So you've seen the video on how to tether your iPad to your DSLR camera, and you heard the announcement from Lee that we are giving away an Apple iPad in December. So what do you have to do to win the iPad for yourself? It's really easy: just follow us on twitter and send out one tweet about Fstoppers. That's it; plain and simple! On December 15th we will pick a random user from the previous 30 days and Christmas will come 10 days early :) Feel free to share this video explaining the rules to your friends and check out the BTS video at the end showing how we used an entry level camera, a photoflex reflector, one prime lens, and an iPhone to film the most basic fstoppers video yet (and the first one in 1080). Due to mail/customs issues, this contest is only open to US and Canada residence. Don’t worry, we will be doing a big world wide contest again very soon.
Here are a few links to the lenses and cameras we used in making this video. As of right now you really need 1.4 lenses with the current breed of cameras to shoot super low light videos which require no extra lighting.
Camera:
Nikon D3100 - Great entry level DSLR with more options than some of our professional cameras. First Nikon camera to shoot 1080 video but does require AF-S lenses to focus.
Lenses:
Nikkor 85 1.4 - Definitely a magical lens and expensive too. Allows for super shallow depth of field and great low light video/stills. Pulls the background closer than the other options
Nikkor 50 1.8 - Best option if you are on a budget and probably the first prime you should buy. Also available in the 1.4 version which I personally use. Enough can't be said about these lenses
Sigma 30 1.4 - Great option if you prefer wide angle video or shallow depth of field still shots. Has the AF-S style motor so works with all cameras
Nikkor 35 1.8 - I failed to mention this lens since I've never used it but it too is really inexpensive and has been on the wishlist of many die hard prime users. It was finally released in 2009.
Fstoppers is Giving Away an Apple Ipad from FStoppers on Vimeo.
Patrick, you look like a 14 year old at the front of that video
I didn't want you to give my age away Lee, you said you wouldn't! Guys I'm really 22
Patrick, did you use any particular apps for the audio recording?
read my tweet!! @suxelneb
Does that 3100 let you take hold of the exposure controls with video? *please say yes*
That's why i love Fs's Originals.
Simple, Clean and, most of all, Explaining.
Thanks a lot,
Cheers from Tuscany, Italy
Alessandro
that would be a sweet birthday gift
@steven: we use italk lite because it's free and we can easily get te files off the phone.
@Taylor: yes you can lock the exposure just like the d300s
Taylor, I only had this camera for a short time and I don't think you can control the exposure with shutter or ISO. It works a lot like the D300s/D90 video but it's a bit trickier because you only have one exposure dial on the back of the camera (vs the front one on more pro style cameras).
Cool stuff guys!
I'm new to this whole Tweeter thing what exactly are we supposed to tweet and how : |? I see tweets with all these # @ thingys...
Nice.
It's cool to finally see you in front of the lens Patrick.
And its funny you mentioned NYC because when I saw your reflector I found myself wishing I could plant one of those on the sidewalk without spending 300 bucks on a permit. :/
@Patrick thanks for the info Patrick. I've got a D300s and was hoping to pick up a cheap 3100 so that I could stop being the master of ND filters. Guess not!
I LOVE THIS SONG!!!
@Kenn, yeah Lee has been Apple Producting it up as of late
@Taylor, why are you having to use ND filters?
you know you wish you did it in NYC. send that camera up here for some testing.
@Patrick for that oh so desirable high noon yet shallow depth of field look everyone wants. Damn the man.
Taylor, is there a reason you don't just set the camera to <2.8 and get the shallow DOF look? Even on bright days, if you exposure comp down to say -2, the D300s should just decrease ISO and maybe increase shutter speed (I'm not sure what it's actually doing). Once you hit live view, the camera isn't changing the aperture at all.
@Patrick Forgive my recent intro to video, but I never thought to even mess with exposure comp for video. I'll give this a try next time I'm out in the sun. Yet another reason I check back at this blog every day. Thanks Patrick!
the Wednesday rundown made it on the ipad, hell yeah.
@taylor http://fstoppers.com/how-to-shoot-better-videos-1-of-3/
@Jerrit, yeah people seem to recognize your column
Wow to use an iPhone as a mic never crossed my mind! And the quality is not bad and a lot better than a DSLR mic.
I need an iPad NOW! xD