Thinking of getting into DSLR Video

Make sure its the one with the +20 gain, otherwise the audio from the camera will have hiss.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_Pro_Compact_Sh​otgun.html

I've never had it so dark at a reception that I needed a light. Just drop your shutter speed to 1/30. I might look into an led light on a lightstand at some point, but hasn't been an issue so far.

IUnknown wrote in post #12389342
Make sure its the one with the +20 gain, otherwise the audio from the camera will have hiss.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_Pro_Compact_Sh​otgun.html

I've never had it so dark at a reception that I needed a light. Just drop your shutter speed to 1/30. I might look into an led light on a lightstand at some point, but hasn't been an issue so far.

Yeah, cool. That's exactly the one I was looking at. So that's a good option? What about the Rode Stereo Video Mic? Not so good for what I am trying to do?

I think the crew is shooting 1080p/24p so shouldn't I use 1/50 shutter speed and not 1/30? I know the rest of the guys use the light panel and as a photographer, it's very annoying!

DSLR is great if you are making a movie, but for weddings, I'd honestly just buy a second video camera.

vid1900 wrote in post #12389448
DSLR is great if you are making a movie, but for weddings, I'd honestly just buy a second video camera.

As I mentioned before, I shoot with a crew that already does video using DSLR's. I would just be adding some spot footage to this, while taking photos.

Also, aren't there plenty of people using DSLR's for wedding videos?

OK, I just ordered the Rode Video Mic Pro and the Cool-Lux COMD3000 MD-3000 Light and Sound Bracket.

I think I'm pretty much set now. They have an extra LCD magnifier I can use and video light if needed.

Now all I need to do is figure out how to use this stuff!

What do you guys recommend as far as lenses are concerned? Check out my gear list for the list of lenses I have.

nicksan,
when you say, "the rest of the guys" do you mean the vdslr guys that shoot with you? Could you pm me their work, I'd like to see what lights add production value wise. If you are referring to oldschool videographers, then yes, its needed with that equipment. With vdslr I would think its more optional these days.

1/50 for all of the day, 1/30th when things are really dark. You get a little more blurr, but its not noticeable on a dslr. Run some test. Most people will not go that low because they haven't tested and looked at the footage critically.

The test I'm going to run this weekend deals with tungsten lighting. Right now I've been using the presets, but my footage gets over saturated. I'm going to try using an expodisc to get a neutral wb, and see if I can add the tungsten look in post. Currently my workflow using newblue effects and I set it to cool with cineform to correct the footage and it looks ok, but I'd like to get something better.

As far as lens selection I'd follow stillmotions advice. I guess one thing I could add is that in video, I feel like you can sense the closeness to a subject. So for detail shots go for a 50 rather than 85, etc. Practice rack focusing with the monopod.

IUnknown wrote in post #12389882
nicksan,
when you say, "the rest of the guys" do you mean the vdslr guys that shoot with you? Could you pm me their work, I'd like to see what lights add production value wise. If you are referring to oldschool videographers, then yes, its needed with that equipment. With vdslr I would think its more optional these days.

They only really use it when the reception gets really dark and I suppose the coverage, especially the guests dancing, doesn't end up in the final product.

IUnknown wrote in post #12389882
1/50 for all of the day, 1/30th when things are really dark. You get a little more blurr, but its not noticeable on a dslr. Run some test. Most people will not go that low because they haven't tested and looked at the footage critically.

Interesting. I know they all pretty much stick with 1/50.

IUnknown wrote in post #12389882
The test I'm going to run this weekend deals with tungsten lighting. Right now I've been using the presets, but my footage gets over saturated. I'm going to try using an expodisc to get a neutral wb, and see if I can add the tungsten look in post. Currently my workflow using newblue effects and I set it to cool with cineform to correct the footage and it looks ok, but I'd like to get something better.

I have no idea what you are talking about. I need to learn that stuff. How do you take care of White Balance issues? I know the StillMotion video mentioned setting it manually via "K" kinda just eye balling it, just to get consistent color temps across multiple cameras, then do the rest in post. I have no idea!

IUnknown wrote in post #12389882
As far as lens selection I'd follow stillmotions advice. I guess one thing I could add is that in video, I feel like you can sense the closeness to a subject. So for detail shots go for a 50 rather than 85, etc. Practice rack focusing with the monopod.

Cool. Yeah, I need to watch the video again. I know they like the 14 2.8 for certain things because the hyperfocal distance is much shorter than say the 24L.

You're going to need something to capture audio to. I got a Rode NTG-2 and a Zoom H4N and love it. Also, if you're not happy with your light bracket, look into a J-Cube. You may want to upgrade to a full rig with follow focus, but you're off to a good start.

Telemov wrote in post #12390177
You're going to need something to capture audio to. I got a Rode NTG-2 and a Zoom H4N and love it. Also, if you're not happy with your light bracket, look into a J-Cube. You may want to upgrade to a full rig with follow focus, but you're off to a good start.

Yeah, I mentioned before that the crew has a Zoom recorder that records the sound. They also have wireless mics, etc...the whole setup.

So I just wanted something to pickup people talking to the camera, if any, etc. Again, I will be doing secondary coverage, if even that. I'll still mostly be shooting photos.

But it's good to know I am off to a good start gear wise. I need to practice, practice, practice!

BTW, the jCube looks good. I can mount 3 things...hmm. Interesting.

Think of it like doing wb on a jpeg. Once its burned in, not a whole lot you can do to fix it without it looking a little off. What cineform and proress codecs do is (in photo terms) is to convert your file to a closer to raw format so that you can make adjustments (grading). (there is some debate that premier does this on the fly anyways, 4:2:2 color space) I personally don't do any artistic grading like you see in indi films, I want an accurate picture, so things like nuetral and marvel profiles (canon picture style, and a custom industry picture style), I don't use. One of the best tools I've found is cineforms firstlight ($250) which is like lightroom's wb slider. My guess is that these tools will be implemented into the next release of premier.

Ask your guys what picture style they use and match theirs. Picture styles for video, work the same way they do for jpegs. They bake a style into your final image. Things like neutral and marvel cine and the new cinestyle are meant to increase the dynamic range so that you can bring back highlights and shadows in post (fake raw file, etc.). Cinestyle is the new one(I still need to test it more), but they all still give a grey cast in the nuetrals of skin tones, so I stick with standard. You will also notice this on a lot of footage on stillmotions vimeo. The skin tones are grey and look dead.

I pick a picture style that is true to my final image (same way you shoot with only jpeg). For me that is standard with sharpness set to 0, contrast set to -2 and saturation and color set at defaults (0). If we had the time then I would adjust those settings depending on the enviroment. For event footage, you don't have time. For example, canon's standard profile is over saturated and has a great canon look for outdoor light. When you use indoors, that saturation gets blown out because of the additional blue that the sensors pick up from the tungsten (I'm really butchering this explination). What I will test this weekend is balancing the camera so that it looks like its outdoors so that hopefully I don't get that over saturated look in post. All of this stuff comes with experience and looking at the footage critically in post and you will get a feel for a look that you like.

Sorry...missed the comment about the crew having a Zoom recorder (reading on my iphone).

If you're going to be editing, you may want to also look into a program called PluralEyes. It automatically syncs up your externally recorded audio with your camera's audio. Very handy on multicam shoots. DSLR audio tends to "drift" out of sync on long shoots, so avoid pushing recording times too long and you'll be fine.

Telemov wrote in post #12390546
Sorry...missed the comment about the crew having a Zoom recorder (reading on my iphone).

If you're going to be editing, you may want to also look into a program called PluralEyes. It automatically syncs up your externally recorded audio with your camera's audio. Very handy on multicam shoots. DSLR audio tends to "drift" out of sync on long shoots, so avoid pushing recording times too long and you'll be fine.

How exactly do you sync up the video to the audio on the external recorder? Eyeball it?

That or the plural eyes software. Also cs 5.5 has audio syncing included.

Man, thanks for all the information. Great guys!

IUnknown wrote in post #12391335
That or the plural eyes software. Also cs 5.5 has audio syncing included.

I just got CS5. Does it have that feature?

I've shot/edited dozens of multicam concert shoots, and have always done it manually by sliding the video track left/right until it matches up. Epic pain in the butt. Especially with ten camera operators who like to turn their camera off at random.