Patrick Baldwin

Please explain to this Z6 user why they are so useless for video because personally I really enjoy my 10bit log and it looks great. What sensor issues?

In an ideal world one would capture the same frame as the cinema camera along with other images. In reality it can be impossible to get that near to the camera. However, I have yet to meet a DP who wasn't happy to help me get into a good place. I've met a few 1st Ad's that were a bit grumpy! For clarity, I shoot more unit stills than moving image.

With the advent of mirrorless and silent shutters you won't see a blimped stills camera on set anymore. I'm selling my Aquatech blimp if anybody wants it! Ran when parked?

I am not setup for time code but I have filmed quite a few multicam theatre shows with up to four cameras and synced them up using the waveform method in FCPX. Most of them were 2 1/2 hours long and there was no audio drift either. I have had very occasionally to manually nudge one track to achieve perfect sync but that is pretty trivial to do. You don't need to make sure you have continuous takes either. NLE's synching capability can cope with gaps in takes easily. Having said all that I think something like Tentacle synchs kit will do what you are asking in terms of time code.

Really? I always understood one blonde and a redhead to be effectively the maximum on one ring main. 3K in other words.

If you do this two things: Remember the shotguns pickup sound from the rear as well so you don't want chatty audience sitting right behind them and also remember to treat the two tracks as mono in post. It's not a stereo setup. Nobody will care that it isn't stereo. Good luck.

Assuming the show is not in the round but proscenium arch (end on) then the easiest and cheapest way would be to hire two shotgun mics and run them into your H6 and synch up to the camera(s) later in post. Have them on stands at the front but off to the sides pointing into the centre of the stage. You may get some off axis colouration depending on how wide the staging is but will be a better result than omnis and reduce the room/hall sound. That is what I have done on some of the theatre multicams I have done. Without knowing more details that is what I would do.

In 2011 I was doing unit stills on a UK BBC drama and was amazed to see the focus puller alongside the steadicam op on a walking shot pulling focus without a monitor. I asked him how he did that and he very politely said "it's my job to know what 10 feet is". In 2021 I bumped into him again on His Dark Materials and he was pulling off a monitor next to a camera on a dolly. When I reminded him about 2011 he said: "I wish I still had those eyes!"

I have the first gen BM recorders in 5 & 7 inch versions which I think you can still buy. I also have two Ninja V's. The Atomos is a far better product than the BM's. You cannot calibrate the BM but you can with the Atomos. The BM are tied to SD cards which is very expensive in the case of the 4K version. They eat batteries and are only 400 nits so useless outside. The battery circuit failed on my 5 inch so I use a battery adaptor into the mains socket. BM wanted more than the cost of a new one to repair it! The 5 inch has false colour but no waveform. The Ninja V is a 1000 nits so much more usable outside apart from full sunlight. It records to SSD's which is a much better solution than BM. The second gen BM's look like a much better product and are 2000 or possibly even 2500 nits and aren't tied to SD cards. If it really has to be cheap then find a second hand 5inch BM but with all the caveats I mentioned in mind.

David has breakdowns from some scenes from Mrs Maisel on his superb Instagram page. @mdmullen1

I think the head in the top picture is this: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/272630-REG/Manfrotto_700RC2_700RC2_Mini_Video_Fluid.html

Have you tried googling because I just found this and they sell tubing as well. https://www.bickers.co.uk/tracking_equipment/speed-rail-kee-klamp-official-distributors/

Try here. Googling speed rail tubing for other options . http://www.doughty-engineering.co.uk/shop/26/

Thanks for that. As you say a LOT of manual work. I am on FCPX so probably even harder! Thanks again.

I think I have just had this flickering. I had three Z6's using exactly the same settings as part of a multicam. 5000 ISO @f5 25fps in 1080 10bit N-log. Only one of them is exhibiting this flickering! Only in the darkest scenes of the performance. It was an intimate play so they were basically looking at the same thing. Brighter scenes on the offending camera were fine. It actually looks like LED flickering but clearly isn't. Worrying if it is that random. I would be interested to hear any ideas on how to make it usable in post. I am expecting it to be unusable when I get to the edit.