Hi all, Dave here. For a very informative and very helpful review for anyone looking at the decision to buy the Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera, watch the video.
For those that like to read, here is a summary text of the review.
Reasons why I was looking at the 5D Mark III to replace my 7D.
1. Moire and poor anti-aliasing.
2. Lens purchase decisions fork in the road (crop vs full frame)
Compared to the 7D, the 5D Mark III is better at everything, higher quality build, built for video, full HDMI out. Then came the 6D, full frame. Mega pixels, focus, no headphone jack, but GPS, Wifi, didn't have the video quality of the 5D Mark III.
Compared to 5D Mark III and the Cinema series C300, C500 to get to 4K $$$ and missing features
And then came Magic Lantern video raw...
-24fps 14bit raw video that blows away 8bit compressed video and competes with RED at least at 1080P
-Promise of even better future... MLV format, ISO less HDR video (14 stops of dynamic range), compressed RAW, Sound, stabilized features/bugs
Things I love about the 5D Mark III
Camera features:
-focus speed, FPS photos, auto-focus settings
-no aliasing, no moire,
-sensor is better, beautiful photos,
-less noise at high ISO
-600EX flash, High speed sync,
Magic Lantern features:
-video quality
-color depth 14bit amazing dynamic range ,
-focus peaking,
-zoom, mixed with 70-200 IS II L, amazing 600mm Zoomed video at F2.8
-intravalometer,
-histogram,
-scopes,
-advanced bracketing,
Things you will have to live with...
It is not perfect... yet.
- Setup/install/update of Magic Lantern not for the weak (hard to find and know the instructions are correct)
- Upgrades fixed pink frames but removed audio
- Raw video post processing steps/time (Rawanizer -> After Effects/Camera Raw-> Premiere)
- No audio sync, all separate and external (Zoom H4N)
- Sometimes flaky (video recording errors, pink frames, slow to start recording)
- 11 minutes of video per 64GB better know what you want and not waste time rolling
- Shooting Raw video in full hot sun temp issues
Is it worth it...
- Resounding YES! For the price and the quality and features, YES, you would have to spend $$$$$ on RED + accessories to get the quality with not all of the features (no photos), or double on Black Magic Cinema and get a cropped lens coverage with less features (no photos).
Accessories that you have to have:
- A video editing capable computer to process the Raw video
- Komputerbay 64GB(1000x) $120 or 256GB (1200x) $600
- CarrySpeed VF-3 (used to see live video focus peaking)
- Zoom H4N, H1, H6 (Quality sound recording)
- Tripod with a Fluid head for smooth video pans
Photo and Video equipment reviews with a little fun thrown in...
Showing posts with label mic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mic. Show all posts
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Zoom H4N in-depth review
So you are thinking about getting an audio recorder for Canon DSLR with the Zoom H4N
Reasons that I thought about buying…
So if you have watched my review on Canon 7D here, you know that using the on-camera mic is not great. I knew that I needed to add-on to the camera to allow for better audio recording. I read review after review of people discussing an on-camera mic, but I really wanted the added flexibility of multiple channels of audio. I wanted to be able to plug-in multiple mic's for field recording and I wanted it to be simple. Funny story, I actually got my wife to agree to getting it because she was a big fan of Ghost hunting. I told her that she could use it as a great EVP recorder. Turns out, it's a horrible EVP recorder, because of it's high quality, the chances of "interference" causing "unknown" sounds to be recorded is pretty low. That being said, the Zoom H4N has become the de-facto standard of off camera audio recording. There are many imitators out there, and even Zoom is trying to up-sell people to the new Zoom H6N that is about to be released. But the abilities of this little recorder make it flexible enough to do just about anything.
Here is what I actually use it for.....
I use this as the main input for mic'ing and ultimately sending the audio into my camera. The nice part of this is that I can record multiple mic inputs at the same time either on multiple channels or just from the x/y stereo mic on the zoom. I will typically mount the zoom on top of the hot shoe on top of the camera if I am running and gunning or shooting an event like sports or concert type events. It captures the stereo field rather nicely, and also has the ability to set limiting and compression for those moments that you want the maximum audio signal that you can. In more advanced setups for interviews or training videos I usually run a separate condenser mic in order to get closer to the subject. Originally, even though you could have this as a recorder, plugging into the Canon 7D directly out of the Zoom required a intermediate device or cable in order to cancel out the AGC from the 7D. I bought a JuicedLink device to have the signal on half of the stereo channel to max out in order to allow the signal be controlled on one channel. Now with the latest 2.0 firmware for the 7D, you just need to set the levels in the camera to Manual and then make sure the levels in the camera are set to not peak, and in the Zoom both the record level and the headphone out level so that the camera does not peak out anywhere along the audio chain.
Here are the things I didn't expect or didn't like...
Learning the menu system and learning the different options in the Zoom can take some time. Recording multiple inputs at the same time with multiple mic's can be a bit tricky. The Zoom also has updated the firmware to allow for setting input levels while recording multiple sources. I highly recommend updating if you want to do multiple mic setups. The biggest surprise was when I accidentally tipped my camera bag over into a river at the top of a waterfall. The Zoom went off the 100 foot waterfall and survived the fall, not even a scratch on it. I did the bury it in rice for a couple of days trick to get the water out. And to my surprise, it worked. Even the microphones sound no worse for wear. I have used the Zoom in meetings, concerts, interviews, and in cold and hot weather. It just works. I haven't come across any flaws that I can find. The only thing that I had to do is get a fuzzy wind screen. The foam screen that comes with it doesn't help with wind. When shooting with the camera I typically don't even record on the Zoom, I just turn on Monitoring (in settings) and go directly into the camera. If you want to monitor with headphones, then you need a splitter cable for coming out the headphone out.
Here are the super cool things that I love about it...
If you are going to get serious about shooting video with a DSLR, you are going to need some way to get quality audio with the video. The Zoom makes this possible with a portable, quality audio, at 24bit 96Khz. I love my Zoom and would replace it immediately if it ever got lost or broke. Because it is so portable, and the battery life is very good -- about 4-6 hours of continuous recording, taking on a shoot is a no-brainer. I am going to look seriously at the Zoom H6N. The added flexibility for the 6 channels and the different on-board mic options is a very nice set of added features. I would highly recommend this piece of equipment for anyone trying out film-making. It has about every feature you could ever want from a portable and high quality audio reproduction.
Common settings that I use...
Record Settings, 24 bit WAV, mp3 variable
Input Monitoring On
Record levels
Headphone out levels
Camera settings Manual levels
Multiple microphones attached
Reasons that I thought about buying…
So if you have watched my review on Canon 7D here, you know that using the on-camera mic is not great. I knew that I needed to add-on to the camera to allow for better audio recording. I read review after review of people discussing an on-camera mic, but I really wanted the added flexibility of multiple channels of audio. I wanted to be able to plug-in multiple mic's for field recording and I wanted it to be simple. Funny story, I actually got my wife to agree to getting it because she was a big fan of Ghost hunting. I told her that she could use it as a great EVP recorder. Turns out, it's a horrible EVP recorder, because of it's high quality, the chances of "interference" causing "unknown" sounds to be recorded is pretty low. That being said, the Zoom H4N has become the de-facto standard of off camera audio recording. There are many imitators out there, and even Zoom is trying to up-sell people to the new Zoom H6N that is about to be released. But the abilities of this little recorder make it flexible enough to do just about anything.
Here is what I actually use it for.....
I use this as the main input for mic'ing and ultimately sending the audio into my camera. The nice part of this is that I can record multiple mic inputs at the same time either on multiple channels or just from the x/y stereo mic on the zoom. I will typically mount the zoom on top of the hot shoe on top of the camera if I am running and gunning or shooting an event like sports or concert type events. It captures the stereo field rather nicely, and also has the ability to set limiting and compression for those moments that you want the maximum audio signal that you can. In more advanced setups for interviews or training videos I usually run a separate condenser mic in order to get closer to the subject. Originally, even though you could have this as a recorder, plugging into the Canon 7D directly out of the Zoom required a intermediate device or cable in order to cancel out the AGC from the 7D. I bought a JuicedLink device to have the signal on half of the stereo channel to max out in order to allow the signal be controlled on one channel. Now with the latest 2.0 firmware for the 7D, you just need to set the levels in the camera to Manual and then make sure the levels in the camera are set to not peak, and in the Zoom both the record level and the headphone out level so that the camera does not peak out anywhere along the audio chain.
Here are the things I didn't expect or didn't like...
Learning the menu system and learning the different options in the Zoom can take some time. Recording multiple inputs at the same time with multiple mic's can be a bit tricky. The Zoom also has updated the firmware to allow for setting input levels while recording multiple sources. I highly recommend updating if you want to do multiple mic setups. The biggest surprise was when I accidentally tipped my camera bag over into a river at the top of a waterfall. The Zoom went off the 100 foot waterfall and survived the fall, not even a scratch on it. I did the bury it in rice for a couple of days trick to get the water out. And to my surprise, it worked. Even the microphones sound no worse for wear. I have used the Zoom in meetings, concerts, interviews, and in cold and hot weather. It just works. I haven't come across any flaws that I can find. The only thing that I had to do is get a fuzzy wind screen. The foam screen that comes with it doesn't help with wind. When shooting with the camera I typically don't even record on the Zoom, I just turn on Monitoring (in settings) and go directly into the camera. If you want to monitor with headphones, then you need a splitter cable for coming out the headphone out.
Here are the super cool things that I love about it...
If you are going to get serious about shooting video with a DSLR, you are going to need some way to get quality audio with the video. The Zoom makes this possible with a portable, quality audio, at 24bit 96Khz. I love my Zoom and would replace it immediately if it ever got lost or broke. Because it is so portable, and the battery life is very good -- about 4-6 hours of continuous recording, taking on a shoot is a no-brainer. I am going to look seriously at the Zoom H6N. The added flexibility for the 6 channels and the different on-board mic options is a very nice set of added features. I would highly recommend this piece of equipment for anyone trying out film-making. It has about every feature you could ever want from a portable and high quality audio reproduction.
Common settings that I use...
Record Settings, 24 bit WAV, mp3 variable
Input Monitoring On
Record levels
Headphone out levels
Camera settings Manual levels
Multiple microphones attached
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