New Equipment
February 1st, 2010The Litepanel 1kw LED light is our first large LED. The light provides about the same luminance as a 1kw tungsten fixture but is softer and daylight balanced. The two major advantages of LED lighting is that you can operate an entire day on a V-Lock battery and the light generates no heat. Soon we will have a cable free set!
litepanels1x1
Using the Panasonic AF101 camera present a challenging day for whoever is doing the focus. The eyepiece and the onboard LCD screen aren’t sharp enough to give me confidence in accurate focus. An external eyepiece is certainly a necessity with this camera so I purchased a Zacuto HD eyepiece. We even use it on the Varicam as a second eyepiece to be used by the focus puller. The best feature, apart from the large sharp LCD, is that you can store a frame grab of a shot in the internal memory and then display it later in a half mix with the live image from the camera, enabling you to match a previous shot perfectly. Brilliant!
Zacuto
The Blackmagic Hyperdeck Shuttle records uncompressed 10bit video to a solid state drive. You have a choice of using HD-SDI or HDMI inputs so the recorder is suitable for use with high end HD cameras or semi professional cameras with HDMI output. We used the system on the latest Edgars TV commercials produced by Directors of Illusion. To illustrate the type of codec used, we compare 1 minute of video recorded on P2 vs 1 minute of video on the Blackmagic. P2 required 1Gb of disc space where the Blacmagic required 4Gb!
HyperDeck-Shuttle
We already own a few Sennheiser microphones, lapels, 416 rifle mics, as well as the EW100 G3 series radio lapel kit. During the filming of the Doritos Roulette campaign we realized that having a wireless feed from the club sound system was crucial. The Sennheiser XLR transmitter is really as they say, a “plug and play” device. How did I manage without it for so long?
Sennheiser
The Gopro Hero2 cameras have revolutionized how we see the world. GoPro now have over two million subscribers on Facebook and every day there are more people giving us a glimpse into their adventures using the great little cameras. We have 3 GoPros with every housing and attachment that they make! We recently bought the 3D housing as well as a lens for the housing enabling you to shoot underwater, and in focus.
Panasonic HD Camera
Well! Panasonic dropped off the HPX2700 for a test drive and they could not wrestle it from me when they turned up to fetch it. Yes, we are now VARICAM equipped and a couple of hundred big ones out of pocket!
Renato from AVMARK Systems delivered our new Panasonic HD Minicam. This POV camera shoots full 1920×1080 HD to a HD recorder which controls all camera functions as well as provide the monitor to help with framing. We now also have a .75 wide angle lens for this camera.
Panasonic HD minicam
Check out our newest camera! The Contour HD minicam.
ContourHD Camera
In 2009 I not only bought the HPX2100 P2 HD camera but also some accessories that make life just that much easier!
HPX2100 P2 HD
Chroziel mattebox and new filters
I now have a brand new Chroziel 4×4/4×5.56 mattebox with sunshade and support bars. Added to my large selection of filters I have a Tobacco grad3 and a Blue grad3 in TIFFEN glass.
Monitors
25.5 inch HD LCD
The new generation Panasonic 25.5inch HD LCD is revolutionary in its clarity, contrast and refresh rate. Agency can now see images on set in the same quality as the editor does in post.
- HD Monitor
On camera I now have a Panasonic 8.4inch LCD with focus assist. This feature makes life easy for the focus puller as it shows areas in focus in a red border. Directors love having a monitor at the camera to look at while they are working with actors.
HD video assist
HD recorder
The HMR10 recorder takes a signal from the camera which is recorded to a seperate SD card independant of the camera. It records and stops in sync with the camera, giving production the ability to review footage in HD without relying on the camera department. This footage can be played side by side with the live camera feed on the 25 inch monitor to compare lighting, grade, continuity etc.
Chroma cloth and support
Chroma on location is a breeze with this 3mx3m cloth and support stands. The entire kit packs into a carry bag and can be set up in minutes. Only green available for now.
Panasonic HPX174 P2 HD camera
My Panasonic HPX174 camera was delivered by AVMARK Systems in May 2010. This camera is the replacement for my HVX200. The 174 shoots DVCPRO HD to P2 card and has a few new features and updated CCD block to improve picture quality. The new BNC connector on the rear panel outputs HD-SDI enabling the use of professional HD monitors on set.
There is no longer a DV tape facility making the camera much lighter and smaller. It is the prefect camera for shoots where budget is a concern, but HD quality is still required, or as a second unit on shoots where vehicle mounts are needed.
Litepanel LED lights
In October we are working with Paradox Films on a series of TV commercials to be shot in shopping malls. The concept relies on approaching customers in store to promote a client’s product. We are using two Panasonic HPX174 cameras as well as Panasonic’s HKC10 mini POV camera. The Litepanel LED lights will be perfect for just adding a little light on the faces. These fantastic on-camera lights produce a beautiful soft light source at 5600K and will run all day on 4 penlight batteries.
Litepanel