Low light with 7D?

Just a quick post today. I took my 7D on a clubbing tour this weekend. I was a bit scared as my backpack with all the equipment in it cost me a small fortune. More then my car is worth - that's for sure! But I just could not resit and I knew that I have to be able to take it anywhere without fear. Otherwise what is the point of having it? Next year I intend to make a documentary with it in Sierra Leone, but that's a whole other story that I will write about some time later.

So if you want to know how it records in really low light - check this movie. How bright it was? Think: a pub.



Quite nice isn't it? It was shot with my all favorite lens right now - 17-55mm IS USM 2.8.

But still a pub is not that dark, right? How will it do in a totally dark place - like an underground club dance floor?

Let's see! Same lens. Wide open.



Not bad, right? Of course let's not judge my skills:) Oh! I forgot to mention that I was using Z-finder and Rapid Fire all that time, but a deeper review of this stuff I will post some time later, when my new editing PC will arrive. Right now I have no patience to even render this clips properly. My iMac is pretty old so I does not have enough power to do this.

Cheers.

The Zacuto package is here!

I'm really happy to announce that my Zacuto package is here! It was a really pleasant surprise, as I was not expecting it until tomorrow and there was a chance that it will be delivered on Monday and that would really suck.

My first impression after opening a package was: Oh my... this stuff does not look like it is worth a 1000$, but hey at least they gave me a freebie - a baseball cup with Zacuto logo.

I ordered everything at German Zacuto partner - BPM GmbH. I must say that their client service was superb! Thank you Edith! And really thanks for this hat! A great surprise!

So - what I bought?

First of all a famous Z-finder V2, advertised as an absolute necessity for DSLR video shooting. It looks like this:

 

Basically it is a magnifying glass that you attach to your camera's built in lcd to make manual focusing easier. I've checked it quickly and it seems to be a really interesting solution. How good? We will see this weekend, because right now the mounting frame for it is being attached.

How do you attach? Well - you just have to place it carefully around LCD an the apply some pressure. It takes 24 hours fot glue to become solid, so I can' t use my camera. Bummer. I can't take a photo so I will use one from Philip Bloom's site.

If you read this Philip: please don't get mad! I just need to show my possible readers how does it look.

If you read this and you don't know who Philip Bloom is please visit his website. It is a great place that every DSLR movie maker should now. It is a holy ground full of great knowledge! Visit it often! Maybe thanks to this Philip will not sue me for using his picture.

The second thing I bought are Z-bands - a small accessory for Z-finder that lets you make sure Z-finder will stay in place.

 

Will this be useful? I don't know! We will see.

Last but not least I bought a Rapid Fire - a rig that should help a lot with 7D's stabilization. This is the piece of equipment that especially does not look like it should cost so much. It is 550$ and it looks like just two metal pipes with a handle!

Well we will see whether it was worth that kind of money. I will let you know. Even if not... well at least I have a 1000$ worth Z-hat! :)

But seriously all this stuff looks cool and users reviews are great so I think I will have a really nice weekend testing it!