Price: $14.95
A broadcaster's guide to camera and lens technology is a highly practical and reference-oriented tutorial by long-time video expert, trainer and writer Steve Mullen, Ph.D. This tutorial is designed to help ENG videographers, commercial video producers and video engineers capture better video by understanding the lens and electronics inside their cameras. This eBook provides both new and veteran shooters an in-depth understanding of the technology that lies between the camera lens and the recording medium and how to maximize a camera's performance
While today's cameras and lenses can provide high-quality imagery, even the most expensive camera will underperform without a trained operator. This almost 50-page tutorial is designed to help those who want to improve the quality of their imagery by consistently capturing career-enhancing, high-quality video.
This eBook focuses on the key aspects of camera and lens technology that most affect the quality of captured video. Understanding the performance capabilities of a camera and lens, and where to make the always necessary tradeoffs, will help broadcasters and videographers get their best shots. From focal length to MTF to camera sensors and the causes of judder, Mullen explains how these and many other factors affect video quality - and how to best manage them.
The author brings his many years of experience as a professional videographer and instructor to bear so readers can gain practical knowledge and tips that can be applied daily in their jobs.
Chapter 1 examines lens technology. While much of the marketing for cameras centers on the device's CCD or CMOS sensor, image quality is first determined by the quality of the camera lens. This chapter helps readers understand how key lens parameters affect the quality of captured video. Readers learn about: focal length, focus controls, automatic focus technology, zoom control, aperture adjustments, and the effects these parameters have on depth of field and lens sensitivity.
Chapter 2 provides an in-depth background on camera imagers (sensors). The author examines the technology inside a digital CMOS imager and illustrates how these sensors convert an analog image into individual digital pixels. The discussion includes full-color imagery and signal flow block diagrams. Readers learn about the causes of aliasing and why it's typically exhibited as "zaggies" or Moiré. The author discusses how imagers, optical filters and special circuitry can be used to enable shooters to control image sharpness and thus the visibility of aliasing. Both progressive and interlaced scanning methods are reviewed.
Chapter 3 focuses on common problems encountered when shooting low frame-rate video. Shooters often attempt to get a film look by shooting at progressive frame rates of 24fps, 25fps or even 30fps. Unfortunately, when many consumer and Prosumer HD cameras are set to shoot at those rates, the result is often a caricature of judder. As the camera pans or zooms, the subject often appears to move through the image frame with more shudder than judder. Mullen offers tips to minimize this problem.
Chapter 4 examines the challenges of incorporating legacy video into HD productions. Readers are shown some best practices to bring old NTSC or color-under-format video into an HD program. After discussing the technical issues, Mullen illustrates the results of using two software solutions, Apple Final Cut Pro Motion and Boris FX UpRez Filter.
This almost 50-page tutorial is packed with highly-specific and professional first-hand information to help you become a better ENG shooter, photographer or videographer. If it's your job to "get the shot," Steve Mullen's A broadcaster's guide to camera and lens technology will help ensure your success.
