For a Long time I wanted to try out ML RAW but couldn't afford the right equipment. I have been traveling for the past few years and my first post to this forum years back was about using ML while shooting a documentary film about coral reefs, where I was shooting on my 7D for all of my scuba underwater shoots. I purchased a 5dii last August and built a nice lens collection over the years. Last week I embarked on a trip with my partner, to go and shoot in the Southern Alps of New Zealand for social media content for two commercial brands. So I took the plunge to get hold of a fast memory card and finally have a go at shooting ML RAW in a place which would look ultra incredible.
I wanted to compile my experience on here incase anyone could benefit from what I learnt in a small amount of time with a focus on using ML RAW to film in sub zero temperatures and within a lightweight backcountry setup, and also to enjoy some shots from the mountains! I am a travel filmmaker from England, currently pitched up in New Zealand. For the past ten years I have shot across America, Europe, Asia and most lately in the Oceania region.
Setting off for a week of adventure in the snow, I had the following key items in my bag along with lots of other kit which I might end up mentioning:
- 5d ii
- 16-35mm f4 IS, 24-105mm f4 IS, 70-200mm f4 IS
- Lexar 1066x 64gb
- Macbook Pro & Sandisk card reader
- SYRP Genie & Magic Carpet
- Manfrotto 535 carbon sticks w/501 head
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11174965_10152779702446024_6411455939289690603_n.jpg?oh=a9aa7a29feb5150d0442392c9dbb0b48&oe=56223EE9&__gda__=1445281791_9722f4f7ea130f8383fe5c17480b7953)
I picked up the memory card the day before my flight so I had no time to practice with it. I have been reading these forums for some time in order to prepare for the experience, so first things I did with the card after unboxing was to run a bench speed test. I was somewhat disappointed with the results, and immediately thought I had bought a dud card (from a private seller in Auckland NZ, which I had swapped for an old Rode shotgun mic). I then did a bit more reading and found out that this could be due to the really old build, from 2013, that I was using! After downloading the latest build and installing it to the card and camera, I had somewhat worse results?
Old build test 5dii w/ Lexar 1066x 64gb CF:
(https://iamalexbrown.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/test-old-build-5d-ii.jpg?w=768)
New build test 5dii w/ Lexar 1066x 64gb CF:
(https://iamalexbrown.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/test-new-build-5d-ii1.jpg?w=768)
I set up for a really quick test and set the resolution to the highest I read you can shoot on the 5dii, 1856x1044, which would work just fine for me stretching out to full 1080, or down to 720 if needed. I had just bought myself a new 16-35mm f4 IS, so it was also my first test with that. But I didn't have long to play around as like normal, I had left all my packing to the last moment :). I got a burst of around 20 seconds I think it was until ML stopped the recording automagically. I dumped the .RAW to my computer and unpacked with raw2dng. This gave me a folder with all the individual frames, and also a PRORES .mov - I then proceeded to select all the frames, and open in PS for some quick CC.
(https://iamalexbrown.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/screen-shot-2015-07-04-at-1-21-59-pm.png?w=768)
Already very impressed with the increased dynamic range compared to the factory video from the camera. Colour correction was very easy (exactly how I treat my RAW photos). Once complete, a simple batch save to JPEG and then import as sequence into Premiere. I will be continuing this post with the results from my shooting, so please do follow and if I can answer any questions then by all means fire away - although I am completely new to this way of shooting too :).
Link to h264 exported clip: https://www.dropbox.com/s/61guv9ui1p6kcti/first-raw-video-test-5d-ii-magic-lantern.mp4?dl=0