BadAndyFilms

Well we took the Fader ND Mark II (77mm) out for a comparison test yesterday.

I must say that from the start I was biased against all types of Fader NDs including the Singh Ray.

Although I had never used one before nor ever held one in my hands (or so much as saw one in person before yesterday) I had thoughts of serious image degradation, color shift, etc … in my head. I had maintained the snobbish opinion that if I needed to cut the light I would use my trusty ND4 or ND8 filters – Period!

ND Fader Mark II In Use —–

First — I was impressed by how it looks — very professional and sleek with clear markings.

Second — We put it on a 5D Mark II and shot a wall of L.A. Graffiti. I did some instant comparisons through a Z-Finder V3 and liked what I saw – which in effect was not much — meaning that while using the Fader ND Mark II (through all of its range) the image continued to look good – both in video mode and still pictures.

Third — After importing the photos and video into Photoshop I was still impressed.

The Fader ND Mark II images look sharp and I do not see any color shift or other artifacts from using it. In fact, the photos are a bit more saturated with deeper colors in the Fader ND Mark II shots but that’s also because I needed a shutter speed faster than 1/4000 (which the 5D Mark II doesn’t have) when shooting without the Fader ND to get proper exposure while keeping the other variables constant.

*I shot at a high ISO of 1600 so I could maintain the same F Stop throughout the test both with and without the Fader NDMK II. The problem is that changing F stops would alter the sharpness (and depth of field) of the image and changing the ISO could affect the color reproduction, graininess and overall image quality while changing the shutter speed would be the least problematic. However, even with slow shutter speeds the sharpness is degraded by any camera movement so nothing is perfect.

The images have been re-sized to 15% of original for upload.

01b (Fader ND MkII) — (1 Stop Below Max) (ISO 1600 F4 100th).jpg

02b (Fader ND MkII) — (Max) (ISO 1600 F4 30th).jpg

03b (Without Fader ND MkII) — (ISO 1600 F4 4000th).jpg

So the bottom line for me is that I like the Fader ND Mark II and would use it without hesitation (and I’m very picky when it comes to lens selection and what goes on the lens).

http://lightcraftworkshop.com

Sony unveiled a new prototype for a small digital cinema camera at their NAB 2010 press conference. The camera is scheduled to be released at next year’s NAB.

SmallHD has gotten even smaller.
The new DP-SLR Monitor for DSLR’s looks as if it belongs
on a DSLR Rig, It’s all in the size and weight.
This is a must have for DSLR’s for getting Critical Focus.

Considering it’s Weight and Resolution,
The DP-SLR monitor looks promising.

SmallHD monitors at NAB 2010 from planetMitch on Vimeo.

Thanks to planet5d.com for the video

Some nice UPDATED products from Redrock Micro coming this summer!
check out the video

freshdv_nab10_redrock2

Thanks to FreshDV for the NAB Interview video.
And
Good job Redrock Micro for the new releases.

Red Rock Micro announced their new Micro Remote follow focus 4/12/10 at NAB. This breakthrough piece of equipment is actually a follow focus platform that will change the way we follow focus. Red Rock Micro owner Brian Valente describes some of the cool features of this “game changing” remote follow focus.

Thanks to  Jared Abrams from Cinema5D for the interview video

PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN.
Uploaded by onemoreprod. – Independent web videos.

I was browsing Dailymotion and found this video

I think this is definitely worth mentioning on our blog.

Northlight images posted a new rumor?

Seems Canon may be looking to “Match” the Nikon 14-24 this year but no specs.

This would be a major leap for Canon (Wide Angle Zooms) as the closest comparison would be Canons 16-35 f/2.8, The Nikon 14-24 is regarded as “The Best”  Wide Angle Zoom on the market.

Nikon – AF-S 14-24/2.8G ED SUPER WIDE ANGLE ZOOM LENS

At a price tag of $1,799.95

With a Five Star rating at B&H and over 200 reviews… I feel comfortable  stating that Canon has their work cut out for them.

Here is a nice review of the Nikon 14-24

But with post-processing (HDR) Images, I wish he had posted some unprocessed.

Check it out www.stuckincustoms.com

I’ve put together a chart of the three versions with info gathered from the Internet as well as looking at every available photo of the 58’s. Here it is.

A Brief History of Minolta MC Rokkor 58mm f/1.2 Lenses

Version1 (1968-1969) Serial# Range 200-257
58mm MC Rokkor-PG F/1.2 (Introduced on September 16th 1968)
Radioactive Coatings
Metal Focus Ring
Silver Aperture Ring
Flathead Screws

Version2 (1969-1973) Serial# Range 258-259
58mm MC Rokkor-PG F/1.2
Improved (Non-Radioactive Coatings)
Rubber Focus Ring
Black Aperture Ring
Philips Screws

Version3 (1973-1978) Serial# Range 271-277
58mm MC Rokkor-X (in orange) PG F/1.2 (Designated Rokkor-X only in the USA & Canada)
In the rest of the world it was labeled Rokkor (with white lettering)
It debuted in March 1973 (Other Rokkor-X lenses arrived earlier in 1972)
Improved Coatings from Version 2

Discontinued in March 1978
In March 1978 the 50mm MD F/1.2 “using the same optical formula as the 58mm” replaced the 58mm MC Rokkor-X F/1.2

Here’s a photo i took showing the various incarnations and sizes of the 50-58 range.

And as a comparison of sizes, here’s the Sigma 50mm F/1.4 dwarfing the 58mm MC Rokkor.

-Andy