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Review: Sennheiser 400 MKE shotgun microphone

Posted in Reviews, Travel, Video on July 11, 2011 by William Hooks

I selected this microphone for my China trip  due to its very long battery life of about 300 hours, ease of  obtaining and changing its AAA battery, build quality, small form factor and sound quality. The “on” indicator light is only lit momentarily when powering up (which I don’t like), but I feel free to leave the unit on for an entire session to be sure it’s activated when beginning clips. Wind noise has so far not been a problem, although I did bring the deadcat for this mic.

It also fits all standard fishpoles such as the Que Audio with shock absorber which I brought here, making booming easy. I like the shock mount on this microphone- simple , unobstrusive and effective.

One caution- be sure to do sound tests especially if not monitoring levels and pitch with headphones, to ensure proper level and low band cutoff settings for a particular environment.

I highly recommend the Sennheiser for travel.

 

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On vacation next week- heading to Lake Tahoe region…..

Posted in Captain's Personal Log, Photography, Reviews, Travel, Video on May 26, 2011 by William Hooks

I plan to put my D5100 and microphones, Zoom H4N and other video gear to work and do some backpacking, exploring the possibilities with my GoPro wearable camera and not spending one minute thinking about medicine or radiology!

Continuing preparations to travel to China in mid-July, spending time in several cities including Nanjing and Shanghai and documenting the experience of a foreigner seeing the country for the first time. Probably I’ll stick to noodles for the whole trip…..

The preliminary experience with the upgrade to Adobe Premiere Elements 9 has been generally very good, I think this is a practical video editing software option for many people at an intermediate to moderately advanced level. And the price -less than $100 with rebate- is definitely right.

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Followup: Nikon D5100 evaluation

Posted in Photography, Reviews, Video on May 19, 2011 by William Hooks

I’m delighted to find that this camera’s small and light form has already made my videography life much easier. I can mount it on a boom and maneuver in a way which would be much less practical with D3 -sized cameras.  The battery life in normal temperatures has proven to be more than adequate for my needs, noting that I carry at least one spare.  Availability of very high-capacity SDXC cards which are compatible with this camera allows for realistic application of its longer clip recordings, up to 20 minutes.

Clearly its low-light capacity is not in the same class as the D3s. I don’t use its viewfinder much, not only because it seems inferior to the FX models but the articulated screen works very well- and I can use  the same monitor loupes with all 3 HD-DSLR’s as they’re  3-inch diagonal size.

Some remaining potential issues for my kind of use: how does the battery behave in very cold weather? What about the durability of its shutter? More testing will tell.

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First week with the Nikon D51C (5100): an early review

Posted in Captain's Personal Log, Music, Photography, Photojournalism, Reviews, Travel, Video on May 6, 2011 by William Hooks

So far I have these observations:

– The Selective Color and Color Sketch Effects modes seem most appealing to me, partly because I enjoy their looks and partly because, like the others, they can be applied either in capture (with Live View) or retouching JPEG’s already shot.

-Having native ISO to 6400 available is expected to be very useful for my style of shooting- both stills and video.

-Ergonomics seem very good, although distinctly different in some ways from my pro bodies. I find that the button placements are generally very intuitive given the presense of the articulated screen and have been easy to use. I like the operation of the LV lever, it would be nice if there were a concentric video button as with the D7K – a minor issue.

– I intend to work with this camera mounted to a Matthews or Manfrotto SuperClamp, since it allows remote triggering.

-The layout of the left panel output access ports is appealing. Having a GPS-ready camera this size is exciting and like the new Nikon ME-1 microphone, the GP-1 doesn’t have an internal battery (to fail or corrode). I’m going to look for that microphone and evaluate its features as soon as available.

– Shutter lag is definitely much greater that with my pro bodies and AF is slower to much slower, very much depending on lens choice. I ‘ll experiment more with my upper-end FX lenses in coming weeks to evaluate how much of a factor that may be, should I try shooting limited sports with this camera.

– The  AC adapter has eliminated battery life as a factor in the studio , or where a generator is available.

-I’m definitely going to scarf that 12-24mm f/4 DX from Grant to use in the backcountry…..

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Equipment and software reviews

Posted in Reviews on April 12, 2011 by William Hooks

My review style will be based fundamentally on what I find works or doesn’t work for me- under the conditions I encounter. Your mileage may vary, but please feel free to engage me regarding my reviews as I ‘d be happy to learn that one of my cameras or programs has capability I didn’t realize ( or problems I had not yet noted).

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Coming soon:

Posted in Photojournalism, Reviews, Science Fiction, Studio Portraiture, Travel, Video on April 12, 2011 by William Hooks

Posts for videos, portraiture, photojournalism, science fiction, travel, reviews of equipment and software as well as tips;

I’ll start with some today.

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