5D Mark II
Vegas Time-Lapse
09/02/12 11:31
Within a month from creating my first time-lapse video, I had an opportunity to create my second one. I and a friend of mine decided to make an impromptu weekend trip to Las Vegas. Time on hand was short since we were scheduled to be in Vegas for no more than 20 hours. Given that, I am really happy how this time-lapse has turned out.
This was put together using more than 8,000 photos. Shot on my Canon 5D Mk II, most of the footage was captured using the truly wonderful Canon 50mm f/1.2L lens.
Take a look. Please watch the video in HD on Vimeo and share it with your friends if you enjoyed watching it.
This was put together using more than 8,000 photos. Shot on my Canon 5D Mk II, most of the footage was captured using the truly wonderful Canon 50mm f/1.2L lens.
Take a look. Please watch the video in HD on Vimeo and share it with your friends if you enjoyed watching it.
A Road Trip to Las Vegas from Rohan Gupte on Vimeo.
Hong Kong Time-Lapse
07/28/12 07:33
A couple of weeks back, I was in Hong Kong for about a day or so. I decided to make the most of this opportunity. I shot over 6,000 images with my Canon 5D Mark II to create this time-lapse video: A Day in Hong Kong
(In case you’re wondering: What is time-lapse photography)
Random tidbit about the video:
(In case you’re wondering: What is time-lapse photography)
Random tidbit about the video:
- Place: Hong Kong, SAR (mostly Kowloon area)
- Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
- Lenses: Canon 50mm f/1.2L, Canon 17-40mm f/4L, Canon 100mm f/2.8
- CF Card: SanDisk 16GB Extreme Pro CF Card (90 MB/s)
- Other equipment used: Manfrotto 190X Pro tripod + 408 RC2 ball head, Cowboy Studio remote control shutter, ND filters, etc.
- Images shot: ~6,000
- Images shot hand-held: ~4,000 (although, could not have done without the tripod for the remainder 2,000 shots)
- Software used: Aperture 3.x, QuickTime Pro 7, iMovie 11
- Music: Lo Delta by Afterlife
- Total time spent (shooting images + rendering): ~40 hours
Upgrading Canon 5D to Canon 5D Mark II
06/17/12 19:55
Last week, I upgraded my Canon 5D body to a Canon 5D Mark II. I had purchased my 5D back in Spring 2009 and it served me very well over the past couple of years. Most of the images on this website (at least those posted prior to writing this post) have been shot using the 5D. With its full-frame sensor, it is a compelling upgrade - yes, even with the March 2012 introduction of 5D Mark III - to anyone using a crop sensor body.
While I am currently looking for a new home for my 5D body (send me an email, if interested; UPDATE: sold), I had a bit of weekend fun firing some test shots on the 5D Mark II and comparing them alongside my older 5D. It was over a 100F outside and the sun was directly to the west of my tripod set up. I used my Canon 50 mm f/1.2L for the shots below and all the pictures were shot at ISO 50 with the lens wide open at f/1.2. I used a single point focus (center point) to make sure I get consistent focus on both the bodies.
Below are a few sample images along with some non-scientific test results:
I chose this image for comparison since it shows bit of a light fall-off, which is rather typical of 5D bodies to produce - especially, since I was shooting wide open at f/1.2.
I still got bit of a light fall-off with Mark II but the effect of it is dramatically less pronounced. I had the peripheral illumination correction (PIC) enabled in this shot (more on the PIC later), which seemed to have compensated a bit of the light falloff. At this point, I am going to say that the slight vignetting that it creates is more of a function of the huge f/1.2 aperture and it actually creates a rather artsy effect than a nuisance.
Bokeh from Canon 5D (100% image magnification of the RAW file)
Bokeh from Canon 5D Mark II (100% image magnification of the RAW file)
Note that the bokeh image from Canon 5D appears a bit darker since the location of that shrub in the picture frame falls in the light fall-off region.
One of the rather odd things I noticed while firing through my test shots is regarding the impact of using a self-timer on image focus. I tested using a self-timer (10 sec.) with both PIC enabled and disabled. With the PIC disabled, the self-timer shots came out to be just a bit softer around the focus point than other images. Below are some test images at 100% magnification:
Canon 5D Mark II with PIC Disabled - Timer on
Canon 5D Mark II with PIC Disabled - Timer off
However, when the PIC was enabled, the impact of using a self-timer on the image focus degradation was more pronounced.
Canon 5D Mark II with PIC Enabled - Timer on
Canon 5D Mark II with PIC Enabled - Timer off
When I tested the same phenomenon with my 5D body, I actually thought that the image taken with self-timer came out to be just a bit sharper than the other picture.
Canon 5D - Timer on
Canon 5D - Timer off
I am really not sure what impact, if any, the PIC feature could have on the self-timer and center point focus in the 5D Mark II. Even if we keep the PIC feature out of the mix, why would the self-timer function mess up the center point focus? While the use case for me to use a self-timer function is very rare, a really painless workaround could be to switch out to manual focus before using the self-timer once the center point focus (or any other focus points) has been set.
Meanwhile, I am going to dig in a bit deeper.
While I am currently looking for a new home for my 5D body (
Below are a few sample images along with some non-scientific test results:
Canon 5D
Shot using a Canon 5D and Canon50 mm f/1.2L (center point focus, ISO 50, RAW image)I chose this image for comparison since it shows bit of a light fall-off, which is rather typical of 5D bodies to produce - especially, since I was shooting wide open at f/1.2.
Canon 5D Mark II
Below is the same frame as shot by the Canon 5D Mark II and Canon 50mm f/1.2L (center point focus, ISO 50, RAW image)I still got bit of a light fall-off with Mark II but the effect of it is dramatically less pronounced. I had the peripheral illumination correction (PIC) enabled in this shot (more on the PIC later), which seemed to have compensated a bit of the light falloff. At this point, I am going to say that the slight vignetting that it creates is more of a function of the huge f/1.2 aperture and it actually creates a rather artsy effect than a nuisance.
Bokeh
Its hard to discern the differences in picture quality at the size and resolution of the images posted above. However, that could not stop me from pixel peeping. One of the things I noticed was that the quality of bokeh from 5D Mark II “seemed” to be a bit less busy and more creamy than that from the 5D. Below are some magnified images of the shrub that is seen on the left hand bottom corner of the images above.Bokeh from Canon 5D (100% image magnification of the RAW file)
Bokeh from Canon 5D Mark II (100% image magnification of the RAW file)
Note that the bokeh image from Canon 5D appears a bit darker since the location of that shrub in the picture frame falls in the light fall-off region.
Peripheral Illumination Correction (PIC)
Speaking of the PIC, I shot multiple sets of the same frame with the PIC enabled and disabled on the 5D Mark II body. In almost all cases, the exposure came out to be near-identical when the RAW files were imported in Aperture 3.3. Given that Mark II comes pre-loaded with light fall-off data for the lens I was using (50mm f/.2L), I may not have accurately measured the impact of disabling PIC on my 5D Mark II body.One of the rather odd things I noticed while firing through my test shots is regarding the impact of using a self-timer on image focus. I tested using a self-timer (10 sec.) with both PIC enabled and disabled. With the PIC disabled, the self-timer shots came out to be just a bit softer around the focus point than other images. Below are some test images at 100% magnification:
Canon 5D Mark II with PIC Disabled - Timer on
Canon 5D Mark II with PIC Disabled - Timer off
However, when the PIC was enabled, the impact of using a self-timer on the image focus degradation was more pronounced.
Canon 5D Mark II with PIC Enabled - Timer on
Canon 5D Mark II with PIC Enabled - Timer off
When I tested the same phenomenon with my 5D body, I actually thought that the image taken with self-timer came out to be just a bit sharper than the other picture.
Canon 5D - Timer on
Canon 5D - Timer off
I am really not sure what impact, if any, the PIC feature could have on the self-timer and center point focus in the 5D Mark II. Even if we keep the PIC feature out of the mix, why would the self-timer function mess up the center point focus? While the use case for me to use a self-timer function is very rare, a really painless workaround could be to switch out to manual focus before using the self-timer once the center point focus (or any other focus points) has been set.
Meanwhile, I am going to dig in a bit deeper.