Using a DIY-mounted macro bellows, Griffin shoots some weird close-up photos with his infrared camera. Plus, your questions about being a perfectionist, how to lock the stabilization of a handheld shot, and if a zoom lens messes up gimbal balance.
You can view show notes and listen to “Hey Indie Filmmakers” audio at
"I think I do get a little paralysed sometimes by the world of possibilities" – This is me, absolutely all the time! I had a gig where I was photographing and shooting video for a band playing a live show at a Hard Rock Café. I have the Sony A9 and I have the 12-24mm f/4, 24-70 f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/4 which are all very capable and it's a huge range in three lenses. I however decided to take an additional FIVE vintage prime lenses to use with video. My backpack was so heavy, it bothered me but I felt that I had to have all this gear to get the job done. Looking back, I could cut the amount of gear in half and still gotten the job done perfectly fine.
this was super interesting to watch!
always nice to see the process of other photographers!
love to learn from other so thanks for sharing
Hey Nick, hows the new BenQ monitor been? is it a worthy investment for a monitor?
Love your podcasts, and have learned many things from watching. I have a question about the GH4 and auto focus. I almost shoot exclusively in manual mode for video, but I'm getting a Ronin S gimbal and may need to shoot in auto focus at times. What would be the best settings in the menu and on the back of the camera to film in auto focus needing to keep the focus on the subject no matter where I point the camera. Thanks!
Hey Griffin, I saw your masterclass it was pretty good, but I wanted to ask how did you change the color of the truck in siracha from yellow to white? How do you do that? I want to change the color of a car from white to black in a short film I'm doing.
Nice episode as always. I use a macro tube to achieve what you are doing with the bellow. Have you ever seen one? They're pretty inexpensive. The bellow is a little better because you can move the lens wherever you want instead of using the premade lengths of tube, but they are similar.
https://m.ebay.com/itm/Macro-Extension-Tube-Ring-Kit-For-CANON-EOS-EF-Mount-Camera-DSLR-SLR-Rebel-1000d/190764496815?hash=item2c6a7337af:g:riwAAOxygj5SiX09
As im watching this some 14 hours after you uploaded it,Germany has been kicked out of the World Cup haha
Dear Griffin and Nick,
You guys are awesome!
I was really touched how you processed the “perfection” issue.
We not only learn about video from you two, we also learn about respectful, emotionally sophisticated communication between close friends .
I actually asked my former wife to watch your episode to see how easily and lovingly mis-communications can be resolved. You are both very special people. Thank you so much for all the time and effort you both put in to the show. When you produce you next Doc and are looking for Investors…..
Count me in!
Best, Terme
PS. Those Pussy Cat shots are amazingly fabulous!
With Google Drive make sure you're sharing a link to the Folder not just a single file. Google makes it a little difficult to know exactly what you're sharing and I've made that mistake before. Now I go as far as copying the link it gives me and opening it in a different browser to make sure I'm sharing the folder and not just a single file.
Questions/Timecodes
21:05 – Twitter questions from Benjamin and PK Productions – How do you convert a camera to pick up infrared?
24:00 – #askGriffin from Michael Pendleton – What is one non-filmmaking tool that you cannot live without on the job?
26:36 – Feedback email from Carson – You can caption using Youtube and auto-generate captions, correct them, then export different subtitle files. Additionally you can use Google's cloud platform (paid) for up to 60 minutes of audio transcribing.
28:27 – Feedback comment from Lorenz in Germany – Recommends Lumberjack Builder, a subscription-based service that allows you to not only transcipt the video with the right timestamps but also to make a first cut via choosing sentences you want to feature in your piece.
29:48 – Email from Joel – Suggestion for audio level techniques – Recommends Adobe Audition includes Speech Volume leveler and a plugin by Waves called Vocal Righter – designed to act like a human hand pushing the volume fader up and down to level out the sound and it can be tweaked fairly extensively.
31:10 – Email from John (following up from last week) – The issue I ran into was with the e-stabilizatioin. He was recording someone singing at a 60mm focal length with the person filling most of the frame. What I noticed was when the person started rocking left to right the system seemed to lock onto the person and make the background move–all handheld. He tried it with a camera on a tripod but the background didn't move but needs to test it again. Also mentions Panasonic IS-Lock.
35:20 – Email from Warren – just ordered the Ronan S and he has a big music project coming up at the end of the month. Wondering what lenses he might pair with the new gimbal, knowing Griffin has the Zhiyun tech Crane V2 and the GH5 — what are the best lenses to use? If he goes 12-35mm, will I throw the balance off every time I zoom in and out?
38:38 – Twitter question from Dillon – What have you found to be the best way to send footage back and forth between editors? A GB internet of upload time isn't a problem. I use google drive but when my editor goes to download the whole folder it only downloads one clip. I also attempted to create an account for him on my Synology nas but it won't even let him login. Any suggestions?
SUBJECT: ACTIVE CAMERA STABILIZERS: When talking about a camera stabilizer, it might be useful to define the terms.
BALANCING: This is the act of setting the static balance of the camera mounted on the stabilizer. This is done with the stabilizer off. The purpose is to get the camera/lens to balance the camera statically so that gravity doesn't cause it to swing or shift.
STABILIZING: This is what the stabilizer does when it is turned on; active stabilization.
BALANCING A CAMERA WITH A ZOOM LENS: My suggestion for this would be to put the zoom midway in it's range, then do the balance step. Depending on the stabilizer and the lens, shifting the zoom may, as you said, my be compensated for by the stabilizing action of the motors.
Hi both, I was using the is lock when using a mono pod last weekend worked very well but got to remember to turn it off each time. John B in the UK
I tried using bellows a few months ago with my GH5. I picked up a cheap M42 mount bellows and adapter on Ebay for like $30 and used some vintage lens that I already had. On a tripod for sure and used a hand held remote for the shutter. A lot of fun with the right light just taking shots of veg from the fridge! Had the same very narrow focal plane and had to stop down the manual lens as well. A frame full of Kale looks pretty cool!