I got to try out the new stabilizer tonight. Just a first impression but I really liked it. It was much simpler to balance than a steadicam and can be used in really dynamic ways. Here’s a clip of the footage. My children are the subjects.
Here is a shot from @MplsFilms
Auto Focus is for amateurs. Professionals would never. This is the attitude I have had for 20 year of working as an AC and camera operator. Auto Focus on a stills camera is great for stills, but Auto focus video has always been crap. Recently I had a shoot with the Canon C100 that had been upgraded with Canon Dual pixel AF. So used in conjunction with Canon DSLR lenses the sensor compares pixels in a way and changes the focus gradually as a focus puller might, not searching for it, but changing from one focus to another. I was reluctant, but as the shoot day went on, it was difficult to see the monitor in sunny conditions and we were doing a lot of walk and talk. Playing back the image it seemed to do a really nice job keeping things in focus and shifting purposefully when the composition changed. It is the little things, but that camera is winning me over slowly.
It is only a couple of weeks until classes begin. I was thinking about how I teach the basics of filmmaking and how it would be really useful to have some visuals besides films to talk about composition. And then I come across this video which is sort of quirky but it works.
So if you are taking a class with me in the future maybe I’ll show this video.