Once I purchased my Canon 7D in October last year I knew it would be the start of a new hideous lens and camera accessories addiction.
I purchased my first prime lens – the Canon 50mm 1.4f in December to experiment with more portrait photography. Love it. However, I find myself currently fascinated by the new infinite possibilities of videography with the 7D and more wide angled lens. I embarrassingly spend every spare moment I have watching beautifully captured short films on Vimeo and YouTube.
It seems I’m not the only one getting slowly sucked into the world of story telling though DSLR video, both Lisa Bettany and Cameron Moll are both bulking up on Canon kit and producing some great content. Not forgetting to mention this beautiful (albeit somewhat techy) video I found on YouTube about Patrick Murphy-Racey, a seasoned photographer experimenting with DLSR video with masterful results:
Geek kit I’m after
Tokina ATX 116 PRO DX AF11-16mm F/2.8 Canon
An ultra-wide angle lens with a fast 2.8 aperture for better photography in low-light situations.
Rode Microphones VideoMic
The on-board Mic of the Canon 7d is very basic, with a directional shock-mounted mic you get far better audio without the body noise and low frequency rumble.
Litepanels Micro
Good lighting is a must for more professional looking videos, bringing a character to life without the unwanted shadows.
Steadicam Merlin
Offering light, agile, seamless shooting for today’s videographers. I’d love one of these one day, but it’ll have to wait for now as a seemingly basic piece of equipment like this costs a lot of money.
See some footage taken with the Tokina lens and a Steadicam Merlin here.
Zacuto Z-Finder
The Z-Finder is an Optical Viewfinder that allows DSLR cameras to have the correct form factor for video. The larger viewfinder allows you to ensure perfect manual focusing at all times.
Inspiration
- I’ve always been inspired by the multi-talented Hillman Curtis, an early flash designer, turned digital designer, turned film maker. Do yourself a video and watch some of his short films.
- More recently I discovered Philip Bloom – an evangelist of DSLR film-making who’s short films and DLSR video tutorials/reviews have influenced many. Even George Lucas is interested in Philip Bloom’s DLSR video skills and recently flew him over to discuss techniques for a new movie.
- VBS.TV – a great source of short films covering all sort of subjects. I’m sure some are shot on DSLRs.
Feedback
I’ve done a fair amount of research and hope to make some of these purchases soon, but would really appreciate some feedback from more seasoned Canon DSLR photographers. Also if there are any 7D short films you’ve seen and enjoyed please provide some link love below in the comments to feed my addiction 🙂
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