varied depending on how good you need it to be. There is also a delay, not a long one, it can be changed but around 100 milliseconds is about as good as it gets right now. Pretty fast! You access all the settings through the web browser and can save them as presets.

So this morning I met with the guys who make it at my hotel and we tested it out. We mounted the cube onto my 5Dmk2 and we tested the range. It worked through walls and from a good 200+ feet away and that’s just using the ad-hoc network between the cube and my Macbook Pro. If we had an Aiport Extreme or something helping it we could go much further away and up the bitrate. You can also record the stream in VLC player to play it back. Really impressive stuff.

It also works via an Ethernet port for much more stability of course…

Now the cool thing is when you get this plugged into a router and set it up so it is no longer adhoc then everyone on set can dial into it…

It does also work with an iphone and ipad via Safari but there is a substantial lag….what is needed is for the soon to come VLC player for iphone/ ipad to support streaming otherwise Teradek will bring out their own proprietary software that will do this so the delay will be tiny like the laptop…they are also working on their own software for the computer too so you can make log notes etc for the recording. ALSO, with the right upload speed it could mean you could stream what is coming off set to someone not on the location, in fact they could be anywhere.

It’s all very cool I have to say. It comes in two flavours. The SDI version and the HDMI version. We tested it out with the RED one too and it was superb and of course it doesn’t kill your on camera monitoring like it does with the Canons…

The biggest issues with the 5DmkII (and the T2i) is when you hit record the resolution drops to 480p which causes issues here, a big old delay for things to sync up. With my Blackmagic HDMI-SDi box it takes around 7 seconds to re-sync, here it means about 10-12 seconds. With the 7D and the 1Dmkiv there is no re-sync issues as the output stays 1080i once you hit record.

I can see this being a really useful thing for me on larger productions when I need lots of people to have video. Price point wise it’s $1600 for the HDMI version and $2100 for the HD-SDI version. Obviously this is a professional tool and a really well implemented one at that.

Networking Basics for Cube from Teradek on Vimeo.

This lesson describes the difference between ad hoc and infrastructure networking and why a network device cannot broadcast like a radio.

Cube network discovery on OS X using Bonjour in Safari from Teradek on Vimeo.

This tutorial illustrates how to create an ad-hoc network connection to Cube over WiFi with Apple’s Airport, and how to use Bonjour in Safari to access Cube’s web user interface.

View Live Streaming Video Using VLC on OS X from Teradek on Vimeo.

Instructions for viewing live streaming video on the Cube:
1. Connect with Bonjour
2. Logon to WebUI
3. Copy link to stream
4. Open VLC. Click File – Open Network
5. Past link to stream in URL box, click Open

Steadicam torture – Cube Beta testing footage (HD) from Teradek on Vimeo.

A long and boring movie for a reason – 3 long & uncut scenes showing Cube’s stability while streaming 720p HD video from 250ft+ away, recorded on a Laptop using a $150 Linksys Wireless N router. 2 Scenes are outdoors, one inside an office building. In all of them, scenes include dramatic movement, and Cube performs brilliantly.

PIP is from Canon 5DMkII recorded to CF, main video window is Cube’s stream recorded on a Laptop.

For the interview afterwards, check out http://vimeo.com/14705740.

This is the full version is available, the movie was also reduced in resolution to make it suitable for slower network connections: http://vimeo.com/14757706.

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Absolutely essential bit of kit for the DSLR filmmaker

Philip Bloom — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:54:52 +0000

There are as we know many issues with shooting with DSLRs (I now am sticking with just DSLRs rather than any other term) One big one is visual monitoring. Plug in the HDMI monitor lead into your Canon and the LCD disables. Very annoying, leaving you with just one monitoring method. The monitor

Currently no HDMI monitors are out there with HDMI passthrough so for me to give my director/ focus puller/ client/ mum a monitor to look at what I am doing whilst I operate the camera I am a bit screwed! A simple Y HDMI splitter doesn’t work, it needs to be powered. My great friends at JAG35 have made a nice elegant solution to this. A portable powered and compact HDMI splitter. The gave me one to test out when I saw them at Venice Beach the other day and I have tried it out and it works a treat. I can now run two monitors from the output of the Canon.

Now I have the Jag35 battery pack which sits underneath your camera or can be attached to their new cage which I will soon test out, currently this isn’t available but will be soon. In the meantime find a 5v battery pack or plug into the mains with the supplied power adaptor.

You do have to find somewhere to fix the splitter to your rig but that’s easy enough and again their new cage is very helpful for that. What we need now is for someone to PLEASE make a 90 degree mini HDMI to normal HDMI adaptor or a 90 degree mini HDMI to normal HMDI lead as I go through so many damn leads because of the way it sticks out it’s getting silly!

The splitter retails for $49.99 + shipping. Well worth it. You can order it by clicking here.

Review of Noktor F0.95 Hyperprime 50mm lens for Micro Four Thirds

Philip Bloom — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:31:31 +0000

I was contacted by Noktor if I was interested in reviewing this lens for the micro 4/3 system. Naturally I jumped at the chance. Although being away from home I don’t have all my gear. My GH1 is at home but I have my GF1 with me. Not ideal as not as good at video at all, but still usable.

Ever since the lens arrived it has lived on my GF1 and the GF1 has lived in my man bag! It’s such a fun lens to shoot with.

Of course being 50mm on a micro four thirds give it an equivalent field of view of what you would get with a 100mm on a 5dmkII, so it’s not a very wide lens. Much more of a portrait lens which is not a bad thing at all.

First off for a lens this fast….it’s cheap. It is retailing for $750. For a lens this fast you would normally have to pay a lot more.

Wide open obviously it isn’t super sharp, it’s what I would call soft focus dreamy, stop down to F1.4 and it’s surprisingly sharp.

It has a minimal focus distance of 0.6m, a filter size of 62mm and 8 aperture blades. I noticed that when stopped down a little the bokeh was hexagonal in shape but wide open was circular. Apart from from the edges which where more half moon. I actually was actually quite partial to this look…Check out these stills I took with camera below. Some are wide open, some are stopped down…

Sara

Emrys Roberts

Shooting video with it on the GF1 was a challenge. With no manual controls in video mode I set the camera to shutter priority and 1/50th of a second which is optimum shutter speed for 25p. I set the ISO to lowest possible, set the iris it the F stop I wanted and using the Fader ND 72mm (with a 62mm step up ring) I got exposure and hit the exposure lock button so nothing could change. It’s a sort of way around the auto issues on the GF1. I also used a Zacuto Z-Finder, essential for me to get even close to focus with this lens!

The Fader ND is essential if you want to shoot video on this camera or even stills and shoot wide open during daylight. It’s my HD-DSLR number one accessory.

The image was definitely sharper closed down but wide open I was very please with the image. I did a few tests shots under and on Santa Monica Pier. I really want to try and use this lens on the GH1 as soon as I can to see what it really is capable of in video mode.

It’s got lovely smooth iris and smooth focus, no vignetting and it’s not too heavy it has the right balance of weight for me and build quality is excellent.

All in all a very nice lens for the price, lovely to be able to shoot is really low light. I would love to see them make one for the Canons now! You can order one here, or at least be put in line for one!

For comparison below is a shot taken on the Leica F .95 50mm.

Thanks to Sara Collaton for the BTS photos.

The Pier: Test shots done with Noktor F0.95 50mm with Panasonic GF1 from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Shot on and under Santa Monica Pier in California using a Noktor F0.95 50mm lens with a Panasonic GF1 shooting AVCHD lite in 25p.

Music is by Bernard Herrmann from “Vertigo”

Modified 7D-PL mount camera

Philip Bloom — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:07:44 +0000

I met Illya Friedman from hotrodcameras.com last year when I went to Joshua Tree with a pre-production GH1. He had a PL lens adaptor for the GH1 and brought some very nice Glass with him.

Well he has done something pretty serious here and taken a normal 7D and turned it into a serious movie making machine by removing the mirror box and replacing the EOS mount with a rugged as hell PL mount. This is serious stuff!!

PL lenses, if you don’t know are positive lock lenses are the mount that cinema lenses use. There were a number of Panavision PL mount adaptors out there for the 7D but there were are molten down by Panavison!

This means you can use the same lenses that you would use on 35mm film or cameras like the F35 on your 7D. This is not a indie filmmakers setup but if you are shooting a movie and want a B camera or two or three or you are using it as your A camera and you have the budget or access to high end glass then this is the way forward.

The sensor on the 7D is similar is size to a super 35mm sensor hence that is why he has done this on a 7D, not a 1dmkiv or a 5d2 as their sensors are too big and vignettting will occur.

Standard 7D

No viewfinder

There is a new sensor protector added

His modification is really well done. Incredibly solid. Unfortunately as I have no lenses right now to use on the camera, I cannot test it out fully. But I will have some lenses next week.

He charges 3k to mod your 7D or will sell you one all done for just under 5k with an extended warranty to cover the fact you have voided the Canon Warranty.