Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Epic VS 5DMK2 (Photography)

M

Mohamed Younis

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 18, 2011
Messages
453
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Cairo-Egypt
I've already posted that I have some trouble with shooting a video while a photographer is shooting some stills for a fashion magazine. It's in a night club and he wants to use strobe lights which would pretty much ruin the video. I'm trying to talk him into pulling some stills from the Epic instead of using his 5D.
I think the Epic will be a lot better. Some of you are photographers and I'd like to know what you'd think
Thanks
 
He insists on using it. I just want some valid points besides the obvious....
 
If the photographer is shooting the stills and he doesn't have experience with the Epic then you are going to get better pictures with the Canon. No matter how good the tool is, if you aren't proficient with it, the results will be compromised. I shoot more stills than motion and I've been comparing my Epic to my Medium Format digital back in many situations. I can often get better results with the Epic, but until I learn how to use it best in every possible situation it's not going to work as well as my still camera. Don't discount learning curves and comfort levels, those all play heavily into the final success of any shoot. I can't wait to go out on a shoot and take only the Epic with me but I , as the operator, am not proficient enough with it yet to be comfortable with that approach.
 
Take a look at Jannards post here -->http://reduser.net/forum/showthread.php?65362-Peter-Lik...

Obviously he knows how to use his EPIC well and so well that it apparently goes head to head with some 80MP monster,

I agree with Christopher that if you know your equipment really well you can get results from it if you understand it within any given situation and play to its strengths...

If you don't things can easily go belly up obviously,

Most photographers wouldn't want to believe that something like the EPIC can pull anything worth putting into a Magazine or even for print use but I remember a lot of discussion here in the EPIC part of the forum of people finding it perfectly fine for those applications

so it really is capable of it...

Just down to A. your ability with the equipment and B. that you can provide the photographer examples of what YOU have done in terms of stills with the EPIC to make him comfortable with the idea that he will need to avoid strobes and pull stills from motion (ala DSMC)

if you can't do B cause you don't have such a portfolio yet its going to be an up hill battle till you do, in some cases at least
 
It's all down to lighting, the photographer only needs lighting for a split seccond, so the lighting budget will be way smaller.
 
I'm trying to film some stuff tomorrow to get some stills. Should I use the hdrx to pull stills? Or just go for high shutter speeds from the beginning. What kind of lights would I need to match the strobes if i'm going with the Epic.
 
Our Red One Mx at 4K 16:9 already resolves more real clean information than our 5DII in stills mode - and the latitude of Red Raw is greater - also dynamic range cannot be compared - on Red it s FAR greater in Red Raw than with a Raw 5D still. On top of it all, the grain on huge zoom-ins looks nice on Red - but awful on a 5D. Sharpness edge-to edge is not as good on 5D, probably because sensor alignment QC is less high at Canon than at Red, as is OLPF QC. So... Maybe it's 21 MP vs less than half of that, but you have to ask, 21MP of what?
 
It's a nightclub so I would think random flashing would be part of the look. However, none of this comes down to tech specs. You both are paid to deliver things that use 2 completely different disciplines when making the best of your art. That still photographers images synced to his strobes at the angles he wants will be far more specialized for what he is going for than your what your video plans will be. Would you hire a paramedic over a heart surgeon because they both use 'medical stuff'? Besides I can see his point. If someone came to me as the photographer and said, hey the video guy wants you to take images from his video shoot, I would be livid. But it all comes down to how the client is paying as well. Is this a photo shoot and you are there to pick up what you can? Or is this an expensive motion picture shoot and the still guy is there to just grab what he can. That's a HUGE difference. When I shoot spots for TV there is occasionally a still guy but he stays out of our way and we work a scheduling thing out with them so that when I'm done with a set and move to the next they can jump in. Or we split a little time if needed.
 
I have to agree with Mr Smith. Don't try and dissuade people from using the equipment they are most comfortable with. I tell people all the time that I would shoot with ANY camera, as long as I have total control over light. The opposite is not true.

Their is no reason why you shouldn't be able to work around each other, and if the strobes are ruining your video, then you can address that issue specifically.
 
Chris Smith said:
It's a nightclub so I would think random flashing would be part of the look. However, none of this comes down to tech specs. You both are paid to deliver things that use 2 completely different disciplines when making the best of your art. That still photographers images synced to his strobes at the angles he wants will be far more specialized for what he is going for than your what your video plans will be. Would you hire a paramedic over a heart surgeon because they both use 'medical stuff'? Besides I can see his point. If someone came to me as the photographer and said, hey the video guy wants you to take images from his video shoot, I would be livid. But it all comes down to how the client is paying as well. Is this a photo shoot and you are there to pick up what you can? Or is this an expensive motion picture shoot and the still guy is there to just grab what he can. That's a HUGE difference. When I shoot spots for TV there is occasionally a still guy but he stays out of our way and we work a scheduling thing out with them so that when I'm done with a set and move to the next they can jump in. Or we split a little time if needed.
Click to expand...
As i said earlier, photos are being used for the magazine and the video as a promo on their website. I think they'll care more about the photos should we end up disagreeing on lights. The thing is I didnt tell him he could just take some stills from whatever I shoot. I told him that I'll give him all the time needed to shoot should he decide to use the Epic. I want to know if there are some continuous lights that would be a good substitute to his strobes.
 
Yeah, I have to agree with Paul and say that taking turns seems the only solution here.
I don't think the photog is going to get exactly what he needs from your footage. If I were him, I'd be looking for a very specific look that I'd only get with my strobes.
 
Is some cases the stills guy could use flash in your shots, like if you are shooting wide and he uses a small on camera flash and isolates on tight subjects. The flash will create a horizontal streak on the frame but if the scene is chaotic enough with lots of other flashing lights it may look fine. Ive done this and actually had assistants with extra flashes just fire them off randomly and rapidly so it creates a lighting effect to mask the occasional real flash but the stills shooter.
 
Mohamed Younis said:
As i said earlier, photos are being used for the magazine and the video as a promo on their website. I think they'll care more about the photos should we end up disagreeing on lights. The thing is I didnt tell him he could just take some stills from whatever I shoot. I told him that I'll give him all the time needed to shoot should he decide to use the Epic. I want to know if there are some continuous lights that would be a good substitute to his strobes.
Click to expand...

You will need quite a large constant light source to reproduce the amount of light a strobe puts off.
 
Maurice M said:
Yeah, I have to agree with Paul and say that taking turns seems the only solution here.
I don't think the photog is going to get exactly what he needs from your footage. If I were him, I'd be looking for a very specific look that I'd only get with my strobes.
Click to expand...

...or some massive lights and a crew to help. :-)
 
Mohamed Younis said:
I want to know if there are some continuous lights that would be a good substitute to his strobes.
Click to expand...

I said it before and I'll say it again: Briese light.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top