Ultra Low Light Video with Metabones Speed Booster
Posted in Cameras, lenses, Sony NEX by Brandon Li On March 3, 2013
Last night I had a ball filming at a very dimly lit bar in Santa Monica. There was a magical, convivial vibe in the air, and I wanted to capture the mood of the place the way I felt it, without attracting
Read More
Shoot full-frame RAW for $3k with the palm-sized KineRAW Mini
Posted in Cameras, Sony NEX by Brandon Li On March 1, 2013
It’s a little thing called the KineRAW Mini. It’s from China. It shoots 12-bit, 2k RAW, fits in the palm of your hand, and has a s35 (roughly APS-C) sized sensor. But with an adapter, you can turn this into a full-frame
Read More
How to film your Vegas fling and get away with it
Posted in Cameras, Final Cut Pro X, How To, Post-production, Sony RX by Brandon Li On February 26, 2013
Last fall, I was approached by VivaVegas.tv, a Las Vegas events promotion company, to create a branded video about one of their nightclub parties at Haze. I’ve never had a particular interest in shooting at clubs, or events of any kind, because
Read More
The $350 docu-filmmaking kit: Depreciation is Wonderful
Posted in Cameras, lenses, Sony NEX by Brandon Li On February 10, 2013
Last week, I went out with some friends for yet another night on the town. I brought along my Sony NEX-5n with a Nikon 50mm f/1.8 pancake lens and made the short “Tuesday”. I recently discovered that this combo can be bought
Read More
Wider, Brighter, Cheaper? Metabones Speed Booster + Nikon Manual Lenses
Posted in Cameras, How To, Sony NEX by Brandon Li On February 8, 2013
Last night I hit the town to test out the Metabones Speed Booster on my Sony NEX-5n with some old Nikon manual lenses. For the uninitiated, the Speed Booster is the “Holy Grail” adapter that allows any NEX camera to accept full-frame Canon
Read More
Skip the ND (Neutral Density) Filter and add your motion blur back in post
Posted in Cameras, Final Cut Pro X, How To, Post-production, Sony RX by Brandon Li On February 1, 2013
Neutral Denstiy Filters are a pain to use. From storing them, to attaching and removing them from the camera, to adjusting them to changing lighting conditions, they add significant hassle to video production. For the un-initated: we use ND’s to cut down
Read More
Walk Like a Steadicam (Part 2)
Posted in Cameras, DIY, How To, Sony RX by Brandon Li On January 22, 2013
It’ s long been my geeky dream to be able to get those fluid Steadicam-style tracking shots without any external gear. Last year I posted a couple tests using warp stabilizer to smooth out the bumps, to mixed results. I’ve been practicing
Read More
Your Sony RX100 can go aerial for about $700 with the DJI Phantom
Posted in Cameras, DIY, How To, Sony RX by Brandon Li On January 20, 2013
Quadcopters, those mini-helicopters that fly cameras with amazing fluidity, have been around for a while. But their cost and complicated operation has kept them out of the reach of non-helicopter experts until recently . Enter the DJI Phantom: a low-cost, backpack-sized, pre-built
Read More
The holy grail: turn your NEX camera into full-frame for $600 (and use almost any lens)
Posted in Cameras, Sony NEX by Brandon Li On January 17, 2013
A revolution is about to hit the mirrorless camera world. NEX is now full-frame. Your NEX-5n videos will now have the same shallow depth-of-field, wide angles, and amazing low-light performance of a Canon 5d MKIII. How? A new spin on some
Read More
“Roadside” – Impromptu GH2 Short Film
Posted in Cameras, How To, Post-production by Brandon Li On December 28, 2012
I’m currently on a reality shoot in Texas and had my Panasonic GH2 along for interviews. During a drive from San Antonio to Austin, I got an itch to go jogging and pulled off at a random exit. I noticed the wind
Read More
- 1
- 2
- 3