Extreme gear: Philip Bloom paired a Canon 1D C with a Canon 800mm lens and two 2x extenders to shoot Chicago from 65km away!

British director and videographer Philip Bloom is well-known for his camera tests, which often take the form of short films or documentaries. During his visit to South Africa last year, he tested the Blackmagic Cinema Camera at the Ponte Tower in Hillbrow.

In his latest film, Philip paired a Canon EOS 1D C cinema DSLR and a Sony F55 broadcast camera with a Canon 800mm f/5.6L lens and two Canon 2x extenders for an effective focal length of 3200mm.

Coupled with recording at 4K resolution and cropping in post production, this allowed Philip to fill the frame with the Chicago skyline while shooting from 65 kilometres away! After sunset, he also pointed the setup at the Moon.

Now, due to atmospheric haze and stacking extenders, the footage isn’t exactly sharp, but it does have a certain appeal to it – if only for the fact that the setup is so extreme.

Watch the video below, and read the in-depth article over at Philip’s website.

3 Comments

Philip Bloom: Shooting 4K Video At 3200mm

  1. Thanks for post guys but I didn’t make this for any “test” I made this as a film! No other reason. I saw something I wanted to shoot and made a film of it. The only test is testing myself everytime I make something! πŸ™‚

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