It was sunny Monday but I knew it was going to rain Friday. This is for Motor Trend. 2 fast cars, what to do? Knew I had to find a place indoors, that meant it had to be pretty big. Now we have a very limited budget for locations these days and I knew the warehouse was pricey, but it never hurts to ask. Oh yeah, we got lucky. And yes on Friday it was raining. This was such a good call. The warehouse had lights, but it wasn’t that bright. This was a perfect time to test the new Canon 7d. With it’s high ASA and “sports focus”, lets see how it does. I like to start the day with static beauty masters, the group shot, singles etc. The first thing I noticed was the 1.6 crop factor. I am so used to working full frame, I can usually block the shot with my eye and then place camera where I stand, HA! not so with this camera, start stepping back, and back, and back…. now I’m so far away the auto focus doesn’t work that great and the pocket wizards start becoming sporadic. I had lights up top on the balcony rear 3/4 and on the floor with the cars to light up the noses, strobes in the car, and even a strobe on the rear wall at times to help with separation. I really like the static masters, I think we nailed it. Every shot, every detail needed to be lit. The clock started moving faster, while we were shooting 2 other film companies came and scouted the location, I even knew one of the crews. The car to car shot has got to be the coolest, in the warehouse, coming right at you, great energy. So how did the 7d stand up, the high asa helps when you’re shooting details in the car, if you can get the details handheld it makes thing go much faster, setting the tripod in the front seat of a car is always rather cumbersome, so I cranked the asa up to 800-1200 asa. Did the high asa hold up? well its hard to say, I think we are redefining what an image looks like, grain, sharpness, texture and color. I would say it has a “look”, I believe we should embrace this and just go with the flow, the process is constantly emerging and morphing. Would I buy one? As a back up camera yes. I am waiting for the 1D MK4, got money down and just waiting now. I will keep everyone updated with the progress. I would consider this shoot a success, not only was new gear pushed, we got great shots, the action stuff was fun and engaging. Riding in the car with Art, slaloming thru the columns, pan blurs with the Mercedes, nice stuff. You can see more on the Motor Trend website and in the February issue, and a SHORT FILM too.