jeanweb

jeanweb has created 43 entries

  • My favorite links

    Keep up to date with gear news websites


    Continuously looking to keep up to date these days is not easy, blog, web-zine and others are taking over on TV and newspaper, there is no longer one channel to get but almost an unlimited number.
    Few years back, buying few magazine and news were deliver to your door, now, you have to look by yourself in a large forest without any help on veracity of the news, or the real ability of the writer.

    Based on few years reading some of them, I have complied few links and sharing here my feeling to help you choose also your favorite morning reading before going to the office, and make sure you will have something to share to your colleague!

    No Film School New article every day, film audience as the name may suggest, but freelancer may found article for them and this is where you may need to be careful by checking if the info you have from there fit your need or not. A great place to get interview from director and also last gear announcement and released.

    F-Stopper New article every day, Photo and video audience, Mostly beginner and freelancer related. I found a lot of good topics, but sometime the answers are not relevant to my experience. If you are a single operator, this is a great place to learn about similar experience, but if you are specialized and part of large crew, it may look a bit amateur and not that “professional”

    Cinescopophilia Few article per week, Video oriented and not too many explanation each time, you will have to follow provided link by yourself and make up your mind, but it’s clearly where some great gear release are there before the others.

    EOSHD Few article per week, Photo and video audience but without the regular caution the large production may have when a new revolutionary product is launch. Product are tested with sample footage, no regard of the brand history, just a clear and complete test of the camera and what you can do with it. The second step will be to make it accepted by your client. The downside is a constant bashing about Canon and other major players in the industry. Keep this as a source of information only, make your own mind.

    BoingBoing A lot of article every day, Geek and politic oriented, a great way to refresh also about technology and how human interact with it. Maybe a bit too american way of seeing the world, but a great creative source of inspiration for me. The new 2014 design lost me a bit.

    Hack a Day Few article every day, DIY article, with all the explanation you need to do it by yourself. A very nice resources for small hack on every possible electronic item you could already own and need to modified it for yourself.

     

  • Electronic-SteadyCam 2.0

    In House Electronic-SteadyCam 2.0

    Since flying object are in the sky with video camera, the engineer have tried to make the footage less shaky by adding gyroscope and motors to compensate the tilt and roll. With time, technology shift to faster motor and better gyroscope, It took not so much time to build bigger gimbals for bigger camera.
    Turn out that any hand held system may benefice from this technology and the development from a single engineer in Russia finally took over everything we knew.
    electronic_steadycam_front

    Alexmos developed a simple board, based on Arduino processor, including anything you need to balance with specific motors, the brushless one you could found anywhere. Continue reading

  • Drone tips

    Drone tips for a safe flight

    After about 2 years of experience in flying, I learn a lot and found out that I was very lucky to not have more trouble during my flight at the beginning of these projects.
    So, I save you a lot of trouble by writing down all what I found so far as a list of things to think before and during flight. You will have to read but also follow these. Don’t jump too fast to the next step…
    I supposed you already read all the checking list before sending something in the air, so I will jump to other matters.

    It’s always good to picture in your head how will look the view from the sky, it will help to decide your flying path.
    This castle is almost invisible from the ground, but looking great at 150m high (France, 2012)
    VisionRouge_Chateau

    Don’t over estimate yourself.
    Flying is easy at first: you buy a copter, you turn it on, it’s flying in a field, and you are a pilot! Continue reading

  • DJI Phantom 3.0

    DJI Phantom 3 test and review

    Drone2.0
    We are proud to get our third version of this DJI project.
    After tweaking for 6 months the incredible DJI toys, we have to a very usable tools for production.
    Here are the list of changes I did on the basic model available anywhere.

    Landing gear.
    The foam tube help lifting up a bit the copter and avoid hard landing as well as increasing the footprint to protect from flipping. Continue reading

  • Fixing the sony z7 tele lens

    Shanghai Sony repair center experience

    On a shoot, i realize that i can’t control the zoom level by remote.
    I was able to switch to manual/remote, feel the motor or not, but nothing happen when i press zoom in or zoom out, both on the camera button or handle!
    I had no idea if it was a sender (the camera) or receiver problem (the lens).

    I bring back the camera to Sony and they said to me that the lens is dead, a new one is around rmb 7,000 (750 Euros)!
    The repair guy did not touch the lens, just plug a new lens, test it, so affirm that i need a new one, without even opening mine!

    I was not prepare to pay for a new one so decide to take back the lens at the office and open it to see how it is, anyway, the lens is dead to them.

    Z7_Lens_open

    I start opening the motor panel as it was for me a dead motor.
    And i notice a slight lift under the motor where the switch is. (See the red arrow) Continue reading

  • Classic scam email of the day

    Scam email of the day


    Today, I received this classic scam email, using the automatic submission form not protected by captcha.


    Contact Form Submission from bob stewart
    Nume: bob stewart
    Email: [email protected]
    Comments: Hello,
    I will like to know if you carry this item in stock or if you can
    special order them for me.
    Sony DVCAM PDVM-184N Non-Chip …………. 250 QTY
    I will arrange for the pick up of the order from your location.
    And also let me know which credit card type you accept between Visa/MC…
    Will be expecting the quotation,so i can proceed with the payment details.
    Regards.
    Bob

    What is interesting is the way they targeting their potential victims with very specific products in theirs business range (here some video tape). It’s the 5th time in 10 years I received almost the same email and I’m writing this post just to let others knows about the scam, hoping people will google part of this mail to found this post.
    Do not answer it as you may end receiving many new tentative. It will shows that your email is valid to them.
    There are plenty of similar scam using other product, but the structure of the email is quite similar.

    Do not answer, just fill a fishing report with your mail account to try to get his account removed as they are using a gmail account.

    Looking for  more fun to read today?

  • Unbreakable hdmi cable connector for 5D

    DIY HDMI cable connector

    Here is one idea to end the mini HDMI trouble you can have with the DSLR setup. for 5 usd max…
    5DII_HDMIready1

    This is a part of a series: How do I upgrade my DSLR shooting experience. (external aperture control + Start Stop Remote control)

    What i did.
    I use the scotch tape used to send box by mail, usually a brown colored one.
    I choose this for 3 main reasons:
    -It’s not too sticky on plastics or metal Continue reading

  • Siple Remote Start Stop for 5D or 7D Hack

    DIY Remote Start Stop for 5D or 7D

    As the external shutter remote only control the shutter, the only way to remote the recording is to use a IR remote. But the IR need to be in front of the camera as the sensor is inside the camera hand-grip, not very convenient.

    Here is a Canon RC6 IR remote working for both 5D and 7D (cost around rmb 390 but copies available for rmb 50)
    canon_irc_6-225x300

    You need to remove the front adhesive layer (there is 2 layers) with a cutter and gently remove the IC board. (Remove the battery before, of course). There is a small switch at the back to delay your remote order. Keep it in “no delay” position to avoid waiting time at each take. I remove the switch cap and use the empty hole for my remote wire.

    The Shutter control

    The remote is a cheap copy of the canon shutter release but any brand will do. In fact, any push button will do, so a bell push button is fine also Continue reading

  • External aperture control for eos lens

    Canon EF lens External aperture control hack

    In order to keep my EOS EF / EF-S lenses on Sony NEX range camera (FS-100) i will use a regular adapter, and add the electrical control system coming from another EOS body.

    Of Course, Cheap to buy, but i also bought some macro ring for Canon Lens, dismantle, cut it and add some wire, and use a old canon DSLR (350D) as a remote.
    I spend 4 hour on this, so not too complicated to do, and it’s working perfectly!!!
    Next step is to buy a broken body in order to put a switch on the “deep of field” button instead of pushing it, add a power supply with 12 V and some rig to attache all of it.

    ToStart
    All the stuff to start, Kippon Adapter E-Mount to EOS (mecanical only), Extension tube for EOS, 350D EOS Body and test EF-S Lens. Continue reading

  • Remove dust inside a Sony Z7 LCD screen

    Sony Z7 EVF dust (and other camera)

    Since Sony’s HVR-Z series camcorder, i have noticed a weakness on the preview screen design. The screen is between two plastic covers and it’s easy to have dust or even water getting inside it, between the lcd and the back-light. It happened first with my FX1 with one rain drop and i was pissed to see something on my brand new Z7. Shanghai is a dusty city!

    Dust inside screen

    Sony_HVR_Z7_With_Dust

    The first thing to do is to remove the battery pack to avoid any electric miss-connection during operation.

    Flip over the screen and unscrew the 2 small screw. That will unlock the two cover part. Continue reading

  • DIY Dslr lens viewfinder

    Dslr lens viewfinder

    The idea is to use a magnifier lens for contact sheet glue together with a folding sun shade. The main goal is to keep a pro look and also to have something able to work in a industrial environment. Also, all the item should be available and should be cheaper than the “pro” one’s!
    When I wrote this post, only few possible expensive model were available, now, you can easily found something without all the bothering diy step.

    Loupe x5
    loupe2-230x300

    This lens is design to reduce deformation on the corner of the picture. The cost is about rmb 900. The support is in metal but some other version are available in plastic. The 5 time magnifier is perfect for a 5DII or 7D and make the screen amazingly huge. The second lens can rotate to adjust focus for people wearing glass. The main problem with this design is that you need to do it for each camera family as a 5D back is different from a 7D back. Here I used it for canon family, but Sony or Nikon are possible too, as soon as the folding sun shade is available. This is the first step before moving to a real EVF. Continue reading

  • Hello! Our first blog post!

    Hello World, First blog entry

    Vision Rouge website is now growing a bit more to interact with larger community. The blog will be a place where you can see what we are working at the office outside the regular work for our Client.
    There will be plenty of spelling mistakes and Frenglish all around, feel free to contact us to help solving them!