Canon HJ40x10 lens and WCV summer update

Summer, what a great time of year in New England offers lots of time to play in one of the best playgrounds, Narragansett Bay.  Having been in the sailing industry all my life Narragansett Bay is home.   It is perfect for water sports, which are my passion, along with mountain biking and of course filming all of it for clients who demand the best.

Recently a client hired me to shoot the Bermuda Race start 18 June.  They did not want to pay for helicopter footage so I rented a very long lens for my Sony F800 from Rule/Boston Camera the Canon HJ40x10 2/3” HD lens with extender and Optical Image stabilizer.  My Fujinon 17x was just not going to cut it for this job.

Canon 40x lens link

HJ40x on my F800
HJ40x on my F800

This was my first time with the Canon 40x and the only thing I can say is “Very Impressed”!  The OIS worked perfectly as did the remote for zoom, VTR, and focus at my finger tips made pan/tilt moves easy even at 400-800mm.  Now don’t forget this converts to roughly 2.5 times to equal super 35mm lens for the same length, so a 2,000 mm lens on your 35mm camera.

HJ40x on F800
HJ40x on F800

Yes it is long and the OIS is a must along with my Vinten Vision 100 tripod head and Vinten Fibertec sticks.  They both impressed me all day I had great stable images.  One problem I did encounter was the humid air.  If I tried to shoot over 2/3 of a mile the detail went away and heat took over.  I had checked the forecast but the cold front never reached us and the humidity stayed.  But being right on the rocks by the start I have some amazing footage that you will see in my next demo when I finally slow down in the next few months to produce it.

Other things WCV has been up too:

  1. Glance Studio who we shoot for in Maine/NH has produced some great shorts for The State of Maine office of Transportation.  All aerials by WCV.  See the four Videos
  2. My time-lapse/motion dolly system is completed and I am going out this evening for a shoot.  I will do a blog post to get you up to speed on this great system.
  3. Just completed for NorthU with Dave Perry a DVD on Match Racing.  We put this together very quickly to get people up to speed on Match Racing.  WCV did the production, editing, and shot the narrative footage in our studio.  I did not shoot the sailing footage; this is a low budget production so NorthU can offer a free Match Racing DVD to help promote the sport of Match Racing..  Dave Perry did a great job with the script and narrative.  And it is always a pleasure to work with Bill and Fan at NorthU.  To get your free copy
  4. Pier’s Park/Cape Cod Surprise Promotional short.  You can learn more at the Author’s blog and check out the video.    Cape Cod Surprise is a sequel to Oliver’s Surprise and the book launching party was 1 July at the Sail Loft in Boston to raise money for Piers Park Sailing Center in East Boston.  You should check out the video to learn more about Piers Park and two must read books, Oliver’s Surprise and Cape Cod Surprise.
  5. Headed out for one of my two trips a year to Colorado for mountain biking  with my best friend Bill Kipp of Fast Defense.  We have a Winter Park film session planned with some young bucks that know how to strut their stuff in the bike park.  Plus we will be shooting some great cross-country trails.
  6. My custom windsurfing filming-rig is in the works (second prototype) and I have been shooting some test clips.  Not there yet but getting very close.  3-4 cameras going at once is a good trick and will take some dialing in.
  7. Two incredible aerial shoots coming up that I will discuss once they are completed.

More soon, make sure you go out and “HAVE FUN EVERY DAY”!

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