5D Mark II Real World Tips and Accessory Update

No, this is not MTV’s “Real World,” and while that is indeed a fine program I thought I’d spend today sharing some thoughts on shooting wedding videos with the 5D II after having used the camera on several projects this summer.

Frame from Saturday’s first dance using the Litepanels MiroPro LED Light & Zacuto Rapid Fire

In my last blog post I reviewed the Red Rock Micro shoulder mount but have since found that even in my smaller, “lighter” configuration it’s still too heavy for all day use. Yes, it feels stable at first, but try filming even 15 minutes of toasts–not easy!

It’s actually not the weight that matters but the distribution of weight, and with the Red Rock as long as you use the 18 inch iris rods you can actually add weight to the back so it’s balanced on your shoulder. The Red Rock is stil a great product that I will continue to use, just not as much for weddings. Since I often travel for weddings, and I like to travel light, my new secret weapon is the Zacuto Rapid Fire:

The Zacuto is an extremely well made and lightweight rig that improves stability while allowing your hands to remain on the camera controls, letting you move quickly, even in crowds on the dance floor with a wide angle lens. It’s a gunstock style support that can rest against your shoulder or tuck under your arm. You can change the position of the camera so you can use it both with and without the Zacuto Z-Finder. Here is a short video by Zacuto:

The Z-Finder is great at helping you focus and further increases stability, but I’ve had two problems: during a recent hot and humid New York shoot I’ve had some fogging issues with the finder, and it was not held securely enough in place with the velcro mount and fell off the camera several times. Zacuto is addressing the mount issue in its next version of the finder, and for the fogging I will be trying these fog eliminator cloths from B&H Photo next time.

Since my last post I have started using the Litepanels Micro Pro LED light and it has become one of my favorite accessories. I love being able to dim it way down, and shooting wide open at F 1.4, ISO 1600 being able to balance the foreground to the background light. It’s an LED light, so it stays cool to the touch and runs for hours on easy-to-find AA batteries–no need for an external battery pack. It is daylight balanced but comes with warming and tungsten filters. I only wish that the light beam was wider (the angle of coverage is close to a 50mm lens on a full-frame DSLR)

So there you have it, a couple mini reviews to give you guys some ideas on shooting with the amazing 5D Mark II!!

Vlad

Vladimir Chaloupka