I just posted the first video shot from my unfamiliar new friend the Canon 550D. We tussled the first time out. And the second as well. I will be posting that video on Friday. I scheduled a third shoot for tomorrow morning and I feel so much more comfortable and ready for the shoot. I know I will be able to capture some exceptional footage because, well first, I feel much more comfortable how the camera works--which I will discuss next. And, because the footage that I caught earlier, fumbling about the Mode Dial, Shutter button, Quick Control button, Aperture Exposure compensation button, and the AF point selection and FE lock buttons, still came out pretty darn nice. I feel this shoot tomorrow will be more in my control and less in the camera's (which by the way probably isn't bad, but I really just want to run this puppy manually and make it do what I want instead of the other way around) and like Tim Tebow--be "Excited" to see what my teammate has up its sleeve!
The biggest struggle is learning what options I have available to me when I am filming. The camera at its most flexible allows complete control over all elements: shutter speed, aperture etc., and will allow you to fly cruise control on Full Auto if you just want to "frame and shoot." But as you swing into what the Canon nomenclature calls the Mode Dial and choose either the five Creative Zones (P,Tv,Av,M,A-Dep) or the Basic Zones (Full Auto, CA, Flash off, Portrait, Landscape, Close up, Sports, Night Portrait) or the Movie Shooting Zone depending on what mode and what zone you choose effects your options to adjust those modes or zones. An example may help. In the "M" zone you are shooting manually. You want to adjust AF (Automatic Focus Point) which helps in creating depth of field, you can choose one of the nine points that the camera shows in the eye piece or LCD Monitor (nine square points arranged in a diamond pattern with a larger square point in the center). You can move the focus about the diamond to draw attention (focus) on a particular point in the framed image. When you get this camera you really need to play with this particular element. It will truly help you create interesting photographs because you can adjust depth of field and play with the direction of focus you want for the photograph. I like slight-of-hand. What I mean is I like the idea, in a photograph, of "mis-directing" the viewer. Messing with their perception. I want them to feel like they are suppose to look at a particular point in the photograph, but they feel a deep tug that their attention should be elsewhere and that is the journey for my viewer...find the elsewhere.
I love that about the 550D. BUT in Movie Shooting mode, you don't get all that. I thought, prior to my first date out with the 550D that I understood what options where available in the mode I chose. Nope. Not as fully as I thought. What I know I CAN'T do with my new friend: I can't use AF like I hoped. I hoped to use it as if it was like a full on "video recorder" using the Tight and Wide toggle button zooming and going wide and panning and focusing with much more fluidity. No Fluidity here. If you are going to do a pan and want to move from an object that is a different distance from the Focal Plane mark on the camera (see the index in the back of the manual for location on the camera) you are going to have to pull distance and mark your lens or write it down and then practice the move to pull focus without getting it blurred. Also, you have to shut off the lens's AF (Automatic Focus) switch. Move it to MF (Manual Focus). Why you ask? Because if you leave it in AF when you pull focus by hand, you can hear (and feel) the lens movement. The noise is picked up in the on-board microphone. If you move the switch to MF you can adjust the lens for depth and focus without making any noise. Unfortunately it is really difficult to do smoothly, so make sure you practice before you go to do your movie filming. Another thing regarding noise. In Movie Filming mode if you touch any buttons, move any dial, use the Shutter button to refocus you will hear it in the filming. So take that into consideration for editing purposes. If you adjust make sure you realize the tape you are currently shooting will have audio issues that will need to be address in editing. You can compensate by "running" tape and doing a "pick-up."
Another nice option is the WB (White Balance) selection. You can toggle through a number of choices from AWB (Automatic White Balance) to Tungsten light, Day light, Florescent and so forth. In the Movie Filming mode you can set it to Custom which allows you to set your own. Also in Movie Filming mode you can set the ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed, and a few other nifty Exposure settings that will allow you optimum opportunities to secure a decent shot if you are filming in low light. Most of the pieces I am shooting are in "available" light. I don't bring any gear other then a flash. I may do that eventually, but because my Web Cast show "ARTing About...?" is geared around a loose "documentary/interview" style piece I don't want to loose spontaneity by having to spend time lugging about stuff. This camera so far seems to be able to handle that job and the more I get to know my new friend, the better we will interact. I believe I have solved the issues that interfered in my first two shoots.
So, I am all set for the shoot tomorrow morning. Have some of the basic presets for what I want the image to look like, set in the camera's memory. I got my shot-list. Played out in my head what it is I am trying to catch. Checked all my stock. I got my 24 gigs of memory chips ready. AAA-batteries for the microphone--fresh and new. Charged up the batteries. and packed a couple of Cliff Bars. The shoot is early. I am heading to bed soon to get rested. Think I am ready. Come on little Canon 550D. Time for bed, we have work to do tomorrow.
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