… for Random Weirdness

Tip #545: 10 Quick Tips to Spot Fake Gear

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

If the quality is missing the gear is probably fake.

This article, written by Caleb Ward, first appeared in PremiumBeat.com. This is an excerpt.

Not sure if that equipment is legit? Does that deal feel too good to be true? Avoid getting scammed and learn to spot counterfeit camera gear with these ten quick tips, provided by Canon.

1. Look for Misspellings

Misspellings, whether intentional or unintentional, are an immediate sign that your equipment is fake. Give your equipment a quick look. If there’s something misspelled, it’s a fake.

2. Where Are You Buying It From?

Buying from a reputable seller is everything. Look for reviews and ratings regarding your seller. The following video posted by Fstoppers shows us that even items purchased on Amazon can be fake.

3. Instruction Manuals

Fake equipment almost always comes by itself in a box. So, if there’s a printed out manual included in the box, it’s a good sign that the product is real. This also applies to equipment purchased online. Sure… someone could probably fake a manual, but scammers likely won’t make the effort.

4. Look for a Warranty

Almost every piece of new equipment comes with a one year warranty included in its box. If a warranty isn’t in the box, you can bet your lens it’s a fake. It’s also important to note that boxes are easy to fake. Just because your equipment is in official-looking boxes doesn’t make it legit.

5. Serial Numbers

Most professional equipment comes with a serial number located somewhere on the exterior. If your piece of equipment doesn’t come with a serial number, then there is a good chance that it’s fake.

6. Does it Fit?

Official equipment such as lenses, adapters, and rigs will be incredibly snug. If you hear things moving around when you lightly shake your equipment, there’s a problem. This is especially true when buying camera lenses or adapters. Good adapters should fit lens mounts perfectly with no slippage.

7. “Too Good to Be True” Prices Usually Are

The online camera market is incredibly competitive, so it’s no surprise that online stores are always trying to undercut each other in terms of price. However, if you find a piece of equipment for half the normal retail cost, it’s probably a fake or, even worse, an empty box!

8. Holograms

Most of the popular camera manufacturing brands have “official” stickers that feature holograms. These stickers are hard to replicate, so they’re great indicators of official equipment.

9. Clear Printing

Printed information on genuine equipment is almost always incredibly sharp and easy-to-read. Counterfeit equipment, on the other hand, tends to be lower in quality – including written content. You won’t see illegible text on official equipment.

10. Test the Equipment

Test the gear! If you’re buying a piece of camera equipment in person, you should always test the gear before you buy. If the seller won’t let you test the camera – that should be a huge red flag. Even if you’re wanting to buy your equipment online, it’s good practice to go to your local camera store and test the camera to make sure it is a good fit for you.

EXTRA CREDIT

The link at the top of this tip includes a video from Canon on how to spot fake gear.

… for Random Weirdness

Tip #534: What is Shutter Angle?

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Motion blur increases as shutter angle increases.

This is an excerpt from RED.com. The advent of digital cinematography has opened up new creative possibilities for how motion is captured. This article explores the influence of shutter angle along with how it can be used as a creative tool for accomplishing one’s artistic goals.

CONCEPT

The “shutter angle” is a useful way of describing the shutter speed relative to the frame rate. This term is a conceptual relic of rotary shutters, where a disc with an angled opening would spin and let in light once per revolution to expose each frame. The larger the angle, the slower the shutter speed, all the way up to the limit of 360°, where the shutter speed could become as slow as the frame rate. At the other extreme, the shutter speed can be made arbitrarily fast by decreasing the angle.

APPEARANCE

By far the most common setting for cinema has been a shutter angle near 180°, which equates to a shutter speed near 1/48 of a second at 24 fps. Any larger, and motion appears more smeared since the end of blur in one frame extends closer to the start of blur in the next frame. Any smaller, and the motion appears more stuttered and disjointed since the blur gap increases, causing frames to become more like discrete images.

DISCUSSION

Although many film cameras were capable of only certain shutter angle ranges, digital cameras provide many exciting new possibilities. Just as focal length and aperture have been used as creative tools for controlling sense of scale and depth of field, shutter angle has the potential to do the same for motion.

The optimal setting will ultimately depend on other factors, such as the speed of subject movement within the frame, or the creative intent of the cinematographer. For example, one might wish to use a larger shutter angle to increase the exposure time and reduce image noise in low-light, or to give the impression of softer and more fluid motion. Alternatively, with fast action one might place more importance on depicting crisp details in each frame by using a smaller shutter angle.

Another consideration might be the film era one desires to emulate. Shutter angles much less than 180° more closely mimic the style of old 1950’s newsreels, for example, and a shutter angle of 180° will typically give footage a standard cinematic style.

EXTRA CREDIT

Here’s a link from Red.com to learn more.

… for Random Weirdness

Tip #520: Tips for Using Shotgun Mics

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Think of shotgun mics as “lenses for sound.”

These tips are taken from this Audio-Technica video. Link. There’s no “perfect” mic, but shotgun mics are ideally suited for video production. Here are some tips on how to use them.

• The length of a shotgun mic is analogous to a lens: short shotguns are wide angle, long shotguns are for closeups.
• Short dynamic shotguns sound best when placed 2-3 feet from the mouth of the speaker.
• Placing the mic above or below the speaker’s mouth does not alter the sound, but pointing the mic down tends to minimize room noise.
• Always use a foam windscreen indoors to guard against wind noise. Outdoors, invest in a soft, furry blimp to minimize wind noise.
• If your mic has a low-frequency cut-off switch, use it. (The screen shot illustrates the low-frequency roll-off switch.) This minimizes traffic rumble, wind noise and some handling vibration by removing frequencies below human speech. A low-cut filter also improves the clarity of dialog.
• Condenser shotguns tend to sound better with richer sound than dynamic shotguns. Condenser shotguns will also pickup good sound up to 6 feet away from the talent.
• Long shotguns are the best choice for exterior shots. They can pick up clean sound up to nine feet away from the talent, but they are extremely directional and can only be pointed while wearing headsets.
• While long shotguns are good outside, inside they tend to pickup excess reverberation.
• With any shotgun indoors, noise from the side is generally less of a problem than echo. For this reason, short condenser shotguns tend to be preferred because their design minimizes echo.
• Regardless of length, any shotgun will sound better as it gets closer to the talent, up to a limit of about 2-3 feet.

In short, there’s no one perfect mic. Understanding how shotguns work can help assure you record the best sound possible.