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SL video set up


leica1215

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Some are deservedly expensive, because they are motorized wireless. Some are just because the manufacturers refuse to face the reality of an onslaught of the decent quality cine equipment from China.

The super cheap ones have gears made of plastic, and that's bad. Better ones are all metal, and this is what you want. Get something like Fotga DP500 Mark II. This one is made of aluminum, has hard stops and replaceable driving gear.

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Irakly, any thoughts on the subject of gimbals and gyro stabilizers for shots where you have to move with the subject but don't have access to fancy booms or dollies?

 

I picked up a Steadicam Merlin, which B&H was discounting to 20% of its usual selling price.  After investing about 5-10 hours in mastering its setup with different cameras (it requires rebalancing if you even zoom), I can see some of the magic but question the effort required to use it skillfully.  

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I am shopping around the follow focus for the SL, some are only few hundred bucks do not get why some of the follow focus are so expensive 2, 3K ? i never used one before, can someone share the hands on differences?

 

The ones that are 2 or 3K are made for professional users, they are the same product that are used in "Hollywood" movies.

I've used Arri follow-focus gears that were at least 25 years old, and they were still as good as new, even though they've been rented-out to hundreds of productions.

 

Needless to say that you probably don't need that level of quality for your own videos, unless you are unusually hard on equipment.

 

Cheap follow-focus kits are much more likely to exhibit gear lash, looseness, and inconsistent feel. As always with cine gear, the sweet spot in the market is probably around twice what one would consider a "reasonable price."

Don't forget that you also need to add rods to your camera, and attach everything in a way that is reasonably immune to twisting. It should go without saying that you also need lenses with 0.8 focus gears. I've never used a friction wheel follow-focus, but I can't imaging that they work reliably.

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any thoughts on the subject of gimbals and gyro stabilizers for shots where you have to move with the subject but don't have access to fancy booms or dollies?

Scott,

 

There's always the low-budget Steadicam: mount your camera in the middle of a long piece of wood (2 by 4), holding each end. You can also get surprisingly decent results using a cage with two side handles, and a wide angle lens. OIS can help or harm in this situation, best to run some tests to see what you prefer.

 

Counterweight stabilizers like Steadicams and Glidecams take a lot of talent, patience, and practice to master. They also have a distinct visual feel which may or may not suit your video. A beautifully executed Steadicam shot is a thing of beauty, but it doesn't always help the story move forward.

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The easiest yet effective to stabilize is to use a cage with two side handles and a camera strap around your body under armpits. Around-the-neck arrangement works too, but you'll get tired faster. The idea is to create a stable system by tensioning the strap while pressing your elbows against the rib cage and pivoting/hovering the body for panning.

 

There is even a simpler solution, which is to use a rope with one side connected to a tripod mount on the bottom of the camera, and the other you simply step on. The only problem with this setup is that you can't walk with it.

 

a gimbal is super cool, except focusing is a nightmare. regular follow focus won't work, as using it will throw the whole contraption out of balance. So, either wireless follow-focus, or f/8 :)

 

In any case, always use digital video stabilization mode, it really helps with any type of footage, especially 120 fps.

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Scott,

 

There's always the low-budget Steadicam: mount your camera in the middle of a long piece of wood (2 by 4), holding each end. You can also get surprisingly decent results using a cage with two side handles, and a wide angle lens. OIS can help or harm in this situation, best to run some tests to see what you prefer.

 

Counterweight stabilizers like Steadicams and Glidecams take a lot of talent, patience, and practice to master. They also have a distinct visual feel which may or may not suit your video. A beautifully executed Steadicam shot is a thing of beauty, but it doesn't always help the story move forward.

Indeed, sometimes handheld look is preferable, makes everything feel more alive, especially in documentary/mockumentary stuff.

Edited by Irakly Shanidze
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The easiest yet effective to stabilize is to use a cage with two side handles and a camera strap around your body under armpits. Around-the-neck arrangement works too, but you'll get tired faster. The idea is to create a stable system by tensioning the strap while pressing your elbows against the rib cage and pivoting/hovering the body for panning.

 

There is even a simpler solution, which is to use a rope with one side connected to a tripod mount on the bottom of the camera, and the other you simply step on. The only problem with this setup is that you can't walk with it.

 

a gimbal is super cool, except focusing is a nightmare. regular follow focus won't work, as using it will throw the whole contraption out of balance. So, either wireless follow-focus, or f/8 :)

 

In any case, always use digital video stabilization mode, it really helps with any type of footage, especially 120 fps.

I remember the rope to the foot trick as an old hiker's ploy for still images.  I'd use digital stabilization, but the 4K codecs on the SL don't offer it (at least C4k does not).  I guess UHD at 120 FPS, where this is available, may be the default for walkabout shots.

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I remember the rope to the foot trick as an old hiker's ploy for still images.  I'd use digital stabilization, but the 4K codecs on the SL don't offer it (at least C4k does not).  I guess UHD at 120 FPS, where this is available, may be the default for walkabout shots.

 

Scott, I am not sure what you mean about the 4K codecs. Video stabilization is an option found in video settings of the menu, and it works with any resolution and frame rate.

120 fps is cool, and 120 fps in UHD is to die for, just keep in mind that you will need five times more storage space for this footage :) 

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I have only been shooting in C4K 24P (to maximize the in-camera bandwidth that it supplies), and video automatic stabilization is greyed out.  In fact it is greyed out for all video modes, not just C4K.  Any idea what other setting I have made that would force it off?  For your use, are you always in HTML output?

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Love my SLs, and have gear to make the video experience more practical, i.e. LockCircle cage, PL adapter, Pix-E5 recorder. Alas, the camera's high ISO performance (800 and above) in video is a crushing disappointment. When recording internally at ISO 1600, noise reduction reduces shadow areas to mush. When recording externally, shadow areas are recorded as brilliant, vibrant chunks of noise. For video, the SL is a camera that requires a lot of light. No way around it.

 

Tom

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Love my SLs, and have gear to make the video experience more practical, i.e. LockCircle cage, PL adapter, Pix-E5 recorder. Alas, the camera's high ISO performance (800 and above) in video is a crushing disappointment. When recording internally at ISO 1600, noise reduction reduces shadow areas to mush. When recording externally, shadow areas are recorded as brilliant, vibrant chunks of noise. For video, the SL is a camera that requires a lot of light. No way around it.

 

Tom

 

Is it really? :)))

Lockcircle cage is certainly state-of-the-art, but it won't help you realize that you have at least two-stop gain when shooting in L-Log. When shooting externally, ISO400 will be more than adequate for most lighting situations at 24fps using 24-90. Before bashing the camera, it probably would make sense to learn how it works :)

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I have only been shooting in C4K 24P (to maximize the in-camera bandwidth that it supplies), and video automatic stabilization is greyed out.  In fact it is greyed out for all video modes, not just C4K.  Any idea what other setting I have made that would force it off?  For your use, are you always in HTML output?

That's weird... Mine is always functional regardless of the type of output, video mode, or a lens used. 

Also just from my practical experience ultra HD is quite sufficient for editing with a subsequent conversion into 1080P, is the difference between ultra HD and C4K is negligible in terms of the final result. In fact, it is better to record an ultra HD using 4:2:2 prores HQ than recording C4K internally as compressed 4:2:0 footage.

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If your output format is 16:9 1080 (1920 x 1080) or 2160 (3840 × 2160), then you gain nothing by shooting in DCI 4k (4096 × 2160). You will need to crop down to 16:9, or re-sample and letterbox.

 

The DCI 4K format is used for wider formats (2:1 ratio or wider) and for anamorphic.

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If your output format is 16:9 1080 (1920 x 1080) or 2160 (3840 × 2160), then you gain nothing by shooting in DCI 4k (4096 × 2160). You will need to crop down to 16:9, or re-sample and letterbox.

 

The DCI 4K format is used for wider formats (2:1 ratio or wider) and for anamorphic.

 

You are absolutely right Bernard.

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I'm keen to start trying video, but I'm baffled by a lot of the technical talk here.  I would like to start using the 24-90 and SL-50 for video, and I like the idea of a string tied to your foot.

 

This may have been covered elsewhere, but can someone share the basic settings in the SL to get started?  I would be videoing family stuff mostly, at least at the start.  I don't have a video editing programme yet - I assume that means I have to invest in Final Cut Pro.

 

If this is the wrong place to post, please just point me in the right direction.  I have a high level of ignorance in this field of photography (like, "What's a codec?"), but would be keen to start with a simple set up that can get me going.

 

Cheers

John

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This may have been covered elsewhere, but can someone share the basic settings in the SL to get started?  I would be videoing family stuff mostly, at least at the start.  I don't have a video editing programme yet - I assume that means I have to invest in Final Cut Pro.

I would start with a simple video editor. Do Macs still come with iMovie? Openshot is also very simple and free (and multi-platform). Professional editing software is great for large projects and professional workflows, but it's overkill for home use. All you need to start is a media bin (where you put all your source video/audio files), a timeline to drop the clips onto, and a preview window.

 

Start with default colour settings (not L-Log). You can explore all the more sophisticated options after you've done some simple edits. The only thing I would recommend is manually setting your white balance. That way you won't have jarring colour changes on cuts.

 

If you find that you enjoy making videos, then you can explore more advanced options. You will soon be asking about microphones, external recorders, and more advanced software.

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I have only been shooting in C4K 24P (to maximize the in-camera bandwidth that it supplies), and video automatic stabilization is greyed out.  In fact it is greyed out for all video modes, not just C4K.  Any idea what other setting I have made that would force it off?  For your use, are you always in HTML output?

I was able to wake up video stabilization on my SLs, but it shows a strange link in the firmware.  In general, the SL's video settings are independent of the still image settings, but not entirely...

 

I installed a 90-280 (optically stabilized) SL lens.  That lit up the OIS setting on the last page of the menus, so I turned that ON.  It was then possible to switch on the video stabilization in "video settings" on the IMAGE menu page.  Both work.  I took off the 90-280 and replaced it with first an R lens (MF) and then an S lens (operating in MF with optional AF) and the video stabilization setting continues to work.  Neither lens has OIS, of course.  Curiously, the video stabilization setting is greyed out even when it says it is ON and I go into the menus from a video state, but it seems to be working.

 

If we get a chance to contribute thoughts for firmware 4.0 for the SL, I'll write this up again.

Edited by scott kirkpatrick
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