This past weekend I gave out free legal advice for those who were brave enough to pay for it. It was epic fun.
I filmed a few scenes with Driftwood’s 167mb GOP1 hack for the GH2 and again I was astounded. This camera is powerful. Again, I put the footage through severe amounts of color grading filters and again, the camera held its ground.
Also used the Merlin StediCam and was very impressed with its abilities to hide my severe camera shake.
Anyway, enjoy.
Love,
Chicano Lawyer
Hello everybody! Stop by the Venice Vintage Motorcycle Club this Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011. I will be at the VVMC booth offering free legal advice to those who are willing to pay for it.
There will also be raffles, bands, a beer garden. Good times.
Love,
Chicano Lawyer
So I’m completely sold on drinking the GH2 Hack Kool-Aid. Yesterday, I shot footage of Alexandra at 640 ISO and put the shot through the color grading ringer. I applied a ridiculous amount of desaturation of highlights and shadows, I increased the shadow detail by 50% in Premiere Pro, I cropped the top and bottom, I put all the shadows and highlights in the dark blue end of the color wheel corrector, and the mid-tones in the bright orange end of the color wheel and the image held up like Michele Bachman’s make-up in the Republican debates last night. Yeah, that good.
Obviously, the point of this exercise was to see how much the hacked footage could take before too much digital noise started to destroy the image. Clearly it can take a beating. If you watch the image in 1080P, you’ll notice that the only noise introduced looks more like film grain than computer vomit. For tech geeks such as myself, this is fucking awesome. Only issue is that my 32GB SD card now only holds 14 minutes of video. But that is a small trade-off considering I was thinking about buying an external recorder and SSD drives.
Trust me, the GH2 is the camera to buy. I’ve owned far too many cameras to make such a statement and not mean it.
Love,
Chicano Lawyer
The day has arrived. Canon has announced their new prom queen in the HDSLR ball. It has time-code, it shoots in Intra frames, ie., true progressive frames, can shoot 12 RAW frames per second and 14 JPEG frames per second, has manual audio control, the list goes on and on. It still shoots 1080P though. No RAW. Also the codec compression is still to be determined. Either way you slice it, she is pertty. But at $6,800, she’s a gold digger.
Of course, a few months ago I wouldn’t care about her hefty ransom. But today is not a few months ago. The EOS 1D X seems awesome. But where’s the 1080P at 60P? Sony’s NEX-5n has it. Where’s the focus peaking? The NEX-5n has that too. I know it seems silly to compare a $6,800 camera to a $600 camera, but on a practical level, as a guerrilla filmmaker, I’d feel more comfortable with 1080P at 60P and focus peaking on a no permit shoot than a camera that costs more than any car I ever bought.
More importantly, Canon may be missing their audience. The 5d Mark II was a breakthrough in technology, which is why so many filmmakers splurged the $2,500 to get one. The camera did what nothing else could. The 1D X on the other hand is adding what is already abundant in the crowed HDSLR marketplace. The new GH2 hack by Driftwood, for instance, shoots in AVCHD Intra frames at GOP1 at 176mb per second, has 48khz audio, and is reliable with a fast SD class 10 card. This quality is available in nothing else except a RED camera. The Intra frames mean that the compression is no longer guessing what the next frame will be while shooting. Also, it means that the footage will be able to take a Pacquiao v. Marquez type beating when color-grading and still look good. Did I mention the camera costs $800.
See for yourself. The first video is of the new Canon 1D X. Now, I don’t know if the filmmakers actually used the 1D X to shoot the promo, but it would be pretty stupid if they didn’t.
The next video is of a filmmaker testing the AVCHD Intra hack at 176mbit GOP1.
For my eyes, the GH2 footage looks much better. It looks like Canon is misreading the market. Of course, the 1D X will be an awesome camera when it comes out in March 2012. But while we all wait for that, a whole bunch of nerds will keep pushing forward the limits of the GH2 Hack. This could easily make the 1D X unnecessarily expensive by the time it is finally released.
So there you have it. My two cents. If you want a good camera, buy the GH2 and hack it. No need to wait for Canon.
Love,
Chicano Lawyer
P.S., this video is crazy.
It’s here, finally. Do you hear angels singing in the background? Or maybe it’s just in my head. They sound nice.
Apple has released an update to Final Cut Pro X that supports XML support. Now all the complainers can go from a Final Cut Pro 7 project to a Final Cut Pro X project with a little less complaining.
Apple is also offering a 30 day Trial for Free. That means you can now see exactly why you wasted your money on Adobe Premiere CS5.5, when you could have got something twice as good for twice as less.
The aspect I most enjoy about Final Cut Pro X is the ability to composite effects from within Final Cut Pro X. Also, the fact that the software engine is shared with Motion 5 means that any one can now create any effect, transition or animated title in real time without the need of plugins. If you don’t believe me, do a Google search for “Free Final Cut Pro X plugins” and you’ll find hundreds of end-user made plugins for free. Now, the only limitation is our imagination.
Anyway, go to Apple and check it out.
Love,
Chicano Lawyer
Canon has recently released an announcement about an announcement on November 3rd. With a little luck, it will be something more than an official announcement about another announcement.
It’s been almost 3 years since the 5D Mark II was released and everyone is waiting to see what’s next.
My money is on a cinema camera that will destroy RED on price point and features. Of course in the pompous department, RED will never lose.
So why does this announcement to an announcement warrant a post by a Chicano Lawyer?
Well, many friends come to me about photography advice. Which camera should I buy, what lens should I steal, etc.? Given this recent announcement, the answer is clear. None. Wait. Whatever Canon announces, it definitely justifies waiting until Nov. 3rd to see what the Japanese have up their sleeves.
Until this announcement, I was seriously considering getting the Sony NEX-5n. It’s Sony’s new camera that shoots 24P AND 60P in 1080P. It also does this in virtual darkness. Check out www.EOSHD.com for a full review.
As tempting as the NEX-5n looks, I’m waiting. Canon made me a fan-boy 2 years ago with the 5D Mark II and 1D Mark IV. They can do it again. Come on Canon, make me drool.
Love,
Chicano Laywer
Yup. Just what the title says. I just downloaded it. It’s iPhones Color Correction for video. Get it now. It’s FREE!
According to www.canonrumors.com, the new 1D Mark 5 is just weeks away. The details are below.
1D Mark V
A new claimed spec list of the upcoming 1D Mark 5.
If true, it looks like the camera will be able to shoot 60 frames in 1.3 crop mode and 120 frames per second in 1.6 crop mode. That is awesome. This means true 60p in 1920×1080 resolution. No more up-scaling the resolution. This means slow motion will look incredible. This is especially true at 120 frames per second.
Also, if the camera can shoot in 3 different crop modes (full frame, 1.3x, and 1.6x) this means that less lenses will be needed. For light shooting, all that one would need to carry is the Tokina 11-16mm, which would double as a 14mm to 20mm and a 17mm to 25mm lens. Add the Canon EF 24-70mm lens and that’s all you need. Two lenses. Just two. Awesome.
As for the price, I’m sure it will be painful.
Love,
Chicano Lawyer
Here it is. A whole new, similar look. The blog that is. Thoughts? Criticisms? Concerns?
Love,
Chicano Lawyer
This past weekend, my friend Miguel got married. And I had the challenge of shooting, editing and projecting it before the cake was cut.
I’ve done this before, but with help. Miguel’s wedding was my first time doing everything on my own using only a GH2. Overall, it could have been much easier. The problem, a stale cookie.
While at my friend Dave’s house, I ate a cracker in his kitchen. Unbeknownst to me, this cracker was over two years old since expired. As soon as I finished the cracker, I immediately realized something was wrong. It tasted like death. Vomit, right? I tried. I couldn’t. I then turned to Tequila. Three glasses of it.
So now my upset stomach is gone, but my ability to shoot a wedding on my own after three tequilas seemed like a bad idea. Many things would probably go wrong.
Ultimately, I managed. Although sweaty, smelly and tired, I showed the video during the reception.
Anyway, here’s the final product.
Love,
Chicano Lawyer
