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  • 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 :)

NATURAL HISTORY CINEMATOGRAPHY

Pete Barden said:
Hey guys. I am in a slight quandary and wondered if anyone could give some advice. As per previous posts in this thread, I've been shooting with the Canon 100-400L with a 2x extender on the Scarlet with blurry results at the 800mm end. I managed to pick up a second hand Canon 500mm 4.5L for £900 off of ebay. The optics are good, but something called the flex needs replaced which powers the manual/auto focus and the part is no longer available from Canon. I'm sure with a good deal of hunting about I'll find the part and it will probably be worth replacing, but by that time I'll have filmed a series with lots of blurry close-ups! So I now need to very quickly get hold of an alternative lens. I know Christian mentioned the Canon 600mm prime and the 150-600 previously, but I would need to buy second hand and I'm already in the field so getting hands on to test would be difficult before buying. The other consideration is that I'm finding I'm nearly always shooting at 800mm and would go further if I could in several scenarios. I'm on a limited budget but I'm thinking of stretching to something like the Sigma 300-800mm 5.6, which is £5489. It has good reviews and would mean that I wouldn't have to use an extender most of the time. I'd be grateful if anyone has any advice before I make the commitment. It might help me sleep better at night!

Many thanks,

Pete
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Hi Peter, I think Dennis Buhot, a nice guy and RED user from France uses the Sigma 300-800 with the RED One MX. Maybe you can ask him... Hope it helps!
Regards
 
Alberto Saiz said:
Hi Peter, I think Dennis Buhot, a nice guy and RED user from France uses the Sigma 300-800 with the RED One MX. Maybe you can ask him... Hope it helps!
Regards
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Thanks Alberto. That's much appreciated. I'll give him a try in that case.
 
Hi Christian, I really love your work. This for me is a very interesting thread and has given me a lot of information. I am new to the whole Red camera set up having shot mainly on Sony F3 and DSLRs before, but have just got a Scarlet( by the way I am picking up the new LED viewfinder on Friday so I will post on what I think of it). I am about to start a project on Buzzards and I am intending to use my Canon 500 f4, but I am really unsure of how to mount the camera and lens in the best way using the Scarlet ........ help! You can check out my stills etc on http://www.stevehoskins.co.uk/ All the best Steve
 
Great thread!

My name is Brian Hockenstein and I am a local photographer/filmmaker living in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada for the past 12 years. I've been eeking out a small living for that time shooting photos and video, and editing, mostly locally, mostly action-sport related. I have recently begun to take a serious interest in filming Natural History & Wildlife subjects and hope to make this a major part of my work in the near future. Only problem is, I am not quite sure how to break into it, as I am not particularly familiar with that industry. In the meantime, I spend most of my free time filming nature and wildlife as much as I can.

Ideally I'd love to be a freelance Natural History cinematographer, shooting for others productions, locally and beyond but again, I have zero idea where to start and any advice would be more than appreciate.

This is a little rough edit of some black bear shots I scored last sunday:



as well as my cinematography reel:

 
Just wanted to share a frame grab from a doc I did some work for. Epic, Canon L 100mm Macro + extensions. Love the Camera & love the lens.
 

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No one has any advice to offer? Was looking forward to hearing from some top shooters in the field.
 
Hi Brian, nice to see your work, you have some nice shots. I don't know about being a top shooter, but I do keep busy here in Canada, and have shot my own series for Animal Planet, discovery, Nat Geo, and Oasis HD.

If you want, send me an email at michael at serengetifilms dot com I would be happy to share what I know. I used to live in B.C. and miss having the wildness in my back yard.
 
I have been too busy to post anything recently, but thought I would showcase some images from a recent trip to Africa last month. Weather was not great, the sun barely came out. But dam nice to finally have an epic with me. I'm heading back in a few week and expect some great wildlife.

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Sigma 300-600mm

Sigma 300-600mm

Hi Guys, I just recently purchased a Sigma 300-600mm and I'm investigating lens support options for mounting the lens on my Epic.
Has anyone used this lens on an Epic / Scarlet and if so, would you be willing to share your lens support solutions?
Thanks,
Joe
 
Joe Pontecorvo said:
Hi Guys, I just recently purchased a Sigma 300-600mm and I'm investigating lens support options for mounting the lens on my Epic.
Has anyone used this lens on an Epic / Scarlet and if so, would you be willing to share your lens support solutions?
Thanks,
Joe
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Assume you mean the Sigma 300-800?
If it were me I'd use 19mm rods, either with a dovetail if on a big tripod head http://www.woodencamera.com/bridgeplate-19mm or something like this http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/index.php?t=product/vocas_0480-0300 which is just a small plate that you screw your Sachtler wedge or whatever onto.
I personally feel that 19mm rods are much better for long lenses and they're not that heavy.
Steve
 
I agree 19mm bars, we use a Wooden camera or ET base plates. Remember Epic needs raised up 11.8mm to align lens centre correctly. Stainless or good carbon bars work fine.

If the bars are very long with a heavy lens you may also need an extended wedge plate which the front of the bars can rest to provide additional support.

We have a small 19mm to 1/4 20 lens support on to which the lens is supported on to the bars.
 
Dave Blackham said:
I agree 19mm bars, we use a Wooden camera or ET base plates. Remember Epic needs raised up 11.8mm to align lens centre correctly. Stainless or good carbon bars work fine.
.
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True, though that's only for cine stuff like matte boxes etc that are a standard height, not relevant for stills lenses which have randomly-sized tripod feet - it's just suck it and see! Easy to make spacers though.
Good idea about the extra support but I reckon you're talking about seriously heavy lenses like the Optimos, the Sigma is a relatively reasonable (by cine standards) 5kg or so.
Steve
 
Steve Phillipps said:
True, though that's only for cine stuff like matte boxes etc that are a standard height, not relevant for stills lenses which have randomly-sized tripod feet - it's just suck it and see! Easy to make spacers though.
Good idea about the extra support but I reckon you're talking about seriously heavy lenses like the Optimos, the Sigma is a relatively reasonable (by cine standards) 5kg or so.
Steve
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True, you may not need a riser plate but its awkward if you don't have one at times. They are easy to make if needed. The Sigma should be fine with just a good set of bars but something like a large telephoto lens may need additional support. Well over half our work is for Wildlife work and we use as lightweight as possible but sometimes the additional plate is essential.
 
Hi Steve and Dave, I just wanted to thank you for your advise. I went a slightly different way in the end for my 300-800mm Sigma. I am using Really Right Stuff rails based on a recommendation from Isaac Babcock. It does require some modification. I will post the rig as soon as those modifications are complete.
 
sent to me by a fellow wildlife film maker: I'm sure it looks familiar to some of you :)

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Sigma 300-800mm mount

Sigma 300-800mm mount

I just wanted to share my final rig for the Sigma 300-800mm. I ended up going with Really Right Stuff rail system thanks to a recommendation from Isaac Babcock.
 

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