Absolutely the best chicken satay in the eastern hemisphere. And the locals loved the RedRock rig.

Before this current trip to Asia, I tested a number of ND filters with my Minolta Color Meter. I have 2,3,6,10 stop glass multi coated B+W neutral density filters in 58 and 78 mm sizes. I have step up/ down rings to 72, 67 and 55mm, which covers most of my lenses. For my beloved Zeiss 21 2.8, which is a 82mm front, I have a Hoya 3 stop ND and a Vari ND filter. My tests show that there is essentially no color shift with the B+W multicoated glass. I tested each of the BW filters, and the max color deflection was 100k, with most of them having no deflection at all. The Hoya was 400k and +2 green. The Fader ND was a shocking 1000k and +5 green. My 77mm SingRay showed 500k and +2 green. Bob at Singray explained that the 500k shift was intentional to offset the inherent blue cast in polarizers, which is something I had not heard of before.

The meter I use when shooting motion is the color meter, not an exposure meter. I check the exposure in the viewfinder, and only if I am unsure, do we pull out the light meter. The color however gets checked for each and every shot. I have found that color correction with h.264 is not something that is forgiving. We try as best we can to nail the look in camera. When I use the Singray, I have to compensate for the color shift by reading 500k up from where I want to be which adds an unnecessary layer of confusion that I would rather not have.

When shooting the Vari ND vs no filter, the color shift is strongly apparent. Ugly. The SingRay is not as bad, but the shift is still apparent. This says nothing of the flare that I get when shooting backlit, which completely obviates the Zeiss ability to hold shadow detail. Practically speaking, I find myself using the Singray on my 24-70 zoom only when I am in a situation of fast changing light conditions. After all, a yellowish green cast is better than not getting any shot at all. But, this is only when I have to work very fast, like today hand held on the back of a motorcycle racing down rice paddies. I think out of all the shots we did in 3 weeks, the SingRay was used maybe twice.

I have been having skippy jumpy footage issues with both my 5D and 7D. All the footage from Asia has skips in it. I can’t tell you how much angst this has caused. When I was opening the h264 files in Quicktime, they skipped, sometimes very badly. Converting to ProRes in StreamClip or Compresor and opening in Final Cut got the same results. I tried different card readers, a USB reader, different cards, different hard drives, everything short of an exorsism. I uploaded the h264 captures into Smug Mug and they were better, but there was still skipping, now in random places. I checked all 3 of my Macs, the skipping varied, but it was always there to some extent. No one had an idea what was going on, not Canon, not Apple, and I could find nothing on this on the web. Then on call number 3 to Apple, I was lucky enough to get a great tech support guy on the Final Cut line. The deal is that there is something slightly off in the CODEC of the files straight out of the camera. Why, I have no idea, especially since it is happening in every possible configuration. The solution is to open a new project in Final Cut. Open a new bin and place the clips into it. Then batch export the clips to a new folder on the hard drive. Close that project, open another new project and import the converted clips. I used ProRes 422 1920×1080 30p. They play just fine now. If anyone has any idea why this is happening out of the camera I would very much appreciate knowing.

Here is a list of the glass that I have on this Asia trip.

Zeiss 21 2.8: the sharpest lens I have ever used. Extraordinary ability to hold shadow detail when back lit flared. I use it on the 7D for action shots. Light years sharper than the Canon wide zooms. Love the Zeiss look here, and the focus throw is a joy to use.

Canon 24-70. For stills I love this lens, most of my book is shot with it. But for motion, the best I can say is that I tolerate it. I hear that an IS version is coming out soon, which will be nice.

Canon 35 1.4. I debated for some time between taking this lens and the Zeiss 35 2.0. Because the Canon focuses so well in low light for stills, it was the winner. But in retrospect, I think I would have prefered the Ziess, even though it is a stop slower.

Canon 45 TS. I sort of love vertically panning with this lens when the shift if full over. Something is always in focus. I use it to do a version of focus pull by tilting. Ok, it is a gimmick that I would never use in stills, but in motion I rather like it.

Nikon 50 1.2. Oh let me tell you how much I love this lens. A dream to use. I have it permanatly mounted on a Fotodiosc adapter, which makes it a $1000 lens. It is a bit less severe than the Zeiss 50, and the bokeh is way better. The Canon 50 1.2 is too soft for my taste. I understand some people love the look, sort of nostalgic, but it’s not for me. The Zeiss over 2.0 calms down, but the Nikon at 2.0 is singing. Not that I make a habit of 2.0 motion shots. I like this lens at 5.6 best. I simple small elegant gorgeous lens.

Canon 85 1.2. I great portrait lens, I shoot mine at 5.6 mostly, which out in the sun means a lot of ND. I need to be careful with backlight and this lens. If there is any sort of flare, even non-spectral flare, the lens will loose all its black details. I have not tested the Zeiss or the Nikon in 85mm, and I should.

Canon 100 macro IS. The IS is nice, but truth is that the thing is nearly impossible to focus with its short barrel throw. Feels cheap in the hand. But it is a macro, which is why I have it. Probably should have brought the Zeiss instead.

Canon 70-200 f4 IS. Great super sharp lens. I like it better than the 2.8 version, although I hear that Canon is making a new 2.8 which has 4 stop IS. Sweet. This lens gets used on the 7D for long slo mo action shots.

Zeiss 28 f 2.0. I didn’t bring it, and I miss it. Not as sharp as the 21, but then nothing is, however I just love the way it feels in my hand. Also great if flared.