How I mount diopters to the LA7200.
01 month ago
by Mark Nicholson
in Other stuff
Here’s an example of the cheap +1 Cokin P diopter in the cinetactics Matteblox. It is a velcro mounting system, so the adapter is mounted in velcro and can firmly attach close to the lens. There is no possible chance of this falling out accidentally.
Great Deal on Audio Recorder
01 month ago
by Mark Nicholson
in Other stuff
Tascam DR100 Closeout for $229
Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
01 month ago
by Mark Nicholson
in Other stuff
Not exactly a $1.79, but we do finally have a “best” card for the hacked GH2. Problem? It’s quite a bit of money
This is the only card that can reliably span at high GOP1 bitrates and at the same time record for nearly an hour straight at those high bitrates. I’ve previously used the Sandisk 45mb cards with good success, but the 95mb cards are a whole new ballgame. I just hope you have a place to store all the footage.
3200FPS?! Getting the most from the Nikon 1 Series cameras
01 month ago
The new Nikon 1 series has the distinction of being the only camera in its price range that can shoot 400FPS at 640×240. Now that doesn’t sound like much resolution, but for web delivery – it can be usable.
The way the camera comes stock, you wouldn’t want to use the high fps mode, the sharpening makes the image look like it came out of a barbie cam. Aliasing and Moire are present as well -but there’s a cure. Take advice from other video shooting large sensor consumer cams, and lower the sharpening. It not only reduces the sharpening artifacts, it also lessens other artifacts as well. No its not perfect, I wouldn’t even say that its pretty, but its the only option for $599.
Here’s the methodology of my madness. First, we have only 640×240 pixels to work with – we need to make the most of them, so shooting around it in anamorphic, or cropped 16:9 is a must. Secondly, we need to get those few pixels as accurate and neutral as possible. Fortunately, the sharpening setting fixes this perfectly. It makes a usable image from something once unusable.
Next we need to add information. At best this footage is going to look like DV transferred 16mm film. I’m ok with that, so were going to need to add grain in most cases – and evaluate how much on a case by case basis. Were also going to need to add a bit of diffusion. Both of these will be added in a 1080p timeline, so that the downsampled footage will have more information.
Workflow if more FPS needed: Add to 1080p timeline, and use twixtor. Render grading and effects on footage on a second pass so you have more options to work with. Additionally, you never want to add a grain effect before using a program like twixtor, especially with footage with so little information.
Fix High ISO videos and make them usable
02 months ago
by Mark Nicholson
in Other stuff
This method applies to all brands of cameras and works equally well on a t2i as it does on D7000.
Tools used:
Vegas 11
Neat Video Noise Reduction http://www.neatvideo.com/
Sapphire Effects OFX: http://www.genarts.com/software/sapphire/after-effects
Magic Bullet Suite: http://www.redgiantsoftware.com/products/all/magic-bullet-suite/
GH2 with 14-140 Lens for $1199!
02 months ago
by Mark Nicholson
in Blog Articles
This is a great deal for this kit. A great starter package for those new to the m4/3 camera format. This camera hacked to 176mb produces some of the best images you can get this side of a Sony F3
Canon EOS 1D X – Improved Video Mode!
03 months ago
by Mark Nicholson
in Blog Articles
We’ve been waiting for a video mode upgrade since the release of the Canon 7D in 2009. It looks like we will finally get it in the new full frame EOS 1D X!
From dpreview
Enhanced EOS HD Video – New Compressions, Longer Recording
Centered around an all-new full-frame CMOS sensor with larger pixels than those found on the EOS 5D Mark II image sensor, the EOS-1D X utilizes new HD video formats to simplify and speed up post-production work. The two new compression formats offered on the EOS-1D X include intraframe (ALL-i ) compression for an editing-friendly format and interframe (IPB) compression for superior data compression, giving professionals the options they need for their ideal workflow. Answering the requests of cinematographers and filmmakers, the EOS-1D X includes two methods of SMPTE-compliant timecode embedding, Rec Run and Free Run, allowing multiple cameras or separate sound recording to be synced together in post production.Canon’s all new full-frame CMOS sensor ensures that video footage captured on the EOS-1D X will exhibit less moiré than any previous Canon model, resulting in a significant improvement in HD video quality. A desired feature for many documentary filmmakers using Canon DSLRs was to enable recording beyond the four gigabyte (GB) file capacity and the EOS-1D X is the answer. The new camera features automatic splitting of movie files when a single file exceeds 4GB. The new file splitting function allows for continuous video recording up to 29 minutes and 59 seconds across multiple 4GB files; no frames are dropped and the multiple files can be seamlessly connected in post production, providing filmmakers the recording time they want in the same convenient DSLR form factor. The camera records Full HD at 1920 x 1080 in selectable frame rates of 24p (23.976), 25p, or 30p (29.97); and 720p HD or SD video recording at either 50p or 60p (59.94). SD video can be recorded in either NTSC or PAL standards.
The Canon EOS-1D X also includes manual audio level control, adjustable both before and during movie recording, an automatic setting, or it can be turned off entirely. A wind filter is also included. Sound can be recorded either through the internal monaural microphone or via an optional external microphone through the stereo mic input.
Burst Mode vs Hacked GH2 at 132mbs – How do they compare?
05 months ago
by Mark Nicholson
in Blog Articles
The GH2 offers a burst JPEG mode @ 40fps for 1 second. With the new release of Ptool 3.62, I wanted to test how it held up to 132mb with the hacked GH2. While 132mb might not be the best quality setting that will be discovered for the GH2, for the time being, I think it makes a good benchmark for comparison versus other cameras, or even other camera modes, such as this burst mode.
It’s actually fairly shocking how close the two modes are. They could be easily intercut with each other, although I would certainly use the burst mode if it was avaliable for full time shooting.
132mb GOP3 Hacked GH2 stable
05 months ago
Test the setting, click to download
I’ve been testing multiple GH2 settings for weeks, and I’ve wanted to reach the highest stable bitrate. I think 132mb GOP 3 is going to be fairly close to that for the time being. I’m no AVC expert, certainly someone who is will come up with the penultimate hacked GH2 settings in the next few months, like lpowell did with the GH13.
To get started with these settings, you’re first going to need one of these cards
Be certain to get one of the Extreme Pro cards, anything less will crash. The only other option is a Kingston Extreme XX card. In terms of sequential writes, both cards are very similar in writing performance, however the Kingston cards are more expensive and have faster reading speeds.
30fps Hacked GH2 176mb footage- peaks of 186mb with color footage
05 months ago
I need to find an SD card that can actually write 25MB per second across the card. I don’t think any of the current Class 10 cards will, maybe one of the UHS-1 cards, but I’ve read conflicting reports in any case. Why do I need to write at this speed? Well I’ve seen bursts over 180mb per second. The reason I’m using GOP 3 is because it actually saves the file when the camera crashes. With GOP 6 and GOP 12, I have to eject the battery and restart the camera. In any case, I’ll post a couple of PNG stills below from the peaked 186mb bitrate footage.
Again, this high of bitrate may never be stable on the GH2. It may not even be necessary for 4:2:0 1080p footage. Below are 3 PNG images taken directly from footage at 88mb, 132mb and 176mb. The 176mb footage is one stop brighter due to bumping the lens while flashing the camera. Everything else is the same.
