UPDATED 3: LCW Fader ND filter tested on 550D
April 14, 2010 - 1:31 pm - posted in 550D/T2i, gear reviews, hddslr 
Update May 25, 2010:
Watch out when buying the LCW Fader ND on eBay! The only confirmed ebay seller is lightcraftworkshop-official-store, do not buy from “bonifaceleung”! The seller I got the Fader from is called vendilo-torinonord, this is the official eBay store from a shop in Torino, Italy, which is also a confirmed distributor of LCW (however, their ebay store is not officially confirmed).
Check this section on the LCW website for an overview of official resellers.
Update April 14, 2010:
You can now find a sample video of the Fader ND in action at the end of this blog entry and on my Vimeo profile.
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My new Fader ND filter arrived a few days ago and I got to testing it out in the field right in time before my flu knocked me down ;-) And now that I have to spend some time in bed I finally get to share my impressions with you guys.
When I first used my 550D for video shooting it didn’t take much time for me to realize the need of a ND (neutral density) filter when shooting in bright day light. The problem is pretty obvious: Since changing the shutter speed while shooting in movie mode is not a good idea (your shutter speed should always remain at double the amount of the frame rate you chose – ‘180 degree shutter rule’) the only possibility do decrease the incoming light is by stepping down the aperture. But in doing that, you also lose the shallow depth of field. So to be able to use high aperture even when it’s bright outside you have to reduce the incoming light in another way: with a neutral density filter, that is. When buying a ND filter you have to consider the strength of the filter – there are different ones, each of them letting through a different amount of light.
Now since I’m pretty lazy the idea of getting several ND filters and having to try out and find the right one to use in a certain situation didn’t really appeal to me. Fortunately the so called Fader ND filter makes it possible to simply put on only one filter and adjust the amount of light coming through by turning the filter ring. A great concept I thought, so I decided to get one.
New LCDVF to fully support 550D/T2i shipping in 4 weeks
April 12, 2010 - 10:19 am - posted in 550D/T2i, hddslr
Before talking about the big news, let me just get into the whole LCD-as-a-viewfinder issue for a second.
I’ve been interested in the LCDVF since I first heard about it. Since the viewfinder on the DSLRs is blocked by the mirror when set to movie mode, the LCD screen has to be used as a VF. Obviously this makes it very very hard to focus – especially when shooting in 1080p. In the past few months companies have responded to that issue, one of the first solutions being the Hoodman HoodLoupe (which was actually build for still photographers, making it easier to review the images on the LCD screen when shooting in bright daylight).
Today, many people rely on the Zacuto Z-Finder, which sure is a great product – but very expensive. A cheap alternative, the LCDVF, had been introduced by a one-man company early this year. It offers a magnification of about 200% but no diopter. No problem for me, since I’m using contact lenses anyways. The LCDVF is listed at about 160$ (130€ in Germany), which is still much less than the cheapest Z-Finder (starting at 265$, but at that price also without diopter).
The LCDVF has been out of stock pretty much everywhere for the past few weeks, so I wasn’t able to get my hands on one of them. The only retailer in Germany selling these things seems to be a web shop called EnjoyYouCamera.com (they also ship to UK, FR and IT btw). After checking back with EYC I was told the LCDVF should be back in stock by last week ;-) Nothing there yet, though.
Another issue has popped up on the internet when someone with a 550D/T2i got his hands on a LCDVF – apparently the screen of the 550D is a bit smaller than the ones on the 7D or 5DmkII, resulting in the mounting frame of the VF cropping off 2mm on both sides of the LCD screen. Not much you might say (so do I), but also not really perfect when you think about the 160$ you invested into this.
UPDATED 2: 550D/T2i knock-off battery test with surprises (1400mAh)
April 10, 2010 - 8:46 pm - posted in 550D/T2i, film, gear reviews, hddslr
Update May 04, 2010:
Watch out when buying batteries from the ebay seller mentioned in the text (“trade-shop”); it seems he sends out different kinds of batteries (with less power than the ones i got) – check out Lucas Pfaffs blog entry on this matter (it’s in german). Thanks for the warning, Lucas!
Update May 06, 2010:
I have received word from quite a few people now the ebay seller (“trade-shop”) now ships batteries with significantly less power than the ones I got. Be careful when buying the batteries on ebay, try to get a statement from the seller first and feel free to link to this blog entry!
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Since the first knock-off batteries for the 550D/T2i appeared on Amazon and eBay a few weeks ago, I was eager to get my hands on some of them. The original Canon battery LP-E8 is still listed at something like 60$ and I believe it was even more before the first knock-offs were introduced. For me this is far too much money to be spend on a battery; even though they obviously are an essential piece of equipment for the DSLR filmmaker (especially when it comes to longer shoots).
Anyhow, since I was planning to get enough batteries to last for a whole shooting day (and still keep an eye on the money spent), I wanted to be sure the ones I got would be as long lasting as possible. After checking back with Nino Leitner’s experiences with some of the clones I decided to get some myself. Now the ones Nino tested lasted for about 47min compared to a total of 147min with the original Canon battery.
I decided to give a battery from eBay (Germany) a shot – it claimed to have 1400mAH, which is quite a bit more than the original battery has (1120mAh). I bought it for about 10€ (which is something like 13$) and didn’t expect too much. But hey, not much of a risk at 10 bucks, right. Well, prepare for some surprises.
UPDATED: canon 550d/t2i finally here! stay tuned for more!
April 7, 2010 - 2:41 pm - posted in film, hddslr, photographyUpdate April 09, 2010:
You can now find a sample video on my vimeo profile.
Hey folks,
I finally got my new camera – the Canon 550D/t2i. I’m already in love with it and will be uploading sample videos to my vimeo profile soon. The full HD footage looks stunning with my canon 50/1.8 lens. stay tuned for more, i’ll be putting together quite some gear in the near future for hddslr filmmaking while staying on a budget. maybe i’ll be of help for some of you guys who also want to get into hddslr business.
i’m currently waiting on the LCDVF to be sold in Germany again – it seems to be out of stock anywhere else as well, but i was told new stocks should arrive some time this week. i’ll keep you posted on this as well for i know it is a low priced alternative to the zacuto z-finder and is supposed to be working quite okay. check back here for more info, reviews and footage on that later!
hope you have a wonderful week!
xo
