Tag Archives: canon 60d

• 20 Comments

•

Some of you might have already caught this video, since i'm late to post it on this blog. There's still questions about 1080 monitoring on an external LCD monitor and 480SD monitoring while in record mode. This is the same for the other Canon DSLR's. They show 1080 if just monitoring and when playing back a video clip, but will drop to 480SD while in record mode. Some people don't notice this on tiny LCD's, because the camera will maintain the same aspect ratio. Here's a look on my HDTV that i'm using as an external monitor in the studio.

I love the larger screen when shooting stuff, and it's only $169 at Costco. I have DIY monitor mount that i've made to a simple flash light stand. The only problem is you won't be traveling with this type of monitor, and you'll need a good power source handy too. For stationary shots in the studio where I don't need to travel, it gets the job done and I can focus well with it. This LCD I have is not 1080, but who needs it for monitoring since it can't maintain it anyways during recording. If you're happy with those Lilliput monitors, those LCD's don't display 1080 - I think the Lilliput is 800x400 resolution. This is a 720p LCD which I think makes the image better since it doesn't need to scale from 1080 to 480.

• 51 Comments

•

I posted a short sample of some BTS footage with a Glidecam HD4000 Stabilizer about a week ago. The reference to this project can be found here: http://cheesycam.com/3-canon-60ds-music-video/. There were some weird movements and I even flipped the Glidecam upside down. (I don't recommend doing this, but I do it all the time). Some people were asking if the footage was actually usable. I'll leave that up to the editors to decide if a few seconds of this footage would be used, but here's some side by side samples.

On the left is the movement of the Glidecam HD4000 Stabilizer on a Steadicam Merlin Stabilizer Arm and Vest with a Canon EOS 60D flying. On the right is an uncut look at what this RAW footage will look like. Again, we'll just be looking at quick cuts and a few seconds here and there. We'll be mixing it up with other hand held, Crane shots, dolly / slider shots, as well as very static Tripod shots. From what I understand, this music video will be cut in with actual footage from a new movie being released soon. So the movie will be more of the narration and we'll just be highlighting the band periodically. BTW, this is not my usual flying setup and I just rented this lens. So without practicing on this setup, these are the results I got.

glidecam-hd-4000
find-price-button Glidecam HD4000 Video Camera Stabilizer

merlin-vest
find-price-button Steadicam Merlin Arm and Vest

canon-60D
find-price-button Canon 60D Digital SLR Body

Related Articles:
http://cheesycam.com/canon-60d-video-stabilizer-first-flight-glidecam-hd4000/
http://cheesycam.com/3-canon-60ds-music-video/

• 34 Comments

•

It was a scorching hot day yesterday, but the bright sun helped bring in some light into this old unused factory. There was no electricity so the band rented a 5000 watt generator for the shoot. We had full run of the entire abandoned lot which was awesome. This place was huge with several buildings over 8 stories high and had so much texture of steel, brick, and concrete. Sitting right off the water, the place was just so large, we didn't get to see everything. The entire area is private, fenced off, with 24 hour security so we were able to just leave stuff everywhere. I'd love to get back there and shoot again if I could. Would be a perfect setting for a horror film, that's for sure.

slide (1 of 1)

We started indoors with some really slow camera movements on the DIY track. It could have used another saw horse down the center for some additional stability, but worked fine for just slow movements. Going faster, it wanted to flex. We also did a bit of Crane shooting and later threw in some really close up hand held beauty shots of the band.

bts (2 of 7)
bts (3 of 7)

We moved up to the roof in the late afternoon, and to really show off the height we were at, slung a Canon 60D on a crane over the side of the building. A bit scary, but it should be a really cool looking swing from over the side of the building back onto the roof. Hopefully that went pretty smooth, but from what we can see on the LCD it came out great.

bts (6 of 7)
bts (4 of 7)

Next we went down to the outside grounds for a walking Steadicam Shot. The band followed the camera slowly while singing to the music. With the Canon 60D articulating LCD, I was able to walk forward and let the band frame themselves by looking into the LCD. They were able to monitor themselves and stay in frame, while I concentrated on not falling over or tripping on anything.

bts1 (1 of 1)
bts (7 of 7)

I'll get the video footage once the editor hands them back, and show some of the shots we did. The Steadicam looked really great with the Canon 10-22mm Lens I rented and had all this space to run around in. Flying through a wide open room with large glass windows and concrete pillars everywhere had a very cool flying effect. I have to admit that with the changes in light, using the white balance on the 60D was much more effective than trying to set it on the T2i (which was being used for some BTS video). The 3 Canon 60D's worked really well and meshes closer to the workings of the 7D than a T2i. Definitely a great camera to work with. Now that i'm done with this project, I may sell one of them, but tempted to keep them both!

[Thanks to Matt for grabbing these BTS photos while we were running around in the heat]

Related Articles:
http://cheesycam.com/canon-60d-video-stabilizer-first-flight-glidecam-hd4000/
http://cheesycam.com/glidecam-hd4000-bts-with-canon-60d-steadicam-vest/

• 16 Comments

•

cheesycam-mailbag

There it is, the 2nd Canon EOS 60D DSLR has arrived in time for the Sunday Music video shoot project. With my friend's, we'll have a total of three on set. Also another exciting item I get to use for a different project is of course the JuicedLink DT454 4-Channel DSLR Camera Microphone Preamplifier. You've heard me mention it quite a bit in the past few days, and I wasn't name dropping for nothing! I was just waiting for it...but I think you guys got the subtle clues. I'll hook it up and run a few tests, but in order to complete this audio setup, I'm still waiting on the Audio-Technica AT875 Short Condenser Shotgun Microphone to come in. ( Oh crap my wife reads this blog..doesn't know about this one yet...damn too late to hide it....).

juicedlink-dt454
JuicedLink DT454

audio-technica-at875
Audio-Technica AT875 Shotgun Microphone

The AT875 is a Short Shotgun powered by 12v Phantom giving you a bit of extra run time on your batteries over a 24v Phantom powered mic. Suggested by JuicedLink.com as a decent cheap pair for the DT454. If you can't trust them, who can you trust? Reviews and samples coming soon....

• 13 Comments

•

10-22mm

So my second Canon 60D arrives this morning and another friend just grabbed one yesterday over at Best Buy in Redwood City. Can you believe just walking into a store and finding the last one? I like online over retail mainly because of taxes, but with local retail you can always resolve your issues quickly on these very expensive items. We were scheduled for a Music Video shoot this Sunday, but for fun we thought we'd do everything in just the new Canon 60D. We'll have a total of three on set, so it will be a nice way of getting used to learning the menu and dials.

I woke up this morning and realized I don't have the widest lens for these cropped cameras. Many of the really nice wide lenses for cropped cameras are EF-S mounts, and the EF-S mount does not work with Full Frame cameras. Of course ALL EF mounts will work on ALL cameras, so all my lenses are cross compatible amongst all my gear. For cropped camera shooters, this is something to keep in mind when investing in lenses, if you believe you'll one day go to a Full Frame camera. Normally if I wanted to get a wide shot, I switched to my Canon 5D Mark II full frame and used some of my wide EF mounts. Soooooo...since I wanted this to be an all Canon 60D shoot, my EF lenses weren't as wide as i'd hope. Luckily Borrowlenses.com had the Canon 10-22mm in stock ready to pick up by 10am this morning. My first option was the Tokina 11-16mm, but that little guy seems to be sold out all the time, proving to be all the lens hype that everyone keeps raving about.

Again, if you guys aren't into renting, you should definitely try it out. Most rental places will ask for a huge deposit on gear, but that's what makes BorrowLenses.com different. Easiest rental place i've worked with and they do lots of mailing. It's like the NetFlix for Camera Gear. Check them out here: Borrowlenses.com

Camera Gear Rental

• 54 Comments

•

Now that Canon is throwing everyone for a loop releasing every 'in between' type of camera, I just thought i'd throw up a video about a few differences in the Canon 7D vs 60D vs T2i. I too was quite disappointed that Canon didn't release any earth shattering news about new video features on their latest camera. For 5DM2 and 7D owners, the announcement of the 60D was nothing to get too overly excited about. When it was between the T2i and 7D I advised all my friends starting in DSLR video to go with the T2i, save the extra $1000 dollars and buy yourself some better glass. Now the 60D is coming in at just $300 dollars more than the T2i, I'm going to change my tune. For Canon T2i owners who said they wouldn't, I think once you've used it and seen what it can do, you'll make a decision to upgrade.

There are some really nice features for videographers that will instantly improve what you're already doing with the T2i. For one, the White balance settings on the 60D are way easier to control than the T2i, and adds the option for manual Kelvin settings. The Flip out LCD you might be able to live without (I think it's really nice), but the Manual Audio levels are well worth the extra $300 dollars alone. Why bother with an external Audio recorder when you can connect a microphone directly and manually adjust audio levels in the camera? You shoot hundreds of tiny little clips throughout the day and when you come home, you have nothing to sync. You change your settings to 24p to get that cinema look, and instead of running hundreds of clips through Plural Eyes, all that work is already done. This already will save you hours and hours of post work. Sure you can defeat AGC on the other cameras, but in doing so, you'll already be spending a few hundred dollars on a decent device. The upgraded body already puts the 60D in a different class. It's no longer a lightweight Rebel camera, the 60D feels sturdy with a bit more weather proofing. We're not even talking about all the Photography upgrades, so for beginner Hybrid shooters the decision should be easy regarding the $300 dollar price difference.

canon-eos-family-1

I was surprised that Canon didn't release any new video features like 120fps or at least 1080@60fps, but not surprised Canon released another camera with obvious Video dedicated ergonomic upgrades. Having spent an extra $1000 dollars for their first 1080 DSLR Video camera, there were thousands of Canon 7D owners who were shocked when the Canon T2i was first announced. I think the announcement of the 60D for just a few hundred dollars more appeals to T2i owners in the same way. Overall the Canon 60D is indeed a great camera at a great price, and Canon has made great strides in adding more professional video features, audio features, photography features, and body upgrades into a more affordable camera.

• 13 Comments

•

canon-eos-family-1
Above: Family Portrait from left to right
Canon 5D Mark II + 24-70mm F/2.8L, Canon 7D + 100mm F/2.8L Macro IS, Canon 60D + 85mm F/1.2L, Canon T2i + 24-105mm F/4L

My first video test out in the front driveway with the new Canon 60D. I was too lazy to do anything other than use a tripod, so the video is going to be quite boring. Lens was the Canon 24-70mm F/2.8 with Hoya ND4 + Fader Filter (stacked). Shot in 1080, dropped down to 720 and compressed to WMV (not the best example). I'll do something more interesting soon enough.

The Canon 60D is a new pup in the house, so she's been caged. LOL. Testing out some possible configurations with the Letus35 Letus Talon DSLR Camera Cage. I have the Hawk VF on the back which works with the cage, but I think it'll be better used with an external monitor. I have those new Power Arms mounted onto the many optional threaded holes around the cage with the Z96 LED Video light off center and a Rode Shotgun Mic (soon to be replaced). Those Power Arms Rock!! I'll do a video on those in a bit, gotta show you how they work.

power-arm-led-video-light

The Zoom H4n is also thrown over the top. Having a DSLR cage is really handy when you have so many accessories to mount. If you start with a standard base Rod type rig, you'll still need different methods of mounting accessories. Using the cage method, you'll have more mounting spots that one would ever need. The Letus Talon DSLR Cage also has several optional accessories from Letus to further expand the cage including handles to be used like a fig rig. If you wanted to move into a Rod Rig, you can add standard Rods possibly for your follow focus, Matte box, and shoulder pad if you really wanted.

letus-talon-cage

• 18 Comments

•

canon60D-now-shipping

Damn, i've been catching Twitter pics and news clips about the Canon 60D in stock and shipping all day today. It's still a very rare find, but I managed to check out a few of my 'secret fishing holes' and it should drop in on Tuesday. Yeah, I tried to get it in earlier, but Jewish holiday they say.

Check out an early review @ https://nicolesyblog.com/2010/09/16/hands-on-with-the-canon-60d-first-impressions/ who shows off some of the in-camera filters. I think the 'Toy Camera' filter looked pretty good, and would be tons of fun in a Timelapse project. Curious if they stuck with the same Intervalometer as the T2i.

So i'm excited to see how this thing sizes up against it's 'older' siblings. I have another big event out of state that i'll be dragging this thing to, so I stocked up on the 32GB Transcend SDHC Class 10 Cards which is a deal right now.

Sandisk-8GB-MicroSDI also noticed that the Zoom H1 and Tascam DR-08 only come with 2GB microSD cards. At the highest bitrate, i'm getting short of one hour total record time. If this this is going to be useful in a Catholic ceremony it's gotta run at least half a day! I managed to find some Sandisk 8GB microSD Cards for fairly cheap. With 8GB at the highest 96/24 I should be able to get close to 4 hours of total record time.

• 5 Comments

•

The Swintronix Powerbase 70 Battery Pack is back in stock again. Supposedly 6 times longer run time than a single Canon LP-E6 Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery, it is designed with two optional power ports for powering up other compatible accessories. Yeah I know, Swintronix Powerbase is old news right? Not really, since this battery pack is designed for use with the Canon 5D Mark II & Canon 7D which shares it's battery type with the Canon EOS 60D. Get where i'm going with this? Theoretically it should have absolutely no problems powering up the new Canon 60D camera, and with it's mounting capabilities can double up to be used as that rear weight on your new shoulder rig. Double function means lighter run and gun rig since you don't need to add on that extra battery grip + extra rig weight. Soon as the Canon 60D DSLR starts shipping, expect these power packs to sell out just as quickly. The charger for the packs are sold seperately which might be a good thing. You can purchase several battery packs without having to incur costs of having multiple chargers.

swintronix-power-canon-5d-7d-60d
Switronix PowerBase Battery Pack Canon EOS 5D Mk II & 7D Pricing

swintronix-power-base-charger
Switronix POWER CHRGR f/PB70/NP-L60/EX-L96/XPL90