First try of Video with NEX-5

This weekend I'm going up to the Vintage Festival on the Southbank. I did some shots last year which the organisers used in their marketing so they kindly gave me a pass for the 3 days!

So I will be taking photos but this is the perfect opportunity to capture some quality video footage with the NEX-5. I will be using an Easy Cam device I bought on Ebay yesterday (arrives tomorrow) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Easy-Cam-Steady-Camera-Image-Stabilisation-Steadycam-/180690864914 and a tripod which is quite lightweight so not suitable for panning I would think. I'll be using the 16mm the UWA adapter, Leica 50mm 1.4 ASPH and a Leica 75mm f2 ASPH and possibly a Carl Ziess Jena 135mm f3.5 (m42).

I also have put together the EVF alternative that headofdesitiny put together recently: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1042&message=38124924 but mine looks considerably worse with no leatherette and just some bright red electricians tape holding the lupe in place
With the lupe folded away, it seems perfect for video!!

There should be lots of dancing, atmospheric club scenes and some wild and stylish outfits worn. I expect daylight and night-time scenes and I was not going to worry about sound and just plant some music over the video and possibly mix in the odd bit of native audio. I may also use the Panasonic G3 on occasions if perhaps I get the opportunity to have one cam on the tripod and one on the easycam. I'm not expecting an easy ride with all this manual focus and dodgy supports but if I can get a minute or two of quality footage, I'll be happy

Its my first time trying video with a digicam so any tips from those who use it for video would be well received.
--
Neil
http://about.me/buchangrant

also using a Leica 35mm 1.4 ASPH, which is actually my favourite lens on the NEX
--
Neil
http://about.me/buchangrant

Suggest shooting in shutter priority, and using legacy lenses with no lens stabilization, you'll get MUCH better video shooting supported ( tripod) than any other way. Camera stabilizers are dodgy; they can do wonders if used correctly, or make a terrible mess if not ( far more frequently).

Be aware of your lighting at all times, and try to keep the shutter speed between 1/30 and 1/60 of a second. You'll be amazed at the final results...it shoots tremendous video

Thanks for the advice

so if I set the shutter to 1/30 and the lens is a legacy lens, the camera will adjust the gain and ISO to suit the conditions right? I was not aware that was possible, I thought I would just shoot in aperture priority as I do in stills and it would adjust everything else.

I understand shutter speeds of 1/30 - 1/60 are supposed to give good results but are there any other effects of higher or lower shutter speeds I should be aware of? I would like to transfer all clips to pro-res 422 and edit in FCP express and I would like to do some slow motion if possible.

I have ND filters x4 and x10, if outside in bright light these would effectively drop my shutter speeds down and give a better IQ?

--
Neil
http://about.me/buchangrant

Buchan-Grant said:

Thanks for the advice

so if I set the shutter to 1/30 and the lens is a legacy lens, the camera will adjust the gain and ISO to suit the conditions right? I was not aware that was possible, I thought I would just shoot in aperture priority as I do in stills and it would adjust everything else.

I understand shutter speeds of 1/30 - 1/60 are supposed to give good results but are there any other effects of higher or lower shutter speeds I should be aware of? I would like to transfer all clips to pro-res 422 and edit in FCP express and I would like to do some slow motion if possible.

I have ND filters x4 and x10, if outside in bright light these would effectively drop my shutter speeds down and give a better IQ?

--
Neil
http://about.me/buchangrant

Click to expand...

Yes, the slower shutter will make the video frames transition more smoothly.

ND filters are a must have in bright light - or you'll end up at f22 and 1/125th shutter speeds.

Your shutter speed has to keep up with frame rate, it can be faster, but not slower. The camera will not select too slow of a shutter speed.

I am doubtful as to quality hand held video with legacy lenses. Wider focal length are best, camera shake is less noticable, but smoothness when panning is hard to achieve (go slow). Use a monopod (taller than tripod, easier to manouver with) or lean on another person for such shots, or keep camera steady, let subject move within frame.

• I have tried some legacy lenses, for experimentation, but both the S95 and the 18200 blow away the legacy lens video in panning shots.

As the light goes down, the legacy lenses will shine - you can keep shooting at 1/30 - 1/60 (frame rate limited) whereas the kit zoom lenses will force you to increase ISO.

As to slow motion, not in camera, to my knowledge. But you can add/convert this in PP.

Hey, I have been shooting a lot of video using the NEX 5 and manual lenses. It has been a fun challenge.

Here are a few lessons I learned the hard way

1. Do NOT hand hold this camera. It is super light and while you may not notice it, it WILL shake, a lot. You only have your hands to stabilize the camera. I use tripods and a shoulder mount. I took it off the mount for a day of shooting and boy did I regret it.

2. Do set your focus 1st & shoot second. One of the things that makes the NEX great for using manual primes is the digital zoom in for focusing. However this handy function is disabled while shooting video which means you have to eyeball it. What helped me was to use get a sharp focus and the hit the rec' button.

3. Use the peeking function at medium/low. This function still works in video and is usually trustworthy, usually. It gets mixed up with hi contrast scenes. If you have a bright light behind a dark subject it will say it is in focus even when it is quite soft. Setting the peeking to mid/low will make sure it only shows up on subjects that are really sharp. However I still find it only sort'a useful.

4. Use an automatic still mode. WHAT? Let me explain, the NEX will change the shutter speed soon as you change to video mode, because of this the shot that looked perfect in S will be completely different when you press Rec'. To avoid have to set up a shot twice just use a less manual mode. Also if you are not coloring it in post all the FX hold over to the video mode. I still use S a lot of the time but if I don't feel like setting up twice it is useful to see what the video will look like before I shoot.

5. Watch this http://vimeo.com/25131817 I was already doing much of it (like the button assignment) but it is still very informative.

6. Have fun. I mean it, no joke. This camera and the lenses you can use with it allow for a lot of creative shots angles that would otherwise be hard to get.

Here is a video I made about a month ago: http://vimeo.com/26059848

I only had a few hours to edit it so there is no color correction or tampering with the footage. What you see is what I shot except the slow-mo, that being said, AVCHD 60i is great for capturing fluid motion. The last shot of the vid is slowed to lower than 65% and still looks good.

Have a good time hope this helped.

http://vimeo.com/26059848

Also I thought I should include this video. That was the 1st video real video I had shot. As you could see it is very shaky and the focus was off a good deal of the time.

THIS: http://vimeo.com/26327845 was made after I learned my lessons and tried again.

Everything is much smother (other than the opening shoot lol) and the focus was set before I started shooting.

I only have manual lenses so it should give a good idea of what you are up against.

--
Neil
http://about.me/buchangrant

--
Neil
http://about.me/buchangrant

I shot 3700 pictures though!
--
Neil
http://about.me/buchangrant