NATURAL HISTORY CINEMATOGRAPHY

[Robert Hofmeyr]

Heya Rob - nice!

Thanks Clark.

 

[Sean Solowiej]

Great stuff Rob!

 

[Robert Hofmeyr]

Great stuff Rob!

Thanks Sean. I'll try post some video when my computer is back from being repaired.

 

[Sean Solowiej]

Cool Rob, I'd love to see that.
Some of the low light angles do great things on the fur. Nice job placing the sun. it can be tricky to even consider good lighting when you're working with wildlife.

 

[Robert Hofmeyr]

Finally got round to cutting a highlight video from my Kgalagadi footage. Comments and criticism are welcome.

Link: https://vimeo.com/bobhof/kgalagadi

 

[Robert Hofmeyr]

Some grabs from a recent trip to Madagascar. All shot on Dragon. Lenses: Canon 100-400, Canon 100 macro, Nikon 80-200, and Sigma 150-600 sport.

 

[Robert Hofmeyr]

Looks like I'm the only one keeping this thread alive :smile:

Here's a highlights video from Madagascar:

link: https://youtu.be/1jJQAgvNfrg

 

[Michael Maes]

Looks like I'm the only one keeping this thread alive :smile:

Beautiful shots, Rob! Cool angle on the chameleon. Love the (educational) credits too
Thanks for keeping this thread alive!

 

[Robert Hofmeyr]

Beautiful shots, Rob! Cool angle on the chameleon. Love the (educational) credits too
Thanks for keeping this thread alive!

Thanks Michael.

 

[Robert Hofmeyr]

Botswana 2020

Botswana 2020

Some grabs from a Feb 2020 trip to Botswana. Visited the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pan National Parks. Fantastic trip - lots of lions, a few cheetah, thousands of zebra. It was tough going in the heat at times, and the tracks got pretty bad after the rains. Weapon Mg held up admirably as usual.

 

[Rui Guerra]

Some grabs from a recent trip to Madagascar. All shot on Dragon. Lenses: Canon 100-400, Canon 100 macro, Nikon 80-200, and Sigma 150-600 sport.

Hi Robert,

wonderful imagery.
From the long lenses you've mentioned, I wonder what's your favorite long range lens (and why).

Cheers,

 

[Robert Hofmeyr]

Hi Robert,

wonderful imagery.
From the long lenses you've mentioned, I wonder what's your favorite long range lens (and why).

Cheers,

Thanks Rui!

I really like the Canon 100-400 L II. Good range, nice and sharp, small and light, and fast enough for most situations.

When shooting from a vehicle like on my recent Botswana trip, I use my Sigma 300-800 almost exclusively (with my rig it takes a while to change lenses, so I don't do it often, see attached pic). It is fast (5.6 throughout) and very sharp, but also massive and heavy and has no IS, which is a real pain. I definitely would not hike with it, but having 800mm at f5.6 is really nice. Also 300mm can be a bit limiting on the wide end.

I was never mad about the Sigma 150-600 Sport, not entirely sure why, the range is fantastic and it is reasonably sharp.

I'm hoping to one day get myself a Canon 200-400 f4 with built-in 1.4x teleconverter.

 

[Robert Hofmeyr]

All of the Botswana shots on the previous page were shot on the Sigma 300-800, except for the second to last wide of an elephant which was shot on a Canon 24-105.

 

[Rui Guerra]

Thanks Rui!

I really like the Canon 100-400 L II. Good range, nice and sharp, small and light, and fast enough for most situations.

When shooting from a vehicle like on my recent Botswana trip, I use my Sigma 300-800 almost exclusively (with my rig it takes a while to change lenses, so I don't do it often, see attached pic). It is fast (5.6 throughout) and very sharp, but also massive and heavy and has no IS, which is a real pain. I definitely would not hike with it, but having 800mm at f5.6 is really nice. Also 300mm can be a bit limiting on the wide end.

I was never mad about the Sigma 150-600 Sport, not entirely sure why, the range is fantastic and it is reasonably sharp.

I'm hoping to one day get myself a Canon 200-400 f4 with built-in 1.4x teleconverter.

Yes, indeed, the Sigma 300-800 is not very versatile, even more with a minimum focus distance of 6 meters. But it has an outstanding long reach.
Where the clips completely sharp at full resolution and with the lens at 800 mm?

In average, during the morning and late afternoon, could you maintain the f/5.6 with 180 degrees shutter and ISO 800, sordid you hat to sacrifice something?
Have you tried some slow-motion with it?

Thanks.

 

[Robert Hofmeyr]

Yes, indeed, the Sigma 300-800 is not very versatile, even more with a minimum focus distance of 6 meters. But it has an outstanding long reach.
Where the clips completely sharp at full resolution and with the lens at 800 mm?

In average, during the morning and late afternoon, could you maintain the f/5.6 with 180 degrees shutter and ISO 800, sordid you hat to sacrifice something?
Have you tried some slow-motion with it?

Thanks.

I shoot a lot at 50fps, but try to keep my shutter speed a bit faster than 180deg. Usually around 120deg. Reason for this is that I often need to stabilise in post so I need to keep the motion blur minimal. This is where lens stabilisation would really help. As the sun sets I move to 25fps, 180deg or slower, and just try keep as steady as possible. When the sun is at or above the horizon I'm usually fine.

The sigma is slightly softer at 800. I try to pull back to 750mm or so. But even at 800 it's not bad at all.

I think although the specs say its close focus is 6m, it may actually be a bit closer. I've never measured though. I'm not often within 6m of the subject. I did buy some extender tubes to shorten the close focus distance when shooting from hides. I think I used them once a few years ago. I think once I am close to 6m, unless I'm shooting something really small, my problem is more that 300mm is not wide enough.

 

[Mauricio Handler]

Chungungo: a mentor's tale

Chungungo: a mentor's tale

Great work Rob - and thanks for indeed, keeping this thread alive.
To contribute to the cause, I leave you with a short I co-produced and shot all underwater for.
Film was finalist at Jackson Wild 2019 plus other festivals.... Chungungo: a mentor's tale was a short
edit from a much larger project. All details of this film are on my vimeo link.

https://vimeo.com/358240801

 

[Mauricio Handler]

Rob and Rui -
My favorite (affordable) long lens is and has been for a while now, the Canon 150-600 OPTEX cine converted lens + 1.4x Canon Teleconverter.
Lightweight + 5.6. Beautiful images from this rig. Hard to find but if you do, grab one!

 

[Robert Hofmeyr]

Great work Rob - and thanks for indeed, keeping this thread alive.
To contribute to the cause, I leave you with a short I co-produced and shot all underwater for.
Film was finalist at Jackson Wild 2019 plus other festivals.... Chungungo: a mentor's tale was a short
edit from a much larger project. All details of this film are on my vimeo link.

https://vimeo.com/358240801

Thanks Mauricio. It is wonderful! What an interesting short film.

 

[Mauricio Handler]

Thank you Rob- a fun little escape from a much longer filming project...
Always nice to see a finalized piece... before the 3-4 years it takes to do the real deal.
Great work!
M

 

[Robert Hofmeyr]

Rob and Rui -
My favorite (affordable) long lens is and has been for a while now, the Canon 150-600 OPTEX cine converted lens + 1.4x Canon Teleconverter.
Lightweight + 5.6. Beautiful images from this rig. Hard to find but if you do, grab one!

Thanks for the tip. Did some searching and you are right, they don't come up for sale very often. Whats your favourite (not affordable) long lens?