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I'm getting a bit more into photography and I'm thinking about picking up some vintage film cameras (still and possibly movie). There is no shortage of inexpensive cameras available on eBay; however, it isn't clear to me what film formats are still available. [more inside]
posted by LastOfHisKind on Jul 17, 2011 - 7 answers

I'm an engineer wanting to explore my creative side a bit via making short films aimed at online viewing via YouTube or whatever. I've got the high-end Macintosh but I need (1) a camera (hopefully better than my old MiniDV camcorder), (2) software (Final Cut Express or similar, I suppose), and (3) skill in the mechanics of filming and editing and in the technique of story telling. In other words, I need to learn how to operate the camera and editing software but I also need to learn what I want to do with it. I'd appreciate suggestions for any of this stuff but pointers on good books or whatever for learning the skills would be really nice.
posted by LastOfHisKind on Aug 15, 2010 - 9 answers

Am I crazy to try shooting a motion picture on a still camera? [more inside]
posted by drjimmy11 on Oct 5, 2008 - 15 answers

Hi all-- I'm jumping the gun and asking for a personal recommendation for a used camera purchase. My budget is $200-250 and I want to buy used. My priorities in order are: 1. As much manual control as possible -- so I'm leaning towards Canon for the CHKD firmware. 2. FAST to start up and take shots and switch modes. 3. 30FPS VGA movie ability that looks comparable to a cheap dedicated camcorder (but it doesn't need to record for a long time -- I'm fine with MJPEG). 4. Good quality audio pickup for the movies. 5. Smaller than SLR-size. ...Everything else is low priority. I hope these criteria and its answers will be useful to others.
posted by oneous on Sep 18, 2008 - 3 answers

I just watched the DVD of Awake, and I'm going crazy trying to figure out what kind of camera Jack (Terrence Howard) uses throughout the film. It is all black and a bit old looking. I'm a bit of a camera nerd, and I have to know!
posted by grieserm on May 19, 2008 - 15 answers

Is there a formal name for a part of a movie that shows the same scene 3 or 4 times, sometimes from different angles or in slow motion (or both)? [more inside]
posted by Addlepated on Jan 24, 2008 - 7 answers

What is the movie that has a little boy that gets an old camera as a gift and takes photos of his town? [more inside]
posted by AsRuinsAreToRome on Jan 3, 2008 - 4 answers

My PC refuses to transfer several large (~775MB) movie files from my Canon PowerShot SD1000 to my computer. How can I retrieve them? [more inside]
posted by Zephyrial on Oct 22, 2007 - 10 answers

I have some home movies that I need to brighten up. [more inside]
posted by TrueVox on Dec 30, 2006 - 9 answers

Can I use a 3D FPS game engine (i.e. Half-Life 2 or the like) to render and control virtual scenes in real-time? Game modders, is what I want to do possible? [more inside]
posted by chos on Jan 16, 2006 - 8 answers

I have many memories of people in movies, cartoons, etc. who while taking a photograph with a view camera remained underneath the darkcloth while making the exposure. However, the film holder should be cutting off the light to the groundglass and therefore they shouldn't be able to see any image. Is this just due to the ignorance of the movie makers or is there some reason why they are depicted this way?
posted by Bengston on Aug 12, 2005 - 10 answers

Want to do start doing some video work, curious what are my best options for some quick "post-to-web" type videos, as well as being able to store them. [more inside]
posted by benjh on Apr 6, 2005 - 5 answers