Premium Member Hunter Hampton Posted February 11, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted February 11, 2009 Long story but here goes... This isn't a great test but I just wanted to see if it was possible to shoot a feature with the 5dm2- both in usability and image quality. We made this really fast so please forgive any poor framing or editing, this is just a quick test! (I rented the camera) We originally had a budget for shooting film, it got halved and halved again and halved again.... I looked for a solution because I really want this project to happen (a friend and I have been wanting to make this for over a year)- so I tested the 5Dmark2 and I was extremely impressed with it. You can read more about the test on the video's description and how I managed to have full manual control as well as 24p through conversion. But to make it short, we projected on a pretty large screen the 1080/24p footage and everyone was blown away- its shocking to think that you can get this kind of image quality for the price. We are now moving into full-blown pre-pro and I will be blogging daily when we start photography. I know I will receive some criticism for choosing to shoot a feature with the 5dm2, but I believe we can tell a great story with it- despite its short comings. Link: http://vimeo.com/3162190/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Adrian Sierkowski Posted February 11, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted February 11, 2009 Certainly doesn't look too bad from online. skin tones looked a little "wierd" to me, but that's really all I noticed and of course a .flv conversion and a mac monitor at 745 am is perhaps a poor judge of such things. I say, shoot with what you got to shoot with in this case. I for one, am interested in hearing how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Wells Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Shutter's a bit tight - can you fool the 5D into giving you closer to 1/50 sec ? White bal issues w/ the neon (yeah I know "d'oh, really?") but I would at least go a bit underexposed if you can't cc, at least the colors won't be in your face (but I suspect your camera can do better than this certainly my Nikon can) . Bar interior I'm thinking one or two battery operated Lightpanels would have de-Reded (no pun) skin tones. -Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saul Rodgar Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I agree it looks better than RED, for a fraction of the price. I miss the softness of film, but hey, for the money ! . . You did a really good job with the camera, especially in light of what I consider its many limitations. Good job pulling focus. A couple of questions: Can you please tell me the brand of the "cheap Nikon to EOS adapter from eBay" you used, mine does not work to infinity? I have heard the camera automatically sets the ISO and it is not user selectable in video mode, whereas you wrote you selected it manually, can you please explain this? Thanks, and please keep us posted how it goes filming with it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Hunter Hampton Posted February 11, 2009 Author Premium Member Share Posted February 11, 2009 Thanks for the responses. I'm still going to play more with the shutter- I heard that 1/60th shutter in video mode is more like 1/80th which would explain why it looks tighter, when we do an audio sync test I will try 1/50th and see how that looks. About the nikon adapter, I used the one from KAWA I think, it was something like $4.95 with $5.00 shipping? It hits infinity on the dot, I have had two of them and they both did, the only issue with them is that there is some mild rotational play in the mount. A lot of this camera's "movie mode" is automatic, but you can learn how it works and get the settings you want out of it and lock them in. With tricks its limited to: Full aperture control of course when using non-canon EOS lenses Almost any shutter in iso100, or iso200 and any iso when shooting @ 1/50th second. you just basically lock the exposure before the shot (the little * button) and then use the thumb dial on the back to make sure your in the right setting. It takes some getting used to but even after an hour of using it, I didnt even have to think much about getting what I wanted quickly. I'm just really impressed with the camera despite its limitations, I would love to see a more cinematographer friendly version come out with variable framerates, and full control (maybe an optical viewfinder too?) but this is just such a great digital camera for the dollar- almost disposable for the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Adrian Sierkowski Posted February 11, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted February 11, 2009 IIRC Saul, there is a "manual" way of setting ISO by "tricking" the camera into setting it as you want right before you roll. There was a how too online a whiles back. A quick google got me this, but I'M sure there's more in-depth stuff out there http://www.vimeo.com/2590318 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Hunter Hampton Posted February 11, 2009 Author Premium Member Share Posted February 11, 2009 Yep thats it, also if you want iso200 to default instead of iso100, you turn on "highlight priority mode". Its a weird thing "tricking" a camera to get what you want, but it is really easy and I didn't have any problems instantly getting the shutter and iso I wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Stephen Williams Posted February 11, 2009 Premium Member Share Posted February 11, 2009 Hi Hunter, I was testing one today, most impressed. Stephen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Shore Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 thanks for posting Hunter, really informative work (and the Broken Social Scene is a great touch)... did you outfit the camera with anything at all to help with the filming (ie. follow focus, etc)., or was it just the camera body and lens? I thought the footage was pretty dope man, loved the night ex poop. Thanks again. Bobby Shore DP LA/Montreal www.bobbyshore.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Hunter Hampton Posted February 11, 2009 Author Premium Member Share Posted February 11, 2009 Thanks for watching. I just used a camera and a lens on this one, but when I buy the camera, I will probably build a more friendly handheld rig for it. I was amazed how much this camera sees in the dark- It saw more than my eyes. I watched "Half Nelson" about a month ago (loved the minimalist handheld photography) and couldn't get Broken Social Scene out of my head! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hampus Bystrom Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Wow, nice footage. I've also considered using the Mark II for an indie feature since my dreams of shooting s16 got shattered. Given the footage I've seen, I'm pretty damned impressed! The depth of field is nice, why the hell not? The camera is very lightweight and easy to manage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Greene Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 (edited) Have you thought about getting a European version that shoots at 25p to make your transfer to 24p just a matter of speed control? Just thinking out loud here... The test footage you shot looks pretty good. I think using this camera is going to give your film its own "style", just from how you have to work with the camera. Best of luck with it! Edited February 21, 2009 by Bruce Greene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Hunter Hampton Posted February 21, 2009 Author Premium Member Share Posted February 21, 2009 Thats exactly the problem- Canon neglected PAL countries with this camera, there isn't a 25p version only 30p, if there was that would be great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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