One of the big issues with DSLRs is monitoring and the 5DMkII is especially awkward. Not only do you have to deal with HDMI, which can be a pain to split, you also have to deal with the signal dropping to 480p when you hit record. We bought the AJA HA5 thinking that we’d be able to send HD-SDI to our Panasonic HD-LCD monitors only to find that the device can’t handle 480p and, after talking to AJA at NAB, it doesn’t sound like this is an issue that can be resolved via a firmware update. That leaves the unit from BlackMagic as the only option.
Until yesterday. Ladies and gentlemen, the HDFury2:
The HDFury2 takes the HDMI ouput from the Canon 5DMkII and converts it, while keeping all the high def goodness, to a component HD signal. That can then be split out, using T-Adapters available at Radioshack, and the signal can then be sent to 2 monitors, one for the DP and one for the client/director. The HDFury2 comes with a power supply but I diodn’t have any issues at all not powering the unit — instead, it took power over the HDMI connection. That might drain your batteries, though, so make sure you have spares or a charging station.
The HDFury2 works with both the 5DMkII and the 7D so it should work with the 1DMkIV although I don’t have access to one to test that out. Another nice feature of the HDFury2 is the ability to monitor audio, either analog or digital optical — there’s a multi-port on the bottom of the unit that allows for either a 3.5mm jack to be plugged in or a Toslink cable. Finally, the unit can be switched between RGB or YUV, so you’ve got all the options you could ever want.
Is this is solution to monitoring? Probably not. One thing I learned at NAB is that there are a TON of manufacturers working on DSLR solutions to there will probably be something bigger, better and more ready for the field in the future. But for $200? I haven’t seen anything else like it.
You can buy the HDFury2 from Curt Palme. The version we bought was the GREEN kit, although we actually don’t need the 5 BNC cable that comes with it as the regular RGB cable it comes with is all we’re using. You’ll then need some T-Adapters and RCA:BNC adapters. All in, you should be dropping about $220 for the ability to monitor the video from your Canon DSLR to two professional monitors.
Chris Cardno
Production Manager
On Wednesday, April 7, Bruce and Chris headed out on a shoot for a client to capture footage of three statues in Washington, DC. The client had requested the Canon 5DMkII as the camera for the project and we shot in 24p, taking advantage of the recent firmware update from Canon. We took a decent number of lenses with us and a new toy, picked up the client at Union Station in DC and then headed out to start the day.
The problem most people are aware of with the 5D is it’s inability to deliver an HD signal via it’s HDMI output when recording begins. As such, we chose to simply take the standard def output from the camera and fed that into a Panasonic BT-LH900 HD monitor — the Hoodman was an absolute must have with the sun beating down on us! The monitor also allowed our client to see what we were shooting and offer input so that they got exactly what they wanted.
The shoot was a success, the client left happy and we sent them a hard drive with all the raw footage via FedEx the next day, after we brought it back to Visual Edge and made a back up copy.
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Terrell Suggs Unmasked from Chris Cardno on Vimeo.
The piece was shot with two Panasonic Varicams, with one outfitted with the Letus Ultimate and B4 Relay Lens. WE also had with us our Matthews Doorway Dolly and Long Valley Seven jib. The background was painstakingly built by Bruce by cutting out the squares from large piece of foamcore and then attaching sheets of Opal. Finally, we had a flicker generator and a smoke machine for effect.
Timescapes Timelapse: Mountain Light from Tom Lowe @ Timescapes on Vimeo.
Now, click through to watch that in HD and then follow Tom on Twitter.
www.twitter.com/vincentlaforet Vincent Laforet has won a Pulitzer Prize for photography. That should be a good enough reason to follow him but he's also the chap who really made people sit up and pay attention to the possibilities of DSLRs for film-making.
www.twitter.com/tylerginter That would be 1st Lt. Tyler Ginter, 55th Combat Camera, US Army. This is a man who tested out a 1DMkIV while he was preparing to jump out of an airplane.
This is a really small sampling, obviously, but it's a good place to start for those in film & video. The fun of Twitter is following the conversations and then following the people who are discussing what you enjoy. Pretty soon, there's a community of people in your feed and, as I said at the beginning, it's a community that's expanding. Hopefully you'll find it as valuable as I do.
