HD Digital SLR Technology – “It’s a Game Changer”
Two years ago Fresh Pictures was first introduced to HD digital SLR technology by award-winning cinematographer, Shane Hurlbut, ASC. He handed us the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and said, “It’s a Game changer.” This 2.5-pound camera is revolutionizing the way films and television are shot and Fresh Pictures is pioneering the way. The 5D has a 36mm x 24mm 21-megapixel CMOS sensor, can shoot 1920X1080 video and has an ASA range that is adjustable from 50 to 25,600. The image sensor is equal to the size of 65mm Vista Vision, making this Canon camera the first high-definition digital camera to create filmic images. The 5D is inexpensive, it’s small, it’s versatile, but most importantly it creates beautiful images. Shooting is faster, more efficient, eco-friendly and financially responsible.
Shooting with high definition digital SLR technology is inexpensive. Images are recorded straight on to UDMA compact flash cards cutting out film processing and stock costs. Shooting with the 5D allows us to drastically minimize our budgets and our economical and environmental footprints by cutting down crew size, lighting packages, transport costs, and shooting schedules. We can also help our clients maximize their marketing dollars by shooting print and on-air campaigns at the same time. Most professional photographers use the 5D so combining the A/V consumer productions with the print productions saves both time and money.
The Canon 5D allows us to reinvent our marketing approach and we are revolutionizing the way we work with our clients. We are using the 5D’s versatility and small size to think outside of the box and come up with innovative and interesting techniques that you can’t achieve using traditional production gear. The 5D’s compact size allows us to set up shots virtually anywhere. We placed a camera inside a refrigerator on “1000 Ways to Die,” and while shooting in the Dominican Republic for AM Resorts we captured beautiful first-person footage by attaching a helmet cam to our model.
While shooting in Mexico for Dreams Resorts, we were not afraid to stray away from our shot list for a moment when we saw the opportunity to shoot through a fountain. If we been using standard equipment and gear, we never would have attempted the shot because the setup time would have eaten away at our day and our budget. The preparation time with the 5D took only five minutes and we ended up with one of the most breathtaking shots of the entire shoot.
We have teamed up with some of the leading innovators in digital technology to build a state-of-the-art camera package that allows us to build and shoot with several camera bodies at any given time during a shoot. This kind of flexibility is impossible with traditional gear and allows us to take a one day shoot and turn in into five days of footage.