David Ruck

While it looks to be a really great price for what you get, you have to remember it's made by Blackmagic. They don't have a great track record as far as I'm concerned, and they've let me down more than once with buggy equipment. Also, it doesn't have basic professional features that I would expect in a camera. For one, it only outputs video with HDMI or USB, so no thanks. And while it records ProRes internally, it only records ProRes up to 4K. If it does turn out to be a stable and reliable camera, I'm sure it will work out to be great for a lot of lower-budget stuff, but I'm not sure it's broken the game or that it killed every RED camera as you mentioned. I think it might be a little bit of a step up from something like a GH5s. Just my opinion.

What you consider to be a small patch of street might be different than what I consider to be a small patch of street. Even if you're shooting on a narrow side street, but you're shooting down the length of the street, you may have a difficult time keeping the length of road wet on your own with a small crew on a no-budget shoot. On the other hand, if you're shooting across a narrow street and only about 40-50' of width would be visible, you may be able to accomplish this if you have access to water on site. I might ordinarily recommend a water truck for this purpose, but considering your budget I would consider forgoing it. Do you have a permit to shut down the street for the shoot?

So true. I've done some color grading on internally recorded GH5 footage and GH5 footage that was recorded on an external recorder. Night and day difference! Now, if you could only record externally without the need for HDMI on one of those little cameras. I hate the user interface of the GH5, A7, etc., but they really do make a pretty picture, and they give you a ton of flexibility shooting in log. For a while, I rolled my eyes at shooting on DSLR, but these days I think you really need to ask yourself if you can honestly justify jumping to something like an FS7 depending on the type of shooting you do. AJ, I think you made some other great cases for sticking with something affordable and bypassing camera rentals.

Thanks for sharing your experience Tyler. I too was toying with the idea of renting my gear out. While Phoenix has a fair amount of production, it's by no means a media city, and the Sharegrid/Kitsplit community here is small. I was on the fence, but I think you're pushing me to the side of not renting unless it's someone I know and trust.

I don't think Bruce is saying to literally specialize in ultra high speed slow motion equipment. I think he's trying to communicate that it would be a good idea to specialize in something that very few others do where you're at. The question I think you need to ask yourself is, what's the vacuum in your market that you can fill? It might be slow motion, jib, etc., but do your research and see if it resonates with you.

I personally wouldn't do it. Yes, it would be great to have your own high-end camera, but unless you have enough work of your own to justify the cost, you might be shooting yourself in the foot. How many people do you currently know of that are ready and willing to rent a camera from you, and how often would they realistically rent? I've been asking myself similar questions lately. I worked for a production company for years and then started freelancing about a year ago, so I had to start piecing together equipment of my own. Honestly, buying a camera is my last priority, and for the number of shoots I do, it doesn't quite make sense for me. I've been investing thousands of dollars in lights and grip gear. That's still added significant value for me, and when I need a camera, I borrow or rent one. Also, I personally wouldn't drop a bunch of money on a camera if you didn't have a decent lighting and grip package. So what if you had a Red? If you don't have lights your footage might not end up looking all that great anyway, and isn't that why you wanted to invest in a nice camera?

What kind of SDI cable? Do you know the brand and the bandwidth rating? They're not all created equal, and if they're cheap cables that could certainly be it.

I’ve shot on the 7Q/7Q+ recorders a ton and I have rarely had issues with them. I lost picture in two scenarios. First was a radio interference issue with an unshielded cable. The other time happened when I wiggled the cable much like with what you’re experiencing. So far it’s always turned out to be the cables fault for me. What kind of cables are you using? Did you try both SDI inputs on the 7Q?

I've used the CP2s on a few occasions, and I can attest to seeing fringing and noticeable softness when wide open. Stopping down a little made it all go away.

Hi Varun, I have only used the 702 once before. I didn't love or hate it, but I believe it only takes up to a 1080 input, so that could be very limiting. I have had the extreme displeasure of using multiple Atomos monitor/recorders. They've always felt off to me, and I hate the scopes on the monitor. I have never been confident in shooting with them. In a similar price range, I would highly recommend the Odyssey 7Q/7Q+. You can usually find them reasonably used, and they are a fine piece of equipment (once you learn the menu structure). I love the scopes included on the Odyssey and the adjustability that lets you see even the most subtle nuance. You can load tons of your own LUTs on and I've always been really happy with the look of the monitor. David

New music video. Ultra budget, so I was forced to produce, shoot, and edit. Shot in 1-day. Cut and color in about a week. All things considered, I think that it turned out great. Let me know what you think. http://tunelab.com/2009/09/03/echoes-the-f...eak-away-video/