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Best Memory cards for DSLR video shooting

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Memory cards are the first place your video or photos are saved to when you use your cameras. Take a quick look around your local electronics store and you'll find that memory cards come in many different shapes, sizes, and speeds, but all do the same thing - hold your awesome footage.

Different types of memory cards used for video:
SD (Secure Digital) - This is the most common form of memory card for standard cameras these days. It is considered the industry standard. It is widely used in point & shoot cameras, and is even making its way into Digital SLR cameras. It comes in a variety of physical sizes and storage sizes. MiniSDs and MicroSDs are smaller versions made for mobile phones. There are few different types concerning storage size. SDSC (SD Standard Capacity) is the normal size and can hold up to 2GB. SDHC (SD High Capacity) can hold between 4GB and 32GB. SDXC (SD Extreme Capacity) is the newest and largest size, holding between 32GB and 2TBs of data!
CF (Compact Flash) - On the more professional end, Compact Flash cards are used most often in Digital SLR cameras. They can potentially come in sizes over 2TB! These also come in four different speeds, the normal CF, CF High Speed, CF 3.0, and CF 4.0.
P2 - P2 doesn't quite fit in this list because they only work with high-end Panasonic cameras. While these are bigger and more expensive, they certainly are what you need if you have a professional Panasonic camera.


Things to know about memory cards:
Transfer your videos or photos. This can be done a few ways, all of them relatively simple. Most cameras will come with a USB cord that will connect your camera with your computer. If your memory card is in your camera and you connect the USB into your computer, a folder with all of the files on your memory card will open. You can also use a memory card reader (see photo below) that you would purchase separately, which has slots for different types of memory cards. Some computers and printers have built-in card readers, most typically for SD cards.
Formatting the card. This means to completely erase everything on the card. And I mean, everything. You can format the card with a computer program, but it is easier to do it right within the camera. Make sure you have all of those precious photos and videos saved before you format

Protect the data. On SD cards, there is an optional small tab that you can flip to protect all of the videos or photos that you just took. When this tab is flipped, you can only view the photos on the card, and not delete them, or take new photos. You can also copy the data to the computer.
Be prepared. When shooting video, always bring extra memory cards! Even if you have a really large card that will hold a lot of video, it's a good idea to have a backup card.




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posted by DSLR MASTER, 10:50 AM | link | 0 comments |
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Ten Lighting Setups by John Note

Saturday, March 19, 2011

This was a project for John Note's lighting class. Each shot had specific details on which to follow, which are explained in the video. In more depth, here are the ten shot assignments.



1. A three-quarter or waist-high silhouette of 1 or 2 people perfectly exposed for the background
with the foreground figure(s) completely dark. There should be enough distance between foreground
and background that the spill of one area does not interfere with the other.

2. Invert the lighting in #1, using exactly the same pose and framing with perfectly exposed
foreground figures at 4:1 key/fill (two stops) and completely dark or just barely visible details in the
background.

3. A waist-high person in soft (diffused) side light, no fill light, and a specular edge light from the
opposite side with the background as dark and unlit as possible. An incident reading of the edge light
should be about the same f/stop as the key light if the subject has light features, or one stop brighter
if the subject has dark features. Expose for the diffused key light.

4. Identical pose and framing to #3 but with added light and shadow (using barn doors, or other
shadowing material) shaping and highlighting the background (think of it as painting the background
with light and shadow).

5. A scene with a standing or seated person, a candle (either held by hand or on a table) seemingly
lighting the person but actually enhanced with additional light, and a circular glow simulating the
effect of the candlelight on the background.

6. A person reading in bed by lamplight at midnight (implied by light, shadow, framing, ratio,
composition, and a “practical”).

7. A person sleeping in bed at 3 am with shadows implying moonlight coming through unseen
foliage or blinds onto part of the scene. You may want to gel the moonlight source or the fill light
with a blue or other color gel.

8. A person in bed at sunrise (implied by light, shadow, color, and composition).

9. Simulate the pose, surface tones, and light of a specific frame from a film of your choosing. If
possible, also turn in a still image of that frame.

10.
Shoot an interior still with at least one person in it using whatever light sources already exist in
the location (lamps, overhead lights, windows, etc.), but without showing any of those sources in the
frame. Now, turn off/cover those sources and replicate, as nearly as possible, that scene using only
artificial lighting. Also shoot wide shots of both the “natural” lighting sources and the artificial
sources.

Since it is available in video, instead of using gels, I white balanced off of different color swatches, for a greener look, I white balanced off of a magenta tone, blue look, orange tone, etc...

John also lowered the blacks and raised the mids in Color, to give the video a more filmic look.





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Aperture and F-Stops

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Ansel Adams said, “There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.”


While that sentiment is undoubtedly sweet, I have to respectfully disagree. Ansel, my man, you of all people know that there are certain rules that simply can't be ignored when it comes to cameras. Today I'll be going over one of the most important ones-- careful consideration of the aperture

What is this aperture you speak of?

Camera lenses are engineered much like our eyes-- they are responsible for collecting light, arranging it into an image that makes sense of the world around us. The aperture is the diameter of the lens opening, and similar to our pupils, which open and close in varying situations of light, it is controlled by an iris. The larger the diameter of the aperture, the more light reaches the film or image sensor.

(Note: Many point-and-shoot or cell phone cameras have an automated aperture. Keep in mind that it is still important to understand what these mechanisms do in order to take advantage of their capabilities!)

How do I control it?

Aperture is expressed as F-stop and will be indicated on your camera in abbreviations that look like this: F2.8 or f/2.8
The "F" stands for the focal length of your lens, and the number indicates the diameter of the iris opening. When the aperture is opened up by one F-stop, the amount of light which reaches the sensor is doubled.

A handy rule of thumb is that the smaller your F-stop number (or f/value) is, the larger the lens opening (or aperture) will be. For instance, f/1.8 would be a large opening, letting in lots of light, and f/22 would be a tiny opening, letting in barely any light. Make sense? I know, it's a little tricky. Let's tune into our pal --jL for a break down


Okay, so what does it effect?

Along with the shutter speed, the aperture size manages the film or image sensor's magnitude of exposure to light. In most cases, a fast shutter speed will require a larger aperture in order to provide sufficient light, and a slow shutter speed will require a smaller aperture to avoid overexposure.

The aperture also performs a critical function for focus. As the aperture decreases in size, the background and foreground gain sharpness. This zone of sharpness is called the depth of field. A large depth of field means that most of your image will be in focus regardless of its distance from your camera, and can be achieved with an F-stop of something like f/22. This is a popular technique for landscape photographers.

However, if you open the aperture to a wide setting like f/2, you will create a shallow depth of field. Foreground and background will have a soft focus, and the middle region and objects will be sharp. This can sometimes create a more dynamic composition, luring the eye to specific areas and separating the subject from their surroundings. You'll see this technique often in portrait photography, for instance.

But don't take our word for it
Grab your camera and start playing around with your F-stop settings. After all, the best way to learn is through good ol' fashioned trial and error. But be careful! It's addictive.



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