Slowmotion: HFR mode with the RX10IV (updated)

Slowing down or speeding up of time has always been something magical and for a long time, it was only available in expensive cameras. Or something tourists like to experiment with their health in Amsterdam, but I’m told that’s more being like totally mellow man like time doesn’t matter and nobody records anything.

RX10IV: Cinestyle 2: The return of Cinestyle

For video, the RX10Iv has a whole range of picture profiles, from your basic REC709 (TV colourspace) to Cinegamma and one of my favourite: Cine2 or Picture Profile 6 (PP6). It also does the more difficult S-Log 2 and S-log 3, both have a special viewfinder option to show the super flat log image in a way you can see what you are doing. But exposure is more difficult and my first experiment has been a disaster. Because S-log 3 requires a minimum ISO of 800 I needed a vari-ND to shoot in the lovely sun we had today. But by using Vari-ND I was also able to open up the aperture as much as possible which seems to show all the things that are wrong with the lens at 600mm. But this is a subject for another day and needs to be tested!

RX10 IV: Lord of the Zoom

Shooting a little surf impression with the RX10 IV.

So this is the 4K on factory default, no tweaking and both AF and white balance on full auto. All things considering: this is shot in pretty windy conditions without a tripod and despite some jittering even at 600mm (220mm real lens size) 35mm equivalent the image is usable.

Cinematic Sony FS5: things to like and not to like

When you look at the FS5 it seems like the perfect marriage between size and function, it has the right buttons, the fantastic variable ND. It comes with ‘real’ audio, the Mi hotshoe that can plugin your wireless receiver. It has the right picture profiles, two SD card slots and a nice rotating grip that can be extended. The overall idea behind the camera is excellent, but there are a few things that don’t work as well as I would have liked. I didn’t buy the FS5 because it is cheaper than the FS7, I knew I was going to spend more money on the FS5 with all the extra’s than on an FS7, besides, I already own the PZ 28-135 FS7 kit lens

Cloudy with a chance of 4K: Black Magic Production Camera

Today was a full 4K day, given the circumstances, I probably should start the day now with a Special K breakfast just to get in the mood. Packed two V-mount batteries, an S160 and S90 (160 and 90Wh 14.4V), a bunch of Canon L glass: the 70-200, the 100-400 and 16-35. Two Tiffen variable nd’s: an 82 for the 16-23 and the 77 for the other two lenses. Left the Zacuto half cage at home because it flexes too much and just took the Axis EVF mount. This can be used with the NATO rail on top of the Black Magic Production Camera (BMPC). Got a 90 degree angled BNC connector for the BMPC SDI out so it doesn’t poke me in the face whenever I go ENGangnam style with the recoil. As a bit of a joke and because I don’t like the hard coax cables I put an old yellow plugged video cable between the BMPC and the Alphatron EVF. Seems to work fine and the thin cable is nice and flexible, which is good.

4K is the new Black

If you have ever build your own computer you what it’s like: buy a lot of parts, drop them in a box and in the end you have a workstation. The Blackmagic Production camera feels a bit like buying a motherboard in a box, it has a sensor, interface screen and a recorder sandwiched in between. To turn it into an actual camera you need to go all Meccano on its ass and bring your own everything else.

The story behind finding a story: Philip Bloom in Brussels

It sounds like a good idea: Go to Brussels for a weekend, meet like minded people, talk about film making. And because it is Brussels this will include nice food and and a lovely city. Haroun from Filmmakers Corner had organised a workshop in Brussels with Philip Bloom.

Games of Drones: The Phantom Menace

Last week it was that time of the year again: time to buy me a birthday present. The one I wanted had been ordered months in advance, but as things go, it was taking much to long so the night before my birthday I ordered the DJI Phantom. To be honest I was not expecting much more than a toy, which is why I had placed an order for a much bigger Quadcopter. My big plan, just a few months ago, was to get a gimbal and use it with and...

Kessler Philip Bloom pocket dolly slider

Back in the good old days when camera’s where made from glass tubes, we needed 60 miles of tape to record 20 minutes and men were made from testosterone and could wear fur anywhere they wanted, I used a lot of dolly and jib setups. But they were annoying, heavy and took a long time to set up. A lot of times we ran out of time and I ended up shooting things in some kind of handheld setup anyway. Slowly becoming the human Steadicam, you can ask my back and shoulders if that really was such a good idea. These days everything seems to be getting smaller (well.. not everything just camera gear) and it seemed like a good idea to throw some money at a simple slider motion solution.