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MFD LiveView Mod :)

Egor

Member
Hi All,
well, we got tired of waiting for PhaseOne to come out with a "real" LiveView option that was even halfway as good as Canon's.
Clients at our studio are spoiled on it but need the IQ and resolution occasionally of the PhaseOne/Leaf backs. We first tried the LV using the PhaseOne cam and Leaf back but it crashed and was clunkier than all getout and was twitchy and poor resolution and and and....the stylists hated it. Then we tried surveillance cams but they were clumsy and had no zoom and were typically only in B/W, and couldnt be sync'd to the computers and and and....the stylists and photographers (me mostly) hated it. Then we tried using the 4x5 and Leaf capture software and it was a pretty good compromise but the stylists and art directors still hated it.
So we took what they were used to (Canon 5D2 LV) and piggybacked it onto the top of the PhaseOne and projected both onto big screens around the studio.
5D2 with 45-TS was for LV only and styling. We use a 80mm on the PhaseOne DF and 45TSe on the canon and shift back for closest match.
We use this for styling, NOT FOR FOCUS ;) obviously focus is handled using the autofocus in the PhaseOne DF.
Next step is to get a lens combo that allows the 5D2 to look straight thru the viewfinder of the DF.
On the left is the LiveView for stylist, which is projected onto big screen, and on the right is the PhaseOne capture....pretty close :) and perfect for the stylist, live and in color...just what they want.
Huge success!!! Client absolutely loves the setup and scheduled many many more shoots for their billboards and window display stuff.
Just thought I'd share. I wish there was duct tape involved but we just couldnt fit it into the setup ;)
I keep asking PhaseOne to just put a 5D2 chip into the viewfinder for this useage but they just dont wanna listen...;) So we will do it ourselves I guess...necessity is a mother!
 

Ken_R

New member
Nice setup. Very clean considering! Maybe in the next generation, IQ3xx, backs we will see a proper live view system. It took a while for good quality lcd screens to appear on MFDB's!
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
Amazing work you have done there. Still, can't help but think at how technology can create as many problems as it solves. To think, just a few years ago "live view" used to mean looking at a scene with your damn eyes and analyzing it with one's experience! Amazing that some stylists and art directors (not to mention photographers) are no longer capable or willing to do it.
 

Egor

Member
It is for how we actually do product shoots nowadays, Stuart. It is a team effort, and I have a great team!
It has nothing to do with "looking at a scene", or "analyzing with one's own experience".
We don't do scenics here, we shoot product.
I am guessing you have some "issues" with live view and how it is used. But how do you propose putting that camera 10 feet in the air, pointed down, and designing and styling a set to fit in a magazine layout, and then "rinse, lather, repeat" to the tune of 20-30 times a day? And oh by the way, also get approval from the art directors, stylists, web people and other key players who aren't even in the same state, yet alone the same bldg. ;)
In any case, just sharing a setup that works for us here, not wanting to argue about the merits of live view. It's like arguing about the merits of air travel vs walking or something....;)
 

Stuart Richardson

Active member
Whoa there! I did not criticize you or your work, (in fact, I complimented it!) nor did I mean to imply that. But rereading my comment, I can see that it could be perceived that way. I just found it interesting how much work you had to go through to provide a technology that did not even exist a few years ago. I did not mean to touch a nerve. I don't have any problem with live view, just felt that technology sometimes creates as many problems as it solves, and that once a technology arrives, it is impossible to carry on as if it did not already exist, even if it is not always necessary. The Polaroid meant that you HAD to provide an on set proof, digital meant that you HAD to give same day results, live view means that you HAVE to provide a live video feed of every shot set up etc.
 

Egor

Member
No worries, Stuart! Thanks for the compliment! I guess I should have waited until I had coffee before reading and responding to your post this morning ;)
No offense taken
You are right it did touch a nerve, not your fault. I just don't understand why PhaseOne, Hasselblad,...etc keep touting this stuff as "professional gear" and the one feature that us "pro's" need more than almost anything else when dealing with actual "pro" use age like advertising layouts, product shoots and sets....is LIVE VIEW!!! Every time I bring it up, I am told it isn't necessary, it isn't a priority, it isn't possible with these chips, it's no big deal....blahblahblah....
as much as I like the image quality of these beasts, I can assure you that as soon as Canon releases anything above 40MP my clients (some pretty big names I assure you) will force the issue. They say jump and I say "How High?" On the way up ;)

E
 
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Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Not sure this is doable but it got me thinking about video tethered to the computer or even a TV monitor and mount a small P&S to the hot shoe of the DF. I totally get what you are doing as I have done the same thing many of times but just go tethered and shoot and readjust the product until I get a final. It's a PITA that way but just thinking some kind of cheap small video setup that matches your DF view but run it on a TV monitor. Just thinking out loud.

BTW I totally agree about the live view misconception. It's just clunky
 

Jan Brittenson

Senior Subscriber Member
But how do you propose putting that camera 10 feet in the air, pointed down, and designing and styling a set to fit in a magazine layout, and then "rinse, lather, repeat" to the tune of 20-30 times a day?
Two sturdy rolling ladders with a walkway across. You can make a hole in the walkway to shoot through, or you can hang the camera off a mount to the side (depending on which is more practical for viewing the rear GG). Proof using polaroids.

Obviously, live view and a boom is a lot easier to work with. But it doesn't let you remotely adjust lens/standard movements. Nevertheless, LV saves a ton of time and money, doesn't require your studio to have industrial ceiling height, and you won't have to choose between running up and down ladders all day or hiring assistant(s)...
 

Egor

Member
Guy: P&S'S, small vid cams, handy cams, and even GoPro's have been tried, and are not there yet in terms of Live video feed. I wish they were. And then there is the pro features like grid overlays, image ghosting overlays and tracking that make Canon the ultimate "Pro" LV camera. We tried the Nikon D800's and the image quality was Ok but their LV-Fu was "no good"...;)

Jan: Yep, that is how we used to do it back in the day....i addition to assistants to run up and down ladders, pull 'roids, and make adjustments, we also had assistants whose only job in life was to run film to the labs....ahhh full day rate for a single shot...now those were the days!!! :)
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
That sucks and understand the great lengths to get this a viable working system. You would think we are there by now. Of course I came from the very beginning of digital capture and we truly come a long way but we are still a day short of turning the corner on it. Like to see it happen in my lifetime especially seeing it at its very primitive form back in the day.
 

Egor

Member
I remember testing the blackmagic camera....Live video stream? I can't remember, but don't think it had that. Please correct me if I am wrong. I will have to ask one of our shooters in the morning why we rejected it.
 

Ulfric Douglas

New member
I love the use of a tilt-shift lens to get the (kind of) parallax correction, 'cos that SLR isn't exactly close to the MF camera's axis is it? Genius in my opinion.
 
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