tom lombard

I didn't take a camera with me to an event because there was a good chance of rain. It turned out that it was a very memorable event _due_ to the rain and all I got was a few grab shots & short vids with my iPhone (which mostly stayed in a plastic bag in my pocket for the 3 hours). So what would have been a good camera to have had? Needs to be DSLRish form factor so it's not out of place or prohibited at public events. May be wet conditions so fairly water resistant. May be cold or hot. Able to get by with a single zoom lens. Sensor not big factor so full frame, mirrorless, MFT, DSLR,... all fair game. I could have just taken my Canon 77D with the kit 18-135 and kept it in a plastic bag but wonder if there's not a better solution. Any thoughts welcome. Thanks, Tom

thanks!

just curious as i also have an EL and 400' mags... was something loose or bent. or just user issue :) thanks, tom

OK, I have to laugh about this. Tried several more times over several days on different browsers & different OSes (have multiple partitions) on my fairly state of the art MacBook. Never any success. So I booted off of a much older OS on an external drive, launched Parallels so that I could get into Windows 7 and tried it in Internet Explorer. Boom! It just worked so I was able to get my registration rolling. Once I'm contacted regarding my registration, I'm gonna bring this up. I can't believe that trying to license music thru Sony isn't supported on a Mac. :|

I know this isn't the Sony help page but wondering if someone might have a clue to offer (their Contacts page only offers phone numbers and none in the US). I've drilled down to find their registration page for a new licensing account. The final page (that I've been able to get to) has 2 required fields with the first being to select from a drop down menu of Business Type. That seems like a no brainer. The second required field is a Captcha to prove I'm not a bot. I've tried this several times on different browsers over several days and always get the response that I must fill in all of the required fields. It looks like I obviously didn't get the Captcha correct but I've done this a dozen times and double check case & such. Anyone have any clues? Known issue that Sony doesn't want people to register to license? Anyone have a number or email to someone at Sony I might try? I'm sure I could get them to contact me if I just go ahead and use a piece of their music in a film but that would likely just be contact from their legal department and I'd just a soon not go down that path. Thanks, Tom Oh... If it makes any difference, I'm trying to license a short instrumental piece to act as the score for a minute & a half of a 12 minute short. I intend to submit this short to film festivals and eventually retire it to Vimeo. Not a commercial project by any means.

My personal viewpoint just for the sake of discussion... I'm coming from a Canon T3i to the BMPCC4K so size & weight won't be much different. I keep my iPhone with me almost all the time so I have that convenience. Quality is OK for the purposes of what I would want from something I could keep in my pocket. I was adapting Nikon manual focus 35mm lenses to my Canon and will do the same with the BMagic. I have a Bolex (several actually) if I want to shoot something with that look or use those lenses. Image is going to be different than with the Bolex, the Canon, or the iPhone . Now I will have more options if I'm wanting a specific look. I also will miss the flip out screen. Am already looking at external monitor options. I'm already making sure to keep enough charged batteries & empty media on hand as well as charger. After shooting a bit with a 100' 16mm rolls, and dealing with having to stop & rewind the camera every 27 seconds, it's a step up to be able to shoot for 40 minutes before having to swap out a battery or a card. You & I are on the same page regarding getting one because it fills a need rather than because it's perfect. For the price, you could likely find 2 of the original BMPCCs used but well cared for if you like that form factor and your current ones are beat up. Always option :)

I'm anticipating it being the greatest thing since sliced bread as I have one ordered & counting the days when it's (supposed to) shipped. I wanted to step up from my Canon T3i and was eyeing upgrading but didn't have much of a budget. This showed up and was within my budget and should be a serious improvement. One thing I will miss is the view screen being fixed.

My EL didn't come with anything for power so I did a couple of things... I got a 3 pin Tuchel (sp) connector to hook up to the EL with 3 inches of wiring ending in a round connector. Then I found a suitable AC adapter from the myriad available at a locale Goodwill (Salvation Army?) for $3, replaced the connector on the end of it with one to match the other connector and have unlimited power when you have AC available. For battery power, I got a Duracell 12v lead acid battery (can get them in a variety of amps), wired that up with another round connector. The battery cost about $40, will run the EL for days, and you just recharge it on a auto trickle charger. Don't let me discourage you from re-celling but I'd be happy to get some pics & links to parts if you want.

Isn't that a question for the good folks at Netflix? "How strict are you on recording formats and settings?"

I've been looking for a 16mm projector for awhile and it would be wonderful to find that locally. I looked up some specs on it and looks like over 50kgs (100lbs) so would be costly indeed to ship it to midUSA. I'm gonna continue to drool over the pics though.

I'll be shooting a short later this year that will be in Spanish (English subtitles). The cast will all be Spanish speaking as well as some of the crew. I, however, know only a few words of the language. There won't be a communication issue as everyone speaks English as well but I'm making an effort to learn a bit of Spanish for a variety of reasons (some related to this shoot, some not). I realize that I can look up Spanish words for "action", "cut", etc but those terms may not be the terms a Mexican director would use when directing a shoot in Mexico. What would be some useful & proper terms, phrases, etc that I should learn specifically from the directing perspective. Thanks, Tom

Hmmm... I've got this unused Dell PC monitor in my closet. Anybody able to save me some research & let me know if it is/isn't possible to hook something like that up for a monitor?

forums at Canon are _not_ where you would want to ask about MLantern. it's kinda like going to your Honda dealer to get input on the new Subaru Ascent. i've used MLantern a bit for focus peaking & zebras & such but haven't messed with RAW. although you are wise to head the warnings about it possibly bricking your camera, i think it's a fairly rare event. i've also been looking toward upgrading from my T3i and have been looking into mirrorless options as well as something more directly "cinema" like Ursa Mini Pro. the recent announcements on the BMPCC4K just stunned me that i could get something that potent for _less_ than the other options on my table so i ordered one and am really looking forward to getting it in my hands.

The "variety of terrains" makes me question using a dolly. Drone or zoom maybe better options?

I was loaned a Bauer C2A Super that didn't work with the batteries I put in initially. Those were rechargeable which collectively didn't have enough voltage. I replaced those with non-rechargeable and it runs just fine. No cartridge in both cases.

I just picked this up for a couple buck & not sure what I have. I haven't tried it on anything yet but the threads may be 55mm or something near that. It certainly won't screw into any of the D or C mount lenses I have. I have the Vario Switar 12-120 but it's too small for that. Looks brand new to me and kinda neat but it would be nice if I can do something useful with it :) The photo (lens and case) 4mm.tiffis actually off the web but that's the lens. It says Bolex, Aspheron, and 4mm on it. (if that attachment link doesn't work, i'll try again)

I preordered from B&H and was surprised when I got an email an hour later saying that my order has been shipped. Turned out that the shipped order was a small thing I ordered yesterday :) Is it September yet? Is it September yet? Is it September yet?

I've been looking at digital options beyond my Canon T3i but still within my limited budget. I think by September my 401k will be _down_ to around $1250. It won't be enough to fund a retirement but will be enough to allow me to run away from the home with a new camera and a smile.

tom lombard, on 29 Mar 2018 - 12:18 PM, said: This is adorably optimistic. I hope it can work that way for Phil. The 10 x $10 were my words and, yes, I'm adorably optimistic :-)

Maybe use that as a starting point? Come up with a list of part, tools, etc that would be needed and rough estimate of time to put it all together. Add in what your time would be worth and see if there wouldn't be enough interest here to generate that bit of cash for you to do it. I'd certainly be interested in that specific project.

Is that what is being proposed? Trying to get hits from "engaging videos"? Isn't this about someone purchasing, for example, $100 in parts and creating a video showing _us_ how this is done? It may well be that 10 of us would be willing to pay $10 each for this and then be able to put something together with $100 worth of parts rather than paying $750 for the equivalent item elsewhere. Some additional clarification on the proposal might be helpful.

If putting together parts list & build videos, it shouldn't amount to much other than a set of parts and someones time. It would be worth contributing to in order to get _current_ info on builds from a cinematographer's perspective rather than an outdated YouTube from some tech geek who's focused on that end of things.

Not too many years ago, I got a Canon T3i and their 18-135 zoom lens for around $800 total. It was essentially a large point & shoot for family vacations and I wasn't involved in video at all at that time. When I did start getting involved in video, I started using that T3i in movie mode and it was certainly a decent enough learning tool and performed well enough for a couple of shorts & a feature. Certainly not pro quality but certainly good enough to learn with. I've since started 16mm with a Bolex and am looking at options for a better digital (so I'm learning what I can from these threads and leaning toward BMPCC if my budget doesn't increase or Ursa Mini Pro if I can swing that). One thing that gets mentioned in these threads but gets glossed over is that the discussion of learning on this camera because of it's features or learning on that camera because of price or quasi-professional work flow or resale value... NON of these cameras has a feature, standard or optional, to assist in staging your shots or working with your actors or any number of things that you actually need to be learning & putting into practice before there's any value in working with better equipment. I also get the impression from these & other discussions that there are numerous work flows & shooting considerations depending on what tools you happen to be using. It sounds like most of you have developed opinions & favorites based on having used several. So I don't think it's terribly useful for someone wanting to jump in & learn "filmmaking" to spend a great deal of time & effort to sort out the best possible camera & workflow to learn on because there isn't really a "best possible". My advice (as a non professional) would be to go with any of the options mentioned that was available to you and within your budget. I would also cast a vote to spend _less_ than your budget as you won't get far before you realize having a better tripod would be nice or a different lens or a slider or wanna be able to offer your cast some gas money & something better than pizza.

Found the lens but it didn't include the 6.5mm Aspheron. I'm still looking for that addition to the lens if anyone has one to offer.

Yep, amateur filmmaker here and I strongly suspect that's where ya'll started too :) To save you from scrolling up... I stumbled on the dolly of http://www.longvalleyequip.com/dolly.php for $50 and they mention a couple different track materials. I happen to have a few 5' sections of 1.5" PVC (and really not much else of a budget) so, yeah, I'm giving that a shot. Am going to do a test shoot (a short, short actually) to see how it works over 15'. Depending on how that goes, I may extend it or I may give steel a try. Or I may stay in one spot & try zooming. I'm like a kid with new toys and find joy in playing with the boxes too.