Ian Hedley Wakefield

All the best with your shoot :)

bathroom + long end of the zoom. I assume we've all spotted the issue here (unless shooting in a mansion etc) How much room do you have to play with?

Looking at the images from the flickr feed, these don't appear to display as much pushing to the extremes of the teal and orange spectrum as we are seeing in modern cinema. As you said further down in your post David, the source material is unknown - I suppose the only way to really tell would be to go back to the masters or digital remastered versions and grab frames from there? While many films coming out in the last little while have been using the teal and orange look, it's not quite genre specific but there seems to be a selection of films that are using this look, can we define the look's placement in a genre/small selection of genres? Certainly the post apocalyptic films steer well clear of this, going for the bleaker grey look. Is the issue with the whole teal and orange push or how far it has been pushed in the last few years?

http://theabyssgazes.blogspot.com/2010/03/teal-and-orange-hollywood-please-stop.html Read and laugh/weep. I'm definitely in agreement with you regarding the popped skin and teal skies. At the end of the day we don't go to the cinema's to see the world as we see it... maybe that discussion is for another thread :P

No worries. feel free to direct message me if you want to continue correspondence via email? Without wanting to direct traffic away from this forum there are AP specific forums that probably will be more suited to your needs. As I said the learning curve is steep. One thing to bear in mind is payloads. We have one of the biggest multirotors on the market, an 8 rotor monster and it has an effective payload of around 2kgs. Also to date there is no known gimbal camera mount that will support a rod mount system for things like remote follow focus etc. Just out of interest what part of Europe are you based in? In my initial research into these craft I found a company in Finland using a craft similar to mine. Another thing to keep in mind is that all the footage you may have seen online that looks silky smooth has been heavily stabilized in post. Best of luck, keep in touch

So on a 20cm/6-8inch cable camera out --> recorder. If I'm getting a signal that's as good as it will be? See picture --> thank appropriate deity --> remember to press record :P Cheers Phil.

I'm trying to work out how to determine the quality of signal coming down a HDMI cable. I have time to invest in this little bit of a personal research project, I just lack the know how on how to go about it. I've read over and over that the 7D doesn't put out a uncompressed signal via HDMI. I m curious as to how this is determined as I have a FS100 and a 7D and I'd like to do some comparisons. Eventually the FS100 will be running into a Atomos Samurai via a HDMI -> SDI Atomos connect which is essentially why I'm embarking on this project. I realise there are many variables like cable quality and length that can affect the quality of a signal. I'd like to begin eliminating these variables. Thanks in advance Ian

The two main players are Hoverfly and Mikrokopter. Can you specify what sort of camera you are using/wanting to use? Are you wanting to buy or rent? I've just gone thru the process of getting one built for my production company, hope you're a RC nerd/know of one because the learning curve is STEEP.

Sucks. :( Hope you get it sorted, may be a warranty/service jobbie. All the best.

probably cos 30p is actually 29.97p Try a shutter speed of 1/50 as per this video I found. (about 0.29 sec in) http://vimeo.com/14885028 Hope that helps. Being down under I haven't come across this before. All the best.

All the Canon DSLRs output a SD signal via HDMI when recording except the 7D and possibly the 1D. There's not much you can do about it. Not sure if the Magic Lantern hack/update fixes this.

What part of the world are you? Probably the flicker rate of fluro's is 60Hz? However... Why is your shutter at 1/60? If you're shooting 25fps you should have a shutter of 1/50sec and if you're on 50/60fps shutter should be 1/125sec. For a standard 180 degree shutter. Hope this fixes your issue.

Do your research on codecs that the cameras shoot in, DSLR's have awful acquisition codecs but they've made the 35mm film "look" affordable. Also there are plenty of workarounds out there now - some better than others. It really depends on the type of work you want to be doing, run'n'gun or the more traditional slower paced shoots. Can I throw a bit of a curveball in here for ya, I'd say invest in some good glass, something that is gonna last you for a long time. You can always hire/rent a camera (esp if you're getting some budget). Companies like Duclos cinemod lenses - http://www.ducloslenses.com/Duclos_Lenses/zf.html will enable you to have a set of very good glass that won't destroy your bank account. Imaging technology is advancing at an exponential rate, at least with glass you will get better bang for your buck in the long run. As a student we had Panasonic's at my film school but I shot DSLR and have since moved to a Sony FS100, both of these cameras are not flawless but I have been very happy with the results from both of them. Hope this helps.

Just for those interested I got in contact with Atomos regarding the Ninja and possible firmware upgrades allowing for DNxHD support etc This is what i got back. "Hi Ian Thanks for getting in touch. Lots of people are using the FS100 with Ninjas now, with great results. I'm not allowed to talk about future plans, I'm afraid. BTW - you may want to look out for Atomos announcements from the IBC in Amsterdam, starting on Friday this week. We've got some news about a few things that we'll be mentioning for the first time there. Best regards Dave Shapton Atomos"

Set camera to best settings and then hope for the best? Sigh. I love operating in the unknown.

SSD's shouldn't be affected by vibration like a traditional platter drive. I may be wrong but that'd my understanding anyway. I just recieved this link via my twitter this morning as I put a similar call out. "The HDMI 1.4 port used on the FS100 outputs uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2 or 8-bit RGB signals. Auto negotiation (EDID) takes place when an external recorder and FS100 are initially connected via HDMI and cable. During the EDID exchange, the FS100 and external recorder negotiate the highest quality signal common to the FS100 and recorder. From then on, the FS100 will output the negotiated signal. There is no menu in the camera to force a particular mode." http://blog.abelcine.com/2011/08/30/sony-nex-fs100-and-hdmi-clarified/ Does this mean that we actually have no real control over how good the data is coming off the camera? Obviously one can set the data rate in camera etc and in some cases on the recorder too, but it seems to me that the HDMI cable is almost a weak link in the chain now. (Please lets save a HDMI vs HD-SDI argument for another thread) The power issue is where I personally keep getting hung up on - what happens when the shuttle runs out of power - plug it in... have enough headaches with non locking HDMI cables but a weak 12v power pin connector is not going to hold in place should it get yanked etc. I definitely think arranging a hands on test of some devices will be the next step.

Hello. Recently I've purchased a Sony FS100 and loving it, however the intention was always to follow the purchase up with an external HDD recorder of some description. I have been reading extensively on Steadicam Forum about the BlackMagic Hyperdeck Shuttle - uncompressed recorder and the Atomos Ninja/Samurai - ProRes recorder. Incidentally these two were the ones I had been considering due to the price point (between $500 - $1500) The discussion quickly turned into an argument over the economy of HDDs and SSDs, whether or not one could skimp and use a HDD in the shuttle instead of a SSD - apparently data rates for uncompressed video are too much for the write speeds of a regular HDD. One thing that nobody seemed to take into account was battery life. The Shuttle has an internal battery and a 12v power jack, the internal battery is apparently good for about an hour and after that its onto power; "okay" for an interior shoot, definately not desirable. The Ninja has slots for 2x hot-swappable Sony batteries which is by far the preferable option. Here's a data sheet from AbelCine that compares all the major external recorders on the market currently. http://blog.abelcine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Recorder_Comparison_Chart_051611.pdf Apologies for the info dump/splurge but I'm hoping we can try and get some real answers from people that are using these recorders in the "real world" - also once I take the leap and get one of the two recorders I'll provide as good a review as I can. Cheers Ian

Assuming you want to use EF(-S) lenses on a NEX camera and not the other way around. There currently are only available "dumb" mounts, coming soon is the Birger mount which should allow for control of aperture etc. Going E-mount to canon camera.... pass... doubt it's possible with the flange being so narrow. I'm successfully using various canon lenses on my FS100 at the moment, adjusting aperture on the electronic lenses is done on the canon body and disconnected while still turned on. Hope this helps.