Archive for December, 2011

The V700 Epson “Miracle”!

By On December 31, 2024 In 35mm, Epson, Lomography, LomoKino, Personal, Scanners, V330, V700 With No Comments Permalink

I came across a shocking discovery last night which proved my Lomokino could be even more impressive, more so than I even knew to be possible. It all started with my recent return from South America and the need to scan 63 rolls of Lomokino footage. Pretty ridiculous amount of film, but I really enjoy this process and love the aesthetic of the finished product, even more lately. Previously, my go-to scan wonder was the Epson V330 Perfection, which I bought as the bottom-of-the-barrel scanner that would perfectly suite the cheaply made (material wise) lomokino and it’s generally low quality image. And I’ve been using it with total satisfaction, aside from dreadfully slow scan speeds, and really enjoyed the work I was creating. Now as I’ve just returned from a large trip with 63 rolls of film, I’m facing 7 days of straight scanning with the V330, so I decided to upgrade to essentially the top-of-the-line flatbed scanner, the Epson V700 Perfection. Quite a contrast in appearance and cost, and even more to my surprise, optical scanning ability.

This image is from my first batch with the V330, a result I thought to be normal from the Lomokino:

After using the V700 on the same batch, I was shocked to see this:

It’s pretty spectacular how much of a difference we’re seeing in the two images, both scanned off of identical film slides. It’s impossible for me to ever justify using a cheap scanner now as I’ve been blown away by the knew found knowledge of how great the lomokino shots can really look! If you’re knew to the Lomokino/Film Scan game, it’s important to do your research and ensure you have the whole production process on lock - check out the production notes from Lomography.

 

Zeitgeist 2011: Year in Review

By On December 16, 2024 In Personal, Random With No Comments Permalink

Check out this amazing Zeitgeist 2011 year in review!

Hero

By On December 13, 2024 In Random With No Comments Permalink

Saw this posted in my feed and was literally blown away by the commitment of time and wrist movement, all to complete a one-of-a-kind spectacular modern piece of artwork. The editing and cinematography in the video are also great, which definitely aids in a proper portrayal of this brilliant artist. Have a look!

Nikon D4 Specs

By On December 12, 2024 In D4, DSLR, Equipment, Nikon With No Comments Permalink

As I do often, here’s another forward through Canon Rumors (which is through Nikon Rumors…). It appears Nikon has a good answer for Canon’s 1D X , in the Nikon D4.

  • 16.2 MP
  • 11 fps
  • 100-102,400 native ISO range, expandable to 50 and 204,800
  • CF + XQD memory card slots! That’s right, the Nikon D4 will have the new Compact Flash XQD memory card slot.
  • Compatible with the new Nikon WT-5 wireless transmitter
  • Integrated Ethernet in the camera
  • Face detection/recognition function that will be working in the viewfinder (maybe some type of a hybrid viewfinder? Nikon had several related patents)
  • Improved video, I have no other details on that but my guess is 1080p/30/25/24 and 720p/60/30/25/24 similar to the Nikon D800
  • Uncompressed video out through the HDMI port
  • Ability to assign the two buttons on the front of the camera to smooth aperture control during video recording
  • Improved 51 AF points
  • AF detection range will go down to EV-2.0 (the D3s went to EV -1)
  • Autofocus system: 9 cross-type sensors that are operational up to f/8

Why I love Philip Bloom.

By On December 11, 2024 In 35mm, C300, Canon, DSLR, EPIC, Event, Film, RED, Scarlet With No Comments Permalink

As most of us have now heard, Philip Bloom has said thank you and goodnight to his RED Epic, terrifyingly shocking news! How does one of the most popular, talented and engaging cinematographers give up what is thought to be the peak of cinematic capture equipment!?

OBVIOUSLY HE’S BEEN HIRED BY CANON TO LIKE THE C300 MORE! OR THE SONY!! OBVIOUSLY!

No - if you read his blog post, you’ll understand that it was merely a choice to sustain an equipment list ensuring him maximum comfort and confidence when entering into a paid project. There have been all too many errors encountered, that many of us who follow his tweets are aware of, for him to show up and shoot… especially since he doesn’t own a second EPIC as a backup - another $60,000.00…. hard to see why not!

Imagine yourself as the proud new owner of the RED Epic. Holy wow, it would be a dream. Full frame sensor with 5k resolution at 120fps… it makes me laugh! BUT, now let’s imagine you go into a shot and the beast wont awaken, or the sound wont comply, or whatever general error that eliminates your chance of successfully completing your shot…. your done. You can’t have this happen on a paid shoot. You will look very unprofessional and enstill a low level of confidence in your clients, causing the remainder of the project to be quite on edge.

I’ve always looked at the crazy RED set-ups and wondered how complicated it would be to get them running, and how easily I’d have the workflow going through my macbook pro. This is really a camera that’s getting far too much attention from people who will NEVER be able to fully utilize it’s potential. Why is Uncle Joe looking to buy an Epic to shoot your aunties wedding next year?? Haha, it’s absurd. Especially considering most of the videos we watch now are on a computer monitor! The Epic is designed as a compact monster capable of bringing filmmakers (wanting to publish to theaters) a powerful high res solution with ease of digital format use. It’s rather ridiculous how many DSLR users are drooling over this camera, some even splitting on it with friends. Get real. You’re wasting your time, money and hard drive space!

If you’ve been like me, anxiously fantasizing over an opportunity to even hold the Canon C300, this may boost your affection to a whole new level. I love what Canon have done with the design of their first real cinema camera. It uses tried, tested and true media capture formats, in it’s 50mb/s 4:2:2 codec to dual CF cards…which are cheap, and everyone has them! I’m going to speculate and assume Philip Bloom will become a proud owner of the C300, as a lot of us will, and this camera will kick-ass right on through the whole production list. Canon is a quality brand. Their equipment is as much about performance as it is durability and dependability.

Why I love Philip Bloom? He’s unbiased (I believe) when giving his opinion on the cinema world, and rarely steers you in a bad direction. My career moves rely partly on his reviews and just following his inspiring work. It’s helped me understand what my next step should be, especially in a career that was, at the time, very new, big and scary to me! And it still is, and here we have Phil, years later, providing the same feedback and insight that has kept many of us going for bigger things than we ever thought possible. RESPECT.

B.

 

 

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