Camera Test

19/08/12 17:09

I had read online that Marvel's Advanced camera profile provides the best latitude when recording which helps retain the image quality during post production. However, as with any proposed camera setup, I wanted to test it for myself. I had also read good things about the Technicolor CineStyle profile as well as a flattened Canon standard profile. I wanted to test these profiles using a challenging low light scene and see how each shot behaved in post.

NeoScene from CineForm was used to transcode each shot into Apple's ProRes HQ 422. This process also converts the source 4:2:0 to 4:2:2 which also helps retain as much image quality in the final shot.

I also tested the ISO levels looking for the noise characteristics of each under this scenario. This test looks at both the Canon ISO increments and Magic Lantern ISO increments. Magic Lantern applies negative gain to the Canon ISO to achieve a lower noise alternative i.e. Canon ISO 800 becomes ML ISO 640.

Looking at the results I prefer Marvels Advanced profile. The Technicolor CineStyle looks flatter than Marvels however CineStyle only uses approx 95% of the available range to record light values. I read this is to avoid the noisy values which are in the lower light levels however I don't like that not all the information is captured. I see from other tests that this translates to less detail in the shadows.

So I will keep using Marvels Advanced for now.

Here is a summary of my test setup.

Camera Test
- Canon 550D/T2i
- Magic Lantern 2.3 firmware
- 24-105mm lens @ 24mm
- f/5.6
- 1080p 25fps (1/50th sec)

Optus Interview

08/08/12 23:08

I am currently creating an introductory film for my project at Optus. The basic structure of this film is a series of three interviews where each contributor describes our project from their perspective.

I hired some professional fresnel lights and other equipment to augment my camera kit.

Here are some behind the scenes shots and frame grabs from the film.

Some Frame Grabs
MariaCruz1

Some Behind-The-Scenes (Photographer Karlene)

Me adjusting the key light reflector.

Smile for the camera?

Action!

Fez Morocco

14/04/12 19:28

Here is my “Editing Den’s Rushes” entry for the April Inner Circle Film Challenge.

For the luminance correction I used a slightly different approach to that shown by Den. The advice I learned from watching video blogs on film making was to lift the blacks to set the desired shadow levels and restore contrast by pulling the mid-values down. It is amazing how much detail you can reveal & retain in the shadows using this technique while still achieving excellent contrast in the frames (assuming this is the look you are going for)!

Profile Interview

12/02/12 18:30

This is my fourth film challenge entry. The brief was to create a 90 second (up to 2 minutes) profile interview of someone talking about their hobby or interest. I chose to profile Karlene on the topic of her sewing.

Celebrating Peace, Friendship & Pavlova

24/12/11 15:14

This is my third film challenge entry. The brief was to create a one minute film on some aspect of the festive season.
Growing up I always looked forward to the Xmas Pavlova so I thought I’d create an homage to the humble Kiwi Pav.

For this film I purchased a set of four "RigWheels" so I could create the more advanced moves. RigWheels are very versatile in that they can be used to create slider and dolly moves on a tight budget.

Losses

14/11/11 14:16

Here is my second monthly challenge entry for the Inner Circle of the f-stop academy. The brief was to create a one minute short film that demonstrates you directing some action. I thought it would be good to add audio to this challenge.

“Camera rolling….Action!”

Checking sound quality.

B Roll

08/10/11 16:03

Here is my first monthly challenge entry for the Inner Circle of the f-stop academy. The brief was to shoot a one minute sequence of b-roll.