I have been trying to figure out a reasonably cheap way to shoot both 3D stills and videos with the same camera. My previous 3D rig was pairing a Canon G11 and a G12, which were mostly similar, but didn't match. The color balance was always off, and I couldn't shoot video because the G11 didn't. And the G12 could only shoot 720p anyway.
I tried the 3D Camileo Z100. It shot decent enough video in good light conditions, but offered no way to control and lock the exposure, and the still photos were bad.
My G11 has gone bad and cannot shoot manual anymore. If I replaced it with a G15 or G16, I still had a mismatched set. I certainly considered getting a pair of G15's or G16's, but I feel Canon basically stripped the G12 of everything that was good (articulated LCD, manual ISO dial), only to add 1080p video. And that was $1000.
I considered a pair of Canon Rebel T3's, which have manual video adjustment and live view that would feed directly into my Dragon Animation Software. But they are much bigger, and the larger APS sensor means less depth of field, which is critical to good 3D. Kudo for the G1X.
So I looked at the Canon S110, which has the same sensor and processor as the G12, a larger touch screen LCD, and shoots 1080p at 24fps. It's a beautiful little camera, very solid, with a much better rear control dial than the G12 and a REALLY nice knurled front control ring with preset f stops . When shooting video, it allows compensating and locking the exposure, which is not ideal, but good enough.
I ordered a pair of refurbished ones on sale from Canon for $250 each, with a full 1 year warranty. To feed a live view into Dragon, I got a small Logitech HD Webcam C615(it's still hard to find one for the Mac).
I modified my G11/12 3D mounting rig slightly to fit the new cameras and aded a bracket for the webcam. It does't fit level with the two camera lenses and is slightly in front of them, but that should be good enough for the purpose of checking the progress of stop motion animation:
The only problem, and I realized that only after receiving them, is that they they don't have a remote release jack. I will have to shoot stills manually, or use the time release. Or better yet, I can use the touch screen release feature, which works very well, and lets you choose the focus point at the same time. For video, I can just push the buttons simultaneously and clap for synchronization.
As a first test, I did a dolly shot using my slide. As I am shooting close up, the adjustment of the convergence of the twin cameras is very important. That is what makes objects appear in front or behind the window. Ideally, it should increase through the dolly as the cameras get closer to the puppets.
So I started building a geared contraption with a graduated dial to achieve that both for video dolly shots and stop motion animation .
I tried the 3D Camileo Z100. It shot decent enough video in good light conditions, but offered no way to control and lock the exposure, and the still photos were bad.
My G11 has gone bad and cannot shoot manual anymore. If I replaced it with a G15 or G16, I still had a mismatched set. I certainly considered getting a pair of G15's or G16's, but I feel Canon basically stripped the G12 of everything that was good (articulated LCD, manual ISO dial), only to add 1080p video. And that was $1000.
I considered a pair of Canon Rebel T3's, which have manual video adjustment and live view that would feed directly into my Dragon Animation Software. But they are much bigger, and the larger APS sensor means less depth of field, which is critical to good 3D. Kudo for the G1X.
So I looked at the Canon S110, which has the same sensor and processor as the G12, a larger touch screen LCD, and shoots 1080p at 24fps. It's a beautiful little camera, very solid, with a much better rear control dial than the G12 and a REALLY nice knurled front control ring with preset f stops . When shooting video, it allows compensating and locking the exposure, which is not ideal, but good enough.
I ordered a pair of refurbished ones on sale from Canon for $250 each, with a full 1 year warranty. To feed a live view into Dragon, I got a small Logitech HD Webcam C615(it's still hard to find one for the Mac).
I modified my G11/12 3D mounting rig slightly to fit the new cameras and aded a bracket for the webcam. It does't fit level with the two camera lenses and is slightly in front of them, but that should be good enough for the purpose of checking the progress of stop motion animation:
The only problem, and I realized that only after receiving them, is that they they don't have a remote release jack. I will have to shoot stills manually, or use the time release. Or better yet, I can use the touch screen release feature, which works very well, and lets you choose the focus point at the same time. For video, I can just push the buttons simultaneously and clap for synchronization.
As a first test, I did a dolly shot using my slide. As I am shooting close up, the adjustment of the convergence of the twin cameras is very important. That is what makes objects appear in front or behind the window. Ideally, it should increase through the dolly as the cameras get closer to the puppets.
So I started building a geared contraption with a graduated dial to achieve that both for video dolly shots and stop motion animation .
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