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We just received our first batch of Canon 5D Mark II cameras in, and of course we had to kit them out with the Arri MMB-1 Mattebox. We love the mattebox and have put together a custom kit that makes the 5D Mark II and Canon L Series Primes fit just right. Check out the video showing this awesome combination, and see how we made everything work together.

Update: In the video I use a Tiffen 72-77mm filter step up ring on the Canon lens. This ring is normally used to put a 77mm screw on filter on a 72mm lens, but in this kit we are using it as a step-up ring. The outer diameter of the Tiffen ring is 80mm, so it fits perfectly with the Arri step-down rings.

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On Saturday August 1, colleagues from Abel Cine Tech Burbank and I presented the Phantom HD high-speed digital camera at the Directors Guild in Hollywood, as part of the DGA’s annual “Digital Day”. This year’s event was named “Digital on a Dime: Create Your Own Stimulus Package”. DGA members attended seminars, watched screenings and visited exhibits, which were set up in the lobby of the Directors Guild headquarters on Sunset Blvd.

Abel’s Phantom exhibit included an interactive display where visitors were asked to break a water balloon inside an empty aquarium, then watch the super slow motion 1,000 frame per second playback shot on the Phantom camera and recorded on the Phantom CineMag. “Wow!” was the general reaction of those who saw the water momentarily hold the balloon shape, then slowly fall into thousands of droplets.

Phantom HD footage from commercials and other projects, was shown in Theater Two at the Directors Guild, along with footage from other digital cameras. We heard many complimentary comments about the Phantom HD images and how they “popped” in comparison with other cameras.

Pictured in the gallery above demonstrating the Phantom HD and answering questions, is the team from Abel Cine Tech Burbank. They are Service Tech, Juliet Verni; Digital Cinema Specialist, Sean Coles; and head of West Coast Production Sales, Jerrod Haarstad.

This is the first part of the ENG Essentials – Camera Matching series, and the first step to matching two cameras. White Shading is an in-camera process where a lens is matched with a camera’s sensor. Every lens and every sensor have unique characteristics, and the combination will often produce uneven color across your image. White shading corrects for this uneven color by adjusting individual color channels (R,G,B) from top and bottom and from left to right. This is done with a Leader waveform monitor and a white sphere that is designed to produce even white light.

Another important step after white shading a camera is to match white balance values. All pro cameras have preset and user defined white balance values – the P,A,B switch. If you run a white balance on two cameras looking at the same white card, in the same lighting environment, you will get very similar results. But if you plan to use the preset values (3200K,5600K) we need to be sure that both camera actually produce the same color white. Different lenses produce different white values, so even though the camera thinks you are at 3200K, it may be completely wrong. This can be corrected for by adjusting offset values in the camera, and making sure that both cameras have matching white values.

Watch my video below to see how these two steps are done.

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Following in the footsteps of the Leatherman and the Maglite, the iPhone has become one of those ubiquitous tools that is on every set. With 50,000 apps available, there were bound to be some clever programs written for use in our industry. (We can’t all spend our days pretending to wield lightsabers…) Here’s a list I compiled of some clever apps that may be useful. All are available at the iTunes Apps Store.

pCam (David Eubank, $39.99)
The mother of all lens calculators. Originally written for the old Palm Pilot, pCam has been updated for the iPhone with an intuitive graphical interface. It calculates depth of field, field of view, focus splits, hyperfocal distance, exposure compensation, running time, HMI safe speeds and shutters, color correction filters, diopter shift, macro, time lapse, underwater focus distance, illumination beam intensity, light coverage and even has a built-in Siemen’s Star focus chart.

iSee4k (Edward Watkins, free with $7.50 donation request)
A must when using the RED One camera. Calculators for depth of field, field of view, storage requirements in both space and time, frame rate & timebase settings and workflow throughput.

…continue reading iPhone Apps for the Modern Cinematographer