You’ve most likely seen HDR photographs before, but how about HDR video? The above is a demonstration of HDR video by Soviet Montage, created using two Canon 5D Mark II DSLR cameras. Both cameras recorded identical scenes using a beam splitter, and captured the footage at different exposure values (over and under exposed).

We’ve posted HDR videos before, but they were created using stop-motion, so the process was more traditional. This is also the first time we’ve seen an HDR video of a person.

What do you think?

(via Engadget)

Expensive camera equipment getting destroyed seems to be a reoccurring theme this month here on PetaPixel. Early in the month there was the story of the 7D getting burned up in an exploding car, and earlier this week we shared a DigitalRev video of DSLRs getting abused tested for durability.

If the DigitalRev video got you mad, then this one might infuriate you. For whatever reason, photographer Cyril Helnwein decided to fire-breathe onto his Canon 5D Mark II and burn it up, posting a video of it to YouTube’s “comedy” category.
Video after the jump…

Here’s a really astonishing stop-motion video of a guy walking across America. Peter Cote, director Sam Griffith, and the Conscious Minds Productions crew approached Levis jeans for sponsorship and products to use during the shoot. The trip began June 17 in New York and ended July 1 in San Francisco. For the actual photography, the crew used a Canon 5D. Read the rest of this entry »

This music video may not have the suave nature of the single-take Old Spice commercials, but then again, neither do the unlucky men who fall victim to their runaway love interest. Plus, musician Tim Halperin had this video made for his song, “She Runs,” with a budget of a mere $500. The video was shot with a Canon 5D Mark II.

Jonathan Combs, who directed the film alongside Joe Childress, said:

We took 3 days to build and 1 day to shoot. Most of the wood for the rolling stages was donated/lent as well as the set items. Most of the money went towards casters so that the stages would roll properly when we started putting set decoration and actors on top of them. We had an average of 10 people on the build days and a total of about 40 people (including actors) on the actual shoot day. This still didn’t seem like enough. Everyone pulled double duty. We had actors holding set pieces, running to do their scene, then running to hold more set pieces. Brooke Peoples (our leading lady) had 3 wardrobe changes and 4 scenes. She also had to make most of these changes within seconds so she could be in her back to back scenes. Tim had 2 wardrobe changes and three scenes. The biggest move was the ending shot. By that time we’re 40 yards away from where we started so the red curtain, stage, piano, and audience all had to be moved in behind the dolly. It was mass chaos outside of the frame.

You can read more from Jonathan Combs on Planet 5D and watch the behind-the-scenes video below:

Read the rest of this entry »

Outdoor Photography Canada magazine’s latest cover features a photograph that’s pretty unique. It’s not the subject matter, but rather how the image was captured: photographer Paul Burwell captured the photo on his Canon 5D Mark II at ISO 3200.

On his blog, Burwell writes,

It’s my shot of a Kermode “Spirit” Bear and there is an accompanying article inside about a trip I lead last fall to photograph these wonderful and uniquely Canadian bears. This isn’t my first cover shot on a magazine, but it is one I’m particularly proud of as I believe it may be one of the first cover shots ever published that was made at ISO 3200.

He was using a 500mm lens wide open at f/4, with a shutter speed of 1/400th of a second. The composition works quite well, but the high ISO is noticeable in the desaturated colors and noisiness of the image.

What do you think of this cover shot? Do you know of any other covers that featured high ISO images?

(via Planet5D)

Update: Cildydd points out that a photo shot at ISO 100,000 was published on a magazine cover in France.

One of the biggest stories last month was that an upcoming episode of the popular TV series House was filmed entirely with the Canon 5D Mark II. I know a lot of you are looking forward to seeing how it turned out, but now you can get a sneak peek: Fox has uploaded a short teaser of the episode to YouTube. It’s not HD, but it’s a pretty neat glimpse into what they were able to do:

The episode is set to air Monday, May 17th.

(via Philip Bloom)

This might be old news for some of you, but I just came across it so I’m guessing many of you haven’t seen it before either. This is a 4GB USB drive that looks exactly like a miniature Canon 5D Mark II, with an EF 24-105mm lens as the drive, and the camera body as the case.

You can find them on eBay by searching for “canon 5d usb“. These little things will set you back about $94 apiece, including shipping.

Don’t need that much power in a USB drive? There’s also a 2GB flash drive that looks like a Canon 450D (AKA Rebel XSI). It actually costs more ($110) and seems to be a bit more rare. The USB drive is also in the body rather than the lens, and it comes with a kit lens rather than a nice L lens:

Seeing as the lens ship from Hong Kong, Canon probably doesn’t have anything to do with these lenses, just like the Canon 24-105 coffee mugs that appeared when the Canon L lens mug became a crazy Internet hit.

Anyhow, if you want to say you have a full frame USB drive and don’t mind spending semi-big bucks for one, this is the way to go.

Two weeks ago we featured the short film “The Last 3 Minutes” by cinematographer Shane Hurlbut, which showcased the potential of the Canon 5D Mark II for filmmaking.

Hurlbut’s team also created a behind the scenes look at how the amazing short was filmed, and gives a great glimpse into the unique blend of effort and creativity it requires.

If you haven’t watched “The Last 3 Minutes” yet, here’s a link to our original post.

(via Planet5D)

We recently featured a Canon 5D Mark II shaped cake, but didn’t have any photographs of the back.

It just so happens that Daniel, the man for whom the cake was made, recognized it on PetaPixel and emailed us with more photographs and some background:

That cake was my groom’s cake, which was presented as a surprise by my awesome wife during our wedding reception. Knowing how much I love photography and my 5Dmk2, my wife commissioned BethAnn (owner of Studio Cake) to create this amazing piece. Since you were wondering what the back looked like, I thought I’d send you a pic…the picture on the screen is a shot from our engagement shoot (by Ray of Apertura Photography).

It’s amazing how much the cake resembles the actual camera. We love the engagement photograph displayed on the “LCD”. Sadly, Daniel informs us that the photo itself wasn’t edible.

This cake sets quite a bar for photography-related cakes. If you have any photos of similar cakes, feel free to email them to us!

The season finale of the popular TV show House, which will air on May 17th, was filmed entirely with the Canon 5D Mark II. cinema5D overheard the plan last month and Greg Yaitanes, the director of the show, has confirmed it through a tweet in which we made himself open to questions.

We’ll republish some of the interesting questions and answers here, interview style:

@MVRamunno: What is the difference in how it looks on a TV screen compared to a regular camera?

Greg Yaitanes: richer. shallow focus pulls the actors faces to forground [sic]

@oamad0101: How many frames per second and why a Canon 5D Mark II?

GY: 24p and wanted it for ease of use in tight spaces.

@unikissa: Ok, seriously. Can you tell us something about the lenses you used?

GY: all the canon primes and the 24-70 and the 70-200 zoom

@sarabury: Did you have to change any of your working practices to fit in with differences between the 5D and a typical setup?

GY: some. focus was hard with these lenses but more “cine-style” lenses are being made as we speak.

@marykir: were you using CF cards for storage or some sort of mass storage mod? seems like you would need a lot of cards :)

GY: some 18gb or something like that card. gave us 22 min of footage.

@Drdiagnostic: How was the quality as compared 2 the traditional camera used in shooting?

GY: i loved it and feel it’s the future. cameras that can give you these looks

@klizma: How did you manage to stabilize the camera in tight spaces? Any special kind of brackets?

GY: no. mostly gave it a hand held feel. or on a small tripod

This is quite an endorsement for Canon, with a network giant entrusting the finale of one of its most popular shows to the 5D Mark II (which happens to be the first digital camera to take the Presidential portrait as well).

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about the popularity of the show:

In 2008, House was distributed in a total of 66 countries. With an audience of over 81.8 million worldwide, it was the most watched television show on the globe and far surpassed the viewership figures of the leading TV dramas the previous two years

If you haven’t yet, check out the short film, The Last 3 Minutes, which we posted earlier today. It was filmed with the same camera.

(via Canon 5D tips)