fuzzynormal

When I'm here on this site I feel I'm more akin to the self-proclaimed coffee shop "author" that talks more about his typewriter than the stories he should be composing. What do you do to get motivated and create? I'm wrapped up in some ennui over here. Too much endless corporate work perhaps? Not sure. Making a living, but yearning for something more, so there's a lot of wandering aimlessly around the web. Basically, as a filmmaker, it's hard to feel productive visiting tech blogs like EOSHD...and for some reason it's a way too common destination/distraction. Curious that, for lots of reasons. It's great for some simple advice, but honestly there's not a ton of actual filmmaking discussion going on. I think my gear-porn tendencies are a huge liability as an actual creative. Augh, how to get off one's ass and get something worthwhile made?

No kidding. The craftsmanship of the images is incredible. The use of negative space is really inspired. The movements that enter and exit the frame are meticulous. And I'm not here to say that image IQ from consumer gear would match than what they accomplished, just that the creative juice behind the framing would still be viable and impressive no matter what was used. When you see the film you'll know what I'm talking about. The static shots are extremely motivated static shots. When they're not, they're not for a very deliberate reason that doesn't just relay the story, it absolutely defines it. How many movies really truly do that? The framing is not odd at all when in the context of the narrative. What the visual vocabulary does in that film is really cool. It's aided by good imaging technology (whatever it was) but not carried by it. Even with less DR and IQ the film would still work, the compositions are that good. So, it makes me consider that I've been focusing my energy way too much on the tech recently--and the cinematography in this film kind of expose what I think has been the folly of that approach (these thoughts are just my hangups and frustrations at the moment, your mileage may vary)

Look, I'm kind of a gear slut like most of us here, but I think this movie I watched last night could've been shot with worthwhile results on any consumer grade camera released recently. Give or take some IQ and DR between whatever camera used, sure, but even it was shot on an iPhone I think it would still be a viable visual success. It succeeds, in my opinion, on mesmerizing visual creativity. I was astounded by the disciplined cinematic compositional craft of the work. Sure, the technical tools used to realize that creativity are important, but I wonder if we place way too much emphasis on the tools vs. the creativity? And, if by doing so, does that restrict growth as a filmmaker? Is that not a fair question to contemplate? Or is my existential mid-career-crisis musings better suited on some other blog that's isn't so tech-centric? ...Or perhaps it is the best place?

Of course nice cameras make superior pictures. The thing I'm considering is this: everyone has access to decent camera tech and it's only getting better and cheaper. The more I worry about gear the less time I'm trying to make my skills as an actual filmmaker improve. More and more talented people have access to filmmaking that would have been limited in the past.. Out spending or out buying them when it comes to the gear isn't much of an advantage. Being able to realize creative filmmaking ideas and solutions seems like a better focus of effort... and I used to love being the techy guy, but I really feel like it's time to let all that go.

Which one is it? A7s? GH4? Nikon? Canon? Canikon? What? Oh, you mean it's not the gear that makes compelling motion pictures, it's artistic skill...? Oh well, I guess I'll just go look at some DxO sensor charts then instead of looking at this: So, yeah, I'm being snarky, but the point is this: just about everyone has access to viable imaging capabilities now. The 13 year old girl with a new smartphone has more impressive technology in her hand than most pros did 10 years ago. The more we worry about specs, the less relevant we become as actual filmmakers. I mean, I kind of wish my profession was a bit more insulated from everyone as a competitor, but the other hand, dang, affordable technology sure is fun! Anyway, my rant stems from standing behind a so-called-pro at the airport yesterday. He was claiming to a colleague that anything done on a camera lesser than a RED Epic was "amateur hour." Seems like a ridiculous philosophy to me, but what do I know? I'm not doing high-end stuff, just making a living on the fringes. Maybe he's right?

Hey, I'm cool with any manufacturer that pairs it with newer/better sensors. Keep the good stuff coming as far as I'm concerned.

Well, it's not really impossible. Honest. You MUST control the lens, however. It doesn't erase bad camera work. I can testify that it is possible to shoot the "Roma" sort of video handheld with the OLY 5-axis feature. The main reason the Rome video works: You'll notice that the editing never shows a shot come to rest after a floating move. Those are the moments when the stabilizer will create the visual artifacts of it's use that you've asked about. If those instances were left in the edit, it wouldn't look as impressive. For instance, if you handheld pan to the left and then stop on a subject, the stabilizer system doesn't resolve this motion in a natural way. It looks mechanical as the movement ends and the frame image comes to rest. But, in the Rome video, the editor just cuts away during continuous moves, so no worries. If you plan to shoot and edit in a similar way, you can create such a video quite easily and completely hand held. I mean, I've been doing cool mini slider shots myself by leaning around corners/foreground elements and shifting my body around. I swear camera operation with the OM-D is practically like doing Tai Chi while pointing a camera at something. That's really the best way to explain it and it does work. Also note that in the Rome video the footage was conformed from 30fps to 24fps, creating a gentle slow-mo effect that also smooths things out a bit. Anyway, I spent about 20 minutes on a small boat floating around Sunda Kelapa harbor yesterday with my OM-D and the stuff looks like it could have been shot on the world's longest dolly track. For the right kind of shots, it really is that good. You have to be smooth though to begin with! Accomplished camera work is still needed. You can't just fling the lens around and expect good results. The Dixieland video above is not that impressive to me because of this undisciplined shooting. Smart considered control is a must. Caveat: Pushing the focal length above 60-ish-mm (Full Frame Equivalent) and emulating dolly moves gets a lot tricker than stuff shot with shorter focal lengths. I will say that I can see myself using this camera WITH a glide-cam type of rig to accomplish incredibly controlled, elegant, and longer moving shots. It would closely rival the best Steady-Cam shots from the most skilled practitioners. The combo would be very complimentary. While I can do glide-cam stuff decent enough, I'm not a pro at it. The 5-axis would hide those slight flaws I'd otherwise create. Now, if OLY is able to up it's specs with firmware or a new model with new/better tech, then it's really going to tempt traditional users away from their usual brands, I think. Not sure how long they'll have the 5-axis advantage, and if other manufacturers can eventually match it, but for me right now, today, it's serving a very pragmatic purpose. It fits the way I need to shoot for my stuff.

Sure. I'm using it consistently here in Jakarta; about 20% of the time. I'm on the road for awhile with only my iPhone, so I can't post examples of the video I'm shooting, but I can say that it's liberating to be able to pull static shots that look like they're done with a tripod. Emulating slider shots is viable by drifting the body tai-chi style. The OMD is quirky in that it's video functions, control, and IQ are not top class, and controlling the camera isn't as easy as canon or Panasonic, but the image quality results ARE decent, and the 5-axis for shooting run and gun style is really a blessing. I've also found that I can do great steady cam style shots by carrying the camera attached to the tripod and my arm outstretched. With the extra mass of the tripod smoothing out the up and down steps as I move forward, it creates a very elegant motion. I'm limiting what I do to linear shots of motion. Straight line type of stuff. More elaborate or faster pans with tilts do create drift as the lens "lands" at the end of a move. Then again, if you plan on editing without the shot hitting a solid static on the end move, then you're free to drift and twist as much as you please. The 5-axis isn't a panacea for shoddy camera control, but it's a heck if a tool if you properly utilize it.

5-Axis with a fast prime lens has been a revelation to me as a shooter. Such a great tool for so many assignments. I do find myself being impatient with the tech and wishing the video was more robust... and, yeah, @4k. 5-axis and 4K will get here soon enough though (maybe not this firmware upgrade) just wish it was here in time for my current shoot!

Yup. It's freaking ridiculous too. This is the main reason I put up with the other video limitations of the OLY cameras. The 5 axis feature trumps pixel peeping...if you're actually using the camera to shoot stuff other than a test chart.

I don't know, seems like a M43 sensor in a bigger body should be able to tolerate a short burst of hi-res raw, but maybe not.

I agree that this particular rumor is a bit silly, but I can understand the tendency of enthusiasts to imagine such a thing is possible. We're all well aware that manufacturers deliberately throttle back their hardware. Combine this knowledge with exact ignorance of the technical capabilities, and the wishful thinking is actually kinda rational. I, for one, am curious why the GX7, for instance, cannot handle RAW bursts larger than 1080 that last a handful of seconds. Why exactly couldn't it shoot 10 seconds of 4592x3448 with a firmware hack or update? For that matter, why couldn't the EM1? I mean, that's sort of a version of 4K. A cheap Nikon can burst hi-res raw, but flagship models from the major camera brands can't? Seems weirdly unreasonable, even if it's somehow the reality of the sensor capabilities. Maybe there's an obvious explanation, but it's not readily available without some tenacious digging into on-line info. Or, perhaps someone here knows exactly why. Point is, there's a pretty big gray area. And developer groups like Magic Lantern have delved into those darker shades and illuminated new possibilities...so it's easy to hope for better things with a simple installation of new code.

The most low-key and effective way I do things is to just shoot handheld. It takes lots of practice to control the body to keep things steady, but I've learned to manage. When I'm not using a loupe and want to appear more like a "tourist" --a simple trick I've used is to adjust my neck strap out so the camera is a foot or so away from my eyeballs then pull the strap taunt. The camera stabilizes with the body. Also, by then resting the body against something solid the lens will quiet down pretty good. I also have a small bean bag that cradles the camera and is used for static shots. Or, if a surface is smooth, the bag can be slid for a dolly. Anyway, weird creative stuff like that will help get interesting shots. When I'm not as concerned with appearances I'll put a pistol grip on the camera and the loupe. With that pressure point up against the eye/head the framing is stable(ish).

Not really, was most interested in the 5-axis stabilization. Considered the M1as well, but the M5 just fits the assignment better.

When needed, I put a hoodman loupe on mine for shooting outside. I think this setup has better resolution than the EVF of the GX7. I find it's pretty easy to focus anyway. I also really appreciate the "not-a-pro" vibe I give off when shooting with the small form factor GM1, but the dang loupe is bigger than the camera! Still, as someone that shoots a lot of street documentary footage, looking innocuous is very important to me. At any rate, The camera gear from all manufacturers is getting nuts. 4K in a GM size? C'mon, that's cool.

I'll guess "Imagination." Nothing's ever been done with a firmware update like that before. As much as I'd love to be surprised such intense upgrades are actually possible, I can't imagine that list to be accurate. Something tells me the source of that rumor might not understand what he thinks he saw... At any rate, if they want to release the firmware update before my shoot next week I'd appreciate it! Olympus, can you help a brotha' out?

You can do whatever you want, but like others have said, double shutter to the frame rate=motion pix rules. So, if you're outside at say f5.6, a shutter speed of 50, ISO 100, and it's still overexposed, then yeah, slap some ND on there to bring it where it needs to be. Or, sacrifice f-stop/Depth of field and close down the iris. Personally, I like a f-stop around 5.6 and a shutter of 50 when shooting with the 7D DSLR @24fps. I lock that in and control exposure with ISO or ND filters.

I wouldn't mind a 4K video burst (15seconds) if they could pull it off. Seems like that a reasonable capability of any new camera, but who knows? Likewise 24 or 25fps unlimited recording. Well, since I'll now have the camera I can start hoping for new things.

In a sense I already did. My purchase decision was between those 3 choices. The assignment is almost exclusively hand held shooting. The image priorities demand more of composition, framing, and elegance while being extremely run 'n gun. Almost (so close) bought the GH4 instead, and would have loved to try the A7s, but considering I won't be allowed to haul along extra rigging that would let me to do attractive dollies and tracking, I settled on the Oly 'kuz of the 5-axis stabilization. It's not always about the pixels, peeps. We'll see how things go...!

Producer offered up 4K to gear up for a shoot. So... out of those three cameras I just bought an Olympus OM-D E-M5 and two zoom lenses (14-150 & 100-300) for the overseas travel video assignment. What? Am I crazy?

...And fully metal. For what it's worth, the smaller M43 bodies are more... I don't know... how about: reassuring. When they have the hefty older glass on them that's my sensation anyway. Maybe it's legacy of muscle memory from my younger days. My GX7 with an old Nikkon 24mm on it feels a lot more "real." Also, I shoot FD glass from time to time with a colleague's FS700 and they're always tack sharp and clean across the frame.

Mine's still okay and I've done worse to it. Sometimes the dramatic impacts are the least physical and visa versa. I've fallen from a tree branch 20 feet up and walked away without a scratch; slipped once in the bedroom and broke my ankle. Go figure. Anyway, good to hear you GM1 is still working, even if it's just silent mode.

Dang, if I had either camera I'd like to think I'd actually go out and have fun making something with them instead of arguing about the rather irrelevant differences between color casts of the sensor. In a priority list of things to worry about when making a movie, the color characteristics of a 2014 digital sensors should be somewhere around page 12 of a 13 page list. If you're a specialist that's been hired as a DP, bump that up a little bit, maybe to page 10. If you're just the colorist TECHNICIAN on a film production, then you got something to actually fret about. Anybody here doing work with a budget that supports such a production crew luxury? I know I'm not --and will probably never have that opportunity. Honestly, if a magenta or cyan color is getting in the way of you being a DSLR/mirrorless film maker, then I'd have to wonder if you're the type that's doing the whole film making thing wrong. Sure, knowing about the color is important, but this minutia tech analysis on a indy film level is really so pedantic that it becomes farce. If you want to make films, worry about things that matter. On the other hand, maybe you don't want to be a film maker. Perhaps you might just be the type that wants to just own a camera so you can play with the technology and then justify/rationalize your ownership of said camera by championing the product in on-line forums. I don't really see the enjoyment in that, but it appears to be a popular pastime. There sure seems to be a deep need of some camera owners to get affirmations that their brand or model is the best. I just don't get it. Modern cameras do it all, just in slightly different ways. Grab any of them and they'll be a good enough tool to realize your story. Anyway, I'm a bit hypocritical. I just typed all this nonsense to procrastinate from my storyboards. Time to stop being distracted and get back to work.

Seeing curated stuff from someone else's POV is appreciated by me. I think that would work in a sticky thread.

California. And yeah, the borders go soft on the 24mm, but it's a $15 lens. Besides, for certain shots it's nice to have a bit of edge softness.