BLOG

Birnbaum Headshots NYC - Insights into photography, acting and living in the big city by Ricardo Birnbaum, headshot photographer/actor based in New York City (NYC). 

CANON 5D MKiii AND Magic Lantern

The Magic Lantern Team has done something amazing. They have unlocked 1920 HD raw recording on the Canon DSLR's, and have provided every owner of a Canon camera with the opportunity to shoot 14 bit video images. This is huge! For those of us who embraced the DSLR movement shooting in H.264, we had never foreseen this as a possibility. And now that we have used the module, there is no looking back. Most people don't talk about the benefits of raw in ways that we understand it vs H.264. There are 3 key things that impact on video work right away.

1. Better Resolution - because 14bit color tracks subtle differences in colors, this transalates into better sharpness.

2. Better Skin Tones - By far the most important of them all. The skin has a slow gradation from light to dark and makes the subject's skin look natural. This is the way original 35mm film behaves.

3. Better Grading Capabilities - With more information in color, we can tweet everything from color temperature, to exposure, to tints... to achieve the look we want. This gives you flexibility beyond what more expensive cameras like the Canon 300 give you.

Couple all of this with Canon's excellent sensors and low light capabilities and you have a beast of a camera.

Now run, and grab some high speed x1000 CF cards and start shooting unprecedented video.

 

Image Screenshot: Hunter Hampton