Dennis covers various rigs and potential rigging options for each.

On Monday 8th February we went along to a presentation by Canon. Amongst the announcements of new point-and-shoot cameras, printers and calculators, they also launched the Canon EOS 550D (Rebel T2i) DSLR camera.

If you have been drooling over all the videos uploaded to Vimeo and shot on the EOS 7D – but couldn't afford £1500 to buy it. Then the 550D may be of interest.

It is due on sale from 24 February 2010 and the street price should be less than £700.

Here are the headline features…

• 18 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor

• Full 1920x1080p Movie mode

• 24, 25, 30fps at 1080p

• 50 and 60fps at 720p

• Movie crop (7x magnification) – only for 640x480

• Socket for external stereo mic

• ISO 100-6400 (expandable to 12800)

• 9 point auto focus

It is smaller and lighter than the 1D, 5D and 7D – which are all hefty beasts to carry around.

David Parry of Product Intelligence, Canon UK (the guy in our video) mentioned that the 550D has full manual control, unlike the EOS 5D MKII – but he said the firmware upgrade for the 5D is coming "very soon". I know for some of you that won't be soon enough. But, maybe your wait is almost at an end.

Hope you find this little taster interesting. We're keen to get our hands on one and compare it to our 7D.

For more, have a look at our blog, which includes information on Canon's new Final Cut Pro plug-in - urbanfoxtv.blogspot.com/2010/02/canon-cuts-cost-of-hd.html

Christina and David Fox

urbanfox.tv

urbanfoxtv.blogspot.com

Another super windy day on Maui's north Shore : )
Tech :
Camera : Canon 5D Mark II
Sound : Tascam DR-100
Windscreen : Redhead "Fire" & "Gunmetal"
Light : Eiko 85watt

I absolutely love the Eiko 85watt bulbs, they are beasts ! Wrote about them here : redheadwindscreens.com/indy-filmmaker-stuffs/eiko-low-cost-continuous-lighting-for-filmmakers/

facebook.com/spyfilms.worldwide - The making of the award winning "Nuit Blanche"

Directed by: Arev Manoukian
Produced by: Stephanie Swedlove & Arev Manoukian
VFX by: Marc-Andre Gray
Music by: Samuel Bisson
Starring: Michael Coughlan & Megan Lindley
Cinematographer: Arev Manoukian
Casting: Jeff Marshall
Assistant Director: Andrew Cividino
Production Designer: Arev Manoukian & Marc-Andre Gray
Art Director / Costumes - Dan Levy
Camera Operator: Jay Pavao
Camera Assistant: Max Armstrong
Gaffer: Alan Poon
Editor: Arev Manoukian
Compositor / Animator: Marc-Andre Gray
Effects Supervisors: Marc-Andre Gray & Arev Manoukian
Additional Compositing: Arev Manoukian
Matte Painter: Pat Lau
Colourist: Andre Chlebak