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08-23-2015, 04:12 PM   #1
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First attempt at DSLR video (K50)

Hi folks. I've spent a lot of time on the forums and they're an excellent source of information. I recently acquired a K50 and am interested in learning a bit about video. I'm a radio and text journalist, so all this visual stuff is a little new and scary!

I took the camera out to my local park this evening and grabbed some shots. I'd be really grateful for your thoughts and suggestions on what I could tweak to improve things a bit.

These clips were taken using the K50 at 25fps and shutter speed 1/50. I have an SMC Pentax-DA 1:1.8 50mm lens and an SMC Pentax-DA 1:2.5-5.6 18-55mm AL, which is actually the kit lens from one of my dad's cameras. I shot with low saturation, contrast and sharpness because I keep hearing that that's the way to get a "film look", and I've tweaked the colours a little bit in Premiere Pro, which I've got on 30 day trial, but am seriously considering subscribing to Creative Cloud for.

I've muted the sound as I didn't have my recorder or mics with me, and as a radio guy the quality of the internal mics causes me a deep, existential terror. :-) I also didn't have a tripod or any kind of stabilisation, so apologies for everything being quite shaky.



08-23-2015, 05:15 PM   #2
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cool....makes me wanna try video on my K-50
08-23-2015, 06:10 PM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by osaekomi Quote
I shot with low saturation, contrast and sharpness because I keep hearing that that's the way to get a "film look", and I've tweaked the colours a little bit in Premiere Pro, which I've got on 30 day trial, but am seriously considering subscribing to Creative Cloud for.
The reason to back off the saturation, contrast, and sharpness settings is because:
1. This maximizes the dynamic range the camera will handle before things crush to black or blow-out to white and...
2. Minimizes the artifacts that get baked into the footage.

If you need more saturation, contrast, or sharpness, these are all things that are better done in post during the edit.

To be happy with the audio, you are likely going to pickup something like this:
Tascam DR-70D 4-Channel Audio Recording Device for DSLR DR-70D

To be kind, the builtin mics+audio in DSLR's in general and Pentax DSLR's in particular is poor. There are frequently AGC circuits that ensure the noise is loud when the scene is in fact quiet. For Pentax, it isn't even video industry standard 48KHz sample rate but instead 32KHz. The Tascam solution allows you to
(1) Use better mics.
(2) Have better control over your gain levels.
(3) Record externally
(4) Feed the camera with that audio so syncing in post isn't a nightmare.
(5) Plug in headphones so you can monitor what you are really getting.
08-23-2015, 06:19 PM   #4
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I think the Tascam is neat.....considering selling my zoom r-16 since I am not recording bands (they want a studio whether they are ready for it or not) and I am quite content doin solo demos on the mighty boss micro-br........the compactness of the Tascam would great for just field recording vs the zoom......however I do not think the K-50 has an input for external sources

08-23-2015, 09:00 PM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by Aaron28 Quote
......however I do not think the K-50 has an input for external sources
Sadly, you are correct. I have a Pentax K-01 and Panasonic GH4, both of which have a mic input.
08-24-2015, 12:48 AM   #6
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QuoteQuote:
To be happy with the audio, you are likely going to pickup something like this:
Tascam DR-70D 4-Channel Audio Recording Device for DSLR DR-70D
Thanks for the reply. I actually have the Zoom H5, I just didn't have it with me at the time! It's a great recorder with interchangable mic capsules. I have an X/Y stereo mic, short shotgun and a couple of handheld reporter's mics, so I'm looking forward to doing proper stuff with audio in future.
08-24-2015, 03:43 AM   #7
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Pretty good for a first try with Pentax video. The second shot epitomizes all the bad things about pentax video I never know how to explain it, its just that look...

Your last shot is great! I really like the look. I've found close ups/medium closeups like that shot are a lot better quality than really wide angle shots.

08-24-2015, 05:10 AM   #8
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Thanks, Imp. Forgive my ignorance, but what makes Pentax a bad choice for wide angle stuff? This shot was just with a kit lens. Would it be worth looking at wide angle primes or are there flaws that mean I'm never going to get great wide shots with the K50?

I got it for free, so in any case I'm not going to complain!
08-24-2015, 05:24 AM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by osaekomi Quote
Thanks, Imp. Forgive my ignorance, but what makes Pentax a bad choice for wide angle stuff? This shot was just with a kit lens. Would it be worth looking at wide angle primes or are there flaws that mean I'm never going to get great wide shots with the K50?

I got it for free, so in any case I'm not going to complain!
I'm not certain... i think its just that shooting wide amplifies the bad look of the video, makes it more obvious. Perhaps its the compression that becomes more obvious, everything just looks so soft... with a touch of ca or something. Can someone else out there more knowledgeable than me explain this better?

This is an example i have, with my K-30 and kit lens at 18mm. I'm sure you can notice the similarities in quality, or lack thereof.
https://flic.kr/p/xtaq3u
08-24-2015, 01:30 PM   #10
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Re: Wide angle shots. I have found that one notch of Fine Sharpness and using a very small aperture gives much better results. Oh, and spot metering off the grass then lock it.
08-24-2015, 02:04 PM   #11
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Thanks Steve, I'll give it a shot!
08-25-2015, 03:44 PM   #12
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Always glad to see someone giving video a go. Good stuff.


Love the start, nice framing, depth of field choice etc.


That wide angle shot would likely benefit from some light warp stabiliser.
Using Warp Stabilizer in Premiere Pro CS6 | CS6 & Creative Cloud Feature Tour for Video | Adobe TV


My favourite field of view for this is the 35mm and the plastic f2.4 works great for me, and I can see why the 50mm 'standard lens' on FF was so popular.
The 50mm is likely to be similar, but you'll be standing further back, out of the smoke in your case :-)


Personally I'd look to turn off the stabilisation in the camera, as I don't feel it works very well, and with Premiere you can get a bit more flexibility over how you stabilise in post afterwards.
It's very slow to apply afterwards though, so it's always best to think about camera shake at the time you are shooting, and try to get that as stable as possible then.


Now just let you imagination run wild, and think of different shooting angles, telling a story etc.
Very similar to say how you would layout a wedding or event photo album, only with clips from the event to tell the story.


Thanks for sharing!
08-25-2015, 10:08 PM   #13
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+1 vote of confidence in the DR-70D - I have one and it's awesome.

I'd turn off the SR and use a Tripod or shoulder rig - the jello is there in the handheld shots.
08-30-2015, 09:54 AM   #14
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Haven't watched it yet, but some comments. You can easily sync audio either in PP CC itself (not so good IMHO) or PluralEyes.

Pentax is a bad choice for wide angle because a) Pentax crops the image further because of that darn movie SR (even if deactivated), and b) the encoder is quite poor, and shooting wide usually means a lot of details in the image. A bad encoder trying to get along with a low bitrate is going to struggle really hard, and you will end up with a lot of compression artefacts. Sharpening in camera makes the issue much worse.
08-30-2015, 01:14 PM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by kadajawi Quote
You can easily sync audio either in PP CC itself (not so good IMHO) or PluralEyes.
PluralEyes: That's a heck of a lot of money for a plugin. Syncing audio it pretty simple without a fancy plugin if you just clap at the start of recording then match the peak in post.
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