iHDSLR

I purchased my Lilliput HD70HP from the good people of CoolLCD.com. Coming all the way from China, I received my package in a stunning 3 days over the holidays! Can’t beat that.

Straight out of the box, the monitor felt solid. It was quickly put the test when I accidentally dropped within minutes of taking out of the box. It was fine. I’m happy to report that it is on par with lower end Marshall’s (which can cost 2 or 3 times as much) and Varizoom LCD’s I’ve worked with in the past. Aesthetically, it’s good although I’m not big fan of the huge gold “Lilliput” logo on the front of the LCD. The Package included a lens hood which velcros onto the LCD, a remote control, a DC cable and adapter, a hot shoe mount, and a battery adapter. CoolLCD gives you the option of a Panasonic or Sony battery adapter. I opted for the Sony F970 adapter as it provides 7-10 hours of usage. I haven’t tested this fully but I did run the monitor for 4 hours straight with plenty of juice to spare.

The HD70HP produces a nice bright sharp picture. It gives you the option to adjust settings like brightness, contrast, saturation, tint, RGB, and color temperature. It features a 800×480 resolution, component, hdmi, and composite inputs, a 500:1 contrast ratio and the option of 16:9 or 4:3 display. It’s flip vertical/horizontal feature is also useful if you plan to mount the monitor upside down. It doesn’t have the extremely annoying pixel aspect stretching issues I’ve encountered with Marshall monitors when switching into live view with my 7D or 5D Mark II. The 12V DC adapter that comes with the package also lets you plug into wall.

I was a little disappointed with the monitor’s viewing angle. If you’re not looking at an angle that’s fairly straight forward, there is a huge shift in brightness and contrast. With that said, if you are looking at it fairly straight, the image quality is some of the best at this price point.

Overall, the Lilliput HD70HP is a great LCD with for someone on a budget. The complete set up, including additional accessories I ordered (articlulated arm, 2x f970 batteries, f970 charger, and hdmi cable) cost me $350, shipping included.

Hey guys, first post here. This is a unique short I made mid 2010. It was shot all on a Canon 5D Mark II. The cool thing about this particular short is that it’s shot entirely within 45 minutes! Chaotic of course, but the size and flexibility of the DSLR made it possible. I hope you enjoy!

IndiSystem has introduced a couple new rigs, the Areeba and Bulldog. Check out the pics below. The Areeba retails for $369 while the Bulldog comes in at $399. For more information, please visit http://www.indisystem.com .

I was first introduced to the beautiful island of New Zealand in the Lord of the Rings movies. Its paradise-like beauty never ceases to amaze me. “Water & Rocks, New Zealand” by Viktor Metro perfectly captures its grandeur and its flawless beauty in this musical piece. Shot on the 5D Mark II and 24-70mm 2.8fL.

JAG35 recently announced a new electronic follow focus system designed for HDSLR use. “An entry level remote follow focus system that will not only be easy to use but also easy on your pocket. Available in a wired configuration initially it will be compatible to a wireless system scheduled to be released in spring of 2011.”

For more information on this cool new system, please visit JAG35 here.

550D and 60D owners rejoice. The legendary firmware hack for the 5D Mark II has made its way over to its sister cameras and now is available for download. Please visit our friends at: http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Magic_Lantern_Firmware_Wiki

The firmware hack features:

• GUI menus: press the ERASE button to display them
• Bit rate control (QScale parameter) for the H.264 encoder
• Zebra stripes for overexposed / underexposed areas
• Spotmeter, histogram
• Cropmarks (16:9, Cinemascope, Fisheye)
• Simple intervalometer
• Trap Focus: camera takes a picture when something comes in focus
• Wireless trigger with the LCD face sensor & your own hand
• AE bracketing (like on 5D2 ML)
• Rack focus
• Stack focus (Live View only)
• Lens data computation
• Onscreen audio meters
• Manual audio gain, selectable input source, disable AGC and
  digital filters
• Display time remaining during video recording
• Debug functions (display CMOS temperature, screenshot, logging)

What are you waiting for? Take your 550D or 60D to the next level!

The package from indiSYSTEM came in nicely packed. Came with instructions and a hex screw which made putting it together nice and easy. My first impressions were positive. It was heavy, solid construction, and didn’t feel cheap at all. The rails and shoulder mount came attached together while the c-bracket had to be screwed on to the bottom of the rail system.

Earlier reviews I’ve read about the ULTRAcompact stated that the knob to tighten the baseplate would often get jammed because it would hit the bottom of the camera body. It looks like indiSYSTEM made some improvements. Now the knob can be pulled and rotated to a position where you can tighten the QRP with ease. The rig also came with really convenient screws that tighten without the need of a screwdriver. Handy for those times where you’re on set and you can’t find a nickel or screwdriver to tighten those screws.

So far, so good. The rig, put together, looks totally pro. It may not be as sexy as a Zacuto or Redrock rig but at $300, I can’t really complain. Mounting my 5D Mark II  was a breeze. My Redrock microFollow Focus slipped onto the rails snugly and without a hitch. The c-bracket is extremely useful, it has a handle for grabbing and 4 threads to attach accessories on. I quickly mounted my Zoom H4N without a problem. The handle bars feel good although I would of preferred some kind of hand grip-like contour on the handle bars instead of just rubber. The shoulder mount is decent and provides sufficient padding. It can be moved up and down or forward and backward, depending on your comfort level. The rig itself feels a little front heavy but I don’t have any counterweights attached to the rear of the shoulder mount. I am not getting any “flex” in the rig that many of the older models have.

In actual shooting situations, the rig doesn’t feel very different from many rigs I’ve used. It felt solid and all the shots are nice and stable, everything what you would expect from a shoulder-mount rig. My rig did tire me out quickly as I had an L-Series lens attached, a monitor, a Zoom H4N, and a Sennheiser G3 receiver.  My arms felt like they were about to fall off after 5 minutes but that’s probably just because I need to go to the gym more.

Overall, I’m very happy with the rig and at a $300, it’s an absolute steal. I’ve used rigs that have cost up to 5X more and does exactly the same the ULTRAcompact does. So if you’re on a tight budget and need a nice hand-held rig, the indiSYSTEM ULTRAcompact is the way to go!

For more information on the indiSYSTEM ULTRAcompact, please visit http://www.indisystem.com

* UPDATE: Apparently indiSYSTEM’s sent me the “Bulldog”, a new line of products that will be replacing the ULTRAcompact line.

Pacific Pictures’ “City of Lakes” is HDSLR narrative filmmaking at its best. Engaging story, top notch production, and project that pushes the Canon 5D Mark II and 7D to its limits. The film is a half-hour long so be sure to have enough time to sit and enjoy this beautiful piece.

What happens to a dream when it becomes reality?

Does it still exist somewhere, in some ethereal place, waiting to come to fruition again?

Could a fictional narrative capture an emotional state, and the true meaning behind a real, live event with more drama and conviction than a traditional documentary?

These were just some of the questions that arose when I took on the “CITY OF LAKES” project late last year. First, it would become an unprecedented attempt to combine a fully scripted, produced film with Melissa & Samir’s real, live wedding, with the intention of creating one, seamless film. Second, the live wedding and production would be shot entirely on-location in Udaipur, India over a period of nine days. Third, our skeleton crew would consist solely of live event filmmakers from across North America, who would shoot the live wedding events and production simultaneously & exclusively on DSLRs, the Canon 5D MarkII and Canon 7D.

“CITY OF LAKES” is as much a story about what it means to return to the birthplace of one’s ancestors, as it is an exploration of the Hindu faith, and the rituals of a Hindu marriage. Central to this is the Ganesh puja, which in simple terms, is a prayer over a fire believed to invoke the spirit of Ganesh, a great deity and protector, who can remove all obstacles from one’s path. The puja is performed several times in the film and carries great significance to the plot and characters in both literal and metaphoric ways.

Melissa & Samir had always dreamed of being married in India. We hope this film helps them cherish that dream. But it could not have been without the acting talents of Anubhab Saha, Sharon Chawda and Rushad Rana, who were consummate professionals and a joy to work with. It also could not have been without the support of our sponsors: Canon, who provided two pre-production 7Ds and a host of L-series lenses; Tiffen, who provided all of our lighting; and Cinevate, who sent us much needed gear and sponsored an incredible behind-the-scenes campaign viewable at Cinevate.com.

The challenges were immediate, abundant and frequent. At times, we were certain the film was destined for failure; I often wondered if the film was too ambitious to execute. But what resulted was due in no small part to a crew made up of live event filmmakers who deal routinely in making the spontaneous appear staged. We’re proud to share Melissa & Samir’s ‘hybrid’ feature, “CITY OF LAKES,” which hopefully achieves more than a documentary, and perhaps at the same time, more than a scripted film.

There is a final question we hope you’ll find difficult to answer as you watch our film. In more ways than one, try to answer:

What is real?

Our friends at Letus just released a very pretty shoulder mount for DSLR users. It’s pricey at $1200 but knowing Letus’ track record, you can be assured that it’s very high quality. Check out some of the photos below.

For more information on the Talon or if you want to purchase one yourself, please visit: http://letusdslr.com/shoulder-mount

What do you get when you get a bunch of visual effects artist and a 5D Mark II? “Framtiden”, a commercial for the Swedish news magazine called Västerbottens Kuriren. Amazing.