I Want to Believe... in the Invisible Camera

I listen to a lot of podcasts and read quite a few blogs. One podcast I've discovered recently is photographer Chris Marquardt's "Photography Tips From the Top Floor." One of my favorite things about this show is that until very recently it was called "Digital Photography Tips from the Top Floor," But the name was changed after the host recently rediscovered his love of analog photography. It's not just analog now, but Chris essentially acknowledges that the width of the photographic landscape can not be measured in megapixels.

For a couple weeks Chris has mentioned that he would soon be talking about a project of his, "The Invisible Camera." This was interesting because he had been also openly discussing a pinhole camera he was prototyping. To be honest I was just amazed and excited that a podcasting photographer was coming out with a product that wasn't an iPhone app. When he finally put up the web page and video discussing the Invisible Camera I was just blown away.

I instantly posted this on my facebook with a little stab at the "film is dead" people. I got a couple excited comments. Then the truth started to unfold. "I think this is an April Fools gag," one said. And then another sourced a quote from the Invisible Camera website indicating that applicants to the field test should check back on April 1st. And what a dunce I felt like. But then I said, "meh," and declared that I was happy to be part of the fun.

The science was a little wonky and I'd probably realize that if I'd scrutinized it a little more but, really, I'm not going to be ashamed of getting excited over a breakthrough in photographic technology, even if it was a prank. Honestly, I'm happy to be the kind of person who fell for it. I think it says something about me. The same way, when I read a book or watch a movie I often don't see things coming that other people said they knew were coming long before. And when they do come, I think I get so much more enjoyment from them. It's good to not be jaded.

And I feel even more vindicated in that spirit after having read Chris Marquardt's "reveal" on the Invisible Camera Website. "We did not do this to mock you. The Invisible Camera is our humble attempt to bring back wonder and amazement... If you believed in our story, congratulations on being an openminded individual who still can dream and be amazed. That is a wonderful ability to possess."

Good Joke Chris. I really appreciate the spirit of what you did, and even if my excitement was short-lived it was intense while it lasted. Happy April Fools Day.

Camera Test

The Camera

Since I announced the 52 Weeks Project my mind has been occupied over which camera to use. My first thought, and my wishful thinking, had me immediately considering a refurbished camera from Pro8mm or Du-All camera that I knew would be well-serviced and modified with crystal sync. A camera running crystal sync would allow location sound and that seems like a good thing at first. But, Super 8 cameras tend to be a bit noisome and, given the constraint of straight-8 shooting there's enough that can go wrong in a take, especially with sound, that considering I only get one take, just doing all post in audio seems smarter. I'll record reference sound of course, but dialog will be ADR. Those cameras are also expensive. They're probably worth it, but I don't really have the excess to spend.

So I started looking at reasonably-priced but solid cameras. I decided to save money by looking primarily on ebay and doing my homework on the cameras. there were a couple of must-haves in a candidate:

• Manual Exposure - I plan to rely heavily on fast emulsions, like Kodak's Vision 3 500T, which weren't available when these cameras were made and so cameras with only auto exposure won't work right.
• A good zoom range with decent optics - I generally prefer shooting with prime lenses, but that's not so easy to do in the realm of consumer cameras, which Super 8 cameras are, albeit of another generation.
• 24 Frames Per Second - A lot of these cameras were manufactured in Europe and have 25fps but not 24. Something to be wary of. A note here - you can get away with shooting at 18fps and make a cartridge stretch. Generally I won't be doing that; mainly because it increases the cost of telecine and I'm trying to work out a package deal based on the mainstay which is 24.
• Single-Frame Exposure - Most of these aren't built for automated time lapse but a lot of them were built to do single frame for animation and whatnot. Over the course of 52 weeks I may get bored and decide to do a stop-motion holiday special, or decide I'm the next Ray Harryhausen. More likely I'll decide on a manual time-lapse for a film. In either case I'd like the option.
• A useful filter threading - Since I'll be using fast film to cover my indoor bases I'll need to rely on neutral density filters in daylight situations. While I may at some point endeavor to rig a mattebox or something, I'll probably start off with circular screw-on filters.

The camera I was first drawn to, the Leicina Special, is a beautiful camera but doesn't have manual exposure. I began looking at the Canon 1014, which is nice but doesn't really justify the price increase over its little brother. So I started looking at the Canon 814XL-S which is a very well spoken-of camera and, being from the early 80s, a relatively new model. In the end, I compromised on a deal I couldn't pass up - a slightly older Canon 814 Autozoom that I found for under $100. I've shot a little with the 814 before and, assuming the one I just bought is in good condition, it's a really good camera; not the best Super 8 out there, but it meets my needs and should hold up to the task before it.

I should receive it next week and I'll run a test roll through it. As soon as I get that back I'll be posting it here, unless it turns out to be total trash. Until then, I'll be continuing to look at labs to handle the project; and that should be the topic of my next post.

(photo courtesy of flickr user Callum Rice)

The "House" Season Finale

I spent various parts of the day writing a blog entry about the big win for DSLR cinematography in the form of last night's episode of "House." Unfortunately, the deep ambivalence I feel for these cameras kept creeping through and destroying any coherency in the article. So instead of rambling through a long post, here's the takeaway:

• The bar has officially been lowered in cinematography
• That lowered bar is pretty good, but please people, aim higher
• Overall the episode looked pretty good
• Filmmakers spent 85% of the episode at reasonable DoF
• The last 5 minutes looked ridiculous with the shallow focus
• The bokeh sometimes looked like crap, especially during rack focus; the lenses they used were decent so I wonder if it has anything to do with image sampling.
• Digital noise was more pleasant than I expected but not great
• Small form factor of the cameras was good for the cramped location, but I don't know why they didn't opt for an A-minima or Ikonoskop, or Hell, even a prototype Epic (sure Jim would have been all over that) which would have looked better.
• Kudos on the awesome use of primary colors in the art direction
• Story was good, I wasn't distracted from it until the end
• Overall, I grade it a B-

And there you go.

Click to read more ...

My Digital Camera Boner

These days everybody is gaga over HD video in DSLR stills cameras, or nuts over Red's existing camera and their forthcoming Epic and Scarlet cameras. Arri's Alexa has made some waves recently too. But the camera that I've been drooling about for over a year now is a simpler device and, I feel, a much more elegant solution. The Ikonoskop a-cam dII takes open standards and applies a film camera sensibility to a digital device. Maybe I'm being ridiculously purist - after all, the guys at Zacuto are showing that highly-compressed stills camera images hold up, and everything coming of Red's Mysterium X sensor is fantastic - but the idea of an uncompressed virgin image sequence just does it for me. I don't care what anyone says, digital is still a compromise from film - it's catching up fast but it's still a compromise. So it seems to me a further compromise to compress the image, and while that has traditionally been necessary, technology marches on and we now have the ability to demand better. 

The guys at FreshDV sat down with Ikonoskop at NAB to look at the prototype and I'm sold even deeper now. Seeing the dII with lens and mattebox got me excited, and I'm now getting over my earlier reservations about the unusual form factor. In fact I don't think it's all that unusual: designed to be steadied against the operator's head as it is it reminds me of shooting 8mm.

day5_ikonoskop