This time of year, we get tons of phone calls asking for gear recommendations for the big summer vacation. Sadly, we also get a few post-vacation phone calls from customers, where they tell us what they wish they had known before heading out for their trips.

We’ve gotten Tim and Roger to pool their collective knowledge on what they feel are some things you really should consider before your next trip. The items they are recommending today are not all the most popular items to rent, in fact most of these items are often overlooked for vacation use.

So before you board that cruise ship, safari tour jeep, or station wagon for the wildest 17-hour drive of your life to visit the Corn Palace, let us help you pick the right gear!

The Griswold Family, National Lampoon's Vacation. Photo Credit: bearseatpeople.com.

Second Camera Body

First off, there are two very different types of vacations in this world: civilized and wilderness (or uncivilized, as Roger likes to say). And they each can require very different types of preparation and equipment.

We’ve had almost 20 customers who have gone on African safaris and come home with no pictures because their own camera broke on day one or two. That’s why we say have a small, light back-up camera body (that’s not your cell phone).

Don't be this guy. Photo credit: Break.com

If you are a Canon user, try a Canon EOS 60D or a T-Series camera (like the Canon EOS T3i or brand new T4i). If you are a Nikon user, try a Nikon D7000 (Roger’s pick) or a Nikon D3200 (Tim’s pick).

Make sure you get a back-up body that is compatible with your existing lenses (and, hey, if you’re not sure about this part, just let us know which lenses you want to take on your vacation with your rented camera body, and we’ll make sure everything will work together.).

Vacation “Everything” Zoom Lens

Most people want to travel fairly light. As far as lightweight vacation lenses go, the Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS is both Tim’s and Roger’s personal favorite. Roger pretty well doesn’t leave home without it—or rather, when he does leave home, he doesn’t leave without it. It’s just so useful, and it’s so nice to have one lens that does most things.

Many people have a tough time choosing between this lens and the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L. It’s true, they’re both great lenses!  But when it comes to vacations, Roger always goes with the  Canon 24-105 f/4L IS. Just look at the advantages—smaller size, greater range and image stabilization—all of which make it perfect for walking around or taking on vacation.

If you plan on renting this lens, though, consider this: it’s pretty wide on a full-frame camera. But if you are shooting with a crop-frame camera, this is not a very wide lens. You should think about taking a Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/2.5-4.5 to go with it. Or, as Tim suggests, you could rent the Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM by itself, since it’s a wide lens that is better suited for a crop-frame camera.

If you’re shooting with a full-frame Nikon, try the Nikon 24-120mm f/4G AF-S VR (Nikon’s version of the Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS). And for the crop-frame cameras, the Nikon 16-85mm  f/3.5-5.6G VR DX  is Nikon’s equivalent to the Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM.

Lightweight Prime Lens

On every vacation there are going to be times that you are inside, where the lighting is poor. This is when you need a wide aperture lens. And again, you’ll want something lightweight like the Canon 50mm f/1.4 or Nikon 50mm f/1.4G AF-S. These are both great lenses for vacation since they’ve got faster apertures for indoor shots and night shots of the city.

Tim throws in the option of the Nikon 50mm f/1.8G AF-S, which is pretty much the same lens as its f/1.4 brother except that the f/1.8 is half the weight!

Canon 50mm f/1.4 and Nikon 50mm f/1.4G AF-S

Handy Telephoto Lens

Ahhh, the Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS —nice sharp lens, very good range, not too heavy, excellent image stabilization—all things that are very useful on vacation trips. It’s also a fair amount smaller than any of the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses or Canon 100-400mm 5.4-5.6L IS.

Canon 70-300 f/4-5.6L IS

On the Nikon side, it’s more difficult to find an equal. Roger says their 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED AF-S VR is just OK; their 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 ED AF VR is very weak. With a Nikon he often says take a 70-200mm f/2.8 AF-S VR II plus a teleconverter or a Sigma 50-500mm HSM OS for Nikon.

If you are thinking safari this summer, then go with Sigma 50-500mm HSM OS (for Canon, Nikon, or Sony). It is a great range, nice and sharp, and with optical stabilization can be handheld . . . for a while anyway.

Another note on safaris: Roger will tell you that there is nothing like having one lens-camera combination around your neck and another at your side if you need it. So if that giraffe you are shooting half a mile away is one thing and suddenly there’s a lion 50 yards away, you can change lenses real quick. That’s a really cool thing to have (or, if you are going somewhere that your tripod rig might get eaten by a bear, you’ll have the second camera around your neck to take pictures of the carnage).

It’s also a really cool thing to have on “civilized” vacations, like when you are taking pictures of your family making sand castles and then see the most ridiculous tan line/swimsuit combo on the other end of the beach (and you don’t want to get caught lookin’).

Good Walking-Around Camera

Tim emphasizes this the most. He’s done the whole mega-backpack loaded down with equipment on vacations. But nowadays he just wants the lightest, most convenient way to go (not the highest quality). After all, he says the majority of the pictures he takes on vacation aren’t meant for blowing up on the wall—most of the time it’s just a 8×10 frame or going on Facebook.

The Fuji X10 and Canon Powershot G1 X (like their Canon Powershot G12 but fancier) are both good walk around city/wilderness cameras. Both are fairly small in size and even have zoom lenses! The Nikon 1 V1 or Nikon 1 J1 are somewhere between a Canon Rebel camera and a point-and-shoot. Image quality-wise, they are closer to a Canon Rebel, but you have about the same control as a point-and-shoot. Bottom line: they’re easy to use and easy to print a quality 8×10 phot0.

Underwater (and Worry-Free) Camera

The Canon Powershot D20 Underwater Camera is a fun alternative if you are going to be near water. If you have never taken your SLR to the beach, you don’t realize what an incredible pain it is trying to change lenses and keep your camera dry and sand-free. It’s worrisome.

Still take an SLR on vacation, but on the beach itself take the Canon Powershot D20 Underwater Camera. Jump in the pool with it, take underwater pictures of the kids playing, go out on a boat, go snorkeling—you can do all of that without having to fuss with an SLR. It’s still not going to have nearly the image quality of an SLR, but it’s great for JPEGs online or a 4×6 print for a little frame.

Canon Powershot D20 Underwater Camera

Another wonderful thing is that it fits in your pocket. Roger says there have been many times he and the family have gone out to a restaurant and taken the D20 because nobody wanted to carry the big cameras.

Tim thinks this is a strange idea. He says leave the underwater camera for well, the water, not the restaurant. Take the good walking-around camera for that instead.

Listen up though, divers: if you are diving and are trying to get really good pictures, it’s worth bringing out the big guns like the Sea&Sea DX-1G or DX-2G Underwater Kit (consider them interchangeable) and a Sea&Sea YS-110 Underwater Strobe Kit.  Flash underwater doesn’t work the same way that it does above water, and the little bitty flash on cameras like the Canon Powershot D20 would only be enough to light up to three feet in front of you.

And, no, we don’t rent underwater housing: their failure rate is low but it’s real, and there is no hope for your camera if the housing does so happen to leak on you. Not to mention there’s really not a good way for us to test the housings at 200 feet to see if they’re working properly. So, unless you can afford to replace the camera you’ll put in it, please don’t do it. Roger tears up just thinking about it—all those beautiful SLRs that were never even given a chance.

A Flash

There are two really opposite reasons you will want a flash on your vacation:

1. On vacation you do tend to do a lot of stuff at night, and you’ll need a flash to give proper lighting to the campfire roast or the amusement park off the beach or your cruise-ship-dance-off-winning Worm move.
2. The sun is so strong during the day. You’ll get really stark pictures with the sun glaring on one side of a person’s face and the other side totally dark and shadow unless you have a fill flash. It makes a huge difference.

Ultra-Wide Angle Lens

The lens people usually forget is ultra-wide angle. When you go on vacation, there is usually beautiful, huge scenery that you can’t capture with a regular lens, and you need something really wide. Roger says if you take one, it will only be 10 percent of the pictures you bring home, but it will probably be your favorite 10 percent.

For Tim, it’s simple: the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 (for Canon or Nikon) is the ultra-wide angle of choice. Roger, of course, rambles on this subject.

Tokin11-16mm f/2.8

If shooting with a crop-frame camera, Roger says they’re all good: Sigma 10-20mm EX DC HSM (for Canon or Nikon), the aforementioned Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 or the Nikon 10-24mmf/3.5-4.5G DX.

If shooting with a full-frame camera, it’s a different story; there just isn’t as good of a selection of ultra-wide angle lenses. For Canon, there’s the Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L II. For Nikon, the 14-24mm f/2.8 ED is the best, but the 16-35mm f/4 VR is what Roger usually takes. It’s nearly as good, a lot smaller and has vibration reduction.

Ultralight Tripod

Small enough to tuck anywhere. Great for landscapes. It’ll let you get sunsets, the night sky, the lights of the city, and self-portraits. One year, Roger even set up a  tripod in the corner of a room and set the camera to take a picture every 30 seconds. They’d play games, sit around and talk, eat, so on. Those were some of everyone’s favorite photos of the trip because of how candid they were.

Roger says you only need a tripod if one of the main purposes of the trip is to take photographs. If you are looking to just document a vacation, a tripod isn’t necessary.

You also don't need a tripod if you're this guy. Photo credit: Juzaphoto.com.

As far as picking which one, the Benro Ultra Light is the best choice. It’s super cheap and (of course) lightweight. The Gitzo Traveler Ultralight is awesome, but it’s twice as expensive and only a half pound lighter. The Giottos Compact Tripod/Monopod is another great, much more cost effective choice than the Gitzo.

When you need the stability of a tripod, but you don’t want to carry the thing around, a Gorillapod is a fun, convenient alternative. They’re much smaller, lightweight, more compact and can fix on to pretty much anything with their bendable legs. Just make sure to get the right size: for point-and-shoot cameras you’ll need a large, and for SLR-size cameras you’ll need an extra-large. Roger LOVES Gorillapods.

Large Gorillapod

Spares

Extra batteries and memory cards are always a great idea for vacation. And you should always always take something to back up your photos. Whether it’s your laptop/ iPad and a card reader or several smaller memory cards (like four 8G, instead of one 32G), you will thank yourself later.

And don’t be that person who gets all this sweet gear and then leaves it in your hotel room the entire trip because it’s “too much” to walk around with. If you are really going to carry camera equipment around all day, a backpack makes that much easier.

Roger advises to take the backpack that fits your spouse, not you, so he/she has to carry all the stuff. Roger has a backpack that is slightly too small for him, and he travels (well his wife, Erin, travels) with that all the time.

Video

Our last recommendation is the GoPro HD HERO2 Action Cam!

GoPro HD HERO2 Action Cam

There are all sorts of mounts for whatever adventure you want to take this baby on from chest harnesses to handlebar mounts.

If you are going somewhere cool and you are going to be doing active things, the Go Pro is a great idea. If you’re going on a cruise, you don’t need a Go Pro. Well, we guess it depends on what you are going on the cruise for, but there are probably some cruises that we don’t really want to know about…

We advise that this item is mostly for vacationers under 30, who think heli-snowboarding and mountain climbing are relaxing. Once you get over 30, and your ideal vacation consists of sitting, sleeping, eating, and muttering the simple command “beer!” video documentation isn’t all that important :)

—–

Whatever you do with your summer, enjoy it! And if you need anymore help figuring out what to take on your trips, just let us know. We are always more than happy to help you out!

Caroline Bishop

Lensrentals.com

June, 2012

Ever since the DSLR video boom began, we’ve had tons of our long-time photography customers ask us for advice on putting together equipment packages for live event videography. Because they truly are experts in guiding beginning videographers, We’ve been hounding Drew and Chad to prepare some tips and recommended packages for us to give to our customers.

Canon 5D Mk II vs. Canon 7D

Because these are the two most popular Canon DSLRs for videography, we commonly get asked for advice by customers who want to begin shooting DSLR video and don’t know which camera is right for them. For the first video in our series, Chad has created this fantastic video that really highlights some of the key differences between the cameras.

Live Event Videography Packages

Chad and Drew have put together a few packages for us, as well. These packages are their recommendations for a complete setup for general live event videography for both 1 and 2 person crews.

1 Man Crew

3 - Canon 7D’s (or Canon 5D Mk II’s)

1 – Canon 35mm f/1.4L

2 – Canon 70-200 f/2.8L

3 – Additional Canon LP-E6 Batteries

6 – Compact Flash 32GB UDMA Cards

1 – Manfrotto 561B-HDV Monopod

1 – Lowel DV Creator Kit

1 – Zoom H4n

2 – Sennheiser Evolution G3 100 Wireless Mics

1 – Rode VideoMic Pro

Add the entire kit to your cart

Suggested Extras

1 – Canon 50mm f/1.2L

1 – Zeiss ZE 85mm f/1.4

1 – Canon 135mm f/2L

1 – Kessler Pocket Dolly

Add the extras to your cart

2 Man Crew

3 - Canon 7D’s (or Canon 5D Mk II’s)

2 – Canon 35mm f/1.4L

2 - Canon 70-200 f/2.8L

3 – Additional Canon LP-E6 Batteries

6 – Compact Flash 32GB UDMA Cards

2 – Manfrotto 561B-HDV Monopod

1 – Lowel DV Creator Kit

1 – Zoom H4n

2 – Sennheiser Evolution G3 100 Wireless Mics

2 – Rode VideoMic Pro

Add the entire kit to your cart

2 Man Crew with the Works

3 - Canon 7D’s (or Canon 5D Mk II’s)

2 – Canon 35mm f/1.4L

2 - Canon 70-200 f/2.8L

1 – Canon 50mm f/1.2L

1 - Zeiss ZE 85mm f/1.4

1 - Canon 135mm f/2L

3 – Additional Canon LP-E6 Batteries

8 – Compact Flash 32GB UDMA Cards

2 – Manfrotto 561B-HDV Monopod

1 – Lowel DV Creator Kit

1 – Zoom H4n

2 – Sennheiser Evolution G3 100 Wireless Mics

2 – Rode VideoMic Pro

Add the entire kit to your cart

However, if you think you’re going to get  $20,000 worth of function for $2,000 I have some bridges and swampland I’d like to sell you. Every time a new camcorder is released we have 30 people who want to rent the lens Famous Video Guy used when he made the demo videos for the manufacturer because his footage was incredible. They forget that Famous Video Guy also had 8 techs, 6 manufacturer’s reps, and a sound crew on the set and spent two weeks shooting multiple takes, making sure all the weaknesses were minimized and the strengths emphasized.

When someone tries to reproduce that look on a real world budget with a limited crew they’re disappointed that the lenses they chose didn’t work like they assumed they would. Photo lenses aren’t video lenses, don’t behave like video lenses, do things differently than video lenses. Like any good tool, they can be extremely effective when used properly. But if you don’t take the differences into account when planning equipment for a shoot they’ll be just as effective as using a sledgehammer for computer repair. So in an effort to prevent assumptions (because we all know what assume means) we put together a little reality checklist.

You’ll notice that the word photo(graphy) is underlined every time it precedes the word lens. We added extra emphasis here. Photo lenses are not video lenses. They can be used for video if you work around their limitations.

Zooms

• There are no wide aperture 10x photo zooms. If you need one lens and wide aperture, you need a $20-40k video zoom.
• Less expensive photo zooms are variable aperture. That is they may be f/3.5 at the wide end, but maximum aperture may be f6.3 at the long end.
• Photo zooms are NOT parfocal. If you zoom, you will have to refocus when you get where you are going. If you plan to zoom AND maintain focus, you will need an amazingly gifted assistant. (There are a very few exceptions listed in “This article“.)
• Many photo zooms telescope when zooming. As in the lens can get 3 times as long zoomed in as it was when zoomed out. Support equipment must take this into account.

Aperture

• Most photo lenses have electronic aperture control. You will need to select a lens or adapter that allows manual control if you want it.
• If your camera supports electronic aperture control, realize this is noisy. You do not want to use a camera’s internal microphone if you are using electronic apertures.
• If your camera has electronic aperture control, realize this does what it wants, not always what you want. If you change from f2.0 to f/2.8 it may do go to f/16 or f/1.4 on the way there. Yelling at the camera doesn’t help. Yelling at us doesn’t help. Yelling at the lens doesn’t help. It’s like the changing of the tides: you have no influence on it.
• On those lenses that have mechanical aperture rings, they will click at given stops. They are not smooth and continuous like video lenses.

Focusing

• Photo lenses breathe. If you change focus you will usually change image size slightly.
• Focusing throw on photo lenses is very abrupt. A video lens may turn 360 degrees during focusing. Photo lenses generally turn 120 degrees at most.
• Critical focusing is less accurate on photo lenses. And don’t ever try to use the distance scale. They are wildly inaccurate.
• Autofocus is not critically accurate. When shooting SLR video autofocus microadjustment must be set up before the shoot if you want critically sharp focus. But if you really want accurate focus you’d best pull it manually. Not an issue at f/5.6 usually, but usually an issue at f/2.0
• When autofocus is available with an adapter (certain Panasonic and Sony cameras) it will be very slow and often inaccurate. There is often a tendency for the lens to “hunt” for focus.

Other

• Electronic photo lenses are noisy. Electronic aperture control, focus motors, and image stabilization systems all make interesting buzzy sounds. If you use an in-camera mic they will ruin your audio (on-camera shotguns are often, but not always, OK).
• f/stop is not T/stop. An f/2.0 lens is probably close to a T3.0 lens, maybe a bit faster. Depending on the manufacturer the f/stop rating is either a rough estimate or a boldfaced lie.

Some General Recommendations

If you’ve read this and are thinking “well now I don’t know what to do” good! We may have prevented you from wasting an entire shoot. We’ll give a few quick, general suggestions:

• Don’t plan on using in-camera audio if you’re using any of the lens electronics (stabilization, autofocus, electronic aperture). A camera mounted shotgun mic may be enough isolation, but not always.
• If you can use prime lenses, that’s best. If you must have a zoom realize you’ll need to repull focus after zooming. Staying in focus during a slow zoom with a photo lens requires amazing skill and practice.
• Use only f/2.8 fixed aperture zooms. Variable aperture zooms are extremely difficult and usually of lesser image quality.
• Manual aperture control is usually best (Older Zeiss and Nikon lenses have manual apertures). Adapters with manual aperture control are available even for some electronic aperture lenses (Zeiss, Nikon, and Sony).
• Unless you’ve shot the specific lens and camera combination before, allow yourself at least a full day of practice. I guarantee you Famous Video Guy (or his staff) did.

If you have questions about lens selection, please send us an email at support@lensrentals.com We’d much rather figure out what’s best on the front end than hear about how the lens didn’t do what you assumed it would after your shoot.

Roger Cicala
Erik Morrison
Kris Steward
Lensrentals.com

Before we start configuring camera systems let’s touch briefly on the advantage of using professional batteries. Imagine you’re on a shoot using the AF-100, a nanoFlash and a field monitor hooked up to a rod support system rig and a follow focus. The camcorder, recorder and monitor all require power — and before you know it so will the follow focus. Sure, they have their own batteries, but keep in mind, all these batteries are different from one another, each with their own shapes, voltages, capacities, chargers, charge times, etc. Chances are you’ll also want a couple of spares for each device, just to be safe. Before you know it, you’ve created a full time job: keeping track of all the batteries, swapping them out, monitoring their charge, charging them, etc. However, with the proper cables and know-how, you can connect all of these devices to one power source — a source that in most instances has a higher capacity than the individual batteries.

Configuring Your Set-up

The first thing you need to do is to pick a battery mounting option. If you are planning on using a camcorder like the Panasonic AF-100 or the Sony F3 we carry a shoulder mount/ rod-support rig made by Zacuto that has a gold plate attached to it.  For everything else, we recommend our Universal AB Mount: a gold plate attached to a Manfrotto superclamp, allowing you the ability to attach your professional gold mount batteries pretty much anywhere. As an added bonus, if you plan on using a shoulder mount for handheld work the 5.5-pound Hytron 100 makes an excellent functional counterweight for shoulder mount work. In fact, the Zacuto rig was designed with this in mind, and the Universal mount can be easily configured to a shoulder mount for this function.

The Universal AB Mount and its many uses.

The next thing you need to do is to figure out which connectors go with the items you want. Gold plates output via D-tap connector so ultimately you will need a cable that goes from D-tap to the power input of your device. Keep in mind a gold plate has one D-tap output and some of the other adapters include one additional D-tap output, so depending on the number of devices being connected, you may require a D-tap Multitap. What follows is a list of camcorders/ accessories and the cables you’ll need to connect them to the gold plate.

Camcorders/ Cameras

• Panasonic AF-100 →   AF-100 D-tap Adapter (has one additional D-tap port)
• Sony PMW-F3L →   XLR 4-pin to D-tap
• 5DmkII, 7D, 60D →   Canon DSLR to D-tap (has one additional D-tap port)

Accessories

• nanoFlash →   Hirose to D-tap
• AJA Kia Pro Mini →   XLR 4-pin to D-tap
• Marshal HD/SDI field monitor, Marshall HDMI field monitor →   XLR 4-pin to D-tap

Lighting

• ARRI Locaster → XLR 4-pin to D-tap
• Litepanels 1×1 Flood and Spot →  Litepanels 1×1 Battery Adapter
• Litepanels Ringlite → XLR 4-pin to D-tap

How Many Batteries?

The final step is figuring out how many batteries you’ll need to get through a day of shooting. The actual amount of energy a battery contains is a bit confusing because some describe energy in terms of watt-hours, while others tell you the operating voltage and milli-amp hours (mAh). Watt-hours is easiest to use for this sort of calculation, so we want to convert from the second notation into the first. One watt equals one volt times one amp, so you can convert from mAh to Wh by multiplying by voltage. For example, a 14.4 volt, 2500 mAh battery contains 36 watt-hours of stored energy.

Note also that you can add or divide the time component as needed. If a battery can supply 10 watts for 1 hour, its capacity equals 10 watt-hours. That same 10 watt-hour battery could also supply 5 watts for 2 hours, or 20 watts for 0.5 hours. There are other considerations making this not exactly accurate, but textbook math like this works well enough for estimating.

Once you know what your battery can supply, you need to know how much you’re consuming. For that reason, we’ve listed estimates below of the power needed to run some common gear.

Currently we carry Anton Bauer Hytron 50 and Hytron 100 batteries which, conveniently enough, have a capacity of 50 and 100 watt-hours respectively.

Actual power available in the battery will vary in the field, especially due to differences in operating temperature. Cold batteries might deliver half of their normal output. Nevertheless, by adding up the power requirements of the gear you plan to use and dividing by capacity of the battery, it’s pretty easy to approximate how much energy you will require. As always, choosing to err on the high side will give you a more conservative estimate, whereas reality may settle more in the middle.

As a concrete example: you have a Sony PMW-F3 (22W), an AJA Kia Pro Mini (5W), and a 7″ Field Monitor (25W), drawing 52 watts in total. If you plug it into a Hytron 100 battery, you have 100 watt-hours divided by 52 watts, yielding an estimate of 1.92 hours of runtime.

The AF-100 (and most other camcorders in its class) can be powered by the Hytron 100 for approximately 6 hours. If you add a nanoFlash and a monitor, this drops to approximately 2 to 3 hours of battery life. That said, you can reduce your main battery load by using external equipment with its own power supply. For example, the nanoFlash comes with its own battery that has about 2.5 hours of battery life, and most of our monitors have the adapter to mount an NP-F970 battery directly, which will power the monitor for about 2 hours as well.

A typical setup including a professional camcorder, monitor, audio adapter with a phantom power shotgun mic will need about 60 watts of power, so a pair of Hyton 100 batteries should provide up to 3 hours of power time without recharging.

The recharging time for the Hytron 50 and 100 are 3 and 6 hours respectively. We currently carry 2 chargers for Anton Bauer batteries: the Twin which can charge 2 batteries at once, and the Tandem which can charge a battery and power your devices at the same time from one AC input.

Once you have an idea of what you will be working with and the conditions you are working under, getting into the ball park of how many batteries you’ll need shouldn’t be too hard. Keep in mind that it’s always better to have too much power than to have too little, and you’ll still have all the supplied batteries as back-up should the need arise.

Happy shooting!

Like so many problems, the videographer entering the realm of photography lenses is crippled by assumptions. They assume photo lenses work like video lenses. They assume the terminology they used to describe lenses is the same as the terminology in the photography world. But like the English and Americans, photographers and videographers are often two peoples separated by a common language.

So this article is strictly for the video crowd, an attempt to rather briefly summarize the major differences between photography lenses and videography lenses.

Sensor Size and Lens Loss

What photographers refer to as “full frame” means the sensor is the size of 35mm photographic film: 24x36mm (43.3mm diagonal). On a full frame camera a 50mm lens gives the field of view expected of a 50mm lens.

A crop frame (a.k.a. crop sensor) camera has a sensor roughly 50% smaller than a full-frame sensor, so lenses appear to give an image 50% longer than their actual focal length. (They have a 1.5 crop factor, here referred to as “lens loss”.) A 50mm lens on a crop frame camera gives the same field of view that a 75mm lens would on a full-frame.

Olympus and Panasonic 4/3 systems use still smaller 17x13mm sensors which have a crop factor of 2X: a 50mm lens shot on a 4/3 camera would give the same field of view as a 100mm lens shot on a full frame camera.

And just for total chaos, Canon’s 1D III and 1D IV have 1.3x crop cameras–right between full-frame and crop-frame.

Sensor sizes of the commonly used video SLRs

• Full Frame: Canon 5DMk II, Nikon D3s
• 1.3x crop frame: Canon 1DMk IV
• 1.5x crop frame: Canon 7D, 60D, T2i; Nikon D300s, D90; Sony A550, A580 (Note Canon cameras actually crop to 1.6, rather than 1.5. But close enough.)
• 2x crop frame: All Panasonic and Olympus cameras

Mounts

In the video world, lenses of many different brands are all compatible with a few mounts. A lot of different manufacturers make lenses in PL mount, for example, and lots of different manufacturers make cameras that accept them.

In the photo world, every brand of camera has a proprietary mount. And many brands have more than one mount. The problem gets compounded when you consider third party lenses made by Sigma, Tamron and Tokina. Each of those manufactures make lenses in Canon, Nikon, Sony and 4/3 mount, so you have to get the Sigma for Canon mount, for example.

Even within the correct mount, however, some lenses only cover crop-sensor cameras, the image circle won’t cover full-frame. The manufacturer’s often use cryptic terms to announce whether a lens covers full frame or only crop frame cameras. Canon EF lenses are full frame, for example, while Canon EF-S lenses are crop frame. Nikon FX lenses are full frame and DX crop frame. Sigma DG lenses cover full frame, DC cover crop frame. And on and on.

Canon

• Crop Frame (7D, 60D, T2i): all Canon mount lenses work
• Full Frame (5D Ml II): Canon EF lenses work, EF-S lenses do not. Most wide-angle Sigma, Tamron, Tokina lenses do not.

Nikon

• Crop Frame (D300s, D90, D7000): All Nikon mount lenses work
• Full Frame (D3s): FX lenses work. DX lenses work badly. Most wide-angle Sigma, Tamron, Tokina lenses work badly.

Sony

• Alpha Full Frame (A850, A900): Not used for video that we’re aware of. Full-frame Alpha lenses work, of course.
• Alpha Crop Frame (A550, A580): All alpha mount lenses work. NEX lenses do not work.
• Sony NEX: All NEX lenses work, Alpha lenses do not.

Panasonic/Olympus

The SLRs and cameras that are used for video are basically Micro 4/3 mount. Only Micro 4/3 lenses will mount. Other Olympus and Pansonic lenses do not work.

Using Adapters

All those different mounts have different flange-to-sensor (or flange-to-focal) distances. A lens from a camera system with longer flange-to-sensor distances can be mounted on an adapter to a camera with a shorter flange-to-sensor distance, but not the other way. That’s why you can mount a Nikon lens with adapter to a Canon body without corrective glass elements, but not the other way around.

As you can see from the table above, Micro 4/3 and NEX cameras can use almost any other lens on the proper adapter. Nikon cameras can’t use other lenses with adapters — except PL in theory, but we know of no adapter for that.

Most adapters do not transfer electronic controls to the lens, and many lenses have electronic aperture controls. So it may not be possible to shoot the lens other than wide open (the default). But most people shoot wide open aperture most of the time so its rarely a major problem.

The following adapters are readily available:

• Canon, Nikon, PL, Leica M, and Standard 4/3, to Micro 4/3 bodies
• Sony alpha, Nikon, and Leica, to Sony NEX bodies
• Nikon and PL lenses to Canon bodies

Does The Lens Breathe?

A lens that breathes changes the size of the image slightly when your focus from near to far or vice-versa. Most photography lenses do. If you look at the Specs we post for various lenses, any lens that has “rear element focusing groups” will definitely breathe, sometimes dramatically. Lenses with a “floating element” (used to improve close up sharpness) will also breathe.

Is The Lens Parfocal?

Some lenses are parfocal, meaning that zooming does not change the focus point. All cine zooms are parfocal, but very few photography zooms are — for the same reason that they breathe, and for lower costs. If you want to zoom while filming, its important to make sure the lens you choose is parfocal, and remember, most are not.

The following lenses are constant focus while zooming. If its not on this list, it is not parfocal.

• Tokina: 11-16mm f/2.8
• Canon: 17-40 f/4 , 16-35 f/2.8 , 70-200 f/2.8 Non-IS
• Nikon: 17-35 f/2.8, 24-70 f/2.8 AF-S , 70-200/2.8 VR Mark I (not the Mark II)
• Micro 4/3: Panasonic 7-14 f/4
• Standard 4/3: Olympus 11-22 f/2.8-3.5

Lens Recommendations

This list isn’t the coolest lenses or the best special effects lenses or the sharpest lenses. This is a list of lenses that give nice sharp images, work well, don’t cause frequent problems, and don’t require special alterations of technique.

Canon SLR Cameras

Full-Frame (e.g. 5D II)

• Prime lenses: Zeiss CP.2 or ZE 21mm, 35mm, 50mm f2.0 Makro, 85mm, 100mm f2.0 Makro, Canon 14mm f2.8, 24mm f1.4 II, 35mm f1.4, 100mm f2.8 IS Macro, 135mm f/2.0, 200mm f/2.8, 300 f4 IS
• Zoom lenses: 16-35 f2.8, 24-70 f2.8, 70-200 f2.8 Non IS or IS I
• Special effects: Canon 24mm f3.5 TS-E, Schneider 28mm Super Angulon, Sigma 15mm fisheye

Crop-Frame (e.g. 7D)

• Prime lenses: as above, also Zeiss ZE 18mm f3.5 and ZE 28mm f2.0
• Zoom lenses: as above. Also Tokina 11-16 f2.8, Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS EF-S
• Special effects: as above, also Sigma 10mm fisheye, Sigma 8-16 DC.

Nikon SLR Cameras

Full-Frame (e.g. D3s)

• Prime Lenses: ZF Cine Set, ZF.2 21mm 35mm, 50mm f2.0 Makro, 85mm f1.4, 100mm f2.0 Makro
• Nikon 24mm f1.4 II, 35mm f1.4 G, 50mm f1.4 G, 85 f1.4 G
• Zoom lenses: Nikon 14-24 f2.8 G, 28-70 f2.8, 24-120 f4 VR G, 70-200 f2.8 VR I
• Special effect: Any Nikon PC-E, Sigma 15mm fisheye

Crop-Frame (e.g. D300s, D7000)

• Prime lenses: as above, also Zeiss ZF.2 18mm f3.5 and 28mm f2.0
• Zoom lenses: as above. Also Tokina 11-16 f2.8, Nikon 17-55 f2.8
• Special effects: as above, also Sigma 10mm fisheye, Sigma 8-16 DC.

Micro 4/3 mount cameras (e.g. Panasonic AG AF100)

• Prime lenses: Panasonic 14mm f2.5 ASPH, Panasonic 20mm f1.7, Panasonic 45mm f2
• Zoom lenses: Panasonic 7-14mm f4
• Special effect: Panasonic 8mm fisheye
• Used with 4/3 to Micro 4/3 adapter: Olympus 14-35 f2.0, Panasonic/Leica 25mm f1.4, Olympus 35-100 f2.0
• Used with Leica to Micro 4/3 adapter: All Leica M mount lenses

Sony NEX mount cameras

• We do not recommend any NEX lenses.
• Used with Leica to NEX adapter: Leica M mount lenses
• Used with Sony alpha to NEX adapter: Sigma 8-16, Sony 24mm f2, Sony-Zeiss 85mm f1.4 Sony Zeiss 24-70 f2.8

There are many, many other excellent lenses, particularly when you don’t mind using adapters and pulling focus. The above were chosen because they are user-friendly without too many peculiarities or weaknesses. Our staff will be happy to go into more detail about any specific lens you are considering. Just email us at support@lensrentals.com.

For ND filter basics check out the ND filter section of this article.

Effect of a 1-stop ND filter

Alternatives to Using ND Filters

When shooting video outdoors or in brightly lit places, using an ND filter is often a necessity in order to get proper exposure. Video-makers have access to the same in-camera options for controlling exposure as photographers. However, it is important to understand the affects these options will have on footage – it can be quite different than the effects they have on photography.

These options include:
1. Reducing ISO (Gain)
2. Increasing shutter Speed
3. Reducing Aperture (Iris)

Reducing ISO

ISO on DSLRs and digital video cameras is a mock representation of “film speed”. Sometimes referred to as gain control, these settings find most of their use in low light situations. It is important to note that different ISO settings will effect your image quality. In very basic terms, the lower your ISO setting, the sharper and less noisy your image will be (there is some argument as to what the ideal ISO setting is but most agree that it fits within the range of 200 and 400).

To some subtle, nuance-minded cinematographers, the noise and softness associated with certain ISOs may be a desirable element of the overall picture quality. Ultimately the decision on whether you want to make ISO a creative decision (“I really feel like the graininess of the image reflects inner psyche of the main character”) or a utilitarian one (“We have to drop down to 100 ISO because I didn’t bring along enough ND filters and we are over-exposed!”) depends on personal preference or circumstance.

For the most part ISO setting is primarily a consideration for low-light situations (situations where you normally wouldn’t use ND filtration anyway, i.e.: at night), on bright sunny days even the lowest ISO setting won’t keep your exposure from blowing out, therefore only two real options: aperture and shutter speed are left to control exposure.

Increasing Shutter Speed

There are compelling reasons you shouldn’t use shutter speed control as a means to regulate exposure, but it is an option. Adjustment of the camera’s shutter speed has a major impact on the fluidity and movement within the frame (not to mention movement of the frame). Simply stated, lower shutter speeds let more light in and movement within the frame appears smoother; higher shutter speeds allow less light into the camera and result in jerkier or more frenetic action (i.e.: the battle sequences in Saving Private Ryan). Shifting from a more standard shutter speed (such as 1/30 or 1/60) to a higher shutter speed can have a profound affect on the overall look and feel of your footage and it is important to take these affects into consideration before making any shutter speed adjustments.

As with ISO, the decision of where to set your shutter speed comes down to creative or utilitarian decision (DOP: “We have to up the shutter speed because we’re already set at 100 ISO, I don’t have enough ND filters and we’re over exposed! But don’t worry, it’ll give it that cool Saving Private Ryan battle scene look.” Director: “But we’re shooting a romantic-comedy.” DOP: “Yes, but I feel like this overall look really reflects the inner psyche of the main characters”).

Reducing Aperture

It’s no secret; people shooting video with DSLRs want to achieve shallow depth of field. Some people refer to this as good depth of field because shallow depth of field “looks better”. Others refer to a wide focal plane as good depth of field. People who wish to be understood don’t ever use the phrase good depth of field.

It stands to reason (and our experience) that as a means to achieve a shallow depth of field, DSLR shooters aim to shoot with the aperture as wide open as possible, which of course exposes the sensor to more light. (Director: “Couldn’t you just close down the iris on the lens and then we could keep our ISO and shutter speed the same throughout?” DOP: “Yeah, but then we wouldn’t get good depth of field.”). Reducing the aperture, for most shots, changes the entire look and emphasis of the scene.

Neutral Density Filters to the Rescue

Ultimately if you wish to achieve a good exposure and avoid using the extreme ends of shutter speed and aperture control; ND filtration is a necessity. At the very least, keeping an ND filter on-set arms you with more options and offers you less compromise when it comes time to shoot.

ND Filtration vs. In Camera Exposure Control for DSLR Video

You can just use the on-camera microphone and fix it in post-production, right?

NO!

Audio is the most forgotten thing during a shoot. When shooting video, even professional TV shows and films capture crappy audio. It’s something that a lot of people consider inevitable. In a big production, a technique known as ADR, or Automatic Dialogue Replacement, is used for a lot of the character’s lines—Lord of The Rings apparently used 90% ADR! That’s a lot of rerecording voices after a shoot! On the other hand, filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino insist on getting great audio on set to avoid using ADR. Fortunately, with the right tools and some solid planning before you shoot, you can minimize the amount of audio hassle. If you’re really interested, here is a really informative article about capturing audio on reality TV shows.

Tools

To record audio, you’ve got lots of options. It’s like choosing between using your sister’s point-and-shoot 3 megapixel camera and a Canon 5DMkII. And if you really wanted it to turn out perfect (or as close as you can get), you’d pick a Leica S2 or Hasselblad H4D-40 megapixel medium format digital camera.

This is where we realize the built-in microphone isn’t going to cut it for quality audio. Let that sink in for a minute.

And that microphone that came with your camera (if it came with one, like the Sony Z7U or JVC HM100U) isn’t going to cut it for high quality audio either. Even if it looks pretty. A note before we continue: these kit microphones can work, and people make them work all-of-the-time. However, they’re a lot like the kit lens that comes with a Canon Rebel. It’s not bad, but it’s not much good either.

Picking a Microphone

The first step to getting quality audio is a good microphone. Good being defined as a microphone (or multiple microphones) that fit the requirements of the shooting you’ll be doing. Different types of microphones, categorized by use, include:

1. Shotgun microphones
2. Lavalier or lapel microphones
3. Handheld microphones

There are other types of mics, but these are the basics you’ll need to get good audio.

Shotgun microphones.

Shotgun microphones are designed for one purpose—to pick up audio at a distance. You see those commercials or live television shows with long microphones on boom poles? Those are shotgun microphones. They are created with a specific pickup pattern (how the microphone picks up audio), known as hypercardiod or shotgun. Take a look at the diagram below to illustrate pickup patterns.

Omnidirectional, Cardiod, Hypercardiod, and Shotgun pickup patterns

How are shotgun microphones used in productions? Where do you put them? Well, you can mount them on camera, but if you have a mattebox or other camera attachments, they probably aren’t going to fit. Your best bet for a shotgun microphone is to use a boom pole and have a friend come along and hold it. It doesn’t get bumped or pick up noise from the camera as easily either. If you’re doing an interview, you can mount the mic on a stationary stand because the person isn’t going to move.

Lavalier or lapel microphones.

These are small microphones, often clipped to a shirt. Extremely popular with TV news anchors and interviews, and used wirelessly for any large theatrical production (or your local church pastor). They often feature an omnidirectional pickup pattern, although are made with unidirectional and cardiod patterns as well.

Handheld microphones.

These often are used for ‘man-on-the-street’ interviews or for sideline interviews. The same type of mic is used on podiums everywhere. It typically features a unidirectional pickup pattern.

Other ways to characterize microphones.

Wired vs. Wireless

In some cases, particularly with lavalier microphones, the subject is moving, and it’s not convenient to run cables. Other times, the microphone is placed in the set, and a cable can’t be run without running through the camera’s shot. In both cases, a wireless transmitter is used. Wireless provides portability and flexibility, but also can bring RF interference from outside sources, causing hard-to-fix signal problems. If you can run wired mics without intruding into your shot or preventing movement, you should stick with wired mics. If wireless is the way to go, however, you can attach almost any microphone to a wireless kit and transmit it back to the camera. We carry the Sennheiser W2 Wireless Kit for this purpose.

Type of cartridge in the microphone.

The next differentiator in mics to consider is cartridge choice. The two major choices are dynamic and condenser (also known as capacitor) microphones.

Dynamic microphones

A dynamic mic is the exact opposite of a normal speaker. A speaker cone moves a magnet in response to incoming vibration, then the magnet moves along a coil and converts the vibration to electrical energy, which is sent as an electronic pulse to the camera/recorder. (A normal speaker moves the coil, vibrating the coil, making noise.) Dynamic microphones are simple and durable. The Shure SM58, a famous example of a dynamic mic, was used on tour with The Who, where lead singer Roger Daltrey would swing the mic around by the cable and smash it into cymbals. The mics would survive a few performances before needing to be replaced.

Condenser microphones

Condenser microphones, on the other hand, use a capacitor to pick up vibrations and convert it to electrical energy. These microphones are more sensitive then dynamic mics in general. Most lavalier mics use condenser cartridges.

Phantom power

It’s important to know if your mics need to be powered or not. Generally, condenser mics need to be powered, while dynamic microphones do not. Often, these microphones will have a battery compartment, but they can also receive phantom power, a 48V power source from the camera or recorder. Phantom power can harm a microphone if it is turned on, but the mic doesn’t need it.

Now, we’ve picked a microphone, how do we record the audio?

Professional video cameras include 2 XLR inputs, which each capture balanced, mono audio. Since there are 2 inputs, that gives you a stereo signal. Less expensive video cameras or dSLR’s offer a single, unbalanced, stereo input. A converter like the Beachtek DXA-5D allows you to convert 2 XLR inputs into a single stereo input for use with dSLR’s and smaller video cameras.

It’s all about quality.

How much background noise can you accept in your recordings? dSLR’s aren’t necessarily designed for video, and as a general rule, full size professional video cameras have better audio pickups with lower noise. Yet another option is an off-camera recorder like the Zoom H4N , which records either 2 XLR inputs, 2 headphone inputs, or can record with built-in microphones. Using an external recorder for audio is how it’s done, when you’re looking for the highest quality audio. Just like the difference between that cheapo 70-300 variable aperture zoom and a 70-200 f/2.8 lens, using an external recorder makes your recordings better. You can still get a good recording using the camera to record audio, but an external recorder makes it even better and cleaner.

Headphones

Don’t forget a pair of headphones. It’s critically important to be able to monitor sound as you’re shooting and also to do a sound check beforehand. Your standard headphones will work, but consider a pair designed for audio recording like the Sony MDR-7506’s. They provide open-ear, accurate, clear sound to check not only that the microphone is on, but also that it sounds good. Why open-ear? You want to be able to hear around you a little too… it’s bad news if the audio guy can’t hear a ‘watch out’ shouted in his direction.

Production time

You made it! You picked some microphones, and you’re getting ready to shoot. Where do you put the mics? We’re going to help with that (a little) too. Let’s look at a little example.

A simple setup.

You’re shooting a simple interview on a clean backdrop, filming with a built-in mic only, with one camera. The quick and easy way out. Just set the audio level and go.

Now, before you start recording, you need to set recording levels. Most cameras offer AGC, or Automatic Gain Control (on some cameras you can’t disable it). You don’t want this. What AGC does is guess the correct level based on the incoming signal. Great for when people are talking. But as soon as a pause in conversation comes up, it doesn’t hear anything, so pumps the level way up. Serious hissing and noise, plus when conversation starts again, it’s going to be really loud for the first second or so. Not good. Don’t use AGC. Ever. So, you need to set levels manually. How do you do that? Simple. You ask your talent to talk, engage them in conversation. While they’re rambling on and on, you set the level at about -20db. Ask them to speak loudly, and make sure it doesn’t go above around -3db. Ask them to speak softly, and make sure you can still clearly hear them over the fuzz.

If you set the levels too high, it peaks and you get super irritating and unfixable distortion. If you set them too low, you have to boost the level too much and the voice sounds thin and the background hiss and noise becomes a problem. Be careful and double check your sound check. If you have spare microphones you can use, wire them up to a secondary audio recorder (the second camera perhaps) and set the levels a little lower or higher than you set the primary. Then you’ve got another backup just in case. Too much audio recorded is a better problem to have than not enough. You’ll see that in future examples.

You can kick it up a notch in this simple setup, however. Just add a shotgun microphone on the camera to get better quality than the built-in mic (picture below). Easy and simple.

Now, for a more in-depth, higher quality, one man show (below, before audio setup).

Using 2 cameras on tripods, one for the traditional medium shot (your A camera), and one for close-ups and wide shots (B), you’ll be shooting solo today, with only an interviewer to ask the questions to your interviewees. You’re in a city, so wireless will be complicated because of all the other frequencies floating around, so you decide to shoot wired. Because you don’t have a dedicated audio person, you bring a music stand to hold a shotgun microphone (1) aimed at your interviewee. You also wire the person with a lavalier microphone (2). You decide to record audio on your first camera (A) because it’s a nice video camera and will record high quality audio without having to sync up an external recorder. You’re also recording audio on the B camera using the built-in mic, so that it’s easier to sync up the two cameras later (below).

The 2 microphones fit perfectly in the 2 XLR inputs of your A camera. When you’re in post-production, you’ll only use 1 of the mics, most likely the lavalier. We’re recording both to ensure you get decent levels, just in case one isn’t placed quite right. If you use both in post, you have to deal with a tricky little problem known as phase – cancelation or comb filtering. The two signals are slightly different because they were a different distance from the person, so… the audio is milliseconds delayed on one mic. This causes certain frequencies to either become louder or softer. It’s not a pleasant thing to deal with. Trust me. Just use one in post, and cut the other one in if the first one cuts out.

Yet, there’s a third option, recording externally and bringing a bigger crew. Two more crew members join. One holds a boom pole with a shotgun mic on it, and the second mans the audio recorder so you don’t have to record on camera and don’t have to worry about levels being correct all the time. Still keep your shotgun mic (and the second camera with the built-in for time sync) from before wired exactly the same. That becomes your backup, and the audio recordist (fancy term for the day) records the real audio on an external audio recorder like the Zoom H4n. It records the boom pole mounted shotgun mic, and a lapel mic. See below. Complicated, but it will get you extremely good audio (with a backup).

That’s it! Simple, right?

Your choice of which method of recording depends on budget, flexibility, and portability. If you’ve got the resources to hold boom poles and monitor and set levels externally, that’s an excellent option. If you’re out filming solo, you’re better off with an on-camera solution for mics and recording. Somewhere in the middle? You’ve got lots of options. Please feel free to send us an email if you’re not sure what to rent.

References

• http://www.articlesbase.com/advertising-articles/what-is-automated-dialog-replacement-984834.html
• http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/pa/microphones.html

Note: This is a rather in-depth article about video compression. If you are new to video, you’ll want to read I’ve Shot Video, Now What? first.

When we started carrying the nanoFlash, Roger, our video challenged owner bought it because he was told it was great. When he read about it he became completely overwhelmed by the 762 different formats it would record to and from and demanded an explanation for just what the heck all that meant. Hence this article (which is written for video novices, like Roger). A photographer like Roger is used to working in only two formats: RAW, which has the maximum information the image contains, and JPG, which is compressed to a more convenient file size. As many photographers learning to shoot SLR video have found out, video is different: everything is compressed to one degree or another, but in an apparently bewildering array of methods and formats, each of which comes with their own cryptic codes and abbreviations.

What video compression is not

Compression is not the resolution of the video, but video resolution has a lot to do with how much information will need to be compressed. Common video formats are 720p, 1080i, or 1080p. The 720/1080 part is pretty straightforward, it simply refers to the number of pixels on the vertical scale of the image: 720 is a 1280×720 pixel image. 1080 is a 1920×1080 pixel image for each frame of video. That’s a big difference in the amount of information: a 720 frame has 921,600 pixels. A 1080 frame has just over 2 million pixels.

The i and p parts refer to whether the frame is interlaced or progressively scanned. To be (very, very) brief, progressively scanned is better, especially when there is a lot of motion in the image, but doesn’t make as much difference when objects in the image are fairly static. 1080p is the best of both worlds, but takes a lot of bandwidth to do (it’s overkill for web video or most television, for example). 720p and 1080i actually both take up roughly the same amount of bandwidth and are what are used for HD television as an example (some networks use 720p, some 1080i). 1080p generates significantly more data than either of the other two formats. That’s why many lower end cameras, storage devices, etc. can handle either 720p or 1080i, but not 1080p.

The other variable, that is not compression, but that does influence how much data must be compressed, is the FPS (frames per second) the camera records. Film cameras shoot at 24 FPS. Many, but not all, video cameras can shoot at 24 FPS for a ‘film-like’ look, but standard video is usually shot at 30 FPS. (Note: These standards refer to the US and a few other nations. There are other standards worldwide.) Some lower end cameras shoot at lower frame rates than these, and some high end cameras can shoot at much higher frame rates.

Obviously a 1080p image shot at 60 frames per second is going to generate a lot more data than a 720p image shot at 24 FPS. The bottom line, though, is video is generating a lot of information: 1 to 2 million pixels recorded 24 to 30 times a second, at 8 to 16 bits per pixel, plus audio is a lot of data to record. And, practically speaking, it has to be compressed somehow to make the file size manageable.

Compression and Bit rate

Simply put, bit rate (usually expressed as megabits per second, or Mb/s) is the amount of data recorded each second. After the camera (or computer) has done its compression thing, the file size will equal bitrate X seconds of video. If you dig around, you can often find the maximum bit rate that a camera, storage device, or processor handles. In theory, higher bit rate means more data is stored, which (assuming everything else is equal) means higher quality compression. But there are a lot of other variables.

Different cameras use different codecs (COmpression-DECompression algorithms) to compress the data. Your camera choice sets your choice of compression algorithm (more on this later), since different manufacturers have chosen different codecs. In general, compression algorithms are sorted into two general categories (this applies for audio and other data too, not just video) lossy and lossless. Lossless means that after decompression each pixel is exactly the same as the original, no data can be lost. There are no video cameras (other than a few amazingly expensive professional cameras) that record lossless.

Lossy compression isn’t an exact pixel-for-pixel match when uncompressed, but it offers much higher compression ratios than lossless compression. (The compression ratio is the size of the original video compared to the compressed video. Uncompressed video is 1:1. Lossy ratios can get very high— 1:200 compression isn’t unheard of for some heavily compressed video formats. The codecs used in video cameras offer better quality, but less dramatic compression ratios. More on the order of 1:50.) There are lots of different codecs in use today. The better codecs are usually newer and offer a higher compression ratio with similar quality image. For example, MPEG-4 gives a higher quality image than MPEG-2 at the same bit rate. Some high-end cameras, though, use less aggressive codecs with less compression to maintain the best possible image quality. In exchange for that, they require significantly higher bit rates to record their data.

How video compression works

There are two ways to compress the data in a video clip: Intra frame and inter frame. Intraframe compression takes each frame of the video and compresses it just like you would use JPEG to compress a still image (in fact one format, Motion JPEG, does exactly that). With intraframe compression every frame of the image is complete, although slightly compressed. This can be important if your video has lost a frame – since the frame before and after the lost frame are complete, not much damage is done. It’s also important when you cut and paste video clips – the video editing software needs a complete frame at the beginning and end of each transition. Intraframe compression, though, doesn’t really make the file size all that much smaller. Compression ratios of about 1:20 are about as good as it can do.

To really get more significant compression, video codecs also use interframe compression. The basic idea is simple. Video consists of multiple still frames, (anywhere from 24-60 per second typically). Interframe compression looks at each frame, compares it to the previous one, then stores only the data that has changed. Usually it doesn’t look at individual pixels, but rather at square blocks of pixels (less time consuming and resource intensive). But each frame in an interframe compressed video contains only the changed parts of the image.

But interframe compression brings a new problem: What happens when you’re sending this video to wherever (or importing it), and it skips a frame? If each frame is referencing the previous frame, you’re in trouble until the entire picture has changed. If you have a 3 minute clip of the same scenery, there would be a problem. And the same problem would occur, if you wanted to cut the scene halfway through that 3 minute clip: the frame at your transition wouldn’t be a complete frame, just a compression of the changes that occurred from the previous frame. And so on. The solution all interframe compression formats use is the key frame.

Key frames and long-GOP compression

Interframe compression codecs record a Key Frame every so often: a frame that contains the entire image data set, whether the scene has changed or not. The key frame is shot every x number of frames (usually 15) and that frame contains a complete image. The next group of frames (until the next key frame) is heavily compressed, containing only the changes from the previous key frame. Using this method, if you skip a frame, you only lose (at most) 15 frames before you’re good to go again (or until your next editing point). It’s still a relatively long time, but allows for a much smaller file size than intraframe compression alone. This key picture followed by several the compressed pictures until the next key frame is abbreviated GOP (group of pictures). Since there is a fairly long group of images grouped associated with each key frame, this is often referred to as long GOP compression.

A final note about frame skipping: it’s rare. In fact, it almost never happens when using quality equipment. Because of this, long-GOP encoding is usable and safe. Intraframe-only compression does protect against frame skips, but requires a lot more disk space (and a higher bit rate for the same quality image). Since video editing software can only cut at a key frame, some high quality video recording devices (like the nanoFlash that started this discussion) will record video with only intraframe compression (a half-second until the next key frame can be an eternity to a video editor), but the resulting files can get very, very large.

Luminance and Color Compression

Since the days when video was analog, luma (the black and white values) and chroma (the color) have been stored separately. Y’CbCr is how video is stored today, typically using a process known as chroma subsampling. Y’ (sometimes simplified to just Y) is the luma (grayscale) information. Cb and Cr each store a portion of the color information (like LAB color space in Photoshop, for you photographers).

We are less sensitive to color and very sensitive to the grayscale value of an image, so video cameras today discard some of the color information to further compress the video data. The proportions are usually shown as a ratio with 4, indicating no compression. Recording video at 4:4:4 would be ideal, but it takes up an enormous amount of space and isn’t feasible in most situations with today’s equipment. Top quality video formats, like XDCAM422 and DVCPRO HD, keeps twice as much Luma data as either color (Cb and CR) data in a ratio of 4:2:2. This reduces bit rate by 1/3 with very little image compromise. Other video formats such as HDV, AVCHD, MJPEG, and MPEG-2 (DVD quality) use even less chroma data, storing video at a ratio of 4:2:0. This may sound extreme, but DVD quality video is recorded at 4:2:0, so it is intentionally missing 3/4 of the color information originally present. Don’t we all think DVD is pretty high quality? Even Blu-ray is only keeping 1/2 of the color information, storing video at 4:2:2 chroma compression.

Many professional video cameras use a 4:2:0 ratio to keep the bit rate manageable when recording in camera. When absolute image quality is critical, however, these cameras (The Sony EX1 and EX3, for example) that internally record at 4:2:0 have HD-SDI output from the camera which can output a higher quality 4:2:2 signal, but will require an external recording device (like the nanoFlash that started this discussion).

Recorded Bitrates

Interframe compression algorithms record so many bits-per-second. Using a set bit rate stores the same amount of data for every second of video, regardless of how the frames change over that second. With a set bit rate you know exactly how large a 5 or 10 minute video file will be, since the bit rate is fixed. When we used film to record to (or MiniDV tape), the bit rate had to be constant, because the tape moved at a constant rate. DV footage, once digital, still records to tape at a fixed rate of 25Mbps. HDV, a descendent of DV that uses MPEG-2 compression, records at a fixed rate of 35Mbps.

Most cameras and codecs today, however, record using variable bit rates because it is more efficient. This changes the recording bit rate based on the amount of information change frame-to-frame. If it sees an almost identical previous frame, very little data will be encoded. However, if a large part of the frame is changing, there is much more data, and a higher bit rate will be recorded. The takeaway message, though, is that every recording device, whether in-camera or external, has a maximum bit rate it can handle. The various compression codecs have to provide final data at a bit rate that is acceptable to the recording device or bad things will happen: missed frames, jumping, etc.

HDV XDCAM AVCHD and every other codec

The terminology involved in the various codecs is beyond chaotic. To a video-outsider it’s incomprehensible, but we can try to clarify things a bit. Like most simplifications, what follows is a bit generalized in the interest of keeping it easy to follow. We’ve left out and ignored some arguable points that would easily lead to 4 more pages of clarification in an effort to make it readable. As a general overview, however, this is a pretty reasonable summary. First, we need to separate containers (sometimes called formats) from the underlying codecs. A container is a format that can use (or be used by) many different (but not all) codecs. AVI, Quicktime, RealMedia, DivX, and many other containers exist, but they are (with a few exceptions) not actual codecs.

There are several codecs in common use today, each following a set of standards developed by the Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG), the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG), or the Joint Video Team (JVT) from both groups. These standards provide a lot of customizable options to the various camcorder and software manufacturers. Some cameras let you choose between two codecs, but most only offer one. The reason behind this? Different codecs require different processing algorithms to encode video. The processor in the camera (yes, cameras have processors very similar to computers) is designed so that it can handle the encoding for that specific codec. And the memory used to store the video is designed to handle the bit rate needed for decent quality video from that codec. Etc…

The most current families of standard codecs from MPEG and VCEG are combined as the H.264/AVC/MPEG-4 standards. H.264/MPEG-4 (also referred to as MP4 at times) allows for a much lower bit rate then previous codecs while still achieving excellent quality. It is used not only for video compression during recording, but also for compression after editing. Youtube, Blu-ray, and the iTunes Store all use H.264 for encoding video. AVCHD codecs are H.264 based codecs used in newer high end Sony and Panasonic cameras, but many other newer camcorders use H.264 based codecs.

Several other codecs remain in common use. Motion JPEG is used on many point-and-shoot video cameras and Nikon Video SLRs. It doesn’t compress nearly as much as H.264 codecs, but requires a lot less processing power and is particularly suitable for nonHD video and lower resolutions. The HDV and DVCAM family of codecs use largely MPEG-2 compression as does the XDCAM codec. These files aren’t usually as tightly compressed as H.264 codecs, although MPEG-2 Long-GOP comes close. These codecs are often found on high-end digital video cameras. The reason why they don’t use H.264? Depending on the source of information you read, this is because the files are easier to edit, or because the manufacturer had lots of chips made for these codecs and was going to use them. I suspect both reasons are true.

So basically each manufacturer chooses which of the standard codecs to implement in their camcorder. Well and good. However, they then modify it a bit, build the chip they’ll install in the camera to use their version and identify it with a cryptic set of initials in an apparent attempt to prevent anyone from understanding that their codec has anything in common with anyone else’s codec. Let’s look at one example. Sony and Panasonic jointly developed AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) for their consumer camcorders, which is also used by Canon. AVCHD is MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 compliant so it can also get tagged with those initials. Panasonic tweaks AVCHD with some higher bitrates and markets this codec as AVCCAM in their professional cameras, or downgrades it to 720p recording only and calls that version AVCHD Lite. Sony calls their version NXCAM in their newest professional cameras (as opposed to the XDCAM, a different codec used in many of their current high end cameras). Canon and Panasonic use a High-Profile level 4.1 modification of the AVCHD codec in some cameras which allows a maximum bit rate capture of 24 Mbits/sec, while most camcorders using AVCHD capture a maximum bit rate of 17Mbits/sec. On the editing side, Adobe Premier required a third party plug-in to convert certain versions of AVCHD, but does fine with others, Final Cut Pro converted this format to Apple Intermediate Codec before editing was possible, and Vegas had no problems with the format at all.

Pretty confusing, huh? The takeaway message, with a lot of caveats, is that most codecs in higher level cameras are MPEG-4/H.264 compliant and fairly similar as to how effectively they compress video while maintaining quality. They may differ in offering 1080p (some don’t), in how high of a bit rate they can record (which, given similar codecs, is a fair estimate of image quality), how often they record a key frame (which may be user adjustable in-camera), and how easily your editing program can convert it into an editable format. There are a few common codecs that you’ll run across regularly that fall into several groups:

• DV/DVC/DVCPRO/DVCAM – largely legacy technology, but many HD/HDV systems are backwardly compatible with DV/DVC, and it is used in some high-end video and video broadcast cameras.
• HD/HDV – Used by Sony, Canon, JVC, and Sharp, originally designed for recording to tape. It uses MPEG-2 compression, 4:2:0 chroma sub-sampling, and writes with a constant bit rate. Used in many tape-based camcorders, but also some digital recorders.
• XDCAM – Designed by Sony, but also used by JVC, originally designed for recording to disc. (In some ways a container {see above} rather than just a codec as most cameras using XDCAM can also record in DVCAM or MPEG-2 variants.) Uses an MPEG-2 or MPEG-2 Long-GOP codec, 4:2:0 chroma subsampling, and writes in a variable bit rate to 35 Mbits/sec. However, the XDCAM HD422 version uses a 4:2:2 chroma subsampling profile and writes a maximum 50 Mbps rate.
• AVCHD – Sony (NXCAM), Panasonic (AVCCAM). Uses MPEG-4/H.264 compression, 4:2:0 chroma sub-sampling, and writes in a variable bit rate to 24 Mbps. Note: Some video editors need a third party plug-in to upsample certain AVCHD files to a usable format.
• Motion JPG – intraframe only compression, usually used in point-and-shoot video cameras, but also the Nikon D90 and Pentax K7. It is less efficient than other codecs, so usually image size or frame rate are limited.

Or if you’d rather see what some common camcorders and videoSLR cameras use:

Compare those bit rates to what an external recorder like the nanoFlash can record: 230Mbps.

Conclusion

What does all of this mean? In general, you want the highest bit rate, using the most efficient compression algorithm possible. MPEG-4/H.264 codecs probably produce the best quality/compression ratio. However, top-end professional editing may require a less lossy format, such as an MPEG-2 based codec with resulting larger file sizes to get the absolute best image quality. Some high end cameras will allow you to take the video feed directly out to an external device and record it at an even higher bit rate with less compression for critical footage. Hence an external recorder like the nanoFlash, provides higher bit rates (180Mbits/sec) and less compression than is possible in-camera. (A note of sensibility: the 230Mbps bit rate of the nanoFlash is excessive for use with your $300 handycam or even the Canon HV40. Your image isn’t going to improve beyond the quality of the camera.)

What you intend to do with the footage after recording is also important. Some of the higher compression codecs can be difficult to work with in a non-linear editor and require upcoding to an intermediate format (read: lots of processor power and hard drive space) for editing. Some of the simplest formats, like Motion JPEG, can be drag-and-drop edited in even the simplest programs. And less compressed, but larger files (or even uncompressed files in certain high-end devices) can be a dream to edit and provide the absolute best quality after processing.

Still have questions? Send them to support@lensrentals.com.

Mike Henry and Roger Cicala
January 2010
Lensrentals.com

References

• http://www.cameralabs.com/features/1080p_HD_video_comparison/GH1_vs_5D_Mark_II_vs_SX1_IS_vs_HX1.shtml
• http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/gh1.shtml
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_video_codecs
• http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/video-primer.shtml
• http://www.videomaker.com/article/13754/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_codecs
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDV
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVCHD
• http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/avtech/video3.htm

You’ve been using a dSLR with video capabilities, and you decided on your last shoot to take a little video for fun. Now what do you do with it?

With photos, you import them into iPhoto or Aperture or any number of programs, then you can bring them into Photoshop and edit to your heart’s content (unless you’re one of those people that sorts them in nested folders and then searches in an attempt to find the photos you actually took last week).

But video doesn’t work quite that easily. Oh, it’s also waaay bigger than the 4 – 40MB photos you’re used to. A DVD holds 4.7GB (4700MB). That’s 2 hours of SD resolution, decent quality video. Not high definition. Not uncompressed. Higher quality video ranges anywhere from 10GB per hour of video to over 100GB per hour of video. It’s very nice looking video.

Sidetrack: Image quality is affected by your choice of codec, but it’s not the only factor. The quality of the footage comes from a) the quality of the camera and lens; b) the codec chosen; c) the resolution of the footage; and d) the bitrate of the codec. Bitrate equals the amount of space the codec can use each second, measured in Megabits per second (Mbps). Back when digital tape was the only option, bitrate had to be constant (25 Mbps for DV and HDV footage). Today, with recording to things other than tape, bitrate can vary. Higher bitrate equals higher quality. End sidetrack.

Anyway, you could import it into iPhoto, or stick it in a folder on your hard drive somewhere (or buy another hard drive for it), but Photoshop doesn’t do video. Now what?

Share it

Burn it to DVD

You could take the raw footage and stick it on a DVD to show your friends. Easy to do with iDVD on a Mac, or on a PC with your DVD burning software of choice.

Upload it to a video sharing site

YouTube, Vimeo, lots of others (Flickr does video too). Just visit the site and click upload. Easy (assuming your internet connection can handle it). Then email the link to all of your photographer friends so they get jealous and start shooting video.

Edit it

Video editing software. Your options vary if you’re on a Mac or PC. Mac first: iMovie comes with your Mac, and it’s decent. Definitely usable for the basics. A step up from that is either Apple’s Final Cut Express or Adobe Premiere Pro. Above that, Apple’s full Final Cut Studio or Avid’s Media Composer (both are a little pricey for backyard video clips). On PC, Windows Movie Maker is ok for beginners. Above that, there are lots of options. Premiere Pro is available, as well as Avid Media Composer. There are also programs available from Pinnacle, Sony, CyberLink, Roxio, Corel, etc…

To start in video, I recommend the basics — either iMovie or Windows Movie Maker to start, and when you need the features and add-ons of a more robust software package, get one.

Codecs

Now, the next big issue with video: codecs. Depending on what camera you used, and what it was set to, you could have a ton of different codecs. Here are the basics: a codec is the format that the video was encoded in. And how it will be decoded. Think file format like JPG or RAW, but a little different (because one format can have many codecs!). For example, a DVD uses the MPEG-2 codec for video. Popular video codecs include MP4, divX, DV, and Theora.

Here are the codecs that some dSLRs and other video cameras use:

Canon 5D MkII, Canon 7D, Canon T1i — MP4
Nikon D90, D300s — Motion JPEG (in a .avi container)
Sony EX1, Z7U, JVC HM100 — XDCAM
Canon HG21 — AVCHD
Panasonic Micro 4/3 cameras — AVCHD, Motion JPEG
Olympus E-P1 — Motion JPEG

If your editing software of choice doesn’t recognize the video you’re trying to import, you’ll need to install the codec that your video is encoded in. Most computers will handle MP4 and Motion JPEG without any problems, but older computers might not recognize AVCHD. XDCAM is another beast, and will work on Mac and PC assuming the correct version of the codec is installed.

So, by this point you’ve imported your video into your editor of choice. Editing the video is different depending on the software, so we’re not going to talk about that today. However, when you export the finished product, you need to choose a codec then also. MP4 is your safest choice, with virtually universal compatibility and flexibility on file size.
Then you can burn the footage to DVD, upload it to YouTube, or whatever else!

I hope this helped explain working with video a little more. If you have questions or comments, feel free to contact us— support@lensrentals.com

We certainly can’t tell people much about video techniques in a little blurb like this, and can’t even begin to discuss postprocessing. What we can do, though, is run through some of the basic equipment and accessories that will let you at least get decent footage with your video-enabled dSLR. Because if you haven’t realized it yet, getting anything better than 30 seconds of silent film footage is going to take a few extra tools.

Supporting the Camera

Unlike taking a still photograph, its almost impossible to obtain good video footage while hand-holding an SLR. Even image stabilization doesn’t prevent the little jerks that can rapidly make an audience seasick (the Blair Witch Project effect), and forget trying to zoom in with one hand while holding the camera with the other. You can use your tripod and ballhead to keep the camera fairly still while you zoom in and out but that’s still fairly limiting. Depending on the type of shooting you want to do, there are several different types of stabilization systems for shooting video.

Tripod and Fluid Head

The difference a tripod and fluid head make is enormous. A fluid head (which can mount to a standard SLR tripod) looks like a photography pan-tilt head, but internally is filled with a viscous oil that dampens and smooths movements. Compared to a ballhead, a fluid head allows for for smooth, controlled movements, making pan and tilts steady and never jerky. With a fluid head you can pan side-to-side, tilt up-and-down, and zoom in and out without making the audience seasick. Fluid heads are a bit bigger and heavier than a ballhead, but if you do much video work, bigger and heavier are terms you’ll take for granted. Another term you’ll take for granted is ‘more expensive’.

Above: Manfrotto Fluid Head

Shoulder Mounts

Sometimes you want to be more mobile then a tripod and fluid head will allow. The simplest and least expensive option to move the camera around while shooting video is a shoulder mount. A shoulder mount puts the camera on a set of rails with a shoulder rest at one end and a pair of handles at the other. (Rails, for those who aren’t familiar, are one of the coolest things about video gear. You’ll have instant flashbacks to childhood Tinkertoys and Erector sets as you assemble various systems on rails.) With the camera on a shoulder mount you can walk around and pause to shoot video without setting up a tripod. If you shoot while walking it will still be a bit bouncy though, unless you practice the skill a lot.

Standard video shoulder mounts, like the Redrock shoulder mount are really made for video cameras with the viewfinder mounted to the side. It can be hard to see the LCD screen on the back of an SLR camera because the camera is a bit too far to the side. We’ve found a really good solution: a shoulder mount from Cavision that offsets the rails closer to center, perfect for seeing the LCD screen on an SLR. It really makes shooting video with a SLR much more flexible.

Glidecams

A Glidecam is another support option, and easily the best option if you want to shoot video while moving around. This (or much more expensive professional systems) is what allows that video footage which remains steady while the cameraman is running along a path or walking down a flight of stairs. The Glidecam uses counterweights to balance the camera on a full gimble head built into the handle. It takes a few minutes to set up and balance and we’ve posted some tutorials on how to do that (video links below). Once its set up and balanced you can literally walk around and maintain very steady video.

Glidecam Setup Glidecam Balancing

Audio for Video

Even if you get good video footage, the audio capabilities of SLRs are really limited. Most give you an audio track that’s about as clear as the discussions of the neighbors in the next apartment—you can hear it if you’re really interested and concentrate hard. Getting decent audio isn’t too difficult on even a very limited budget (although getting high quality audio can be more complex and expensive than getting the video footage itself).

External Microphones

Your SLR has a audio input, in the form of a mini-headphone (3.5mm) jack. A microphone like the Rode Video Mic Pro mounts on your SLR’s hotshoe and captures much better audio than the camera’s built-in microphone ever could. This will be enough for home movies and basic camera work. But if you’re doing interviews or trying to capture audio at a significant distance, you’ll need something more, and things get a little more complex.

Audio for interviews can be done with a wireless microphone like the Sennheiser Evolution G3 100 or a wired microphone like the Shure SM58. With off-camera microphones, however, there’s a minor compatibility problem — the SLR’s audio input is a mini-headphone jack and most microphone systems work via XLR connections, so an adapter is needed. The Sennheiser microphones come in a kit with a hotshoe mounted adapter/receiver. For other off-camera microphone systems you can use a Beachtek Audio Adapter or similar device to convert the XLR connection to mini-headphone for your SLR. The BeachTek Adapter will actually let you combine two audio sources into a single input to the camera (an interviewer and subject, for example, or one hand-held audio microphone and an off camera microphone to pick up background sound).

Capturing good audio at a distance is a challenge. You need a high-quality shotgun microphone like the Rode NTG-2, and may want to mount it on an extendable boom-pole to get it closer to the audio source. You could even pair a NTG-2 shotgun mic and a Sennheiser Evolution G2 100 Kit and use both to record audio for an interview (That’s how we recorded audio for the Comparing Olympus and Sony Supertelephoto Lenses video).

Audio Recorders and Mixers

The Canon 5DMkII, like most video capable SLRs, has automatic gain control (AGC) for audio, which means that it automatically adjusts the base volume of the audio level for you. Sounds like a good idea, right? But what happens isn’t always appealing. If you’re recording an interview, and there is a break in conversation, the camera’s AGC will begin searching for audio, and will record the room’s air conditioner (or similar sound) nice and loud. Really, really, really, annoying to deal with in post-processing.

So if you’re trying to seriously record audio, it’s time to consider an off-camera option. You use the same microphones described above (well, not the Rode Stereo Video Mic because you’d need to convert the mini-headphone to XLR) and record using an audio recorder like the Zoom H4n.  This captures audio to an SD card. You then download the audio track and just need to sync the camera video and the off-camera audio in post. Oh, and you’re going to want a good pair of headphones to monitor the audio as it’s being recorded to make sure the levels are good, etc… we recommend the Sony MDR-7506

Now, say you’re really getting into this, and need a setup with more then two microphones. Well, you could use 2 field recorders and sync all three items up in post (not a lot of fun), or you could use a field mixer like the DV PRoX3 This would pair very nicely with the Fostex field recorder to record up to 4 channels of audio. The FP33 has three inputs and two outputs, so you could record three different microphones (say an interview with two lavalier mics like the Shure SM93 and a shotgun mic for ambient or crowd noise) by running them through the FP33 into the Fostex field recorder. (Yeah, OK, we went a step too far here. Never mind. I guess you can tell I’m really starting to get into this.)

Lighting for video

Digital SLRs generally do a very good job at capturing in ambient light, but the ambient light isn’t always going to be great for what you’re shooting. And indoors is still indoors. As photographers, we’’re used to using studio strobes or on-camera flash which is obviously useless for video. There are lots of different options for video lighting, everything from your friend holding a flashlight (not really recommended), to a full continuous lighting rig like the Lowel DV Creator Kit. As an aside, I’ll mention that after learning a bit about video lighting, I’m so impressed that I’m starting to use video lights for photography, too. Its one of those ‘WOW’ moments, the lighting options on the video side are just that impressive.

Shoe mounted lights

One of the easiest options is replacing your shoe mounted flash with a shoe mounted continuous light. These are LED lights, which have a low power draw and don’t get hot. We carry the Litepanels Micro which can be powered by 4 AA batteries or (with an adapter ) by Sony L-series batteries. They’re not nearly as powerful as a shoe mounted strobe, more like the light given by an on-camera flash, but they can run for hours on batteries. Pretty cool actually.

Continuous lighting kits

Just like with photography, when the shoe-mounted light isn’t enough light for you situation, you’re looking for either a larger light or a kit. There are lots of options, everything from the LED-based Litepanels 1×1 or Arri T1 to kits like the Lowel Omni-light lit If you’re looking for a softbox, the Lowel Rifa eX 55 is available.

Your choice of light depends on a lot of factors. If you’re shooting indoors, you probably want Tungsten based lighting, which operates at 3200K. The Lowel lights and the Arri T1 are examples of powerful Tungsten lighting. Again, you can’t really compare continuous lights to strobes, but these kits put out enough light to take bright photographs at normal ISO 10 to 15 feet away. Just like with strobes, they can be modified with reflectors, snoots, grids, etc.

If you’re shooting outdoors, or are working with lots of other ambient light, you probably want lighting balanced at 5600K. Our Litepanels LED’s and our RPS 5500 are examples of daylight balanced lighting. The Litepanels are particularly impressive (and expensive) putting out 500 watts (equivalent) of light with no heat. We’ve run them for hours and they remain cool to the touch.

Summary

I usually go to great lengths in this articles to avoid ‘pimping the equipment’. As most of you know, we don’t really need to do that. But as a photographer with no video experience I found when I tried to educate myself online about the equipment available to help me shoot video with an SLR I was just overwhelmed. I didn’t have any idea what half of the things discussed even did, or why they were necessary. I had the luxury of Mike’s on-site instruction to help me learn the basics I needed to dip my toe into video and begin to see what the various accessories were for. The learning experience has been incredibly fun—I haven’t been this pumped up about equipment since I bought my first SLR. I hope for those of you out there in the same boat, who don’t have a “Mike” handy to show you the ropes, this will give you a starting place for trying out some video accessories.

Roger Cicala and Mike Henry
Lensrentals.com
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