Full Frame Craze

Over the past few weeks, some big name camera manufacturers came out with their cheapest full frame DSLR's. This includes Canon's 6D, Nikon's D600, and Sony's A99.

See links:
Nikon D600
Canon 6D
Sony A99

Nowadays many people have DSLR's, including almost every Park student. They are becoming a new way for amateur and professional filmmakers alike to enhance their movies. From a student production to The Avengers (which wrecked quite a few 5D's for their stunt shots), they are becoming increasingly popular for a few reasons. They are relatively inexpensive, produce crisp images, are small in size, and have a wide range of lenses that can be used on them. Not only that, but many DSLR's are now FX (or full frame) which makes them ideal for filmmakers who want to keep the 35mm sensor like all professional cameras have.

One downside to this is that everyone who owns a DSLR thinks they are a photographer or cinematographer. People overuse rack focuses and a shallow DOF. Sure anyone can make good looking images or shots, but that doesn't mean that it adds anything to a story or enhances it. I am glad though that everyone can have access to a DSLR because you never know who may be the next great Director of Photography. Who knows maybe it is someone here at Ithaca or in our class.

Back to the three new FX DSLR's that have been introduced recently, they are all in the same price range (being around $2,000 body only) and have similar technical specs including: megapixels, wifi capability, screen size and HD video formats and frame rates. No matter what brand of camera you already own or plan to buy, you will be able to produce very similar and comparable results. Canon vs Nikon vs Sony is like trying to compare three different types of apples. You can get the same result as the others. It is all about what you can do with the equipment that you have.

Shooting on a DSLR

          Some videos like "Reverie" by Vincent Laforet, "Tick Tock" by Ien Chi, and most recently Act of Valor really captured my attention. There are a bunch of other short films I have seen on YouTube that are of really good quality and seem really professional. These video as I learn have been shot on DSLR's. What makes them stand out against other affordable cameras is the low light abilities. Other features that I liked is the amount of manual control on them and the ability to put different lenses on the body. 

          So over spring break I visited the person I interned for in senior year. He runs the TV station in my hometown. So I asked on advice for what type of camera to get, because I wanted my own and an upgrade from my Nikon D3000. The advice he gave me was buy the best body I can afford and then a cheap lens like the Canon 50mm F/1.8. And then for important projects just rent cinema lenses for the high quality. So that is what I did to a degree.

          I am starting to learn filming on DSLR's since I got one towards the end of the summer. I've only had two chances to film with it so far. So far I am very pleased with how they turned out and how everything performed. I got a neutral density filter so I can maintain low depth of field and it worked well outside. I was able to do a pretty good job considering I had no tripod or audio equipment, aside from an iPhone. The only thing I really slipped up on was not setting the white balance, but since it wasn't for a project or job I'm ok with that. Also I filmed two quick projects in the same day over a six hour span with unpaid-non-professional talent, so if I took extra time on it, they would have gotten really annoyed.

          I am looking forward to what I can produce from this camera, I have high expectations for myself and it. The last thing I want to share is a bit of DSLR humor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEwUnENlc9M&feature=player_embedded

James Majeau