So if you've been keeping up then you know how dissatisfied I've been with the EX3 (Not with Melvin, the owner of the sony cam because he's awesome.) No, I've just been unhappy that it's heavy and "noisy."
So know now that I absolutely love the Canon 5D!
We shot a night scene where I had to boost the ISO to get my lights to show up (though Melvin claims I've just not figured out the camera. I can't deny that but I disagree that there's more I can do besides ISO boosting.) While I was looking over the footage I noticed that it was pretty noisy/grainy but the blacks were quite solid. Of course the depth of field was wonderful.
But it wasn't till we reshot park scenes yesterday that I became extremely excited!!! I was able to drop down to a 160 ISO (as I had read that multiples of 160 should be used to get the best image.) The depth of field was amazing, the color, the near lack of noise/grain--all completely amazing. There are some draw backs especially with moving--but still, I regret not having invested in this camera sooner.
The video mode of the camera also allows one to take pictures spontaneously which entertains me to no end. It's fun to be setting up my focus just to have our lead actress suddenly make a silly face -- snap -- GOT IT!!!
Today was pretty amazing. I was horribly exhausted from having to do some late night work but we were able to do about three days worth of filming in one. Our actress is very outgoing and able to keep up the pace despite us already being used to each other (and having already shot these scenes.)
Melvin showed up and since we're not using the EX3 or Glide Cam, the poor guy just sat about with nothing to do. I kept trying to find little problems for him to solve so that he wouldn't feel so unneeded or feel that he was wasting his time. He kept bugging me about using the 5D. I wasn't so keen for a few reasons:
1.) I'm still figuring the camera out myself, so how can I instruct a cameraman on a piece of equipment I myself am oblivious to.
2.) I'm very protective of my very expensive investment.
3.) I was having way too much fun rack focusing on the fly knowing that it was having an immediate and important effect on the result.
I think I'll let Melvin use the camera tomorrow. I feel pretty confident about how to control the thing.
Part of what's fun with the 5D is there's so much more going on than with a standard video camera. It's not just iris, deep focus, and zoom--but there's ISO and lenses and...well other things. It's like driving a manual car compared to an automatic--so much more fun!!! So much more control!!!!
I'm really looking forward to how this film turns out. Whether it makes sense or not I expect that it'll at least look pretty ;P
Also, we got a vegan girl to randomly volunteer to do our slate. She does a great job! :P
--Mr. Zach
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