19Dec Canon 40mm f2.8 STM lens on sale for $129
The Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Lens is a decent little pancake lens and a fun one to have around. Right now it’s on sale for just $129 with free shipping on B&H which is a pretty good price for any lens. Not sure how long this sale will last so if you want one you should probably pick one up. You can find my full review of the Canon 40mm f2.8 lens here, as well as a comparison to Voigtlander 40mm f2.8 lens here.
UPDATE: Looks like Amazon is price matching B&H’s sale price. Both companies provide free shipping, but Amazon prime shipping makes the deal even sweeter. You can pick up the Canon 40mm f2.8 here for the same $129 price tag. Thanks for the heads up Johnny.
18Dec Shark Slider S1 – First impressions
I think the Shark Slider S1 is now my new favorite motion device. It showed up right before I left the country so I’m just now getting a chance to play around with it. Beautifully constructed, ultra smooth operation, extendable to 47 inches of travel, and it breaks down into a nice 31 inch bag.
The carriage on the Shark Slider S1 is made from a solid piece of machined aluminum and uses V-bearings to travel across a very nice set of 22mm carbon rods. Build quality and design are excellent and travel motion is smooth a silk. This is quite possibly one of the nicest sliders I’ve seen for under $1000.
Travel on the Shark Slider is controlled by this medium sized flywheel attached to a toothed belt. Once you’ve locked the belt into the carriage, the flywheel allows you to ramp up with a smooth start and slow down your cameras travel toward the end of the slide. It works almost as good as the $3500 slider I tested at NAB last year.
The price tag on the Shark Slider is a bit higher than offerings in similar lengths from Konova. A 47 inch Konova slider will set you back around $540, while the 47 inch Shark Slider will run you $640, but the extra $100 is money well spent. The Shark Slider folds down into a 31 inch travel bag making a lot more convenient than the 47 inch Konova slider and with the Shark’s flywheel system, motion is much easier to control. 640 dollars is a big investment for a slider, but the Shark Slider is well worth considering. So far i’m very impressed. I’ll be taking the shark slider out with me on a shoot I have coming up this weekend, footage and full review to follow. I’ll have to be careful not to go overboard with the slider shots.
17Dec Canon 5d mark III body on sale for $2,638
The Canon 5d mark III is on sale yet again. It’s the same seller as all of the previous sales (bigvalueinc) and the same seller I ordered my Canon 6d and 24-105 f4 lens from. Right now you can pick the Canon 5d mark III on ebay for just $2,638 with free shipping which is within $45 of the lowest price i’ve seen in the last 6 months. As with all of these sales they only last a day or so. If you want one you might want to act fast
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16Dec Canon C100 – first impressions
I’ve been doing a bit of shooting with the Canon c100 lately. Many people rant and rave about how much of a step up it is from a 5d mark III or any DSLR body for that matter. While I’ve enjoyed shooting with it, i’m not exactly in love.
Currently the most disappointing thing about the c100 for me is the control layout. While the Canon c100 is about the same size as the 5d mark III body (above), the side placement of most major controls and settings is kind of a pain. Adding to the problem is the flip out screen which covers up the setting buttons you’re looking for. It could be that I’ve been shooting on DSLR cameras for so long that I’ve grown used to it, but I find the layout of the 5d mark III’s controls to be much more intuitive.
With the 5d mark III as well as most DSLR cameras, your controls are laid out around the screen on the back of the camera. The roll wheel and D-pad on DSLR can be set for most common controlls and it’s generally pretty easy to get around. With the c100, you can assign pretty much any button to any function. The problem is that the vast majority of the control buttons are located on the left hand side of the the camera.
I find myself constantly having to look around the side of the camera for basic functions and once you find what you’re looking for you have to use the joystick and wheel on the control handle to actually make adjustments. Quick adjustments on the Canon c100 aren’t possible without the control handgrip. You can remove the handgrip and put a cap on the mount to slim down the camera, but this basically cripples the cameras controls. While I find the handgrip nice for handheld work, it’s not exactly something I want attached all the time.
I’ve also become very accustomed to a quick half press of the 5d mark III‘s shutter button when composing a shot. Many people frown on this method of focusing, but when i’m trying to get things done fast, I find it much more efficient to check focus in this manner. The Canon c100‘s auto focus system is lacking at best, even in live view mode the 5d mark III does a much better job, especially in low light. I find myself having to use the magnification feature on the c100 constantly to check focus and it really slows me down.
The display on the Canon c100 isn’t amazing and I find even the t2i’s screen far more enjoyable to use. For a camera in this price range (around $6000) I would expect a much nicer looking screen. It’s very disappointing that the flip out screen doesn’t even stand up to the quality of the Canon 60d. The camera feels like something that’s really been limited on purpose by Canon.
Another irritation that you don’t see mentioned much is the file format. If you record in anything other than 24p your signal is wrapped up in a 60i file format. Added to this headache is the already highly compressed AVCHD format. It’s not a huge issue when dealing with an NLE that can correctly interpret the footage, but it’s still a bit of a hassle. If you work with multiple editors and don’t normally turn in footage wrapped in a 60i format, I could see problems popping up in the post process.
Yet another problem is that no matter what format you plan to record in, the hdmi port always outputs it over a 60i signal. If you use a Atoms Ninja you’re usually ok after a few frames as it does a decent job of detecting and deinterlacing the display. However, if you have a less intelligent field monitor, you’re going to end up seeing the rather nasty interlace lines on your field monitor with any fast camera moves. Not exactly an ideal option and it ends up giving you 2 or 3 second of useless footage at the beginning of every shot when using the Ninja for recording.
On the positive side of things, the clean hdmi output with audio is a handy thing to have and the ability to handle high ISO on this camera is pretty impressive. I wouldn’t push things as far as 20,000 iso, but 6,400, and 12,800 are pretty usable. The top handle with XLR and audio support is pretty handy and the preamps are much cleaner than any DSLR. Build quality is pretty decent, but not amazing, and you’ll find the Canon 5d mark III to feel a lot more solid. The on board fan is somewhat load on the c100 when you’re used to the fanless operation of the 5d mark III and you’ll want to make adjustments right away to the speed settings in the control menu.
Overall most of the “pro features” are things you would normally expect from a camera in this price range, but it doesn’t feel like much of a value when compared with the 5d mark III. A lot of people argue about the “superior image quality” and “sharpness” of the Canon c100. While they aren’t necessarily wrong about those statements, you really have to pixel peep for anyone to really see a difference.
You might be able to sell me on the image quality pitch if I did a lot of 720p punch ins that were being enlarged to 1080p, but that’s something that only really happens and when it does, the shots are so short that you’d be hard pressed to notice. I’ll post some more thoughts as I spend more time with the Canon c100, but right now i’m only lukewarm on the idea of actually owning it.
13Dec Is the Camranger really a TP-LINK TL-MR3040?
The short answer to that question is yes. I spoke with the guys from TP-Link this morning, i’m currently on Scotland time, so I think that’s evening in the United States. Here’s what they said.
Under an agreement with TP-LINK, CamRanger is a rebranded TP-LINK router. CamRanger has altered the TL-MR3040’s firmware and created an app which provides a much greater degree of functionality than what the TL-MR3040 would otherwise provide for camera buffs.
The CamRanger uses proprietary firmware that allows you to use it with Canon and Nikon cameras on Android, IOS, and windows devices. As far as I know the DSLR controller option only works with Canon cameras being used with Android devices. It does a great job, but if you are looking to use an IOS or windows devices, you’re going to have to pony up for the CamRanger or learn to write your own app and firmware for the TP-Link TL-MR3040.
Also I didn’t mention in my previous post that you will need a USB to USB mini cable. If you bought your Camera new the cable you need is in the box. Chances are you’ll probably have the cable laying around the house, but if not you can pick up the cable on Amazon for around $5.
The tests I’ve done so far on the Canon 6d have been very positive. Frame rates are fast enough to be completely usable as a field monitor, controls work well, and linking the DSLR Controller app to the TP-Link TL-MR3040 is a very simple process. For wireless monitoring and control of your Canon camera, this is the most affordable and useful options I’ve tried.
I often get questions about monitoring options for others on a shoot. While this isn’t a perfect solution, It’s more than good enough when you’re shooting on a budget. I’ll try to post a video demo once I’ve made it to my hotel this evening.
11Dec TP-LINK TL-MR3040 wireless field monitor with DSLR controller
Finally had a chance to sit down and hack the TP-Link TL-MR3040 Wireless unit. In case you missed it, with a little bit of work you can setup the TP-Link TL-MR3040 to work with the DSLR controller android app. This basically gives you a wireless control as well and monitoring capabilities for less than $40.
Note: Keep in mind that once you update the firmware on this router it will be dedicated to DSLR controller use. It is possible to return the router to it’s original state but from what I understand it can be tricky and it’s not something i’ve tried. If you use this daily for its original intended purpose, you may want to get a second unit for use with your camera only.
Before you get started with the hack, you’re going to want to remove the cover and find out what hardware version your device uses. Right under the bar code you’ll see “Ver.” followed by a number. If it says Ver 1.0 you’re going to want to download this firmware, if it says Ver. 2.0 you’re going to want to download this firmware. Make sure you check this first, if you try to update the device with the wrong firmware file you could end up bricking it.
Once you’ve downloaded the correct firmware, you’ll want to power on the TP-Link TL-MR3040 wireless router. When it’s up and running (indicated by the green light next to the wireless symbol) use your laptop or desktop to connect to it wirelessly. Once you’ve connected to it, open up a browser window and type in “192.168.0.1” at which point you should see the Authentication Required screen above. The Username is “admin” and the password is “admin”, once you’ve typed that in click “Log In” on the window.
UPDATE: Some people have reported issues updating via wifi. If that’s the case simply connect your computer to the router via the built in ethernet port. Wifi normally works, but a wired connect can eliminate possible problems.
When the router page loads you’ll need to find the “System Tools” link on the left hand side of the screen. Click on that, than click on the “firmware upgrades” in the drop down menu.
Click on “Choose File” and select the firmware for either Version 1 or Version 2 that you downloaded earlier. Once you’ve selected the file the new firmware will show up next to the Choose File button. Click upgrade and you’re good to go.
If everything works out correctly you should see Firmware Upgrade in your browser with a loading indicator bar. The firmware upload automatically and the router will reboot on its own.
Once the new firmware has been uploaded, use your tablet or phone to connect to DSLR controller network, your login password will be “dslrcontroller”. When your device is connected, you can use a usb cable to connect the TP-Link TL-MR3040 wireless router directly to your camera. After connecting your camera, power it on and place the camera in live view mode, then select the dslr controller app on your tablet or phone. If all goes well the app will fire up, see the wireless device and start working as though your tablet was connected directly to your camera.
Monitoring delay is less than a second, and the frame rate is high enough to be very usable on the Nexus 7 FHD. All the controls in the DSLR controller app work as well as they do with a wired connection. If you are in the market for a field monitor, but working on a tight budget, you might want to give this a try before you spend $200 or $300 on an HDMI monitor. For framing, camera control, and many other applications this is more than enough to get by. It also works much much better than the Canon 6d’s native wifi application. Canon could learn a lot from DSLR controller.
If you haven’t played around with this app, you might also want to check out this guide I put together demoing DSLR controller with a wired tablet. The app has come along way since then, I wouldn’t hesitate recommending it for non paying work or even paying work if you are confident enough with the app’s controls.
You might also want to swing over to DSLR controller’s site and find out more about the app and what devices are supported. The app is well worth the 8 or 9 dollars they charge for it, even if you only use it once. The $36 TP-Link TL-MR3040 wireless router is a little more than the special cable needed for a wired connection (about $27 more), but it works as good or better than some of the other Wireless controller devices I’ve tested.
10Dec Missed the Tascam DR-60d? Zoom h4n on sale for $169
If you missed out on the Tascam DR-60d sale there is still hope. Right now, you can pick up the Zoom h4n for just $169 with free shipping on amazon. The h4n is still a very decent 4 track field recorder with a lot of great features for the price. As with the Tascam DR-60d sale, if you want one you might want to move fast as prices seem to bounce around quite a bit over the holiday seasons.
10Dec Tascam DR-60d Firmware update to 1.20
If you own a Tascam DR-60d or plan on getting one while they’re on sale, there’s a new version 1.20 firmware out. Tascam has added some muting features as well as some power saving options for better battery life. You can download and the latest firmware here. Not a huge jump forward, but some good finishing touches on a very decent field recorder.
09Dec Canon 24-105mm F4 IS lens on sale $688
If you’re in the market, the Canon 24-105mm f4 IS lens is on sale for just $687.85 with free shipping on ebay. Chances are this is from a combo kit so you may or may not get a warranty card. Still you’re getting a $850 lens for $688 new, that’s a pretty good price for a great lens. The 24-105mm f4 is arguably one of the best handheld walk around lenses for film making and photography on the market. F4 wont rock your world in the shallow depth of field department, but its a perfect choice for filmmakers starting out.
09Dec Aputure V-Screen VS-3 7 inch IPS HDMI field Monitor features
I’ve been spending a little more time with the Aputure VS-3 monitor. One of the more interesting features is it’s audio level meter display. When enabled in the menu (under “volume bar”) it gives you a visualization of the incoming audio on the hdmi port.
Unfortunately this doesn’t do you much good on the Canon 5d mark III as it’s clean hdmi out does not include audio (thanks for that one Canon). If you own a camera that outputs clean hdmi with audio you’ll end up with something that looks like this. It’s actually a nice feature to have and I wouldn’t mind seeing it adopted by other field monitor manufacturers.
The Aputure VS-3 also gives you the ability to select the incoming audio sources (HDMI or RCA). This means if you wanted to you could run the output of a field recorder directly into the L/R RCA plugs on the back of the monitor and get levels as well as headphone monitoring through the Aputure VS-3 field monitor. Or you could monitor audio from a second camera or source via the RCA input wall watching the clean hdmi signal from the 5d mark III.
Focus peaking is pretty decent on the Aputure VS-3. The monitor actually gives you the opportunity to select the color of your focus peaking indication. In this case i’m using red. It’s about as accurate as any of the other field monitors in this price range. Once your item is in focus you get a red outline around the item.
When nothing is in focus the Aputure VS-3 does a good job detecting that. In the above shot everything is out of focus and i’m not seeing much in the way of false indications. One thing i’d like to see fixed though is the menu system when you’re in focus peaking mode. When you open up the menu with focus peaking on the monitor covers everything in red because all of the items in the menu are in focus. Not sure how hard this would be to fix, but it does make navigation of the menu system a little tricky when focus peaking is enabled.
On the battery side of things I’ve been getting about an hour and half to two hours out of these Wasabi F550 batteries and pretty much all day when using a Wasabi NP-F970 battery. You can buy 4 of the F550’s for the price of one F970 and I prefer the smaller size of the F550 batteries. It’s not that much of a hassle to change them out and it keeps the weight and size of the monitor down.
So far, I’m still pretty happy with the Aputure VS-3 field monitor. I plan to take it with me on a few more shoots before I put together a full video review. I’ll keep you posted.
UPDATE: I received an e-mail from Aputure, looks like they’ll be updating the Aputure VS-3 field monitor firmware to fix the focus peaking issue I mentioned above. I’ll post a link once it’s shows up. Sounds like it should be a pretty easy fix.
