DSLR for Video

As much as I hate to, I have to say something that I dread saying.

For months now I've been hearing about how people are using DSLR cameras to shoot amazing video. And for months I've been saying that it's just a fad.

Last week I attended the Metro Media Ministers Association annual conference. There was a lot of talk about the Canon 5D and how Media Ministers across the country have started using it as their primary camera for shooting video. I was skeptical, but the more they talked, the more it made sense. I watched both raw and edited footage shot with the 5D, including a series of promo spots for the North American Mission Board...it truly was amazing!

So why is it so amazing?

> Lenses - You can use any Canon EF lens made since 1987. Many of us already have several of these for our still cameras that we can now use for video.

> Processor - The surface area of the processor is nearly 3x that of a standard video camera (Canon GL2 for instance).

> Depth of Field - Because of the wide array of lenses available, you can achieve a very narrow depth of field.

> Still shots - You can grab the still shots you need for your project while you're shooting video.

> Size - The 5D is a lot smaller than the average video camera.

> Cost - It costs less than many professional video cameras...and it's a still camera too!

There are a couple of drawbacks to using the 5D to shoot video.

> Audio - The quality of the audio would not be suitable for most productions. You would want to record audio to an external field recorder (many producers already do that) and then sync it with your video.

> Record time - The 5D will only record 12 minutes of footage at a time. However, when it stops recording, you simply press the record button again and it picks right back up. You will have missed about 1 second of recording, but if you're recording audio separately you can simply cover that glitch with b-roll.

> Zooming - It's harder to achieve a smooth zoom. However, the picture is large enough that you can "zoom" within Final Cut without any loss of quality. One of the Media Ministers said to the rest of the group, "You're zooms aren't any good, so you shouldn't be doing them anyways."


After talking with others who are using it and seeing the quality of the footage, I believe the benefits of using the Canon 5D for shooting video greatly outweigh the drawbacks. My next camera purchase will undoubtedly be the Canon 5D.

So here it goes..."I was wrong".

Ugggghhh! I hate saying that!

But it's true...I was wrong.

Unknown

This week I’m attending the Metro Media Ministers Association annual meeting which is in Franklin, TN. This is an amazing group of creative and technical guys who are using media to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tonight we ate dinner at and toured the Carnton House Plantation near the historic site of the Battle of Franklin. One of the historians gave us a detailed description of the Battle of Franklin and of the McGavock family’s role in the Civil War. Their home (the Carnton House) was used as a field hospital. In fact, several of the rooms still have blood stained floors.

Outside the house, next to their family cemetery, is a 2-acre plot of land that they donated to use as a soldier’s cemetery. Around 1,500 soldiers are buried there.

Now, I’m not one who typically strolls through cemeteries. But tonight I decided to do so. There were rows and rows of small concrete grave markers. Near the center of the cemetery I saw a grave marker that stopped me in my tracks. It said, “This section contains 15 unknown”.

“Unknown”.

These men died in battle, yet they were unknown. They fought for freedom, yet they were unknown. They couldn’t be identified by their appearance...their clothes...their scars...anything. They were “unknown”.

Matthew 7:21-23 says, “"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name? Then I will announce to them, 'I never knew you! Depart from Me you lawbreakers!”

“I never knew you!”

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be unknown by the King of Kings, the Creator of the Universe, the Almighty God.

I want Him to know me...for my faithfulness...for my obedience...for my desire to see His kingdom come and His will be done...for my compassion...for my humbleness...for my love....I want Him to know me.

It was sad to see that these men were buried without being identified. But it completely breaks my heart to know that there are so many more out there who are “unknown” to our Savior.

Open House

Last night we hosted a First Media open house for current and potential volunteers. We had about 20 people show up; 7 of them were new to our ministry. We spent time walking them through the church to the different areas where Media volunteers serve. Along the way, I explained what each position does and how it fits in the bigger picture of the worship services.

At the end of the night, all 7 volunteers committed to serve in First Media!

One of the new volunteers emailed me this morning. He’s someone who has always loved music. He came last night thinking that maybe he’d sign up to run PowerPoint or something along those lines. But in that one hour span of time, something happened...something “in his heart just clicked”.

Through a conversation with Chris Forte (our staff FOH guru), he realized that his experience as a musician could serve him well at an audio board, too. He’s very excited and feels like this is where he’s supposed to be serving right now.

He wrote, “Thank you very much for hosting the open house and spending time with the group as you guys did, because I may never have found my voice if it wasn’t for that experience.”

Wow. That’s a great reminder of why we’re here.

Connecting people to God.

Connecting people to others.

Connecting people to service.