Canon 5D Mk II

2 Cameras, 1 Phone, and 100 or so Balloons.

Over the last year I have been doing a little experiment using mixed video and audio sources in a series of small video productions. No commercial projects just a series of personal projects to test workflow, camera  comparisons, and end results. The video below was shot a couple of weeks back at the Great Midwest Balloon festival on a Canon 5D MkII, and Olympus OMD EM-1, an iPhone 4s, and 5. All the footage was imported directly into Adobe Premier, with video stabilizing, and color correction being handled by After Effects.

What I was looking for was could I spot the difference between cameras, and how would the Adobe workflow handle the differing camera footage when they were mixed. I have to say, once again I am pretty impressed with the way things turned out. The OMD did a great job, and it is almost impossible to tell the difference between the footage it produced from the 5D. Even the iPhone footage when color balanced and graded in After Effects looks pretty impressive, and blends in just fine with that from the larger cameras. It’s pretty amazing just how much things have changed form a shooting and editing perspective in just the last few years. I never would have tried this five years ago.

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Friday Inspiration, Travel Love.

I need a vacation, an overseas foreign land vacation to be specific. Since the trip to Italy fell through earlier this year it might be a while before I travel abroad again. In order to get my travel fix I guess I’ll watch videos like the one below from Christian Grewe.

This five-minute short is a highlight reel of three separate trips to Asia, Thailand, and South America. All of the footage was shot his Canon 5 D Mark II and III, plus a GoPro Black edition. These feature really nice travel footage, that reinforce the fact that you really need to look around, be adventurous, and pay attention when traveling. Why? Because if you don’t you might miss the little things, and the little things make it all worthwhile.

“Alchemy” is Wonderful.

It’s going to be a beautiful Friday here in the midwest. 70 degrees and sunny. It looks like Spring is finally here. A bit late, but here. The video below is a wonderful time-lapse short film by  about natures alchemy of the seasons.

The footage is really beautiful, and is complimented so well by the soundtrack, “A Better Place” by Justin R. Durban.  Watching this just made my morning. It is so worth the five minutes it takes to watch it all. There is something rather humbling about the film, and the power of the natural world around us.

The film was shot in 4K resolution on a Canon 5D MkII over the course of a year. A number of the shots use motion controlled dollies and cranes from Kessler which added the subtle camera movements that Lee was able to achieve.  The location list is below the video.

Locations of the shots include:

  • Alabama Hills
  • Alstrom’s Point
  • Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
  • Arches National Park
  • Colorado River
  • Convict Lake
  • Dead Horse Point
  • Grand Canyon North Rim
  • Grand Canyon South Rim
  • Joshua Tree National Park
  • June Lake
  • Mono Lake
  • Monument Valley
  • Mt. Tom
  • Toroweap / Tuweep
  • White Pocket

Edelkrone Pocket Rig. I Want One.

I’m always looking for new gear to help improve my photo/video shooting. I have been pricing new DSLR rails and rigs for a while now, but the other day my friend Tim pointed me to Edelkrone and their Pocket Rig.

This rig looks great. It’s small, light and rugged. You can add accessories to it to extend the overall use, and the design is really well thought out. When folded this is the size of a battery grip for camera like the 5D Mk II. When extended it gives you full shoulder support. One thing I like is the fact that you can use this to stabilize your shots, and still be very discreet because of it’s compact profile. Not only that, but the price is right as well. At $399.00 its not bad. If you can wait to take delivery until December, you can get it for $238.00 which is even better.