David Peterson

Do you have both a DR680 and a DR60D? I'd say sell both and get a Zoom F4! There are two variants of the DR680, just like there are two of the DR60D (mk1 and mk2). So would help if I know which DR680 you mean? Personally I had the original DR60Dmk1, and I didn't use it for very long before I got the Sound Devices 552, then I sold it once I had the DR680mk1. This was also quite a long time ago, so my memory is a little fuzzy. And I can't really speak of the mk2 versions of them. But I believe the mk2 had a modest performance improvements, and came with some firmware improvements (which some you could get for the mk1 anyway. Like the DR60Dmk1 had a serious problem when initially shipped out that if you powered it over by USB and it lost the connection then it would shut down. But the firmware update means it would seamlessly switch between external USB to AA internal powering if the connection was lost. While the DR60Dmk2 had this feature from Day 1). To give a camera analogy, I'd say it is like this: DR60 mk1 vs mk2 is like debating getting a Nikon D5200 or Nikon D5300. Yeah, one is better than the other, but you're broadly talking about more or less the same machine. If you've got one, don't bother getting the other one! Likewise a DR680 mk1 vs mk2 is like a Nikon D7100 vs D7200. Same points I made just above apply here too. Likewise don't bother "upgrading" from a D5200 to a D7100, or a D5300 to a D7200. Yes, they're "better", but is it really worthwhile for a non-professional photographer to do this upgrade if they're on a tight budget? Nah. As they're definitely improvements, but fundamentally they're still pretty damn similar at their core. Same general level of tech/processing, same imaging sensor, but just the D7x00 series is dressed up in a semi-pro camera body. However a D5200 to the latest Nikon D7500? (I'm not even sure what a "D7500" is in the sound field recorder world... ?? Maybe a Tascam DR680mk3? That doesn't exist! It is high time Tascam updates their entire range of field recorders. They haven't had a new recorder since 2015!!! No wait, I do know what the "D7500" is, that is the Tascam DR701D. That fits my analogy really well) Maaaaybe go for the D7500. But really you should stick with your D5200 until you can do a bigger leap to a D500/D750/D810/etc (which is what I'd say a Zoom F8n/F6/F4/etc are like, they're the "D500/D750/D810" of this analogy). As that is the kind of improvement you can easily appreciate as a massive leap forward.

Good grief. I feel personally that's a bit abuse of the process....

Yikes, no wonder so many Oscar winning VFX firms go bust! https://filmanddigitalmedia.wordpress.com/2017/11/01/why-vfx-companies-are-going-broke/

Definitely SD is over and done. Gone. 8K is pointless 99% of the time. (and 16K pointless 99.99% of the time!) Remember that the vast majority of the top class premium films are being done with an ARRI ALEXA with a sensor which is a bit less than 4K. So the lack of 4K isn't a total deal breaker, but if you can get it, why not?? I wouldn't use a BMPC4K for filming a doco with! First you are limited to only ISO 400 (am assuming here you mean the BMPC4K like you said, and not the BMPCC4K which is a totally different camera from BMD) Second of all it is an awkward form factor, and bulk. Third, handling audio with it by yourself will kinda suck. Why not get the Sony X70 instead? They go for cheap cheap on eBay. They're 4K (with the upgrade key), with a 12x optical zoom (much greater range than the Canon!), is basically as fast as your Canon lens with f2.8 (slows down a bit at the long end though), has optical stabilization, has built in NDs, XLR inputs, solid battery life, is very small and compact, etc

Yikes. That is indeed wild. Ouch. And do they still have to pay their agent a percentage cut from the other 80% they're not even sourcing for their DoP?? Yessss.... a good excuse to message everyone at least once a year! This probably can't be repeated too many times as a reminder. Cheers

That's a good tip, how would your first message to them usually go? Who are you messaging, just the director? The DoP? The producer? Others?

I found this entire recent thread over here to be on the same general topic and very enlightening, such as this post by @AJ Young: Arguably that's one of the few "benefits" of film school, but remember you're surrounded by people who have almost no experience and no clout, and this remains the same for years after they've graduated as they too try to build up their careers. When you compare those benefits vs just leaping into the job market straight away, you'd have a 4 year head start on them by the time they graduate! So don't feel like you're missing out on "much". So true! Keep your overheads low. That way your build up your buffer of savings for lean times. And anything left over you can reinvest into your business, buy that extra lens to flesh out your set, buy that extra monitor for client viewing, upgrade your car to a transit van, etc Agreed, if you go to university then study something else! Such as Business, or even say for instance an Engineering Degree would be more useful than a film degree! As it would help you have deeper technical chops than almost anybody else on set with the same years of experience, and it gives you a great career to full back on. (also Engineers do quite a lot of professional development papers, related to business / project management which are useful transferable skills) You can always possible do a Minor in Film Studies, or your elective papers. Plus you can sign up to the local Film Club at the university, make contacts that way, and work on their student shoots on evenings / weekends. Exactly. Especially with the rise of social media, it is so easy to get onto student film sets. However honestly once you've got a few years under your belt then you'll likely want to stop volunteering for free on student projects. As they're just not worth doing any more! (with a few rare exceptions, such as if you're getting a key HoD credit such as DoP and you really believe in their project) Working in a rental house has panned out really well for a few people I know who were recent film school graduates. (even if just being volunteer interns!) As not only did it give them hands on experience with a wide range of gear they didn't get during film school, it also put them in contact with a large number of working professionals whenever they came into to pick up rentals. This helped them get the next step up and get their foot in the door to work as a Grip / Lighting / Camera Trainee, then move up after a couple of shows from a Trainee to the next level. That's why you have so many people working in the industry who their father, or aunt, or cousin or whoever was working in the industry already beforehand. There is no better connection than a family connection. No such luck for me!

Sure. there is a lot of people out there with experience. (btw, I live in Auckland, which is the biggest city in my country. So we have a decent sized film industry, but nothing like LA or NYC!!) But many people who are from the peak film era would have retired, and those who remain, they might be too busy working, or not be willing to work on a short film / low budget music video at a reduced rate below their normal day rates. That's very short term thinking if you're nothing thinking about the next generation! That's the case here in New Zealand, you have to ship your S35 film overseas to be developed and scanned!

A good point to highlight. Although not EVERYTHING, it definitely seems to be the vast majority. Plus not just in this thread, but lots of other threads on this forum, he might link to blog post yet tags the blog post with "NSFW". Which is fair enough, but it seems like why did the blog post have to be "NSFW"?? Seems a tad bit gratuitous

Not everything has to go to court. Sometimes just a politely worded message asking for some compensation? And they might do so out of the goodness of their heart. Or use the ebay disputes resolution process, if that is how you purchased it. (anyway, too late now)

Don't be paralysed. If you can't make up your mind between two cameras, the the differences between them is probably smaller than you think,so just buy the cheapest one of the two and go for it!! Wow. 3yrs years of wasted time is a loooong while.... what have you been doing during that? The likes of an URSA Mini 4.6K, ARRI ALEXA Classic, Sony FS7, Sony PMW-F5 have all dropped in price on eBay by a LOT over those 3 years! Just go for any one of them instead. Why couldn't you use an EOS R?? (although I personally would go for a Nikon Z6 / Panasonic S1H / Fujifilm X-T4 / etc over an EOS R!) Also because the more you learn, the more you realize how little you truly know! ha, the irony. Not even the best Nikons for shooting with! The Nikon Z6 is streets ahead of what they used, a much better camera to film with ? I'd like to get a Z6 myself one day soon. Or even back then when they were filming, with what was available, the likes of a Nikon D750 (which was already out) has a nicer 1080 image than the D800/D810 that they used. Guess they just used what they had at hand.

LOL! It is indeed very much like the still photography world. The film/video industry is just lagging behind by 10yrs or so, as it takes longer for technology to catch up. The early DSLRs cut the market costs down lower for a lot of film photographers and made it more competitive. Used to be simply knowing the black art of how to get well exposed photos from a film DSLR could get you some jobs. Just like before, simply owning an expensive video camera and knowing the basics for how to work it got your jobs. Then as DSLRs became better and better, cheaper and cheaper, and more widespread then photographers either had to slash their rates to remain competition or up their game and become more high skilled beyond what the casual hobbyist "professionals" could do. Now the photography world is flooded with "photographers", and the low end is completely disappeared with people with just using their own cellphones or the likes of a Canon Rebel DSLR To survive as a full time professional photographer you have to be very very good. Of course the high end will always exist, and people will always be happy to pay for "the best". But it will be harder and harder to hold onto that position of being "the best". The same is true in the video world. The low end has largely disappeared, or done by kids with DSLRs undercutting, the middle end is under attack, eventually only the high end will remain. That's right. Plus the standards / gatekeeping of what Netflix will accept gets tougher and tougher every year. Not as easy to get your film purchased by Netflix today in 2020 as it was ten years ago.

It wasn't that he couldn't match it, but it that it took him time to do so. And of course "any" amount of time is unacceptable when you've got a tight budget and trying to get it to come in on time. I wish I had work for my new Sound Devices 833 beast! My last job was working on Main Unit for the government's COVID-19 television campaign, just a few days before lockdown. And everything for the future has been delayed or outright cancelled.

One back up is no back up at all. Have multiple back ups! One in your house. Another in the cloud. And yet another back up (disconnected from the internet) at a third location. (such as at your in-laws, or at your best mate's house, etc) It is weird how this worry has got worse over the years, not better. These days if you walked the length of the main street in my city you'd be filmed by literally hundreds and hundreds and HUNDREDS of security cameras. What's the issue with me pulling out yet one more camera??

Let's face it, the moment Sony released the F35 and ARRI their ALEXA, then the entire movie film industry (as in the actual analogue film part of the film industry, be that 8mm or Super 35mm) was living on borrowed time. And the arrival of HDSLRs, Blackmagic, and RED only sped that up. Of course I don't expect to see film die in 2020, perhaps it won't happen 5yrs from now, or even in 20yrs, but I expect to see the death of motion film on a commercial basis happening within my lifetime. That's a really good idea to sell off discounted expired film. Like you said, there isn't enough of it for someone to go make a major motion picture with it, and they wouldn't want to risk a major multi million dollar production on expired film anyway! That's just madness. They'd always be buying the latest freshest film, that's just smart business sense for them rather than risking the farm on expired film. But for people who want to do a music video or a short film, which are shot on the smell of an oily rag, anything which helps cut costs is immensely good news for them! And if they cut their teeth on that then the aspiring directors who are moving up the ranks are more likely to shoot their feature film on new fresh stock. Helping keep alive film for another generation, extending film's lifespan as viable option for a few more years. Last year I was the Production Sound Mixer for a short film shot with Super 35mm, never having worked with film beforehand I had to put quite a bit of research into that beforehand to figure out and make sure I had the right approach to the shoot. Was even worse for the Camera Department, as they tried really really hard to find camera crew with experience working with film, even putting off the shoot dates once so they could keep on looking. In the end they had to go with a camera crew that had no experience with film (aside from the DoP, who wanted to shoot on film, plus the steadicam op who was an old school guy who had a bit of experience and kinda acted as a technical advisor of sorts, giving advice from the sidelines to our camera assistants). At least this was "just" a short film and everything seemed to go through ok in the end. But imagine if they wanted to do this on a grander scale, and shoot an entire indie feature film on S35?? It just quite possibly wouldn't have been doable, due to the lack of available skilled talent available. Those with experience, either having retired, or being too busy with work, or too expensive. There needs to be some support for a certain volume of shorts and music videos every year to keep on being made, otherwise there won't be any new crew expertise coming up to replace the existing folks.

"have a wide range of options, which is why the M43rds mount is so great" THIS! Is why Micro Four Thirds is so great as one of the very best lens mounts there is, it opens you up to one of the widest range of possible lenses you can use. Absolutely! A Panasonic GH5 is still today an amazingly solid workhorse, and selling for great prices on eBay. The Panasonic G9 got a 10bit upgrade and offers a lot of what the GH5 does, but at a bit lower cost. The Panasonic G85 loses 10bit and slow motion (aside from basic 1080 60fps), but still gives you the same 8bit quality as a GH5, the same IBIS, all at a much much much lower price if your budget is really tight.

Personally I think Blackmagic design rushed the BMPC4K out the door too fast. As they wanted to quickly get to market both a 4K camera and a "S35" camera, which the the BMPC4K did both! However in the process they reused the old original BMCC EF form factor, which isn't a great design, and also they used a sensor which was very flawed as it was their only option they could get off the shelf at a low enough cost. The BMPC4K ("BlackMagic Production Camera 4K") can basically be only used at 400 ISO (otherwise you get FPN issues and other problems). And even then the dynamic range isn't too great. Personally I do not recommend buying the Production 4K camera, I reckon for most people getting a newer mirrorless camera for cheap (X-T3/GH5/G9 are all 10bit and sub $1K on eBay), a different older cinema camera (F3/FS700/C300mk1), the newer URSA Mini 4K (which doesn't cost that much more, but at least pairs a much better body with the older flawed 4K sensor), or even an older Blackmagic camera (such as yes the OG BMCC MFT, OG BMPCC, or Micro Cinema Camera) would be a better pick for them. HOWEVER... that price is really really good! But for most people getting their first camera, that $400 would still be better off being put to buying a Panasonic G85 or an OG Pocket / Micro Cinema Camera. (which each cost around about the same price with a little hunting) Even if it was a newer model, the repair costs likely wouldn't make a camera worth fixing if it broke and wasn't still under warranty. So don't worry about its age, but just like any other BMD camera model with a questionable QC history do try to seriously test it before buying it secondhand. Lending? I hope you mean lenses. And yes, it is smart to have half or more of your budget set aside for lenses and accessories your camera will need. If your total budget is US$2K, then you could consider stretching up to consider buying any of a Panasonic GH5, G9, or Fujifilm X-T3. All of which are excellent hybrid cameras, and have an internal 10bit codec. They're all sub US$1K on eBay secondhand. Ignore people who try to scaremonger you from buying a Micro Four Thirds camera. As MFT simply offers the biggest bang for buck there is for a starting filmmaker, and it is a very well rounded ecosystem with well polished cameras. Plus the difference in sensor size between a MFT camera and a S35 camera isn't really that massive at all, and Super 35 has been the industry standard for many decades. The Blackmagic Production Camera 4K has a so called "crop factor" (vs FF) of 1.7x While Micro Four Thirds cameras such as the Panasonic GH2 / GH5S / Blackmagic Pocket 4K / Z Cam E2 / etc have a "crop factor" of 1.8x Honestly, nothing at all that should be a deal breaker for you!! The cheapest Production 4K to sell on ebay recently are a little over US$600, so yes, $400 is a steal! Although with the current economic crisis a $400 Production 4K before the end of this year wouldn't surprise me. Especially as in person trades off eBay can often be found for cheaper than usual eBay prices. I agree with all points here. (the point about the old BMCC 2.5K is why you should only ever buy it in MFT mount and *NOT* EF mount! I'd only take a BMCC EF if it was offered to me for an insanely cheap price, such as say just a couple of hundred bucks then I'd use it as a B Cam to my existing OG BMPCC) What lenses specifically??? Even for S35, then a 35mm lens is not wide at all. You'll need better than that!

I was very critical of the MixPre series when first released, because the Zoom F series was so far ahead. (I purchased the Zoom F4 and F8n after all because I believed in them, they've been excellent!) But since then Sound Devices has been pushing out many more firmware updates, and even releasing a whole new MixPre 2nd Generation of hardware. These days I'd totally put the Sound Devices MixPre10 Gen2 on par and equal with a Zoom F8n. While the MixPre3/6 Gen2 remain the better choice for any solo videographers. (but I'd still push the aspiring student production sound mixer to get a Zoom F4/F8 instead) The Zoom F series app is even better, you can for instance control gain too remotely. Yup, that one of the many features which made the Zoom F series so revolutionary for their extremely low price point (and why Sound Devices had to respond with their own MixPre series), you've got metadata entry. You can even use a full size PC keyboard for quick entry! And this is something which no Tascam can do. (except for the Tascam HS-P82, but that was priced much much much higher and targeted at professionals as a "cheaper" 788T)

The 788T is indeed quite an old recorder, especially compared to a Sound Devices 6 series or almost any Zaxcom recorder it might look a bit like it is "from another century". But in its heyday the Sound Devices 788T was very very expensive, and used on many of the biggest blockbust films there are. The Sound Devices 788T (& Aaton Cantar X2 / Zaxcom Deva IV) would be the oldest recorders still in usage on mid budget feature films / TV series. (and still used as backup cart recorders by big budget production sound mixers) However the Sound Devices 8 series and Aanton Cantar X3 has helped convert many of the last hold outs still using the 788T / X2 in a professional environment. Thus why we see the insanely cheap prices now on eBay of 788T recorders selling for as little as only a grand and a half. For most people though I'd just suggest getting a Zoom F8n / Sound Devices MixPre10 Gen2 instead of a secodhand 788T. Which mic specifically is this?

You nailed on the head the reason why. If you want professionalism, then you need to pay professional rates. (which you're nowhere anywhere near) Otherwise, you get amateurs, which means they have amateurish traits... such as being flaky. Interesting point about drivers, hadn't thought about that before, but I think you're right. Although, I reckon the major reason is because actors can often be out of town, thus won't have a car and need to be picked up from their hotel anyway. Yes, if you get someone (be it crew, or talent, or whoever) to work for below normal market rates (especially if waaay below market rates) then you should be give them in return at least some flexibility, and be accepting and have no hard feelings if they have to drop this project to take another one which can pay their bills. Agreed. Except: you should always do your absolute best effort possible to avoid conflicts. And if you do get a scheduling clash, then tell them asap but first find a replacement who you trust that you can recommend to the production. Thus, at least you're saving them the trouble of finding someone to replace you as you've already done that.

"I shot the film on the Sony FS7 with the Extension Unit. The entire project was recorded directly to ProRes 422 and finished in 2K. I used my personal Nikkor cinema primes for the entire feature with an assortment of Russian lenses (Helios 44-2, Mir 24M, and Jupiter 9) for other-worldly scenes or moments." http://www.ajyoungdp.com/jesus-bro Guessing you must have shot it in 2K if you were recording directly to ProRes? (as no mention of an external recorder there) What made you decide on 2K over 4K DCI, a lack of budget for the increased storage needs? Maybe ask some local sound guys? Their cable guys can make you anything.

You've got both options. Although I think if you want the top end 2K high speed options, you'll need to crop it?

The FS7 has been such a successful camera, and for most shoots performance so close / identical to a F5 (in fact some people will prefer / request a FS7 over an F5!) that this has forced secondhand prices of a F5 to go way way down. An F5 will sell for only a little more than a FS7, or just sometimes sometimes, if you're really lucky, the same as an FS7! There are however less F5 cameras for sale than FS7, simply because the FS7 is a far far more popular camera, so prices of an F5 vs FS7 might lag a little until we see more F5 sales data pop up. But we're seeing FS7 cameras already selling for sub US$3K, and I'm sure they'll hit $2.5K before this coronavirus economic crisis is over. Which makes me predict that we'll see this year an F5 sell for approximately half of that "around $6K" figure you were thinking of. In the general $3K ish region.

Can't the Sony F900R do 16:9 FHD??

Ah yes, your point about XAVC makes sense! And yes, I agree, was unfortunate/dumb of Sony to name the FS5 what it did! Why not "FS3" or "FS1"??? Or perhaps "FS70"?? (keeping with a general trend across many companies for the more digits a body has, the lower end it is to be. For instance D5 vs D500 vs D7500, or 6D vs 60D vs 600D, or a7 vs a600) I've often heard the F5 and FS7 color science / sensor is the same, but recently I had a cameraman friend looking for a 2nd shooter with a FS7 and I recommended a mate with an F5, but he got turned down because he had shot with F5 cameras before and struggled to match them exactly with his own FS7???? I remember that! I actually started (never finished, because the Director broke up with his fiance so this got put on hold) shooting a feature film with a hacked F5 Because we had "sourced" an F5 to be loaned to us, yet shockingly it had never been upgraded it!! Soooo.... I went through the process of hacking it for myself (no point paying for the upgrade, as we'd just be returning it, and we had almost no budget). Needing to use my Atmos recorder for checking playback was mildly annoying, but at least it automatically triggered over SDI