Jay Shaffer Video » Canon 5dmk2

Why the (hacked) Panasonic GH1 is a better video camera than the Canon5DMk2

shaf — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 17:12:23 +0000

If you are a Canon 5Dmk2 fanboy you may want to shut your eyes. The lowly Panasonic GH1 just got supercharged with a firmware hack that makes a great HDSLR video camera even better. Here is my list of things that make the GH1 a better video camera than the 5D. First let’s take a look at the 800-pound gorilla in the room, The Canon has a full frame 35mm sensor, therefore, there is no crop factor when using 35mm lenses. Canon’s full size sensor is 4 times the size of the 4/3rds sensor in the GH1, which also means that the Canon must compress 4 time the data for the same bandwidth, all thing being equal (which they are not.) Supposedly the 5D is writing data at 35Mbs, compared to the (stock) 17Mbs of the GH1, which means that it’s still throwing away half again as much data as the GH1 (4 time the sensor and only twice as much data as the GH1).

My GH1 Camera Rig

But the GH1 has a secret, with the Ptools firmware hack from Tester13, the GH1 can shoot true 1080P 24fps with no pulldown at 50Mbs. And since both cameras use h.264 compression, with the software hack, the GH1 is compressing the data from its sensor far less.

But there’s more, the GH1 hack also enables the 1080P mode using MJPEG compression at 100Mbs for short shots. While this setting is kind of like using nitrous and it’s really pushing the limits of the camera, it is a real boon if you want to get the highest quality video possible. The advantage that motion JPEG has over h.264 is that it only uses spatial compression instead of the temporal and spatial compression of h.264. This means prettier pictures. His holiness, Phillip Bloom posted a great blog post on what the firmware hack brings to the GH1 which you can read on his blog.
I’ll admit that image quality is close enough between these two cameras that the 5D might win if that were the only issue. But the GH1 is a far more usable camera than the 5D, First off, for shooting video you can’t beat the fold out LCD screen on the GH1. It’s just better than the Live View screen on the 5D, period, even with a Z-finder. Second, the GH1 has continuous auto focus when using the kit lens. With 5D in live mode, you are stuck with whatever focus you had when you started recording. Thirdly, even un-hacked the GH1 can shoot 30fps 1/2 speed slow motion. You just shoot at 60fps 720p and play back the footage at 30fps, no frame blending or doubling, just plain good old fashioned over-cranking.
Okay, Let’s talk about glass. The 5D still uses an optical viewfinder, which means it has a pentaprism and a mirror, which it must flip up to take video, which, of course, makes the optical viewfinder unusable. This arrangement also means that the Canon has a deep flange distance. the flange is the measurement from the back of the lens to the surface of the sensor. Traditional film and video lenses have a short flange distance and don’t work well with 35mm SLR bodies. The GH1 has no optical viewfinder and therefore has a very short flange distance, which means it can use practically any 35mm SLR, video or film lens that someone is willing to make a adapter for. There is even a PL mount adapter that cost as much as the GH1, so that you can use cine lenses that cost 100 times as much the GH1. I use all my old Canon FD SLR lens as well as some Minolta, Olympus, and16mm film lenses and even cheap CCTV lens with my GH1.
Finally, let’s take a look at the form factor. The 5D is big and relatively heavy DSLR. Great if you’re trying to impress other photographers or the bridesmaids at a wedding shoot, not so good if you’re actually trying to shoot steady handheld video. The GH1 is lighter, smaller, more balanced and just plain easier to handle.
I won’t argue that the Canon 5DMK2 is a great still camera, and better than the GH1. But when it comes to real world video shooting and video quality, 5D, you’ve been served!

Introducing Jaybilizer.com and the Jaybilizer HDSLR

shaf — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:50:12 +0000

I finally launched Jaybilizer.com as its own site. It is where I can sell my affordable cameras stabilizers and other camera support gear. To launch the site I’m introducing the Jaybilizer HDSLR Merlin type camera stabilizer specifically designed for the use with the Canon 5DMk2 DSLR. You can also get to Jaybilizer.com By clicking on the productscts tab on this site.
The Jaybilizer HDSLR is a Stedicam Merlin-like camera stabilizer that is optimized for shooting with the new generation of digital SLR cameras that shoot high definition video.

Jaybilizer HDSLR

These cameras produce stunning quality with a film-like narrow depth of field and ultra low light capabilities. The downside is that these cameras are unwieldy for shooting video. The Jaybilizer HDSLR solves this problem and allows photographers and cinematographers to do Steadicam-like “flying” shots. The Jaybilizer is constructed of high quality steel and 6061 aluminum, with a heavy duty steel ball gimbal. The 8″ counterweight bar also acts as a tripod for easily setting down and storing the Jaybilizer. The Jaybilizer HDSLR is an affordable alternative to other expensive stabilizers, at $199 it cost only a quarter as much as the Steadicam Merlin.
The trouble with most camera stabilizers is that it is difficult and time consuming to properly balance a camera. The Jabilizer HDSLR makes this process much easier with both side to side and forward and backward infinitely adjustable sliding balance plates. The Jaybilizer is optimized for camera and lens combinations that weigh between 1.5 and 4 lbs. For lighter camcorders there is also the Jaybilizer 3000 which works with camera rigs up to 3 lbs.

Some of the DSLR cameras that the Jaybilizer HDSLR works with include:

Jaybilizer HDSLR with Lumix GH1

The Canon 5DMK2
The Canon 7D
The Nikon D90
The Nkon D5000
The Lumix GH1
The Olympus E-P1
The Pentax K7

Jaybilizer HDSLR Key Features

* Inexpensive
* Steel ball gimbal
* heavy duty steel and machined 6061 aluminum construction
* Foam comfort grip
* Can be configured to shoot inverted
* Fully adjustable camera plate
* Easy one screw infinite side balance adjustment
* Works with a wide variety of camcorders and DSLRs
* Quick release camera plate
* Supports camera rigs up to 4 lbs
* Black Textured Satin Finish
* 25 counterweight washers
* 8″ counterweight bar allows you to store the Jabilizer HDSLR upright and improves balance.

Dual adjustable sliding plates

Counterweight bar

Single screw side balance adjuster

Super Simple Second System Sound Syncing for HDSLRs

shaf — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:24:00 +0000

If you’re reading this article you probably are aware that shooting HD video with DSLRs is all the rage among digital filmmakers. There are far more reasons to shoot this way than not, but one of the problems with DSLRs are their sound recording capabilities. THe Canon 5D Mk2, the Canon 7D and the Panasonic GH1 have external microphone inputs but unfortunately these use auto gain control and have no manual control over input levels. Also these cameras don’t have headphone monitoring.
The most common solution to these problems is to use film style second system or double system sound.The advantage of second system sound is that you have a redundant high quality sound recording that you can sync to your camera images in post-production. The methodology for second system sound ranges from very simple to incredibly complex methods. [See this article which outlines no less than 16 different methods for doing second system sound. ]
Here is my simple method and workflow for capturing and syncing great sound for HDSLRs.
First you will need some sort of external high quality sound recorder. It is important to note that your sound recorder doesn’t necessarily have to be a sound recorder. I have several DV and HDV camcorders that have microphone inputs and headphone monitoring. So one possible method would be to use one of these as a 16 bit 48KHZ sound recorder and as an added bonus you may even get some usable B-rool video out of the deal. The other method is to use a dedicated sound recorder, one of the coolest and most popular of these is the Zoom H4n recorder. The H4n is a high quality compact rugged and versatile machine and at $300 it’s a bargain. If you don’t have one or something similar, you should buy one. Of course, you may have a portable DAT machine or some other legacy sound recorder, and any of these will work.
Secondly I’m going to presume that you can hook up a high quality external mic to your sound recording device, whether it is a shotgun mic on a boom or wireless lavalier. The ideal situation would be to have a dedicated sound recordist/ boom operator on your shoot, but if you’re a one person operation you can still use a camera mounted mic hooked up to your sound recorder.
Okay, this is the most important part of this method: DO NOT DISABLE SOUND RECORDING ON YOUR DSLR! You are going to use the sound as your reference audio. I edited a cooking show where it was a two camera shoot and the Steadicam was the A camera. Unfortunately the Steadicam didn’t record sound and they forgot to slate about half the shots. If I had reference audio for that camera, I would have saved the producer about 20 hours on that edit. So the lesson is, ALWAYS RECORD SOUND. I have a Audio Technika ATR55 shotgun mic hooked up to the hot shoe of my Panasonic GH1 and have found that actually 60% of the time, I’m using the audio recorded in camera. I”m still recording second system sound, and even when I use the camera audio, it’s nice to know that I’ve got back up audio if I need it. Also when you factor in how many of your shots are MOS or don’t need sound, you’ll be surprised how little post production syncing you actually have to do. The only thing to remember, and this is very important, is that if you can’t slate your shots using a clapper, is to be sure to have your talent clap or snap their fingers or snap your fingers when you are rolling before you shout action. ( You could sync to “action” but believe me, a clap is better.)
So lets get to the simple method of syncing the sound. I use Final Cut Pro, so I’ll outline the method using FCP, but other editors can use much the same method.
Import your video and convert it to whatever frame rate you are going to edit in. Since we are not using time code to sync, frame rate doesn’t matter. Let me repeat that; frame rate doesn’t matter.
Next, you want to import your audio in to your video editor. Hopefully your audio is at least 16bit 44.1KHz PCM audio. Recording as MP3 is not acceptable. If you are using a Zoom H4N you may even have 24 bit 96KHz audio, which is overkill in my opinion. I think that 16 bit 48Khz is the best compromise for sound quality, file size and render speed.
Once you have both your video with reference audio and your second system audio imported, go ahead and drag a shot to the timeline and be sure to include the clap or snap on the reference audio track. Next drag your second system sound onto the timeline below your reference audio track. Then line up the clap or snap by ear or even the waveforms on the timeline ( make sure you have show waveforms enabled). You can playback your tracks and if you hear flanging, nudge the second system sound track (by using the option left or option right arrow keys in FCP) until the sound is in sync.
Once you sound is in sync with the reference track, trim your second system sound track to the same length as the reference track, then select both the video track and the second system sound track and use “Command L” to link it to the video track in FCP. Now that you have your second system (and hopefully better quality) sound track synced and linked to your video shot you can trim and edit the video at will and the second system sound will stay in sync. Your reference audio track is still linked to your video and while in most cases you will mute that track in the final edit, it’s nice to know that you still have it there and in sync if you need it. Lastly you will have to repeat the sync process for all of your master shots, but once you’ve got it down, it’s relatively painless and you don’t have to do any math.
I will note here that Beachtek Audio makes a great product for single system sound recording on DSLRs called the DXA-5D. in addition to having high quality XLR mic inputs, it also tricks the auto gain control in the DSLR using an ultrasonic tone. The only trouble is, they are out of stock at the time of the writing of this article.