Photoflex FlexDrop2
Lately I have become a chromakey nut. It probably started last year when I wrote the Hologram tutorial and wrote extensively about how to properly light and set up a green or blue screen shoot. Not one who likes to be confined to the studio for my green screen work, I have been looking for portable convenient greenscreens to aid in my many shoots.
At first I tried purchasing a cloth greenscreen from Ebay. I ended up with a 12’x12’ cloth that works in many situations. I found it especially useful last August when I had a shoot in Topeka with the Kansas Division of Emergency Management. I simply tied off the greenscreen to the drop down ceiling grid in the meeting room and shot without a problem. The main problems with my Ebay find is that it didn’t come with a frame so I have to build one myself, and the screen is rather large.[an error occurred while processing this directive]The second greenscreen I got was slightly better, instead of having tie downs, it has Velcro around the edges and allows you to easily connect to the 6’x6’ frame. This screen has been used a couple of times and is even colored blue on one side and green on the other to accommodate various situations. While this screen is quite handy, it does take a while to set up and if you need to shoot smaller situations you are kind of out of luck because you still need to set up the entire frame and stand system.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a screen that was not only small enough for a variety of situations, but also portable and sturdy for field work?
Enter the FlexDrop2 from Photoflex. This is a 5’x7’ dual chromakey screen (blue on one side green on the other) that will accommodate most simple chromakey work. What makes the FlexDrop2 even more valuable is it has it’s own built in frame. If you are familiar with collapsible reflecting systems, then you know how the FlexDrop2 works. When fully collapsed the FlexDrop2 is a mere 3 feet across.
How well does this work? I needed to do an outdoor shoot this morning with me in my car driving through a weird environment. I arrived on the scene (my driveway) and began setting up around 9:00. Here are the steps involved in setting up this system.
- Set up to C-Stands to hold the FlexDrop2 screen.
- Take the FlexDrop2 out of the carrying case.
- Flip it open
- Attach to the C-Stands and position behind subject. I like that the FlexDrop2 has Velcro tabs on it to attach to stands. When all six tabs were attached, the C-Stands and FlexDrop2 are very stable.
- Set up tripod
- Attach Sony PD-150 camera
- Frame shot
- Shoot
When everything was set up it was 9:15. Nice…
 |
| Once set up, the FlexDrop2 is very stable and does not blow around in the wind. |
Source: Digital Media Online, Inc.
1 2 Next
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
