Derek Rogers

Alejandro, you may want to stick with the Teradek if are happy with it. I like Teradek products. They are a good professional solution for most needs on set. I went with the Nyrius setup strictly to keep the budget down on my Movi rig. I had spent more $$ on my wireless focus over what I had in my budget so I took a risk getting the cheaper pro consumer Nyrius. It has worked out fine for the documentary and doc- drama work I do. We keep our setup simple. Most often the director is looking over the shoulder of the AC at his monitor while I operate the rig. In a 40ft range the Nyrius signal has always worked. We have never tried it farther away. If I was doing TV commercials or a drama series I would upgrade to a Teradek or another robust system. Often on those sets you need to provide a video signal to multiple monitors that could be in different rooms.

I agree with Kenny on the primes vrs zooms. It's rock n' roll on docs. You have to capture the moment. That's why I like the Sigma 18-35 so much. It's a zoom (short yes) but feels to me like a variable prime when you are at 1.8. I actually like the picture quality of the Sigma compared to many primes! Some primes are too sharp. I don't like it. Everything looks too perfect and clean. And now with shooting 4K do I really want to see every pimple on an actors face? Shooting wide open on a doc takes practice and a bit of zen! After awhile of following a subject you get to understand the way they talk and move and before you know it you are in focus sync with them. It's strange but really cool when it works. If you are having trouble holding focus you can increase your distance from the subject and also adjust your variable ND filter to get a slightly deeper stop.

I tried an Epic on a Ronin and a Movi and was never happy with the results. The Movi balanced easier but both rigs never gave me good enough operating performance. And the rig was so heavy I could not hold the shot for too long. We never really could balance the Epic correctly on the Ronin You should do what I do now. I run a tiny Sony A7s into a Atomos 4K recorder mounted on the smallest Movi, the M5. I use the Movi ring instead of the handles for easier operating. The camera and lens are dedicated to the Movi so we balance the rig at the start of the day and we are good to go. Switching from A camera to the Movi is very smooth. It takes about 30 seconds to turn on the rig and get shooting. The light weight of the total Movi rig allows me to operate comfortably for long periods of time. And I get fantastic shots! My AC uses the tiny Axis 1 wireless focus from the UK - a lovely piece of gear. For wireless video we use the inexpensive Nyrius Pro system mainly because it's so small. The key here is to keep your overall weight down and the rig compact so it balances easier and results in improved operating performance. If you use a good lens and shoot wide open with the Sony A7s feeding into the Atomos 4K recorder you can get images that are so close in quality to the Epic no one will know the difference. That's my view. If you want to to stick with the Epic I would suggest spending the money to get a good Steadicam operator with lots of experience.

Here are a few more Sigma 1.8 shots.

Thank you everyone for the uploading advice. I had to reduce my file size .Here are a few screen grabs from Skyjacker shot wide open at 1.8 on the Sigma 18-35.

My pics won't upload. I have to try latter with smaller sized images I guess. Anyone have suggestions on how to do this?

Hey Yurena, Nepal for a doc sounds like a great gig. I'm completely jealous. My favorite all time lens for personal, intimate docs is the Sigma 18-35. T1.8 . It's small, compact, the zoom smooth as butter, does not breath and it's minimum close focus distance I think is around 1ft. I shot a recent feature doc, The Skyjackers Tale, using the 18-35 on a C300 about 95% of the time. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in mid September. Watching the show on a huge screen with an audience of 1,500 was electrifying. I shot wide open at 1.8. Sometimes I was so close to the subject only a single eye was in focus! The picture quality knocked me out. Lush, creamy images that looked feature drama like. I know you want to use the Sony A7s but I find that camera too small for me to handhold and keep the shot still. A C100 would be a cheaper option. Used ones are now very cheap. When I want to get close and intimate to a subject I always go handheld. It's all about gaining access and trust. Once they let you in you can get the most incredible shots shooting wide open. There is a dream-like dance that can sometimes happen between subject and camera. I have a clean shaven head but if I had hair it would be standing up during those shots! I did carry a few Canon L series lenses, the 24-100, 70-200 and the 100-400 but I hardly used them. It did not feel right for this show. The story was so dramatic and personal I knew I had to be right in there. Here are a few screen shots from The Skyjacker Tale to help illustrate what I mean. The story follows an American who hijacked a airplane to Cuba in the 1980s and has been hiding out there ever since.

Great info Stuart. Reviews like yours will help get the word out and hopefully rental houses will begin to stock the 1K Wasp. It sound like it's an ideal light for Indy and low budget shoots.

Reading back over this thread I see the disdain for using scrims from at least one person. It's important to note that the small 250W Wasp and the new 1K Wasp lights are similar to HMI's and fresnels in that they are designed to use scrims to reduce light. Call me old fashion but I like the measured regiment of a scrim. When you put a single or double scrim in a light you know exactly what you are getting. When I'm on set with my tiny crew and I have to make an adjustment to a light, often I'm the one that has to trudge over to the light. If it's an LED I dial down the dimmer but I can't really measure how much I dimmed, not from my position at the light. So I go back to the camera only to realize I dimmed too much or too little. Back to the light I go. It drives me crazy. If I'm using scrims, I can stand at the camera, look at the subject or background and past experience will tell me,"Ok that's a half stop down I need to go. Simple and efficient.

Hey Stuart, thanks for your candid comments on the Wasp plasma 1K. They are very helpful. I stand corrected. The small hive is indeed a 250W light, not 200. Wishful thinking on my part. I do have a few more questions about the Wasp 1K. The ballast dims 50%. Did that change the color of the light or effect it's performance in anyway? Is the light locked to the one color temp? No lower color temp choice like on the Wasp 250? Did you try pointing the light straight up or down? On the earlier model of the 250 I had slight flickering issues when the light was pointing straight down. Since corrected. Hive has gone through growing pains adapting plasma tech into a film/digital friendly light. I think this is expected with any new tech. I recall back in the the late 80s when the new Kino Flo lights were making there way on to sets in Toronto, Many of the local gaffers hated them because they were breaking down all the time and they were not enough replacement parts around. But young, starting out DPs like myself were falling in love with the quality of the light, the softness and good color. And we were hounding the rental houses to buy more fixtures. It took Kino Flo awhile to work out all the production kinks but in the end they go it right. I ended up buying their largest light, a 16 - 6ft bulb Blanket light that I still use. It fits on to a 6x6 frame and actors love it.

Thank you Stuart for the the review of the Wasp 1K. It covers the technical aspects well but what do you think of the light from a creative DP point of view? How is the quality of the light? Have they fixed the melting issue you had with the plastic lenses when you add a scrim? How do you think the Wasp 1K compares to the Arri M18 1800W HMI? I own 3 of the smaller Wasp 200W par plasma lights. I love these lights; the colour, the quality of the light. They are so easy to set up and operate. Plug into the wall and go. Compared to HMIs and LEDs of similar output I find they produce a more beautiful light on faces. The single source shadow falloff is gorgeous. I prefer the glass lenses to the plastic lenses. Sometimes I will use the light with a soft Chimera but most often I use it as a strong back light or background light and often through windows. It is a really nice night time key light. The original model had the power source combined with the light and I found the unit awkward and heavy. The more recent versions, separating the lamp from the power source, work much better. They never flicker at high speed. Last week I used all 3 lights on a 3,000fps shoot of a fly taking off. I can't wait to try the Wasp 1K. I've been a DP for 28 years. When I started the ISO/ASA of film was rated at 200. On drama and TV commercial shoots we used 4K, 6K and 18K HMI lights running off expensive generators. And large crews! Now that I have returned to shooting documentary and doc dramas (and loving it) the crew is tiny and the producers laugh at you if you ask for a large Genie. I'm in constant search for that beautiful, strong output light that you can plug into a wall. I have all kinds of LEDs but there is something about the quality of plasma lighting that is beautiful.