I received the Mira loupe a couple of days ago and played around with in various conditions.
Do I still like it?
Oh yes !

The Mira loupe is a great addon for many use cases.
Being able to use the LCD as a viewfinder and so being able to see any possible information on screen, while shooting, is a much apreciated feature.
I always us the waveform display when using C-Log. But in the past this was a bit of pain in bright outdoors, because this information is not available in the original C300 rear viewfinder. Not anymore.
The LCD/Mira combination also produces a much more detailed picture then using the rear C300 viewfinder. So also stuff like focusing is getting easier.

Want another plus?

If you are planning to build up a rig similar to the Zacuto Recoil, then you must look out for a EVF solution to beeing able to shoot.
In the past you would have bought an electronic EVF, build up a rig, add up some batteries and cables.
This is where the Mira Loupe comes into play. You can use the current LCD position or you could relocate the C300 screen slightly (there are some pics further down in this post), so you can actually skip an additional EVF.
No additional batteries needed, but still awesome runtime, with the small stock C300 batteries and even a 3x magnified 1280×960 screen). The stock LCD also has a higher resolution then most EVF’s out there ;o)

Here’s a list of what kind of resolutions current EVF’s got:

• Canon LCD: 1260×960
• Alphatron EVF EVF-035W-3G (Retina): 960×640
• Cineroid EVF EVF4RVW (Retina) : 960×640
• Zacuto Z-Finder EVF Pro (LCD) : 800×480
• Kinotehnik LCDVFe (LCD) : 800×440

In some pics bellow I played around with a GENUSTECH C300 / C500 Top Handle and a 15mm to cold shoe adapter to relocate the LCD far forward, so it would suit a straight on the shoulder rig like a Zacuto Recoil.
In some other pics i used it in a more backward position for out of the hand shooting.

As you can also see from the loupe side it fits pretty well.

In my case I also had a Denz C300 Support and a Sachtler quickrelease plate attached. By removing some of it, the camera would be at perfect level.

So this solution can actually save you money, weight and additional stuff to carry around.

Would I use the c300 on the shoulder without a rig?
Definetly not. Focusing and zooming would be a hard task. I’m also unsure how strong the cold shoe on the C300 body is. The LCD relocation produces a longer leverage effect, holding and moving the camera by holding the Mira puts more stress on the C300 cold shoe. So be aware of that if you relocate the LCD.
But using it on a rig like a Zacuto Recoil, with grip relocator and Twister would be a very cool combination. Maybe I can test that when Zacuto finaly released all the new parts.

Do you need a rig to use the Mira at all?

No! Using it on the LCD, placed in normal position, also adds a ton of performance.
You can shoot the C300 out of hands in a very light setup and still profit from a bigger view with all information on display out in the brightest sunlight.

Is there anything I don’t like ?

- The rubber compund on the eyepiece could be a bit softer.

- My eyes are very strong so I don’t really need optical correction. So its hard for me to validate the range of the diopter. Comparing it to others, it seems like a rather small correction range. But since the eyepice is pretty big, you should also be able to work with glasses if youz really need to

Here is a straight answer from Deity about my point above:
There is no blur when you rotate the diopter for a simple reason
actually.
We made focal range calculation.
I explain:
The choice of the 2 glass depend of N°1 Sinze of the LCD screen N°2 Distance between our eye & the LCD
When you combine those 2 data you got your focal range position.
Just an exemple, when you take a sony camera with integrated vf, when you turn to blur at the maximum, you agree than its blur for 100% of the people on heart surface and than nobody can see clearly right?
 From our side, we just a limited the focale range on his good calculation place.

- There is no way yet, to flip up the loup to use the LCD without it. So you would need to remove it if you want to use just the C300 LCD. removal is not big of a task, due of the 2 snap levers, but it would force you to stow the loupe away somewhere.

Do I recomend the Mira?

If you work outdoors, out of the hand or are looking for a C300/C500 shoulder rig solution with on shoulder camera placement, then the Mira is definetly worth looking at.
I wouldn’t wanna miss it in my gearbox anymore. Sure there’s room for tiny improvements, but the current feature set already sold me 100% to it.

You can get the DEITY Mira Viewfinder at their website  www.deitygear.com

Here are some more pictures from some recent shootings.

The post Deity Mira Canon C300 / C500 Loupe review – Not only for Philatelists !:o) appeared first on Riot Media Freelance Kameramann und Cutter aus der Schweiz.

I bought it to be used together with a Canon C300 to help with focusing on shallow depth of field, as well as releasing eye strenght while doing longer shoots.
There is also a OLED version is which is 0.7” bigger and uses less power and also seems to be a bit better in outdoor light. But OLED is also know to loose its color trueness faster then the well know and trusted LCD panels. I’m sure in the near future this will change. But for now the LCD version was more attractive to me, as the OLED cost a additional $500.
SmallHD currently got a great bundle offer with lots of stuff. I went for such a package. I also added a few other things like the neoprene protection sleve and a D-Tap cable.
I’m currently working with the supplied power supply and HDMI cable, because my order of Canon LP-E6 batteries and bnc cables has not arrived yet.
Looks like this will take another day, or two as the shipment of another company has delayed a bit.

So what are my initial thoughts on this screen?

I haven’t come across a similiar quality screen for the asking price yet (1049.99 for the LCD SDI version with lots of addons in the bundle).
The 1280×800 resolution on the 7′ panel looks great and helps a lot with focusing and relaxing eyes.
Peaking assist and false color work great. I will need to play around with it a bit more to get fully used to the false color assist. My first test shots showed a well exposed image, without much experience in the false color assist. So that seems to work pretty dummie proof right away ^^
There are 2 preset buttons and a menu toggle switch. They work pretty well, but getting into the menu can be a bit fidley at some times. But if you setup the monitor once most won’t use that function anyway.
A third preset button, for something like the zoom option, would have been be perfect. But I can understand they want to keep some features for the higher priced DP7-Pro Series, which got a nice touch screen and offers a lot more direct on screen control.
Inside the bundle there were also 2 acrylic screen protectors. So I installed one right away.
The installation is easy, but when peeling of the backs of the sticky parts, small black fragments fell on the inside of the screen. So I had to remove it again to get these little particle cleaned out. The sticky stuff that fixes the protection layer was still good enough to attach the protector a second time. So it was not big of a deal.

While the AC7 LCD SDI was on the way to Europe, SmallHD also released a fresh firmware, which was not installed when it arrived.
You can find all details about v4-0-3 Firmware here.
Installation was fast and easy. So its nice to know there’s a easy way to add fixes or possible new features later on without having to ship it back.
Just make sure you get the right Firmware version as there is a different one for the OLED version.

So as of now I’m fully happy and the product delivers excactly what was promised.
Would I suggest this product to a friend? Yes, without a doubt.

Additional information:

IMPORTANT notice when a SmallHD monitor is used with the D-Tap cable.
The Center Pin of the barrel connector MUST be Positive +. Otherwise you will damage the monitor and it is not covered under warranty.
The D-Tap connector has a “+” & “-” molded into the plastic. Make sure these match up with your 3rd party power source.
To be safe, you should always test the polarity before you plug the D-Tap into the monitor.

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First reviews of a few people I know sound very promising.

Words from Nino Leitner April 15, 2013

I have to admit I was extremely skeptical when I heard the price – but when I had it in my hands and used it on the camera I was amazed how well it is made and how extremely good the glass is. I honestly believe that kind of glass could go in front of the lens as well and it would result in pristine images.
Also, the aluminium is super thin and robust … everything except the glass is super light weight and it doesn’t put as much strain on the monitor as I feared it would.
I find it makes the C300 a better camera – the only thing it really needs is something that sets the monitor a bit more apart from the camera. I think Vocas provides such a solution but I am sure there will be others to follow soon.

So what is it that makes a $695 loupe so interesting to me?

The original C300 LCD Screen has a resolution of 1280×960 (1.23million pixels), this is a perfect base to build up a great EVF solution with a stock monitor and onboard power supply.
So you won’t need additional batteries and their weight to carry around.

I have not tested it yet, but I’m trying to get my hands on one as soon as possible.
My idea is to build up a shoulder rig, where my C300 sits right onn the shoulder and use the DEITY Mira loupe to work as an EVF.
For this I might have to move the LCD slightly forward and to the side. I will do this using a GENUSTECH C300 / C500 Top Handle which I wrote about in another quick blog.
Seems like I can get a perfect relocation of the LCD  for  loupe use, using this handle, a short 15mm rod and coldshoe clamp.

Apart from the Rig solution this loupe will also work very well if you have to work outdoors in bright light.
Plus it gots a 3x magnification helping on keeping track of sharpness.

The price seems rather high but if its good and solves some needs for you it might just be a great investement.

As said, I did not test it yet myself. But I’ll do a follow up as soon as i get my hands on one.

NAB 2013: Deity Mira – Quality viewfinder for Canon EOS C300 / C500

You can get the DEITY Mira Viewfinder at their website  www.deitygear.com

More to follow soon…

Update:

People asked me what kind of cold shoe adapter I’m using.
I’ve build one up with a Chrosziel 15mm clamp (got 3/8 and 1/4 threads) and a DVTEC SMBS 14 Shoe Mount base Adapter.

The post DEITY Mira Viewfinder for the Canon C300 / C500 appeared first on Riot Media Freelance Kameramann und Cutter aus der Schweiz.

This solves a lot of fixture needs for me !  (screw and 15mm rod support)

Build quality is great and it sits thighter then the stock grip which was always a bit loose.
Still not a 100% thight fit, but buch better. A fixture screw like the one on the original handle would have been nice, as you’ll need either a very short or a full size screwdrive to attach it to the body.

After a short usage I really recomend this grip, which comes for a great price !

Shipment was also very fast. Ordered it on wednesday, received it in Switzerland on monday )

Let me know if you got any questions.

UPDATE:

The GENUSTECH Top Handle is a tiny bit lower (7cm comapared to about 7.5cm) and runs horizontal, while the original handle slightly raises.
Another difference is the original runs forward and the GENUSTECH backwards. So hand placement is different.

Someone asked me if it would be possible to add the original one on top. This is not possible  due of the design in the shoe area. You can’t get it on. But certainly you could go with the GENUSTECH on top of the original one.

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This clip was produced for a event coverage of Hapimag AG.

The GoPro Hero 3 Black had various settings to test them for future use and specifi cslomotion shots.

GoPro Settings:

Left front 2.7K at 25fps
Right front 1080P at 50 fps
Right rear 720P at 100fps
Inside Heli front Window 2.7K at 25 fps
Inside Heli on top of Canon C300 2.7K at 25 fps
Ground cam at Hangar 720P at 100fps

Canon C300 setup:

- 17-55 f2.8 IS lense
- internald ND
- ISO 1600 for higher aperture (f5-f20)

Most of the shots are from the GoPro cams.

The post Flight to the Eiger North Face / GoPro Hero3 Black and bit Canon C300 appeared first on Riot Media Freelance Kameramann und Cutter aus der Schweiz.

Since the C300 is not weather sealed, I had to build a protecting cover in a hurry and also used some umbrella for additional protection.
This worked out at this specifc shoot, but was far from being really practical. Working without seeing what you are doing can’t be a good thing ^^
So I thought it would be time to get a raincoat which is really designed for it.
We already use a camRade cover for our JVC HM-100, which works out to do for what it is designed for.
So I went ahead and ordered one for the C300 too.

The camRade raincover for the Canon C300 / C500 is big enough to cover a full C300 setup (attached handle with open monitor on top and microphone).

camRade Canon C300 raincover left side

camRade Canon C300 raincover top

There are clear windows on all the important places.
In case you need direct control access you can open various Velcro opening,s to get your hands on to it without grabing from bellow.

camRade Canon C300 raincover back side

Included in the package you also get two different lens shields.
A short one which is more then big enough for a Canon 24-70mm

camRade Canon C300 raincover front

And a really large one which is so long, that  its about ready to protect a double size Canon 70-200mm .
I’d preferd a slightly shorter one, but this way it will even work for the real long lenses.

camRade Canon C300 raincover / long lense cover

What do I think about it?
I didn’t used it out in the rain yet. So my opinion is only made of a dry test.

Likes:

- The cover fits pretty well and doesn’t sit to tight (better then the JVC HM-100 one)- It covers all the important places
- You can reach and get direct access to any important controll
- The lens protection layer does a good job protecting the sensor area when changing lenses outdoors
- Build quality is good and the cover comes in a nice bag to stow away
- Additional strap on the lover side to secure against wind lift or movement from bellow. So the cover should stay on it how you place it
- Direct access to the hand grip. So you can take it off a tripod and start shooting hand held right away

Dislikes:

- The only monitor option is on top. So you cant use it on the side
- Heat might be a issue in really hot locations but I think it should work out well, as the cover isn’t to tight and fully open on the lower side
- Limited access to covered lenses (But hey..same goes for the rain ;o)

I think it will do a great $200 job to protect a Canon C300 / C500 investment. There might be some Velcro locks that will allow for a few drops to reach the inside from time to time. But it really is just a rain cover and not a dive housing.

Probably I will never have to use it since I got one now, but if i will get into a bad weather shooting situation I’m well prepared now to protect the Canon C300 and still be able to control the camera with direct access to all important places.

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This teaser was produced within a week as a “one man show” setup. No additional lights were used in any location, as it just was not allowed / No actors, just real guests having a great time at their special vacation programm.

The post Interlaken Resort Specialweek Teaser 2013 (Canon C300 / GoPro Hero3 Black) appeared first on Riot Media Freelance Kameramann und Cutter aus der Schweiz.

The plan was to use one on the ground to capture the start, three on the heli rails (left, right and right facing backwards), one inside the heli on the front window facing the people and one clamped to my Canon C300 to give me a additional wide angle shot.
This would allow me to use a 17-55mm/f2.8 with IS on my C300 to get some better out of the windows shots, but still be able to get some footage from the people sitting inside the helicopter.

Since the new GoPro Hero 3 Black offers a wide range of image size and frame rates, I decided to set every cam outside on the heli rails to a different size and frame rate.
The idea was to get at least one decent recording if there would be a problem with one of the modes.

The outside GoPro cameras were fixed to the heli using their official rollbar mounts. Additionaly they were wire secured and some partswere  slightly secured with additional tape.
The front window camera was fixed with their suction cup (new model/2013) and the static one on the floor was on a tripod.

Outside Helicopter:

Left front 2.7k/25fps
Right front 1080P/50fps
Right rear 720P/100fps

Inside Helicopter:

Front window 2.7k/25fps
On top of C300 2.7k/25fps

Ground:

720P/100fps

So what was the best mode?

It really depends on what you want to achive.
2.7k/25fps and 1080p/50fps had a lot of rolling shutter problems producing some prettty strong “Jello” Effect.
720P/100fps seemed to be the best option.
The drawback is higher image compression on the 720P/100fps mode. But if you want to get the best possible image, on a vibrating object that moves in three dimensions the I really would suggest to go with the 100fps option.
On the other hand 2.7k allowed me to reframe, which allowed taking me out of the picture from the inside heli shot.

Let me know if you want to see different or bigger footage in its native format.

PS:
Currently there’s a error in the GoPro manual. Forget Step one in the RC Remote manual if you want to sync multiple GoPro to a single remote.
Don’t turn it on to sync !!! Took me a while to figure it out LOL.

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The post 50 Years is not Enough appeared first on Riot Media Freelance Kameramann und Cutter aus der Schweiz.

End of November 2012 I’ve been asked if it would be possible to film a short movie and deliver a dvd until December 20, 2012. So basicly this would be a a very quick Canon c300 project for me.
The dvd would be used as part of an corporate invitation for a business event, which would be held in January 2013 in Istanbul. Until then no story or what so ever was defined. They just had the idea of sending out a dvd as a cool invitation item.

I was told I would film, light, record sound etc. So basically a one man Show as far as recording, edit and final production goes.

After a quick meeting I told them I would need to know what kind of story, location, film length etc. the product would contain of, to see if i could put this product in my schedule and deliver in time.

A couple of days later, I’ve been presented a story draft. A Bond like movie it should be. Our employer got its 50th anniversary next year, just like Bond. Also the event location Istanbul would some kind of fit, as the intro of the recent James Bond Movie Skyfall was also shoot in Istanbul.

The idea was to not use any real actors, but only CEO, board members, managers, and some other workers to join along. I knew, it would not be easy to get them for any long shoots. It also would be getting difficult to work with them as actors in a very tight shooting schedule.
So I had a story, knew who should “act” and a delivery date for a final dvd.

Enough information to plan and setup the project. So I decided to go for it.

I got rather pessimistic as i got the information that I would get my “Actors” only for two evenings after work for a couple of hours, plus some of them for a additional shoot for 2h on another afternoon.
The project owner is a real sound nerd and front man of a band. He already started to produce a music score, which now also included a song for a title score in the middle of the film.. Ok, lets just add a Title sequence to the already thigh project… The “black mailer” sequence was also already done by him, using his own webcam. So I decided to use his footage instead of doing a separate shot and adding effects.

As I knew I would be a one man show for this project, I spent a lot of time thinking on how I could produce a decent clip and still deliver on time with the whole story covered.
The help of a lightning guy and a sound guy would have been great, but there was no budget for it. All I got promised was a few helping hands to act as runners and carry some stuff around for me.
I knew I had to slice of some image quality in order to finish the needed shots in the very limited time.
One of my main decision was to use only available light where ever possible. So mainly everything inside was shot without setting any additional lights. Thanks due of the great Canon C300 this was a option to run for, and still expect some decent pictures out of the camera.
The only places where I used one single 1×1 LED was a shot of breaking the door open and moving trough the lasers. These places were just to dark without any additional light. For the outdoor scenes I decided to run with cheap halogen work spot lights, which we could borrow from some friends or could buy for very little money.
I ended up with 8x 500W, 2x 1000W and 1x 2000W work lights. This sounds like a lot of light. But if you need to light up a entire building in the middle of a night with no street light surrounding it it could get tricky.
As I didn’t got a dolly or steady cam I needed to work out a way to get some moving shots. A friend got me a tip of using some kind of char with wheels. Hmm.. OK… So I ended up with a $60 wheel chair, bought online on a auction platform ^^

This worked out better then expected. Just be aware of full running speed.. the small wiggling front wheels can kick you off in the sprint runs and flip the chair over… Not real fun if you knee reverse on the chair filming the person who pushes the chair over the shoulder. Luckily the camera didn’t get any damage. My feet got better in the upcoming days again. But wheel chair works out pretty well for slower shots.

The weather forecast looked not promising at all for both shooting nights, but seemed to be better on the second day.
So I decided to shoot all indoor scenes, except the ones of the parking lot, on night one and shoot all the outdoor scenes on night two.
Night one worked out pretty well and all “Actors” and runners were doing a great job. Especially as most of them never been part on any film project before.

We previously informed the house owner, police etc. about our project, where black dressed people would run around with guns and a pupped falling of the roof. So we did not end up with any bigger problems.
Hint to my self: Next time we should not forget to inform the cleaning crew too… The ladies where pretty shocked when a fully armed  storm troop crossed them on a test run ^^

Night two was a complete different game.
I needed to setup the light on the roof and on the side of the building and also needed  enough power out of some wall plugs from various places without draining to much power and shutting the power off.
The weather was also getting worse, snow being promised for later in the night.

Just when I stared shooting outdoors, it started to snow pretty strong. So I decided to shoot the parking lot scene first in the hope it would stop snowing.
Well it didn’t stop fully, but at least it was getting better.
Not so later on the roof- and final hunt scene… I think I never shoot outdoors with such strong snowing… So there are some scenes with more and some less snow not being consistent in the story. But hey, I only had a couple of hours to get all takes into the camera. Big thanks go to the guy who was protecting me with a large sunshade umbrella which was getting very heavy quickly.

After all I think the snow actually helped the film in some points. The view from top of the building would not have been so great without the white floor on the ground.

Day three consisted of just about 2h shooting.
In this very little time I needed to shoot “part 3″ plus also get some green screen footage for the title scene “part2″ I planed to use for the main score song.
This very limited time frame was like entering a Kamikaze plane and go for it. No chance for many different takes, camera angles or what so ever.
I think this reflects pretty much in the film. Too bad I did not have more time for it, as i think the quality is far behind the rest of the movie.
How ever, this is what I had on the end of December 6th and needed to be edited and finished as a DVD to be sent out by December 20th.
I also had  some other corporate video work in between, so time was a critical factor.

Editing was as usual (Premiere Pro/AfterEffects CS6) except for the fact that I handed over a finalized cut (without any effects, grading etc.) to my music Score guy. A first in my career, giving away sound work to someone else.
He played, mixed and edited the audio plus mastered the soundtrack for the whole Clip in his own studio.
I think he did a really great Job ! The crappy sound quality of the voice recordings still comes trough, but hey, I did not have any audio guy on set. A lady holding a microphone pole for the first time in her life was all I got. Well there was also the ceiling helping her from swinging the mic all over the place… ;o)

That’s all about this “little” project and 2012.
Looking forward to get some feedback of the event attendees.

PS: Some of the Film credits in the Title Score are kind of fake and include everybody involved in this Clip or in involved in the upcoming main Event in Istanbul. We just needed enough text to fill over 2 Min. We didn’t want to show to many titles with the name of René (music) and mine (film production) ;o)

So here it is.. 50 YEARS is NOT ENOUGH
50 years is not enough from Riot Media on Vimeo.

The post 50 YEARS is NOT ENOUGH – a very quick Canon c300 project appeared first on Riot Media Freelance Kameramann und Cutter aus der Schweiz.