Shooting Camoflauge Patterns

[Mark Collins]

Hey all!

Quick question about camouflage patterns. I have a shoot coming up that we're using authentic military combat gear uniforms for and I was wondering if camo patterns are going to give the camera issues seeing as how camo is used to make visual targeting harder.

Cadpat - This is our first camo pattern that we're looking at. I'm getting the sense that the patterning will cause camera issues so I was going to try:

ACU - This is the second choice for camo patterning.

Does anyone have any experience shooting this kind of stuff? Any issues, things I should look for? Also which camo pattern would be better to shoot with?

Thanks in advance for help

 

[Craig Parkes]

What sort of camera? Difference between most cameras would be dependent on if they had trouble with moire, or you I guess maybe if you needed to autofocus, or their codec had trouble with the repetitive pattern for some reason...

 

[Mark Phelan]

I've shot ACU's before, no issue at all.

 

[Andrew Luczenczyn]

I shoot lots of airsoft videos, and experience CADPAT very frequently. ACU is also common, but not as much.

Camouflage works better with the human eye, rather than camera lenses, which are kind of objective. Its amazing what you can miss with your eye but spot with a camera afterwards. I find that no special treatment is needed when filming camouflage,

Alternately you can vary your color contrast. ACU with its light color doesnt work well in the woods, likewise CADPAT isn't best for urban. Though I find that the more you desaturated your picture, the more blended everything becomes. (Think the recent Canadian Armed forces recruitment videos - all they images are slightly desaturated and the CADPAT seems to blend). Also, a little bit of motion distracts from the illusion.

Take some of my airsoft videos as examples for different camos. Not the best camera, and my lens protector creates some distortion, but I wasn't going to take my best camera out there....

This first is of indoor mute colors. lots of gray. Examples of Woodland and MARPAT camo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4UcdH9f0XM

A random sampling of mixed terrain, mostly tans, outside. Lots of different types of camo. I see Woodlands, CADPAT, Flectarn, Multicam, DPM, lots of types. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfMuK0qalh8

 

[Mark Collins]

Right now we're set to shoot R1 M-X, and if that falls through then it'll be an EX-1.