To download the Technicolor CineStyle profile for your Canon DSLR check the link below. If you don't know what this is good for check the other link which will redirect you to Philip Bloom's website with some comparison screen shots and more information. Basically this profile increases the dynamic range of your camera which will give you much more possibilities in post production. A must have if you're filming with your DLSR.
download link
link to Mr. Bloom's post
Here's a litte demo video that I found on vimeo which demonstrates how the new picture style increases the dynamic range of your DSLR. I think it works pretty well, but check it by yourself.
Showing posts with label shooting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shooting. Show all posts
2010/12/26
Lia74 feat. Kiddo - Be Friends (official music video, shot on a Canon 550D / T2i)
This is my first little music video. Entirely shot on a single Canon 550D. It was very cold when I shot the clip, but the camera performed very well. I used some aftermarked batteries and had no energy problems at all. The lenses I used to shoot this: Canon 18-55mm 3.5-5.6, Canon 50mm 1.8, Beroflex 28mm 2.8. To light up the faces I used my Z96 led light and a silver reflector in some shots. But since I didn't have assistants all the time (Thanks for your help, Marko), I couldn't use the reflector in all shots. So in some shots I had to light the faces up in post. My Capa viewfinder was foggy all the time, but it did it's job. I also used my DIY steadycam in some shots, but since there are so many cuts, you can't see that very well.
Feel free to ask anything you want and please comment and share this.
And please visit amazon and iTunes to support the artists.
By the way, here's a flickr photostream with some screenshots.
Merry Christmas to all of you,
jonni
2010/11/30
jonni's DIY steadycam - 1st test flight
This is the first real test flight with my DIY steadycam. The ground was frozen so it was hard to walk. Also, I'm not a trained steadycam operator but I think the result isn't too bad. I'll practice a little bit and upload another video soon.
Check the posts below for more information on the steadycam.
Hope you like it,
jonni
Check the posts below for more information on the steadycam.
Hope you like it,
jonni
2010/11/26
jonni's DIY steadycam
If you don't know what a steadycam / steadicam is good for, I'll try to explain it in a few words. When shooting video one of the most important factors is the stabilization of your camera. If you don't do it right, your footage will look shaky - and this is what we really want to avoid (in most cases).
You'll find yourself in situations when it's absolutely not possible to use a tripod. Even if some lenses do have build in image stabilization, they can't compensate the shaking that you'll get while walking or running around with your camera. So when you are filming while walking around and it's not possible to use a slider or track dolly you'll need another kind of mechanical stabilazation.
There are different steadycam models on the market. I think that most of them are really good, the only problem is their price. So if you have some time and the right tools you can try to build your own model.
This is my DIY steadycam:
My main goal was to built a steadycam for DSLRs that is as small as possible, fully adjustible, lightweight but still very strong. As you can see in the image above it is adjustible just like all the other models. But there are some more facts that I would like to point out. I used a high quality universal joint which is very agile and therefore the movement is compensated very effective. The handle is very soft and big which makes it possible to carry this thing around a while. The steadycam is made out of aluminum and therefore it's very lightweight. The weights are made out of brass. It is possible to loosen and tighten all the screws without any additional tools. This makes it possible to make quick adjustments when changing lenses or adding other equipment. It can carry my 550D wit a LED video light or other DSLRs with medium sized lenses easily. The first test runs went pretty well - I will upload a video as soon as the sun comes out.
The parts have just been painted black and are still drying - I think this thing will have a really professional look.
Hope you like it. Feel free to ask anything you want if you have some questions.
Cheers,
jonni
You'll find yourself in situations when it's absolutely not possible to use a tripod. Even if some lenses do have build in image stabilization, they can't compensate the shaking that you'll get while walking or running around with your camera. So when you are filming while walking around and it's not possible to use a slider or track dolly you'll need another kind of mechanical stabilazation.
There are different steadycam models on the market. I think that most of them are really good, the only problem is their price. So if you have some time and the right tools you can try to build your own model.
This is my DIY steadycam:
My main goal was to built a steadycam for DSLRs that is as small as possible, fully adjustible, lightweight but still very strong. As you can see in the image above it is adjustible just like all the other models. But there are some more facts that I would like to point out. I used a high quality universal joint which is very agile and therefore the movement is compensated very effective. The handle is very soft and big which makes it possible to carry this thing around a while. The steadycam is made out of aluminum and therefore it's very lightweight. The weights are made out of brass. It is possible to loosen and tighten all the screws without any additional tools. This makes it possible to make quick adjustments when changing lenses or adding other equipment. It can carry my 550D wit a LED video light or other DSLRs with medium sized lenses easily. The first test runs went pretty well - I will upload a video as soon as the sun comes out.
The parts have just been painted black and are still drying - I think this thing will have a really professional look.
Hope you like it. Feel free to ask anything you want if you have some questions.
Cheers,
jonni
2010/09/29
Favorite DSLR video sites
Just added some great DSLR related sites to my feed reader (after I deleted a lot of other sites) and wanted to share my favorite ones with you.
the site that let me fall in love with DSLR videos:
the guy that made me buy a Canon:
the site that shows the greatest equipment:
other great sites:
my little site:
Hope you'll take a look at these sites. Let me know if I missed a good one.
Cheers,
jonni
the site that let me fall in love with DSLR videos:
the guy that made me buy a Canon:
the site that shows the greatest equipment:
other great sites:
my little site:
Hope you'll take a look at these sites. Let me know if I missed a good one.
Cheers,
jonni
2010/09/24
Canon 550D underwater photo and video with the DiCAPac SLR Case
To keep this article short, here are the facts. After some tests I took a few underwater photos and shot some videos with this thing and it works! The quality is amazing! This is a product I can recommend without any doubt.
Here's a short video to show the abilities of this bag
But before you hit the buy button and get this thing you should be aware of some things. Handling your camera with this bag is really hard! You can fit 2 550Ds in this bag easily. I think it will work better with bigger cameras. Making adjustments during a shot is almost impossible. So you have to make all your settings first (even zoom and focus) and then start the shoot. Another problem I had was that my 18-55mm kit lens was way to small, so I had to push the tube for the lens against it all the time to avoid filming the inner side of the tube. But with some practice or by taping the tube towards the bag (or using a longer lens) you should get some really nice shots, even if this bag can't replace any professional case for your DSLR.
I can't wait to test this bag on a rainy day...
My rating:
price: 5/5
quality: 5/5
handling 2/5
Cheers,
jonni
2010/07/20
Super cheap and lightweight video / timelapse setup (Canon 550D, 10-inch flexible tripod, Bilora Professional 1153 fluid head, H&Y Fader ND, 3-way rubber lens hood)
A fried of mine sent me this link where you can buy a 10-inch flexible tripod for $11.90. Basically it is the same as the "Joby GorillaPod SLR-Zoom" (the biggest GorillaPod) which you can get here for $49.95. The only difference I know is that the joints of the cheaper one are a bit stiffer. I decided to get one because I don't want to carry my tripod with me all the time. Shipping to Germany took 2 weeks and I'm really satisfied with the quality of this product. It carries my 550D with the 50mm or the 18-55 kit lens, a metal stepping ring, the H&Y fader ND and a big 3-way rubber lens hood without a problem. And the best thing: It also works nice with my new "Bilora Professional 1153 fluid head" mounted to it. I got the head for 39.99€ ($52) from a local electronics store in Stuttgart. I tested a lot of fluid heads (cheap and expensive ones) and decided to get this one. It's really cheap, build quality is great and panning is comparable to some of the cheaper Manfrotto heads. So all in all it's a great small head for shooting stills and videos - and it comes with a nice quick release plate.
This is a really lightweight and small setup with all the basic accessories you need for shooting nice timelapses or videos with some smooth pans. But you'll definitely need some more stuff for handheld shots or if you need to record usable sound.
My rating:
10-inch flexible tripod: 5/5
Bilora Professional 1153 fluid head: 4.5/5
3-way rubber lens hood: 4.5/5
This is a really lightweight and small setup with all the basic accessories you need for shooting nice timelapses or videos with some smooth pans. But you'll definitely need some more stuff for handheld shots or if you need to record usable sound.
My rating:
10-inch flexible tripod: 5/5
Bilora Professional 1153 fluid head: 4.5/5
3-way rubber lens hood: 4.5/5
2010/07/06
How to achieve shallow depth of field when shooting video with your DSLR in bright sunlight
Shooting video in bright sunlight makes it almost impossible to achieve a cinematic look with a shallow depth of field. If you don't put a ND filter in front of your wide open lens when shooting video at a slow shutter speed the image will get to bright (overexposed). To avoid this you can choose higher f-stop values which will brighten down the image but also destroy your shallow depth of field as you can see in the stills below.
So if you want to shoot videos with a shallow depth of field at slower shutter speeds (which you definitely should do) you have to use ND filters or a ND fader when the lighting is to bright. If you don't want to change filters all the time get a ND fader - it works really great for shooting videos and adjusting it is also really easy and fast. Here are two videos to show the difference when shooting video with a ND fader and without one in bright sunlight.
2010/06/26
Shooting videos with your DSLR - pt. I - basics & lenses
1st things 1st. Before you decide which lens to buy, you have to understand what the lens descriptions mean and what influence they have on your video. In this post, I'll try to explain the basics - for more information check wikipeda.org
The focal length of a lens tells you how much of the scene can be captured from a specific position. It's much easier to explain this with some still images, so here you go.
This is the same scene shot with different focal lengths from the same position. As you can see, the image gets wider with a smaller focal length. Extreme wide angle lenses are called fisheye lenses. It's possible to shoot extreme perspectives with this type of lenses, but they will also give you a lot of distortion (as seen in skateboard videos), which you have to be aware of. So you'll definitely need a wide angle lens (18mm or less) for shooting big objects (e.g. buildings) from a position that is close to the object. Lenses with focal lengths around 50-85mm are great for shooting portraits of people because you don't have to be too close to the person. Lenses with focal lengths above 85mm are called tele lenses and are used to capture things that are far away from the shooting location. If you own a camera with and APS sensor like the Canon 550D be aware of it's crop factor (1.6). A 50mm EF lens on a 550D or 7D will give you an image like a 80mm lens on a 5DMKII (EF-S lenses are designed for cameras with APS sensors, so you don't have to calculate with the crop factor)! Lenses like the Canon EF-S 18-55 are so called zoom lenses because they offer a range from 18 up to 55 (which is 29-88mm equivalent on a crop sensor). These are nice lenses if you like to shoot videos without carrying a lot of stuff with you or if you don't like to change lenses all the time, BUT prime lenses (lenses with a fixed focal length) are much better when it comes to image quality. Also keep this in mind: zooming during your video will look crappy, so don't buy too much zoom lenses if you want to shoot videos with your DSLR.
Prime lenses do often have better aperture (f-stop) values than zoom lenses which makes them much better when it comes to shooting video under low light conditions. Larger (wider) apertures mean the the lenses have bigger openings for the light to fall into them, which makes them faster because they don't need as much time as lenses with smaller apertures to capture the same shot. Fast lenses do have smaller f-stop numbers like f/1.2 f/1.4 or f/1.8 (the aperture gets smaller (more narrow) and the lens gets slower with increasing f-numbers). Here's a video to demonstrate the effect of the aperture to the image under low light conditions.
As you can see in the video above, a fast lens is much more capable for shooting video than a slower lens. But you have to be aware of the fact that your image will get a very shallow depth of field (only a thin area of your shot is in focus/sharp) with a fast lens that is wide open (big aperture). Check the following pictures to see the effect of the f-stop values to the depth of field of a still image.
Smaller f-stops will result in a very shallow depth of field. This means that the background and foreground of your shot will look very blurred. A lot of people like this effect and in fact shots with a shallow depth of field look very cinematic. If you don't want your video to have a shallow depth of fiel when shooting in low light, you'll have to choose a higher f-number and turn up the ISO. As you can see in the video below, the aperture stays the same and the image gets brighter (but also much noisier) with higher ISO values.
But there's one important thing you have to concider when shooting videos with a fast lens in bright sunlight: because the lens is so fast you will have to set a very quick exposure time for your videos if you don't want them to get overexposed (to bright). But short exposure times will result in a clipped video which is terrible (exposure time should be twice the frame rate to result in a smooth video - I set it to 1/50s in most cases). To avoid this problem you can close you lens (narrow aperture) which will result in a deep depth of field (everything in focus) or attach a ND filter to brighten down the image and make longer exposure times possible. I reccomend the last option because it makes it possible to shoot with a wide open lens in bright sunlight without changing the exposure time of your video. I will show you the effect of ND filters on videos in a seperate post with my new Fader ND.
Do you need image stabilization (IS) in a lens? For handheld shots without a steadycam or rig - yes. If you shoot from a tripod - no. This depends on what you're shooting and how much you want to spend. An IS lens is definitely better (you can turn IS off when you don't need it) but also much more expensive. If you're on a very tight budget and you don't need IS you can keep your eyes open for old M42 lenses and adapt them to your DSLR. I will post a video with a M42 vs. Canon EF comparison soon. What you definitely don't need for shooting videos is a lens with ultra fast focusing (e.g. USM) because you will have to focus manually (autofocus and video? No.)!
So this is what I recommend to put on your shopping list if you want to shoot videos with your DSLR:
- fast prime lenses (f/1.8 or faster!) and some ND filters or a ND fader.
- next thing should be a wide angle lens or a zoom which starts at a short focal length (18mm or shorter).
- what you need when filming animals or other objects that are far away: a tele lens.
- the most important thing: go for primes if you have the money to buy more lenses because they are faster and sharper than zoom lenses.
If you're shooting skateboarding / bmx / ... videos and don't want to spend too much:
- go for a fisheye lens or a zoom lens which starts at a short focal length.
- if this is to expensive screw a cheap fisheye lens to your kit lens (will give you some distortion but who cares).
If you want to have only one lens for shooting video and photos with:
- I feel sorry, but that won't be possible. I would buy a zoom lens like the Sigma 18-200 and a cheap
- fast prime lens like the Canon EF 50mm 1.8 for low light videos.
What do you think? Which cheap lenses are the best for shooting videos with? If you have any tips write a comment below.
Cheers,
jonni
The focal length of a lens tells you how much of the scene can be captured from a specific position. It's much easier to explain this with some still images, so here you go.
This is the same scene shot with different focal lengths from the same position. As you can see, the image gets wider with a smaller focal length. Extreme wide angle lenses are called fisheye lenses. It's possible to shoot extreme perspectives with this type of lenses, but they will also give you a lot of distortion (as seen in skateboard videos), which you have to be aware of. So you'll definitely need a wide angle lens (18mm or less) for shooting big objects (e.g. buildings) from a position that is close to the object. Lenses with focal lengths around 50-85mm are great for shooting portraits of people because you don't have to be too close to the person. Lenses with focal lengths above 85mm are called tele lenses and are used to capture things that are far away from the shooting location. If you own a camera with and APS sensor like the Canon 550D be aware of it's crop factor (1.6). A 50mm EF lens on a 550D or 7D will give you an image like a 80mm lens on a 5DMKII (
Prime lenses do often have better aperture (f-stop) values than zoom lenses which makes them much better when it comes to shooting video under low light conditions. Larger (wider) apertures mean the the lenses have bigger openings for the light to fall into them, which makes them faster because they don't need as much time as lenses with smaller apertures to capture the same shot. Fast lenses do have smaller f-stop numbers like f/1.2 f/1.4 or f/1.8 (the aperture gets smaller (more narrow) and the lens gets slower with increasing f-numbers). Here's a video to demonstrate the effect of the aperture to the image under low light conditions.
As you can see in the video above, a fast lens is much more capable for shooting video than a slower lens. But you have to be aware of the fact that your image will get a very shallow depth of field (only a thin area of your shot is in focus/sharp) with a fast lens that is wide open (big aperture). Check the following pictures to see the effect of the f-stop values to the depth of field of a still image.
Smaller f-stops will result in a very shallow depth of field. This means that the background and foreground of your shot will look very blurred. A lot of people like this effect and in fact shots with a shallow depth of field look very cinematic. If you don't want your video to have a shallow depth of fiel when shooting in low light, you'll have to choose a higher f-number and turn up the ISO. As you can see in the video below, the aperture stays the same and the image gets brighter (but also much noisier) with higher ISO values.
But there's one important thing you have to concider when shooting videos with a fast lens in bright sunlight: because the lens is so fast you will have to set a very quick exposure time for your videos if you don't want them to get overexposed (to bright). But short exposure times will result in a clipped video which is terrible (exposure time should be twice the frame rate to result in a smooth video - I set it to 1/50s in most cases). To avoid this problem you can close you lens (narrow aperture) which will result in a deep depth of field (everything in focus) or attach a ND filter to brighten down the image and make longer exposure times possible. I reccomend the last option because it makes it possible to shoot with a wide open lens in bright sunlight without changing the exposure time of your video. I will show you the effect of ND filters on videos in a seperate post with my new Fader ND.
Do you need image stabilization (IS) in a lens? For handheld shots without a steadycam or rig - yes. If you shoot from a tripod - no. This depends on what you're shooting and how much you want to spend. An IS lens is definitely better (you can turn IS off when you don't need it) but also much more expensive. If you're on a very tight budget and you don't need IS you can keep your eyes open for old M42 lenses and adapt them to your DSLR. I will post a video with a M42 vs. Canon EF comparison soon. What you definitely don't need for shooting videos is a lens with ultra fast focusing (e.g. USM) because you will have to focus manually (autofocus and video? No.)!
So this is what I recommend to put on your shopping list if you want to shoot videos with your DSLR:
- fast prime lenses (f/1.8 or faster!) and some ND filters or a ND fader.
- next thing should be a wide angle lens or a zoom which starts at a short focal length (18mm or shorter).
- what you need when filming animals or other objects that are far away: a tele lens.
- the most important thing: go for primes if you have the money to buy more lenses because they are faster and sharper than zoom lenses.
If you're shooting skateboarding / bmx / ... videos and don't want to spend too much:
- go for a fisheye lens or a zoom lens which starts at a short focal length.
- if this is to expensive screw a cheap fisheye lens to your kit lens (will give you some distortion but who cares).
If you want to have only one lens for shooting video and photos with:
- I feel sorry, but that won't be possible. I would buy a zoom lens like the Sigma 18-200 and a cheap
- fast prime lens like the Canon EF 50mm 1.8 for low light videos.
What do you think? Which cheap lenses are the best for shooting videos with? If you have any tips write a comment below.
Cheers,
jonni
2010/06/11
High Resolution Screens from the "Timelapse test 2" video
Here are 3 original screens from my second timelapse video. Click the photos to see the full resolution.
Looks really great on a full HD television but uploading to vimeo messes it up a little bit.
Cheers,
jonni
Looks really great on a full HD television but uploading to vimeo messes it up a little bit.
Cheers,
jonni
2010/06/10
Timelapse test 2
This is my second timelapse video. It's made of 393 pictures that I shot on my Canon 550D with the aide of my cheap timer remote control. I think the quality of this video is much better than in my first one. That's because this time I set the ISO to 100 instead of leaving it in automatic mode. What I really don't like is that all the thin lines look interrupted. I think this has to do with the resize filter (nearest neighbor) that I used to convert the video to 1080p.
Here's some data from the video:
cam: Canon 550D
lens: Canon EF-S 18-55 f/3.5-5.6
settings: manual mode, 36mm, MF, f/4.0, ISO 100, 1/2500s, picture size small
production: interval 10s, 393 pictures, 24fps, 1080p
-----
Another thing that I had to deal with this time was the flashing overheating icon on the display of my 550D. It occured after only 250 shots! So I do really recommend to place your camera in some shade or make shadow with some objects before you start the shooting. The low battery icon was also flashing on this shoot, but the camera still had enough power to finish the shooting.
Here are some pictures of my setup and the flashing icons on the display (shot with my 1st gen. iPhone).
As you can see nothing special. Kit lens, cheap timer remote cord from China and an old tripod I got for free ;)
I hope this was helpful.
Cheers,
jonni
Here's some data from the video:
cam: Canon 550D
lens: Canon EF-S 18-55 f/3.5-5.6
settings: manual mode, 36mm, MF, f/4.0, ISO 100, 1/2500s, picture size small
production: interval 10s, 393 pictures, 24fps, 1080p
-----
Another thing that I had to deal with this time was the flashing overheating icon on the display of my 550D. It occured after only 250 shots! So I do really recommend to place your camera in some shade or make shadow with some objects before you start the shooting. The low battery icon was also flashing on this shoot, but the camera still had enough power to finish the shooting.
Here are some pictures of my setup and the flashing icons on the display (shot with my 1st gen. iPhone).
As you can see nothing special. Kit lens, cheap timer remote cord from China and an old tripod I got for free ;)
I hope this was helpful.
Cheers,
jonni
2010/06/09
The DSLR Cinematography Guide
If you're new to DSLR cinematography, check out this article. It's very helpful and teaches you all the basics for shooting videos with an DSLR as well as a lot of stuff you would have never thought of could be relevant.
If you like it consider a donation - you'll get rewarded with a printable pdf version. My rating: 5/5.
Cheers,
jonni
If you like it consider a donation - you'll get rewarded with a printable pdf version. My rating: 5/5.
Cheers,
jonni
2010/06/08
Timelapse test 1
Here's the 1st timelapse video that I recorded with my new timer remote cord.
I did a lot of mistakes, but I'm still learning and I learned a lot from this short video. I forgot to set the ISO to a fixed value. Therefore there's a lot of flickering in the video (looks ugly because you can see that the video was created with single captured photos). This won't happen again the next time I shoot a timelapse video ;)
Here's some data from the video above:
cam: Canon 550D
lens: Canon EF 50 f/1.8
settings: MF, f/1.8, ISO auto, AV auto, picture size small
production: interval 4s, 356 pictures, converted to 1080p with VirtualDub, 24fps
If you don't know how to make a video out of a lot of stills, check this tutorial - it's really easy.
Cheers,
jonni
I did a lot of mistakes, but I'm still learning and I learned a lot from this short video. I forgot to set the ISO to a fixed value. Therefore there's a lot of flickering in the video (looks ugly because you can see that the video was created with single captured photos). This won't happen again the next time I shoot a timelapse video ;)
Here's some data from the video above:
cam: Canon 550D
lens: Canon EF 50 f/1.8
settings: MF, f/1.8, ISO auto, AV auto, picture size small
production: interval 4s, 356 pictures, converted to 1080p with VirtualDub, 24fps
If you don't know how to make a video out of a lot of stills, check this tutorial - it's really easy.
Cheers,
jonni
2010/06/06
Tips for timelapse photography (updated)
How to shoot nice timelapse videos:
- Turn off the auto focus before you start shooting. This will avoid image "pumping" and also increase the battery life of your camera. I do focus with AF and then switch to MF - this helps me to find the right focus.
- Select a shutter speed that captures the movement in your shot. This will result in a fluid video. If your shutter speed is too fast, your video will look clipped. So choose longer shutter speeds. If your image is to bright go for higher f's or use a ND filter to reduce the light that gets into your lens.
- If your subject is moving fast (cars) select a short interval time. If it's moving slow (flowers) the interval can be longer.
- Check your camera settings before shooting the timelapse. Manual mode should be preferred. You don't need RAW and big sized images for a timelapse videos, so change it to JPG and choose a smaller size.
- Think of the ISO you want to set (keep it low to avoid noise), don't leave it on automatic. If you do so you will se ugly flickering in your video.
- Turn down the brightness of the screen and swith off the image review to increase the battery life.
- Last but not least, check your battery power and the space on your memory card before shooting the lapse. This will avoid a freak out that - in the worst case - can lead to a broken camera ;)
Continuous interval shooting is not the best treatment for your camera. Mirror and shutter are designed for a specific number of shots (some say 100.000 some say more - I don't know how long they last, but I don't want mine to get repaired). Mirror lock does not work for liveview mode (which I prefer because I think the mirror has to work less in liveview mode), but it can be very helpful when your exposure is around 1/15 and you don't want your shots to get shaky (remember that you have to turn off liveview and that only every second shot is recorded to your card).
I hope this helps. If you have other tips or if you know how to protect the mirror and shutter write a comment please.
Cheers,
jonni
- Turn off the auto focus before you start shooting. This will avoid image "pumping" and also increase the battery life of your camera. I do focus with AF and then switch to MF - this helps me to find the right focus.
- Select a shutter speed that captures the movement in your shot. This will result in a fluid video. If your shutter speed is too fast, your video will look clipped. So choose longer shutter speeds. If your image is to bright go for higher f's or use a ND filter to reduce the light that gets into your lens.
- If your subject is moving fast (cars) select a short interval time. If it's moving slow (flowers) the interval can be longer.
- Check your camera settings before shooting the timelapse. Manual mode should be preferred. You don't need RAW and big sized images for a timelapse videos, so change it to JPG and choose a smaller size.
- Think of the ISO you want to set (keep it low to avoid noise), don't leave it on automatic. If you do so you will se ugly flickering in your video.
- Turn down the brightness of the screen and swith off the image review to increase the battery life.
- Last but not least, check your battery power and the space on your memory card before shooting the lapse. This will avoid a freak out that - in the worst case - can lead to a broken camera ;)
Continuous interval shooting is not the best treatment for your camera. Mirror and shutter are designed for a specific number of shots (some say 100.000 some say more - I don't know how long they last, but I don't want mine to get repaired). Mirror lock does not work for liveview mode (which I prefer because I think the mirror has to work less in liveview mode), but it can be very helpful when your exposure is around 1/15 and you don't want your shots to get shaky (remember that you have to turn off liveview and that only every second shot is recorded to your card).
I hope this helps. If you have other tips or if you know how to protect the mirror and shutter write a comment please.
Cheers,
jonni
2010/06/05
Shoot MC-36B timer remote cord for the Canon 550D
My timer remote cord for the 550D arrived yesterday - here's the unboxing video.
I ordered it for 24.30 Euros ($29.98) on ebay (shipping for free). The seller was "digital-winway" and shipping to Germany took less than two weeks. On the packaging the model is named "RS-60E3", in the instruction manual it's "MC-36B", which I think is correct (google search). Build quality is really good, the buttons seem to last a while and even the display is illuminated. Another great thing is that batteries are included, even if this is not mentioned in the article description. I would say this is definitely a good deal. By the way, the manual is in English.
This is not the cheapest remote cord for the 550D, but I decided to buy this one because it looks reliable and i has two batteries - which means it can work a while. It's also very important to mention that you can set the number of shots to infinity. This is what you need when shooting timelapses - and that's what I bought this thing for ;)
Some data:
timer delay: 0s up to ~100h
exposure time: 0s up to ~100h
interval: 1s up to ~100h
number of shots: 1 to 399 or -- (unlimited)
power: 2x AAA 1.5V alkine batteries
battery life: 2 months of continuous shooting
Here you go with my first and second test video and some tips for timelapse photography.
Cheers,
jonni
I ordered it for 24.30 Euros ($29.98) on ebay (shipping for free). The seller was "digital-winway" and shipping to Germany took less than two weeks. On the packaging the model is named "RS-60E3", in the instruction manual it's "MC-36B", which I think is correct (google search). Build quality is really good, the buttons seem to last a while and even the display is illuminated. Another great thing is that batteries are included, even if this is not mentioned in the article description. I would say this is definitely a good deal. By the way, the manual is in English.
This is not the cheapest remote cord for the 550D, but I decided to buy this one because it looks reliable and i has two batteries - which means it can work a while. It's also very important to mention that you can set the number of shots to infinity. This is what you need when shooting timelapses - and that's what I bought this thing for ;)
Some data:
timer delay: 0s up to ~100h
exposure time: 0s up to ~100h
interval: 1s up to ~100h
number of shots: 1 to 399 or -- (unlimited)
power: 2x AAA 1.5V alkine batteries
battery life: 2 months of continuous shooting
Here you go with my first and second test video and some tips for timelapse photography.
Cheers,
jonni
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