Shooting with the Canon 7D DSLR

This spring we were able to get out of the studio and shoot a little profile on musician Jack Ryon. This time we were shooting with the amazing Canon 7D DSLR camera. This camera is just fantastic for getting a nice cinematic look. We shot 1080p @ 24fps. The ability to shoot 24p natively is a huge step in getting a film look and feel. This is a much better solution than what was implemented in many DV cameras just a few years ago. Another reason the Canon 7D looks so filmic is it’s shallow depth of field or DOP. This is accomplished with its massive imaging chip, much larger than conventional video cameras. The large sensor also lets you shoot great images in low light.

The gotcha with this camera however is the audio. Yes it has an onboard mic that works in a pinch, however to achieve professional level sound, you need to shoot two system. That means recording audio on a separate device. One solution we used was our Zoom H4 handy recorder. A great little bit of kit that with it’s built in mics up top, looks like a taser. The other recording device we used was the super cool Zaxcom ZFR100. About the size of your beeper from days gone by, this device records audio to flash media @ 24/96. Simply hook up your lav mic, and hit record on the Zaxcom. Then once in post we synced up the audio using a little plug-in for FCP called PluralEyes. With PluralEyes we were able to sync all the footage shot for the entire day in a matter of minutes. This really streamlined our post workflow, and the sync was rock solid.

After a few days of editing we got our cut put together and looking great. Then it was off to Apple Color for the final beauty pass! You can view our profile of Jack Ryon below. We think you will agree he is one talented Kat! – REMOTE ACCESS POST