Many cinematographers use warm and cool cards, like the DSCLabs White N’ Warm cards, to create a look in camera. By white balancing your camera on a card with warm (red) color the camera will produce a cooler (blue) balance. The opposite is also true; a cool (blue) card will give a warm (red) white balance. If you white balance off the same card in different lighting environments, then you can consistently achieve the same warm or cool look. What many people don’t know is that this same method can also be achieved in camera through white balance offsets. This option is available in many pro cameras and is simple to set. Depending on the camera, an offset can be applied to the preset, A or B white balance settings. The offset works simply by adjusting the white balance to be cooler or warmer. Just like using the same warm/cool card, the offset will be applied to any white balance that you run. The advantage to using the offset over using the cards is that you can white balance off any white surface and still get the look you are after (of course a nice white card is still advised, if available). Here are a couple examples of how this is set in different cameras.

…continue reading Using White Balance Offsets to Create a Look

With the release of the SxS-1 cards and the MEAD adapters (for Memory stick and SDHC use), Sony announced a firmware update to their XDCAM EX cameras to allow use of these new memory recording options. The Sony UK site has just made this update available, and the good news is that anyone can perform these updates. The EX1 and EX3 require software (for PC & Mac), but the EX1R and EX350 can be upgraded using an SxS Card. A comprehensive PDF is included in each download with upgrade instructions. They have posted some of these upgrades already, but the EX1 firmware may not be available until Monday. Visit the Sony UK site to start downloading. UPDATE: The Sony US site has also posted these updates, and our customers say that they have had better luck using them.

Here is a list of the updates for each camera.

…continue reading XDCAM EX Firmware Updates Now Available

Sony recently announced the MEAD-MS01, a memory stick adapter that works in the EX line of cameras. This is a low-cost alternative to the SxS card and is really handy when in a bind. For sometime now, there have been different SDHC card adapters that work with the EX cameras including the MxR and SxSxSDHC card adapters. Now Sony has come out with their own version – the MEAD-SD01. This will work in very much the same way as those other adapters, but it’s nice to see one officially sanctioned by Sony. The EX1 original and EX3 will require a firmware upgrade to work with the MEAD-MS01 and MEAD-SD01 adapters. Additionally Sony has announced that Class 10 SDHC cards will be supported with their adapter, but ALL EX cameras (EX1, EX1R, EX3, PMW350) will require a firmware upgrade to use Class 10 cards. The SD adapter will be available in mid-March, and you can look for this firmware upgrade earlier that month. Sony has officially tested and sanctioned the following SanDisk Class 10 cards – DSDX3-032G-A31A for 32GB, SDSDX3-016G-A31A for 16GB, SDSDX3-008G-A31A for 8GB.

Sony recently released a new version of their XDCAM EX Clip Browser with a couple of great new features. If you aren’t familiar with the software, it is Sony’s free tool for working with XDCAM EX clips. It allows users to download, subclip and add metadata to clips. It’s the best tool out there for working with EX material…and it’s free.

In this latest release, Sony added a Flash Band correction function. This will scan your clips and look for banding created by flashes. It is very similar to what the Panasonic HPX300 does in-camera. This is an important function for anyone shooting live events, or anywhere where there’s flash photography.

…continue reading New Features in Sony’s EX Clip Browser 2.6

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Released last year, the Arri MMB-1 mattebox is a well-made, low cost mattebox that was originally conceived for compact HD cameras such as the Sony PMW-EX1 and EX3. Now Arri has released a group of accessories to expand the use of the MMB-1 for any camera. Watch the video to see how they all work together.

Visit Abel’s Booth C8537 at NAB to see these Arri matteboxes and accessories.

It appears that the Sony EX cameras exhibit the same form of IR sensitivity that the Sony F35 and the Panavision Genesis do. Therefore the best filter for these cameras is not an IR Hot Mirror but instead a Tiffen IR ND non-Hot Mirror filter. This filter set was created for the F35 and Genesis. It is also less expensive than the Hot Mirror type filters such as the Formatts we sell for the RED.

Please note that different types of cameras and sensors require different type of filtration. The Formatts remain the recommended solution for the RED but the Tiffen non-Hot Mirror product is best for the EX1/EX3.

Art Adams over at ProvideoCoalition.com is doing an IR Filter Shoot Out to see how filters from three manufacturers work with the RED, F35 and EX Cameras. You can check those tests out here.