Francesco Chiari

Hello everyone. Has anybody had a chance to try out or test the new Canon CN-E cine lenses, primes and zooms? I'm in pre-production for a short film that I will shoot next month and I am strongly considering a set of these for the job. I will be testing them soon enough, but I would also like to hear if anybody has direct experience with them. Thanks.

Well...if your papers get soaked wet they're gone anyway. :P But, yeah I get what you mean.

From a DP perspective, the use of a tablet on set to consult diagrams,charts, manuals, storyboards and so on, makes sense to me. I wonder, though, from an AC perspective (especially for a 2nd AC), does a tablet really beat pen and paper? Would it really make things more efficient? I was looking into buying a tablet to use on set and I would like to hear the opinion of other ACs on the matter. I honestly cannot see myself benefit from typing my camera reports on a tablet in a busy and fast-paced production (aka 99.9% of them); yes, all my reports would be perfectly neat and clean at the end of the day, but at a big cost in terms of "speed" (ie, if I'm called to do something, I CAN drop a notebook on the ground). Does anybody here have any experience in using tablets on set? Is it really worth it?

The C300 is very light, much lighter than an Epic, even with a CP2 in front of it. Should be ok for a Body Rig, although it may be uncomfortable for the person wearing it compared to a 5D. Give the footage to a good colourist you can match it with the MX.

The main reason it's so popular is that it will NEVER get in the way, believe me. It's made for those who choose mobility rather than carrying more stuff.

Here in Oz this is very popular among ACs: http://www.setwear.com/RadioChestPack.html

I did shoot a candles-only setup once, but it was on a Canon C300 @ 800 ISO T2.1 and I managed to get skin tones properly exposed only by keeping a few of them relatively close to the subject. Shooting a Tri-X only 200 ISO seems very unlikely to me, because by comparison you should have a T1.0 lens and being a reversal stock there's very little room for mistakes.

Does anyone know where I could get an Arri production bag in Australia?

Sydney Film School, I graduated last year and it was worth it. It's a one-year intensive and covers every aspect of filmmaking, but cinematography definitely stands out in terms of teaching quality. Now I'm freelancing and getting into some nice gigs thanks to what I learned there.

Would you recommend to use a lightmeter for digital cinematography, even when working with a camera equipped with waveform monitor, false color exposure? Wouldn't be better to get a color meter instead?

In your opinion, a C500 at that price range is really worth it? Compared to what a RED Scarlet offers, for example.

What about Dynamic Range? Any Log curve options available?

It's for documentaries and run 'n gun shoots, there will also be a set of fast primes (probably Zeiss ZE) for short films.

As the title says, which would be the best choice for video purpose? The 24-70mm f/2.8L or the 24-105mm f/4L? - the 24-70mm opens one additional stop and according to what I hear delivers terrific image quality - the 24-105mm although slower, offers a longer focal and has a stabilizer It would be used with a C300 and DSLRs. Thanks.

Thanks everybody, very helpful.