Mark Kenfield

5 hours ago, Tyler Purcell said:

It's a $2500 camera, not a $25,000 camera. Name another $2500 camera that can output SDI in 4k. HDMI is perfectly acceptable with a 90 degree right angle adaptor that can be hard mounted to the camera body. 

EF to PL adaptors are $99 USD. Not a big deal. 

 

Doesn’t need 4k SDI.

And EF to PL adapters can mount a grand total of about four different lenses (99% won’t fit).

Look, I get it. It’s a cheap cheap camera for the masses. But for people working on conventional sets, this isn’t an A-Cam, it’s a C or D cam. The issue isn’t that it can’t be made to work with HDMI based accessories, or that you can’t get cinema lenses in EF mounts these days. It’s that you don’t have any of that stuff with you when you’re carrying normal cameras with you for your main cameras. 

You’d need to rent in additional HDMI wireless video units, HDMI-based EVFs and onboard monitors, and a completely separate set of EF-mount cinema glass, for the camera to slot in comfortably with what you’re already working with. My issue with the camera is that it doesn’t work in with any of the usual accessories we’d be carrying with us.

Can you acquire everything you need to make it work? Absolutely. But you’ve then left the realm of a $2,500 outlay FAR far behind. 

No SDI and the EF mount unfortunately discount it from normal work. ?

For big budget films, it seems much more common amongst DPs from Europe or Australia where DPs more frequently  operates the camera as well.

Selling my Sekonic Spectromaster C-700 Spectrometer/Colour Meter. It's in mint condition and very lightly used. Comes with its carry case (and I think I might have the original retail box as well).

Located in Melbourne, Australia, but happy to ship worldwide.

$1,190 USD / $1,750 AUD + shipping

I’ve generally found you can have both setups lit at the same time. If one is at key and the other two stops under, the brighter lights will mask the dimmer setup. And you can then just flick the brighter lights off.

A 135mm absolutely has it’s own aesthetic. It’s a fast (generally), telephoto prime that significantly compresses the background elements of the frame, and offers significant subject isolation (assuming you have the working distance to use it - which usually requires you to be outside, or in a large space).

So there are plenty of uses for one. They’re just less commonly needed than more “conventional” focal lengths.

If you can’t see one commonly being needed day-in-day-out on the work you shoot. Then it probably doesn’t make sense to spend the money on one. You’d be better to rent as needed (the same goes for anything you don’t need constantly).

1 hour ago, Robin R Probyn said:

But wouldn't that also change the exposure levels on the screen itself..  not that it really matters a lot these days as for interviews, it will be a junk Matte cropped close to the subject anyway.. .. or the reason is they didn't have the space/height for the screen and had to angle it to set it up.. but yes would like to know have never seen that before even on big sets where they certainly had the space to do it.. 

I suspect there’s a GOOD chance your assessment is more accurate Robyn (not enough height for the frame itself).

But shifting the angle of the screen could well help minimise spill. I’m going to give it a try next time I’m dealing with something similar.

On 6/21/2019 at 12:20 AM, Kevin Mastman said:

Whats the story with the green screen at a downward angle?  I've never seen that.  (Not critiquing, trying to learn)

Less green bouncing back directly on to the subject I’d assume ? it’s a terrific idea actually (if you’ve got the space for it)

XAVC Class 300 feels pretty comparable to standard Prores422 in terms of overall image quality. I haven’t compared them side by side, but I feel like I’ve encountered compression artefacts in similar levels from both. 

Prores422HQ I’d put it a bit above standard XAVC. 

Both are mastering codecs though, and far above a delivery codec like h264.

Prores is self-contained and drag-and-drop though, which makes it VASTLY easier to deal with in post than XAVC. 

Rent some Speedrail, two combo stands, three big bens and a hollywood clamp.

- Use two big bens in the combo stands to rig the speedrail overhead

- Rig the third big ben clamp over the subject

-  Use the hollywood clamp on the third big ben to hold your tripod head in place

- Use a broomstick or something similar to operate the tilt on your fluid head from the ground.

Those assorted bits of grip shouldn't cost you more than $50-$70 to rent for the day.
 

It's a rare one for me too. But when you need it, you need it.

Though often when I need more reach than I can get with an 85mm, I'm popping the 135mm on to a 2x teleconverter for distinctly long-lens effect.

For the sort of work you're doing, I think a 70-200mm would fit the bill better. It's a very versatile telephoto range, and paired with teleconverters you can cover 99% of long-lens situations.

What do you feel was the usable ISO range you could squeeze out of the Venice Miguel? 

It looks like 6000 ISO is probably a step too far (in most circumstances). Can you push it a stop to 5000 ISO (one stop up from the 2500 ISO base) without too much pain?

Looks great Miguel, well done. 

Those K35s are super funky. I just assumed it was an anamorphic shoot until I read your description!

Wouldn't have guessed it was a "Sony" shoot either, the Venice really is a return to form for Sony (it looks much more like the lovely F35 than their newer sensors).

What was the weakness you uncovered?

How odd. I can’t really see how something as small as the A-Minima could realistically take up any more actual space in a venue, than anything else.

Is there really no room to push back on them about the camera? It’s so small already.

It certainly happens, but not often in my experience. Generally, we’re working at such low light levels in interiors (with 800 ISO being a sort of de-facto sensitivity). That 9 times out of 10 I’m having to dim prac lamps down. Often significantly. 

I was really sweet on the idea of the kino bulbs for a while, but they’re just too big in too many fixtures.

I carry a big bag of assorted halogen bulbs, from 5w-70w, that generally get paired with dimmers.

I’ve got some daylight balanced LED bulbs as well, but have yet to actually put them into a scene.

I’d be intrigued to try the Philips Hue LED bulbs, but haven’t got around to it yet.

But no professional (BNC) connection point for the external raw recording. That seems almost odd considering how en pointe Sigma have been with speccing and approaching their cinema lenses thus far.

I LOVE the idea of this as a Director's Viewfinder though. Any and all formats would be doable, spherical or anamorphic.

For cheaper, more modern T/1.5 glass, the Sigma Cine Primes and Tokina Vista Primes are your main options. Both are excellent performers optically.

If shooting by real candle light is the plan though, I'd suggest opting for some newer sensor tech than the Alexa. The Panasonic Varicam and Varicam LT have a dual-ISO mode, and can do 5000 ISO with a normal spread of latitude.

The Sony Venice also has a dual ISO mode, with a normal spread of latitude at 2500 ISO (but it remains extremely clean up to 5000 ISO as well).

With those cameras you could use the Superspeeds stopped down a bit (to avoid optical issues, or have a more usable depth of field), or you could pair them with slower, cheaper lenses if needed.

For squeezing as much exposure as possible from a practical source like candles, the dual-ISO cameras offer a capacity that simple hasn't existed before.

1 hour ago, Robin R Probyn said:

Yes looks good.. seems you can operate as you would .. although for something like walking /shooting I wonder if it also introduces some sort of sidewards "sway".. 

Yeah, I'm very intrigued by what shifting the load to the hips will do to the movement. It's the one thing that's holding me back from ordering one just yet. I touched base with Jesse (the cam op who's created it) as soon as I saw the coverage of it at NAB, asking if he had any sample footage from it comparing the movement both with it and without it.

But (unsurprisingly) they've been swamped with orders, so it's not something they really have time for at the moment.

Jesse said he'd used versions of it on Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile, American Horror Story, Pose, The Assassination of Giani Versace, Futureman, The Disaster Artist, Foo Fighters: Run, and Feud. I've seen two of those (Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile and The Disaster Artist), and I certainly didn't notice anything strange or unexpected in the handheld work on either of them. So I suspect anything it does introduce into the movement is pretty minimal (certainly compared to the pendulum issues you have when walking with an EZ rig).

But I'll probably hold off until I can actually see it in action.

I'd never attempt a full day's shoot with the Alexa without a minimum of 5 batteries of around 150wh each (and then, only if I knew I'd be able to recharge them during the day).

The Arri chews through power in order to give the high performance that it does.

EZ rigs are amazing when you're standing still, but problematic if you need to move around. I'm very interested in the new "Ergo Rig" for that reason (I still can't quite believe it took until 2019 for such a camera support concept to appear).

For me, handheld works best when there's a reason for it. When you want to take the audience and unsettle them in a particular moment or scene. For that very reason, I don't think it pays to overuse it.

And here are some screengrabs from a few things I've shot with it, to show what it can do:

Selling my lovely, maxed-out Sony F3. You won’t find a better version of this camera anywhere - this unit has both the RGB 4:4:4 upgrade (for 10-bit 4:4:4 uncompressed output) and Element Technica’s amazing body armour modification, which strips away all of the handycam-style nonsense of the original F3, and turns the camera into an incredibly solid and genuinely production-friendly machine.

They called this thing the “Baby Alexa” for a reason, with full 4:4:4 colour subsampling, huge dynamic range, and incredible low-light performance (due to its massive photosites), when you pair it with an external recorder, you get fantastic images in 1080p up to 60fps. I’ve been using it as a B-camera to my Alexa for the last few years, and it’s kinda remarkable how well the image from the Sony keeps up.

It’s been very well looked after and is in great condition, with a low 677 hours on the body. The baseplate also includes a rear 15mm LWS rod clamp (not pictured) for mounting a v-lock plate or other accessories.

It has a great set of built-in pre-amps, so for documentary interviews, or corporate shoots where you need to run sound into the camera as well, it really works a treat.

So if you’re after a cheap, but powerful S35mm camera, with the reliability that Sony’s Cinealta cameras always deliver, and don’t want to deal with the mess and complexity of the mirrorless cameras, this might be of interest to you. 

Looking for $3,200 AUD (ex. GST) / $2,400 USD

Located in Melbourne, Australia, but happy to ship worldwide.

For me, when I have a stills camera on set, it's generally all of those things rolled into one. It becomes a viewfinder, BTS camera, and documents lighting setups.

If it’s close to the subject it’ll play, or if it’s a dark day out. But that’s about it. 

Even a 4k HMI is middlingly useful during the daytime. Generally I’d rather have good mirror boards and reflectors handy.