What can DSLRs actually be used for?

[Jean Dodge]

I'm curious if you could expand on what you mean by "easy to break"? Is that literal (mechanical) or are you being figurative here?

 

Easy to break means that compared to film cameras, a HDSLR is as fragile as an eggshell. Motion picture equipment is usually rented, and as such is designed for travel, rough handling and difficult environments. Cameras get strapped to the side of cars, airplanes, and wild animals on occasion. They get rained on from time to time, and snowed on too. They get taken to the beach, and then into the surf in the proper housings, etc. A designer at Arriflex once told me that when they make gear they test it by making a prototype, and then they put the prototype in the monkey cage at the zoo for a week and THEN they test it's function. That's an exaggeration, of course but the principal applies. The ergonomics of still cameras are not the same a one used for ENG, documentary film making, or feature film work. Yes, you can own one and use it and not break it if you are VERY careful and NEVER make a mistake, but who has that kind of a record with the way equipment gets handled in a working environment?

 

One of the biggest failure points with an HDSLR is that in order to exploit the strength of the system, you will need an external monitor to judge critical focus with. As I said above, the cameras will shoot decent looking (highly compressed, but usable and grain free) HD video in very low light, opening up the opportunity to make images in new places where previously one would have to spend time and money and effort lighting the night. But getting the shots means you are suddenly dependent on that monitor... which has a totally amateur / consumer means of connecting - a tiny HDMI jack on the side of the small camera. If this jack gets bumped hard, your camera is going to need to go to the repair shop. This is the sort of thing I am warning you about. There are others. If you have the budget to shoot HDSLR with a few backup cameras, you probably have the budget to use a better camera system. If you don't have the budget to consider a 5Dmk2 a tool in the toolbox, you are taking a large risk IMHO.

 

When I started shooting, a student camera was a Bell and Howell wind up Filmo70. When you picked it up, you had the feeling that you could pound nails with the thing and it would still work. Even something as modern and plastic and electronic as an HVX200 is made for shooting motion picture with, and is designed from the ground up to be semi-robust when it comes to shooting, day in, day out. A still camera is treated like a pair of opera glasses usually, while a motion picture camera is more like a surveyor's telescope that gets dragged up the side of a hill every day. These things matter, and in the end will make or break a production. You are deliberately entering into a realm where the unknown is often much greater than the known... for better or worse.

 

 

As for the figurative, yes, they can "break down" there too. Compact flash cards are small, easy to drop when handling and have no "lock" button. One must be continually on the alert and have a very dedicated crew/ workflow to ensure that cards are not accidentally formatted/ lost / corrupted, etc. It's NOT a professional system for handling HD files, and in the real world has a much higher rate of operator error than, say, P2 cards or even 16mm film, I'd say.

 

The other obvious breakdown point is focus. Unless you are going to shoot with an experienced, dedicated focus puller beside the operator you are asking for trouble. Focus is impossible - IMPOSSIBLE - to judge without a good external monitor with a canon 5Dmk2 or 7d and you are wasting your time thinking you can use the advantages of these cameras by yourself. If you are gong to shoot a f16, sure... but if so, you are wasting the best part of the HDSLR "advantage"

 

 

good luck, and keep asking questions and forming your own opinion.

[Phil Rhodes]

Er, but CF cards and P2 cards behave in almost exactly the same way. Don't they?

[K Borowski]

At the same time, handling long lengths of exposed photographic film and protecting them from light, heat, processing mishaps, idiots at the airport, and radiation is not a cakewalk! I'm very adept at handling film, but had a real scare a couple weeks back, there was a power outage at the lab with film in the developer tank.

 

 

Very easy to make a mistake that costs thousands of dollars in a split second, not that I'd have it any other way. But I still have nightmares (and am told I grumble in my sleep, to this day, about ruining film) about 16mm cameras I started out with, rolls of film unravelling off of reels.

[Martin Hong]

Well, is all money-wise speaking. They are for low-budget feature films.. or shorts..

 

However some movies have incorporated some shot with DSLR... like 126 hours... and Captain America, in one of the POV shot.. because its compact size.

 

What's important here is, the availability of DSLR to the people, when people can own DSLR and start to experiment film-look shots (even though we all know it takes more than that to achieve) The VIDEO-making has changed. While important manufactures start to release 35mm sensor camcorders, and make them every time more affordable (As the latest Sony NEX-FS100 was rated 6000 dollars).

 

Then you start to think, why use DSLR? That's because you use it to show people something.

Ok, let's say, why some movie that has war-zone scene decided to use hand-held with all the shaggy movement to achieve the live-action feel? That's because we (as spectator) perceive the journalist shot when there's some dangerous situation, as they all use shoulder mount ENG cameras.

 

So when DSLRs with video shooting function appear, what impact and social influence could cause? When people get used to the DSLR footage what can we do with DSLR in filmmaking. I think thats what we should be concerning about. For the story telling. You see, Cloverfield, used Panasonic AG-HSC1U and Panasonic AG-HVX200for most of the scenes, and there you got the reason why using camcorder for a movie, because the storytelling.

 

Of course you can't never compare DSLR's footage to film and Digital Cinema cameras such as RED's cameras. But surely when you need to achieve something, you can start to think if DSLR could be useful for your demand.

 

I am not saying that I am a DSLR fan, i own one, and thats all i got, all i can use. All i was trying to prove is that, don't discard the possibility to use any available tool when you have infinite way to tell the story. DSLR became one of them.

[klas persson]

The other obvious breakdown point is focus. Unless you are going to shoot with an experienced, dedicated focus puller beside the operator you are asking for trouble. Focus is impossible - IMPOSSIBLE - to judge without a good external monitor with a canon 5Dmk2 or 7d and you are wasting your time thinking you can use the advantages of these cameras by yourself. If you are gong to shoot a f16, sure... but if so, you are wasting the best part of the HDSLR "advantage"

I have just finished up the post on the season finale of a web series( thread here at cinematography.com, site) shot with the 5dmii and I pulled my own focus. I used a lcdvf with my both eyes open, one composing the shot and the other making sure I was hitting the focus marks on the focus wheel. Worked alright for me.

[Phil Rhodes]

Depends what sort of stops you were shooting, I suspect.

 

I like moving camera and I've shot a bit of DSLR stuff recently; focus with a slowly drifting camera is a nightmare. What monitor were you using? I'd prefer to have a full resolution, 24" display around.

 

P

[klas persson]

I didn't do that many dolly shots, but it was down to choose a few focus points and riff between them. I did, however, have quite a few hand held, run along with the actors, shots.

On one I was running along side the actor into a building, through debris and then settling down on an old sofa. So I had to keep my distance while running, changing aperture and then pull focus for the final composition. It worked too, not on the first takes though. :)

We were shooting until dusk every day, and often continuing for night stuff, so I was always full open at some occasion. It is all about the actors hitting their marks, at which some are better than others. It is not that I pull focus by eye. I will see if I am off and can get it right, but i can't make a smooth pull by eye. If I was shooting weddings, or something like that, I would not use a 5D. With actors and blocking though, I wasn't afraid of opening up. I was often in the 1.8-4 area. Very rarely over 5.6.

In the opening shot of episode 3 I have a 400mm lens on the 5d, open at 5.6. I had the actors walking towards the camera and put focus points at landmarks.

 

About monitors, I am not a fan of having a them on set. I have a small one for those setups where I can't look through the viewfinder though (which is more often on a 5D as you can't rotate the lcdvf) but that one is mostly packed away somewhere.

 

 

I actually shot a couple of scenes blind as the monitor cable broke down, I had forgotten the spare and it wasn't possible to look through the viewfinder.

[Robin Leveille]

I recently switched s16 to dslr ..Here's a short I just just shot on the 7d.

I think the low light shots at the end turned out great..

 

 

It's sad to see snowboard movies to digital now.. I'm glad that Pirate Movie Productions still films in 16. BTW I'm a big fan of your work and you have one of my dream jobs. If you need someone to help you out that stills films in super 16 I am your man ;)