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With DSLRs, getting the right lenses are an important investment. And naturally, it can get expensive fast! In this video, I dissect how it’s possible to go off the beaten path and purchase some great lenses without breaking the bank. Of course, everyone knows Canon L lenses are the best, but not everyone (including Life Stage w/ 3 teams!) can afford ALL the best. This video breaks down what lenses you might find in our gear bag and WHY we use certain lenses in specific situations. 

I mention…

Tokina 11-16

Canon 100-400L

Sigma 85mm

and the staples such as Canon 24-70L, Canon 70-200L IS and Canon 50mm

Matt Davis

Matt Davis (coaching at lifestagefilms.com) of Life Stage Films has been described as the “head coach of wedding videography,” providing one-on-one business coaching as well as group coaching webinars. A featured speaker at both WEVA 2009-10 and IN[FOCUS] 2010-11, as well as a multiple CEA award winner and 2009-10 EventDV 25 All-Star, he is based in Wilmington, N.C.

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Deciding what bag to store your gear in is always a tough decision – how does one sort through all the options? 

Thankfully, twitter helped me seal the deal on purchasing the Think Tank Airport Addicted v2.0.

I was debating, wheels vs no wheels.

Do you play golf?

Are you a cart person or do you prefer to wheel or carry your own clubs?

Personally I like to have everything with me when I’m on the move (pre ceremony prep, running into a ceremony, moving between locations at venues).

Here in New England it’s rare that I will film at a venue with smooth surfaces from my car to the ceremony and reception. Often times I’m going through grass, a field, an Inn or old hotel (no elevators) so to have the “hands free” capability of going up stairs and still be able to carry a slider or tripod is a bonus for me.

Check out the capacity of these handy bags inside and out and see for yourself what may work best. I love my Addicted 2.0 backpack so much, I bought a second one within a month of owning the first. 

This year I’ve seen more Think Tanks (both wheeled and backpacks) at weddings then any other bag or brand. Who knows, maybe it’s a New England thing?

Meg Simone

Wedding filmmaker, avid skier, and travel enthusiast!

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Greetings humans! Hope all is well.

Today I’m reviewing a new LED light panel that we picked up from LCD4Video out of Detroit, MI. If you’re an event filmmaker, or even if your background is ENG…a portable light is an essential piece to your toolkit.

Once upon a time, those lights were large, incandescent lights. Those lights are one of the reasons we wedding filmmakers got a bad rep. Fast forward 10-15 years, and now everyone and their brother sells an LED light. They have become increasingly popular, but their performance quality has increased substantially as well. Lights that once  would struggle to light the end of your nose and would take 8 AA batteries to power can nearly replace a 1K light (with a large enough LED panel) on a production.

We picked up the LCD4Video iLED Dual-Color LED Light Kit a few weeks ago, and I was instantly intrigued. This was unlike any light panel I had ever seen. Super bright, uses a rechargeable battery, but most importantly allows you to adjust the color temperature of the LED panel itself! No gels necessary.

The light has two adjustable dials on the back, one for the dimmer and the other for the color temperature. This is an awesome feature to have because now you can easily make changes to the color temperature of the light depending on your shooting situation. You can also have your cameras white balance locked in more accurately knowing where your LED’s color temperature is set.

Although the LED boasts 144 LED diodes, they are split between the 3200K and the 5600K temperature. When adjusting the color temperature the diodes brightness will change and mix, depending on the needed color temperature.

The light costs $250. The kit comes with a rechargeable battery, car charger adapter, table stand, and two battery adapters if you have your own canon (the  BR-511, not the LP-e6) or panasonic batteries. The light also has a DC adapter.

I still have some field testing to do with this light, but based on our initial tests and observations this light is MUCH brighter then the litepanel micro, and having the ability to change the color temperature is reason enough to consider purchasing this light.

Happy Shooting!
Eric 

Eric Kmetz

Eric Kmetz is the lead filmmaker for Epic Motion, based in Detroit, MI. Named one of the 2010 EventDV top 25 filmmakers, Eric has been a full-time wedding filmmaker since 2009. In his spare time he devotes himself to being as kmawesome as legally allowed. Furthermore, 83% of people agree…he's the bees knees. True story.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

So, there are cinematographers that spend their whole careers mastering the art of taking flawless video in helicopters and airplanes. I, am not one of them. So when I ventured into uncharted territory of using a helicopter to get b-roll for a recent wedding film, I began to research. Sure I could have rented a gyro for quite a chunk of change, but that would have eaten into my profits big time for this wedding, as I didn’t add that cost in (or know about the helicopter) when I booked the wedding. 

The video above is what you might call my “poor man’s guide” to shooting great video in a helicopter with the tools that you already have. Enjoy. And don’t worry, although I did throw up after I got out of the helicopter at this wedding, I refrained from any vomiting during and after the recording of this blog post.  

P.S. Wanna see the end result and how I used it in the film? Check out the blog post here, or view the embedded video below! 

Click here to view the embedded video.

Matt Davis

Matt Davis (coaching at lifestagefilms.com) of Life Stage Films has been described as the “head coach of wedding videography,” providing one-on-one business coaching as well as group coaching webinars. A featured speaker at both WEVA 2009-10 and IN[FOCUS] 2010-11, as well as a multiple CEA award winner and 2009-10 EventDV 25 All-Star, he is based in Wilmington, N.C.

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So we’ve all heard the saying “newer is better,” and today I’m going to put that statement to the test. I tested two of Canon’s wide-angle L-series lenses. The 24mm 1.4L, and the 24mm 1.4L II. In the video, I’ll highlight some of the differences between the lenses, as well as talk about how they stack up against each other. Which one is better? You’ll have to watch the video to find out!

In 1997, Canon released the 24mm 1.4L lens. The lens was extremely successful and was used heavily. In 2008, the 24mm 1.4L II was released. While the lens had a few cosmetic upgrades, the internals were upgraded as well. Canon added an additional aperture blade, made the lens weather sealed, and added some other internal upgrades that were intended to minimize ghosting and lens flare.

Some things that remained the same between the lenses; the lack of hard stops on the lens (fine for photographers, a hindrance for cinematographers), the filter diameter is still 77mm, and the minimum focus distance is still 9.8 inches.

Pricing for version 1 will vary greatly, as you’re going to have to find this lens on the used market. For version 2, pricing is set at $1,661 on B&H Photo.

Be sure to check out the video and watch some of the test footage, as well as hear my final verdict. What do you think? Is one better than the other?

Be good.
Eric

Eric Kmetz

Eric Kmetz is the lead filmmaker for Epic Motion, based in Detroit, MI. Named one of the 2010 EventDV top 25 filmmakers, Eric has been a full-time wedding filmmaker since 2009. In his spare time he devotes himself to being as kmawesome as legally allowed. Furthermore, 83% of people agree…he's the bees knees. True story.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

When we started using DSLRs, we started collecting lenses.  Super expensive, super painful, and super fun.  It has been necessary to have quick access to my lenses as event filmmaking is all about being able to capture the moment at the right time through the right lens.

I’ve owned the Shootsac for about 1.5 years and mostly needed it to switch between my 24-70 and 70-200.  Granted – I hate putting the 70-200 in the Shootsac and carrying it around… I just don’t think it is comfortable at all.  But – that’s all I knew until I tried out the ThinkTank Retrospective 30 a few weeks ago.

You’ll notice in the video the dramatic difference in size for these two bags. There are definitely different reasons why each of them is useful – so it really comes down to how you plan on using it.  For me – on an event day – if I’m going to running around by myself, having the Shootsac would not be sufficient.  The ThinkTank Retrospective 30 is big enough to carry around a TON of stuff, but it also can end up weighing a ton — especially if you put a ton of stuff in it.

Long story short – I’m glad I have both but if I had to choose between the 2, I’d choose the ThinkTank as it has more uses than the Shootsac.  In all fairness, the Shootsac would probably be considered a lens bag (with a spot for some other small stuff like snacks, wallet, keys, iPhone, Garbage Pail Kids, etc.) and the Retrospective would be considered for camera+lens+other handy stuff.  Check out the video to see for yourself.

Here’s a link to Adorama to purchase the ThinkTank and here’ the link if you’re interested in purchasing the Shootsac and don’t forget the shoulder shtrapp pad (you say strap – I say “shtrapp”).  Don’t bother w/ B&H – they don’t carry either. 

Ryan Koral

Epic Motion is a photo + video studio specializing in weddings and events. Based in suburban Detroit and led by Ryan Koral, Epic Motion has been named one of the Top 25 Event Filmmaker Studios in the World.

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This post is a review of the Zeiss 50mm f 1.4 lens which is our most recent investment. The video above is a bit of test footage for you to see just how sharp and rich the lens is.

On my birthday, Sunday August 21, 2011, I decided to film an event as a favour for a friend of mine (a restaurant owner). It was the second annual event and the idea was simple: a pizza eating contest – held outdoors in the restaurant’s parking lot.  Takeru Kobayashi is the world record holder for eating hot-dogs and he was invited to the event last year and destroyed the competition. We made a video for that event and it was played 30,000 some odd times and was embedded on websites across the world. Pretty cool.  So it was not a problem for me to film the second annual “Let ‘em eat!” event as Kobi was returning to defend his title.

To make a long story short – the event, which was 12 minutes in duration, started at 3:00pm sharp. It was cloudy but the rain was holding off.  About 30 seconds after the contest started – it started to drip a bit. Then it started to pour. And then it basically turned into the extra-rinse-cycle on my mom’s high efficiency front loading washing machine. All within the first 3-4 minutes.  There was a 30′ x 12′ plywood backdrop on the competition stage that ripped off during the gale – it nearly blew onto the highway (aka. interstate)  which could have been a huge danger to the traffic. Here’s where this gets relevant to you fine In[Focus] readers: I decided to continue to shoot in the rain – disregarding whatever warnings I was given about filming in these conditions. I figured – hey – my Canon 5D Mark II is supposed to be weather resistant and my Canon 50mm 1.2 L series lens is designed to hold up to a bit of rain. 

Long story short: two days later – the $2300 lens was not responding. I took it to Canon Professional Service and they took one look at it and said it was destroyed.  They had this attitude in their voice like I was a bad parent.  It made me sad. If you’re at all interested in seeing the footage that came out of this  - click here.

I shared this news with my facebook friends and one of my good friends from Texas – and fellow In[Focuser] – Aaron Tharpe of 31 Films suggested that instead of replacing the 50mm f1.2 from Canon – I should purchase a 50mm f1.4 from Zeiss instead.   I was surprised by this at first – because the lens is less than half the price of my recently deceased L-Series sweetheart. But I absolutely love and respect the work those creative Longhorns are doing, and after all: You Don’t Mess With Texas. I also knew that another friend and mentor Michael Y. Wong had recently switched from Canon glass to Zeiss – so that was good enough for me!

Ok – so – the Zeiss lens came in and the first thing I noticed was the size of the lens. It was small and compact. It was built like a tank – solid metal construction. It had a good weight to it. I like a lens with some weight to it.  I quickly popped the lens on at the store and did some quick tests and immediately – I decided that this lens will do just fine. So I bought two. As my friend Aaron informed me – the Zeiss Planer T SLR lense features the exact same lens elements as the Zeiss Compact Primes (which are $4000 each to start). We haven’t missed that extra stop of light yet. (from 1.2 on the Canon to 1.4 on the Zeiss).

If you haven’t seen the video above – take a look at the footage. It’s some random footage (real wedding footage designed to show you focusing and bokeh).

Some quick reasons why I think this lens is awesome:

Price. $725 USD
Build. Lots of metal and glass – very little plastic
Image: It just looks nice
Focusing: Has a hard stop on both ends for pulling focus – unlike Canon lenses that will rotate forever and don’t give you a real idea of when you have hit your mark.

Bottom line – this lens is sweet and you should give it try.

Andrew Sorlie

Andrew and Emily Sorlie are the owners of Honey & Dear, a successful Toronto, Canada - based wedding cinematography company. They attended their first [In]Focus conference in Austin, Texas in 2010, and it radically changed the direction of their company. With the knowledge and experience they gained, the Sorlies rebranded their now-flourishing business from Sorlie Arts to Honey & Dear. Together, they have filmed more than 80 weddings all over the world including Australia, Dominican Republic, Singapore & Canada.

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A clean lens and sensor is crucial! In this blog, Andrew Waite will share some tips on keeping that glass squeaky clean, some of the options available, along with their various pros and cons. Also, what to do if you discover your lens or sensor was dirty AFTER it is too late and you’re already in post. 

Andrew Waite

Supreme Commander of HDM/Lovestruck Films conquering Land, Sea, and Air in the world event filmmaking. Not satisfied with the camera always being no more than 6 feet off the ground, Andrew has pushed his work to new "levels" by incorporating underwater and aerial cinematography into his wedding films.

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Greetings!

Today I’m reviewing a piece of equipment we recently purchased, the CobraCrane Backpacker camera jib. This camera jib is different then many others I have seen in the past. It is extremely portable and lightweight, a necessity for event filmmakers. This particular crane gives you the ability to add a whole new dimension to your shots while at the same time remaining relatively unobtrusive to guests, other vendors, and most importantly, the couple.

My only gripe about the backpacker, which I did not mention in the video, is the slight left-to-right shake you can get occasionally. Because the crane is so lightweight, it is easy for it to be swayed by a stiff breeze. I purposely added a few shots that contain this “wiggle” so you can see for yourself.

A few of the accessories I mentioned, like the LCD video screen we use to monitor shots, can be purchased through a variety of retailers. The one we use is from LCD4Video. Also, the weight bag I referenced can be purchased directly from CobraCrane as well, here. Also, here are the tripods that I’d recommend to use with this crane. I use an older set of sticks that we’ve had for some time…but here are two current tripods that should be suitable for use with the crane. 501HDV/525MVB or the 503HDV/536K (this is what I will occasionally use).

To summarize, I really like this jib. For the price point ($319), it is a great investment and can seriously add to the production value of your work. If you decide to purchase this crane, I’d love to see what you’re doing with it. Feel free to send over your shots!

Thanks for listening.
Eric

Eric Kmetz

Eric Kmetz is the lead filmmaker for Epic Motion, based in Detroit, MI. Named one of the 2010 EventDV top 25 filmmakers, Eric has been a full-time wedding filmmaker since 2009. In his spare time he devotes himself to being as kmawesome as legally allowed. Furthermore, 83% of people agree…he's the bees knees. True story.

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Take a sneak peak behind the scenes at the HDM/Lovestruck studios, where we will share tips on workflow, organization, communication, transportation, and more! Of course. we can’t forget about the toys! You will get a glimpse of what goes on inside the walls of our Southern California production house, meet our full time staff, and maybe learn some tips along the way!

We shot and edited this in an afternoon, so naturally there is a lot we could not touch on. Feel free to ask questions!

Andrew Waite

Supreme Commander of HDM/Lovestruck Films conquering Land, Sea, and Air in the world event filmmaking. Not satisfied with the camera always being no more than 6 feet off the ground, Andrew has pushed his work to new "levels" by incorporating underwater and aerial cinematography into his wedding films.

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