Indie Shows: Rent a Camera, and Grip & Electric Gear from Double H!

Hello all! Double H Productions is pleased to announce the new Camera and Grip/Electric package that is now available along with our professional services. Below is an inventory of the gear available. We offer very competitive, negotiable rates that will surely fit your budgetary needs. Contact us, detailing your project, at doublehproductions@gmail.com Subject line: Gear Rates and we will give you an estimate.

~DH



Camera:

Sony EX1 w/ Anton Bauer gold mount (shoots 1080/24p)
(1) 8GB and (2) 16GB SxS express cards (~2.5 hrs of 1080p storage)

Zeiss T1.4 super speed primes (18, 25, 35, 50 & 85mm; PL mount)

7" Marshall HD on-board monitor w/ Zacuto noga arm

Chrosziel follow focus w/ whip
Chrosziel 4x5 swing-away matte box w/ Tiffen filters

(3) Anton Bauer Dionic 90, (2) Sony EX1 and (2) Sony Z1U (for ground
glass) batteries

Grip/Electric: *all lighting is Mole Richardson and Kino; grip, Matthews.*

(3) 1.2k HMI pars w/ electronic ballasts
(1) 2k fresnel
(2) 1k fresnels
(2) 650w fresnels
(2) 300w fresnels
(2) 4x4 Kino-flo banks
(1) 12' Kino mini-flo kit
(4) litewate baby stands
(2) beefy baby stands
(2) combo stands
(3) roller combo stands
(10) C-stands
(1) low-riser C-stand
(1) 12x18 solid
(2) 18x24 solids
(1) 18x24 silk
(1) 18x24 single net
(1) 18x24 double net
(2) 24x36 solids
(1) 24x36 silk
(1) 24x36 single net
(1) 24x36 double net
(1) 24x36 cookie
(2) 4x4 floppies
(2) 4x4 open frames
(1) 12x12 overhead frame w/ double net, china silk and white/black griff
(2) apple box sets
(10) 25lb sand bags
(6) 35lb sand bags
(5) furniture pads
(5) Matthellini's
(2) mafers
(4) baby C-clamps
(1) junior C-clamp
(5) baby
(2) junior plates
(2) baby pipe clamps
(2) junior pipe clamps
(1) gator grip
(5) #1 grip clips
(5) #2 grip clips
(5) #3 grip clips
(1) wall spreader
(2) 1k dimmers
(3) 300w thumb dimmers
(1) 3-fer
(8) cube taps
(2) pig nose,
(8) ground lifters
(1) socket tester
(10) 50' stingers
(10) 25' stingers
(1) 8' ladder

Review: The Canon 7D for film purposes

Last week I had my first go round with the Canon 7D for shooting narrative film. The purpose of this blog is to layout the good and the bad, while giving some advice on how to plan your technical setup in pre-production.

Overall:
The camera was pretty simple to use and has a respectable image especially at the 7D's price-point. It really excels for low light shooting and as a result has great depth of field capabilities. Media management is pretty painless and locking in your iso/shutter etc is easy to navigate.

Issues at this point:

Some of the roadblocks one might encounter are:

1.) Sound
Recording straight to the 7D is not ideal for more than a guide track for audio at this point. There is an auto-gain feature that cannot, at this point be turned off. This causes the "in between lines" and quiet moments to gain up on the camera's audio, raising your noise floor. This will make your audio unusable in the profession sense. There are two work-arounds if you must record audio to the camera. The first is the BeachTek DXA 5-D. This device has a feature that will use one of the two channels to send a constant signal to the camera tricking it in to keeping the audio even with no gain adjustments. Check out Coffey Sound's 7D Test. The second is Magic Lantern firmware (see video below) update that is in the works. It is only available on the 5D currently. This allows the auto-gain to be switched off.

2.) LCD/Monitor
This firmware also fixes another problem with the 7D video mode. When you plug in the mini-HDMI cable to an external HD monitor, the LCD onboard shuts off. This problem obviously affects operating the camera on pans, tilts, and dollies. I had to place the monitor where I could see it while operating, or use the monitor for lighting/framing then disconnect it during operating the shot. The firmware is supposed to allow for both monitors to be active together.

Recommendations for filmmakers using this camera:

1.) Get a follow focus designed for a DSLR. This will make life much easier when utilizing that depth of field with rack focusing.

2.) Minimum of three Batteries and three 13 gig cards. This will make for a smooth on set workflow. A second body for offloading footage wouldn't hurt.

3.) Nikon lens mount adapter (about 10 bucks). This will open up your lens options to a wide variety of new and vintage Nikon lenses. Many of these lenses can be found online and at camera swap meets for pretty cheap and will allow for you to build your collection. (Note: the adapter cause the lenses to focus beyond infinity)

4.) Mini HDMI to HDMI cable. This will allow you a larger monitor and will work with many computer monitors that you might already own if you are on a budget. Don't try to light and frame using a 2" LCD.

5.) Some of the handheld mounts, matte boxes, and cages can help with making your operating smoother. It's tough to dolly, pan, and tilt this camera because of the light weight of the body. These will add weight and balance to the camera.

Settings I recommend using:

ISO 320 or 640
1/50 or 1/60 shutter
24P 16x9 setting
30P 16x9 for intense motion
White balance to your lighting. Don't use a preset.
Turn ON Highlight Tone Priority

Reference Videos:

Magic Lantern introduction from Trammell Hudson on Vimeo.

I will edit this post with some footage from the shoot shortly (though it will be heavily doctored to mimic 1940's film noir, you'll still get the point). Hopefully I can post both the raw and doctored footage.

Feel free to post any questions you might have about the process. ~P