Tech Blog: The limitations of the Canon 7d

The Canon 7d is an amazing piece of camera equipment. The most important thing to remember about it is that it is a still camera that happens to shoot video. The image quality is amazing and the glass you can use with it is unmatched in many regards.

When approached to shoot No Lands Too Foreign on the Canon 7d, I was absolutely content with it. It's small size and my collection of canon 35mm glass would allow me to shoot some amazing stuff. What was unexpected though was the run and gun style documentary filmmaking that I did not take into account and the fact that we are not using the standard documentary filmmaking approach, we are only two people. I am the entire production side of things. I am my own first AC, Production Sound, and Operator. There is no production team other than 1 producer in San Francisco helping us. There is no advance team to scout ahead of us nor is there any secondary unit to pick up B roll for us behind us. Similar documentary's have done small teams however with significantly higher value equipment.

Here is a list of pro's and con's with the equipment thus far:

Pro
-Amazing image quality
-Use of Canon Glass
- Use in Low light situations
-can be very discrete with no steadicam/shotgun mic (most think i'm taking pictures)
-color correction ability when shooting flatter images
-Price
- extremely light to most other video cameras

Cons

-Battery Life
-Price of cards (though comparable to sxs or p2)
-Lack of Xlr inputs (ACG within 7d is awful) and the necessity of separate recorder
-h.264 conversion to prores (6 times the original size)
- No zebras or exposure aids (you have to eyeball everything) - the light meter settings can be adjusted but you should research how each takes its readings

Note: I know there are firmware hacks for the 7d (magic lantern) for zebras and audio level monitors however unless released by canon, I do not consider these stable platforms to rely on for a full production documentary or unless tested by myself first.

The FD EF mount converter for my FD lenses will be shipped from the states within the next week or so and I will have an extensive review of that.

Munich and the Pub Crawls

Munich is an awesome city. We went on the famous pub crawl with our hostel and we proceeded to drink massive amounts of beer. About 4 liters or so in the night. (for us imperial system users, 32oz for a liter) So 4 liters is well above my normal 40oz of mickeys I usually drink. By far my favorite pub was the Hofbräuhaus. One of the most well known pub's in all of Munich, they ONLY serve liters there. Liters of good beer too. Let's just say I stumbled back to the hostel where we continued to party with the pub crawl group. It was composed mostly of Aussie's and a few kiwi's.

à Paris

I always felt that my years and years of french classes were an utter waste of time thinking they were only good to get my language requirement out of the way since I would never use it. Spanish is definitely more useful in California however I take back everything I said about studying French for it ACTUALLY came in handy! I could understand a lot of people's conversations and phrases. I could form semi decent sentences and people could respond to me. It was quite gratifying.

Upon the train ride to Paris, we met up with a new friend Ahmed. He asked us merely where the trash can was (apparently in London, public trash cans are not as common as in America) and knew right away we were Americans as well. We began talking about our project and he accompanied us on our journey through the streets of Paris.

For lunch we were able to stop by a suggested crepe place and let me say it definitely blows the one in Santa Monica out of the water. The shop was a single owner shop with one old man who cooks and lives in the back. We told him were were les Metteur en scènes and he was more than happy to have us film there. (more accurately I'm un caméraman). It was weird to have someone so willing to allow us to film there. He was honored in fact that since we were only in Paris for two days and decided to eat at his crepe shop.

Our Hostel was in the Montmartre district in Paris. We immediately saw Basilique du Sacré Cœur and it is an incredible structure. Beautiful architecture and an amazing skyline view of Paris. Unfortunately the fog got in the way of some amazing footage and pictures but as the french say, c'est la vie.

We blazed through the rest of the sites hitting the classic Eiffel Tower, l'Arc de Triomphe, Musée du Louvre, and the Moulin Rouge. All really cool sites I never dreamed of seeing when I heard of them in French Class. I can truly understand how beautiful the french language is (being the language of love) and how absolutely incredible the sites were. I wish I had a few more days in Paris. I'll definitely come back next time I travel.

London

London is an amazing city. It is massive and encompasses so many people. There was no culture shock to no surprise. Although for the first time, I was the one with the accent. We toured some of the typical sites such as Parliament and Big Ben. The guards and their outfits are something to see. Every few minutes they do their march. At one point I saw a guard inch over tiny step by tiny step to be perfectly alined with his post. It was really amusing.

Later in the night we splurged and went atop the London Eye. It's massive presence cannot be felt unless you physically go up in there. You stand 450 feet tall at its peak and overlook everything in the city. You have a complete 360 degree view of everything around. Going at night truly allows you to see just how beautiful the city was. I wish I could spend more than a few days there but works calls as always.

Gear List

To all my film friends out there, here is the complete list of equipment that I have brought along on our excursion.

Camera

Canon 7D Body
Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM
Canon 28-135 Zoom f/3.5-5.6
Canon AE-1 Program 35mm Still Camera
Canon FD 70-210mm F/4
Canon FD 50mm Prime f/1.4
Canon FD 35-105 Zoom f/3.5
Canon FD 28mm Prime f/ 2.8

Camera Accessories

Matthews M-25 Tripod
Manfrotto Tripod Pistol Grip
Varizoom Vest + Support Arm
Glidecam 2000 sled
Canon Battery Charger
Calumet CF FW800 Reader
16GB Dane-Elec Proline UDMA300x CF Card (2)
32GB Dane-Elec Proline UDMA300x CF Card (1)
Century 52-58mm adapter
Fotodiox 55-72mm adapter
B+W 58-72mm Adapter Ring
FD-EF AE Adapter Ring
Hoya 72mm Cir-Polarizing Filter
Hoya 72mm ND .6 Filter
Sekonic 758Cine Light Meter

Sound

Zoom H4n
Sony ECM-44B
Audio Technica – AT897 Shotgun Mic
Rycote Universal Camera Mic Mounting Kit

Accessories

Logitech Track Ball
Bongo Ties
Leatherman Fuse
Roscoe Lens cleaner and wipes
Cinebags CB-25 Revolution Backpack

I plan to put some pictures of our gear up once I get into a location where I can lay everything out.

Day 1 - Los Angeles to London

As I stood in front of Doheny Library and shot the very first takes of No Lands Too Foreign, I began to realize the scope of the journey we had decided to embark upon. 28,000 Miles from start to finish and attempting to circumnavigate the globe. Oh, is that all? How very small my perception of the world really was. Having never left the United States before other than to Mexico a month ago, all of the advice and ideas my friends had for me began to rush through my mind. "The trip of a lifetime" some called it. The words didn't really mean anything until we stepped off plane yesterday in London and I looked over to Zach to only say, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore..." This is only the beginning of a journey that I do not know where will end nor what I will discover in that time. If my mind is blown already after a day in a country that speaks english and the culture relatively similar to my own, I wonder what else lay in path ahead of us...

For my filmmaker friends, I do also intend to have technical posts which will include how I shot the documentary and with what equipment we brought with us.

So It Begins...

I will embark on shooting a documentary that will take me around the world. 40 countries in 4 months and 5 continents. That is the goal. I have started this blog for 2 reasons. One, to keep my thoughts organized that may come up on my journey. Two, to find out if I will find answers to my questions or raise more...