The current trend to use LED lighting exclusively on feature films and high-end commercials has carried with it some interesting dichotomies. On the one hand the advent of LED instruments designed for cinema applications like the Litepanels remarkable new Astra 1×1 delivers a very bright flattering light with an exceptionally smooth color output. The RGB/RGBW […]
Normally when light strikes a glass surface a portion of the beam is reflected. This loss of light is compounded in lenses with many elements, which can lead to a serious reduction in light transmission and speed. More and better lens coatings can reduce the light loss dramatically enabling lenses to maintain high speed with […]
Higher and higher resolution. It’s what we all want, right? And the camera makers responded. NAB and Broadcast Asia 2014 were awash with 4K, and IBC will soon experience the same fate. Larger sensors and ever higher pixel counts are the rage so bring it on baby. More resolution is better, right? Well, maybe not. […]
Whether you’re shooting time-lapse, fast or slow motion, or even more routine scenes under temperamental fluorescent lighting, chances are you’ve confronted flicker and have thrown up your French flag in frustration. Today the flicker menace seems even greater owing to most cameras’ tiny viewfinders that make it difficult to spot on location, increased use of […]
Some of you may be aware that I have a vague and passing interest in vintage English bicycles manufactured from 1935 to 1950. Respected makers like Raleigh, Rudge, Humber, and Sunbeam, ruled the roost during this era of petrol rationing prior to and for several years after World War II. These bicycles were not generally […]
Any way you hang it or support it the new Panasonic GH4 is an amazing camera, with true Cinema 4K (4096 x 2160) resolution, VFR 2-96 FPS, 10-bit 4:2:2 200 Mbps All-I frame FHD, plus optional 3G-SDI output and balanced XLR audio inputs. Given the hybrid camera’s latest Micro Four Thirds imager, low noise in […]
Just wrapped NAB 2014 in Vegas. Really great seeing many old and new friends in one place! Panasonic’s new Varicams are sweet and I was pleased to have had the opportunity to present them to the public. I even had two guys in my audience who laughed at my jokes! I was thinking it was […]
I continue to be amazed and humbled by the young shooters I encounter around the world, and this is especially the case in Asia where I have been conducting camera and lighting workshops, including last week in Manila and Makati City. I was especially impressed by the enthusiasm of the young shooters at television station […]
A reader wrote me recently regarding an online merchant’s ad touting the benefits of a 50mm DSLR lens on a smaller format camera. The ad claimed that due to the 2X crop factor in a Micro Four-Thirds camera like the Panasonic GH3 the 50mm lens could serve as the functional equivalent of a moderate telephoto, […]
It’s finally here! With lots of new and updated material, including discussion questions for educators and in-depth chapters on the DSLR and 3D shooting and storytelling.