Evan A Olson

I just picked up a Sony F55 without the v mount battery plate. I have adapters with 4-pin xlr to make the camera work, but it sure would be nice to have the native v mount adapter on the back of the camera. Do you have one of these? I would also consider one of the recording units if a fair price as those also have v mounts on the back.

Thank you!

I'm in Portland, Oregon.

I have a Sony PMW-F3 that I'm hoping to get more out of with a recording monitor like the Pix-E5. After looking at Atomos and Blackmagic Design recorders, and testing a few of them, they all seem a little heavier, less durable, and lighter on the recording options compared to the Pix-E5.

Does anybody have any information on the black version of the Canon L2? It's a Hi8 camera from 1994. I've been collecting lots of info on the white version of the camera but have so far come up empty on anything about the black version. I have a hunch it was some kind of non-consumer broadcast model, but then again it was a prosumer camera. Curious to know if someone's got an answer.

All set here. A member reached out and we coordinated meeting up. Excited to use it!

I've heard many great things about this camera, but haven't seen much footage online and want to give it a try. 

When it's time to white balance a camera, my current workflow is like this:

1. Place Datacolor Spyder Checkr 24 in front of the camera in a location that receives an even amount of light from the lights.
2. Enable the LUT if shooting log on my SmallHD.
3. Open RGB waveforms (with settings enabled to prevent it from ignoring the LUT) and zoom into the large gray patch.
4. Increase light intensity or adjust camera settings to raise the IRE of the large gray patch to just under 50 IRE (there is no 40 IRE marker).
5. Align the blue/yellow and then the pink/green horizontal lines until that gray patch is a solid white line.
6. Flip the color chart over and capture a short clip of the color tiles.
7. In Resolve, apply a LUT node and then add a Datacolor correction node after the LUT node to match the color tiles.

Every time that I do this, the image comes out way too dark. I fix this by pulling in clips from shows and commercials I like and comparing IRE levels to those clips. Datacolor's tutorials and manuals are frustratingly obfuscated for no particular reason. They say "match to 18% gray" but don't show which color tile is the 18% gray tile. I feel like I should have learned this in school, but all they taught was "point it at a gray square and hit auto." That never works right.

Questions

What am I doing wrong with exposure and the color chart? How can I improve on this?

I use a light meter to figure out ratios (2:1 background, 3:1 face, etc.), but I'm in the dark as to how to connect those ratios to my camera. How do you use your light meter with a color chart?

Here is a sample log file:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/iqt1ny9wbedinec/Color test - original log.MOV?dl=0

And here is what it comes out to when following the 7 steps above:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tt6gn5vi5643qxa/Color test - rec709.mov?dl=0

Zoom H6 has 4 XLR inputs, incredible battery life (two 10-hour days compared to 1-2 hours on the Zoom H4), and a user friendly OS. The limiter, though, is its... limitation. It is nothing like the limiter on a Sound Devices mixer, and you will from time to time clip audio. The MixPre 3 II from Sound Devices is $300 more than the H6 and well worth the extra money. It sounds better, has an amazing limiter, and the build quality will keep it around.

Maybe a shoulder rig if you don’t have one? Rests on your shoulders and gives you one hand for support and the other for follow focus. Smoother than handheld. Not bulky. One with side handle arms on those rosettes. SmallRig and LanParte are not crazy expensive for a system like this. Not a lot of risks buying used either.

This morning I saw a video related to this. Newton Thomas Siegel explains how he uses different focal lengths to get different emotions across.

A wide angle up close is generally more intimate with the viewer while a telephoto is more voyeuristic and disconnected.

A clean medium shot of a character in conversation with another, OTS style (clean not dirty), if shot on a wide angle lens, will exaggerate the sense of space between the two characters. The style of the wide angle enhances the separation that a normal lenses wouldn’t get across.

A telephoto lens could be used to show 2 characters, who are standing far apart, as the same size on the screen (with telephoto compression and all that).

All 3 of the below micro four thirds cameras have the same sensor and mount type. Pros and cons are listed. They are all very small. 

Panasonic GH5S

- Pros: Weather sealed and most reliable, low noise image, great battery life, fast menus, and takes photos if needed as well

- Cons: Color takes work, not the greatest dynamic range, no ProRes internally

Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K

- Pros: ProRes internally, raw footage, fast menus, nice color straight out of camera, decent dynamic range

- Cons: Battery life is awful (20-30 minutes per battery), software is buggy, focus peaking is not good

Z Cam E2

- Pros: ProRes internally, 4K 120fps H.265, great color, accepts Sony NP batteries, good dynamic range, and has very good battery life

- Cons: New company with unproven track record (seems to have good customer service?), is just a brain to start

The BMPCC4K and Z Cam have the high-end look that you're going for. And the GH5S is just a solid, reliable option. I'd be comfortable using a GH5S without a backup, where with a BMPCC4K with its bugs and the Z Cam with its unproven record, I'd be sweating. 

These are just the cameras that came to mind from my experience. Other people could have completely different opinions about these cameras. I'm curious to know what other people think.

Last thought... If you're talking about a camera that can literally fit in your pocket, then maybe a Sony Cybershot RX100 VII? The new one can shoot supersampled 4k in log and output a 422 signal (funny thing that this little camera can do that while Sony's other cameras can't). They also claim 14 stops of dynamic range if shot with S-Log 2.

44 minutes ago, David Ruck said:

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.

This is such a hard question. "What's the vacuum in your market that you can fill?"

I think the biggest issue for me is location. It's easy to find people who work "locally" in Connecticut out of Boston or NYC. Cameras, lenses, grip trucks, whatever are mostly out of the state. Will definitely have to think more about this. 

18 hours ago, Bruce Greene said:

maybe some specialized piece of equipment like an ultra high speed slow motion camera?

Hmm. I looked into this just now. It definitely has a cost factor to it. Base models for 1080p at 1k fps start at $29,000. To get 4k, the cost approaches $100,000. Maybe someday. The Z-Cam E2 can do 160 fps at 4k and 240 fps at 1080p for around $2000. Footage is pretty clean, too. Maybe a good start.

16 hours ago, Tyler Purcell said:

I run a successful rental business here in Hollywood. I use Share Grid and word of mouth to get my clients. I specialize in film cameras, so I have 35mm, 16mm and super 8 cameras of various kinds. I also have some tools and training to do basic maintenance so I don't have to outsource much of it, so ownership isn't too bad. I also have a complete ecosystem where I can discounted film, processing and transfer for most of my non-commercial clients. I also have a complete post facility, so I can do synching, grading and editing for clients if they need it. 

I've been at it for 3 years now and I've learned A LOT about the business. 

1) I could not be in this business without low-cost equipment. If I bought new equipment on a loan, I would never be able to pay that loan just on rentals alone. People who use Share Grid or Kit Split are going to rent from the lowest price people and there are so many out there with amazing deals, it makes no sense to try and compete unless you get a killer deal on equipment. 

2) No matter what, you need general theft and damage insurance for your own equipment. This is because believe it or not, the insurance that's used from Share Grid and Kit Split, does not cover intentional theft. Meaning, if someone were to walk away with your package and disappear, the insurance would not work. So you have to pay quite a bit of money up front for special insurance in order to deal with it. The way I get around this is by researching my potential clients heavily and if I don't feel right, I don't offer them the equipment. When you live in a media city, this can be easy, but anywhere else, it's a lot harder. So this is an added cost, on top of your loan payment. 

3) Most renters aren't very nice with your equipment. They throw things around, they drop it, they get it wet, they scratch the lenses, etc. 9 times out of 10, something I rent, has damage upon return. Generally it's the viewfinder on the film cameras because people use it as a handle or something. Sometimes I find a lens that needs a rebuild or a battery that won't charge. It really gets annoying because here you are offering a service and now you've got little issues that you can't charge their insurance for. Generally if something gets damaged, it's covered, but only if you catch it right away. Most of the time, damage isn't known until the next shoot when you put all of the equipment to the challenge of working full time. This has bitten me so many times and I just had to spend $1500 bux to get 3 of my lenses rebuilt because one of my renters months ago, damaged them. I don't know who... so I'm unable to get anything from it. 

4) If you don't live in a media city, don't bother. Honestly, it's not worth dealing with the one guy who hasn't ever used your camera who is making a music video and doesn't know much about it. Those people you do not want touching your equipment and sadly, that's the common denominator for non-high end digital equipment like the cameras you're describing. However, if you lived in a media city, where there was high demand for digital cinema cameras, you could get an Alexa XT Plus used, set of Super Speeds used and put together a $700/day rental for the kit and probably do some decent business, even without accessories. You could also place your camera and body at a smaller rental house, let them deal with the insurance/storage. Whenever you want the camera, you simply book it through them and get it back. That sorta thing does work well and I know many people here in Los Angeles who do that. I personally don't think it's worth the risk financially, but it's for sure a possibility if you own equipment people want. 

In summary, I do think you need to specialize. So maybe you focus on a low-cost body, but you have great lenses. Maybe you focus on having a great body and no lenses. Maybe you focus on having a complete kit with lighting and all the accessories. You can't do the mid range body and mid range lens deal, nobody will want it. 

If I had this all to do again, I would probably not bother renting. I think over the long term, I've made less money then it's worth for the wear and tear on the equipment. I also think I've been screwed by so many people, just the time it takes to deal with those things, is time I could be out making money. I think the cut-off for me is rapidly approaching $400 - $500 a day for it to be worth me renting and I'm already raising my prices to reflect that. I have a pretty long client list of people who always come back to me, so I can literally just go with those people from now on and never rent on Share Grid or Kit Split again. But it's taken me 3 years to get there and it's been a wild ride since. 

Ohh and P.S. I use my equipment for shoots all the time, the conflicts are no big deal. Simply tell a would be renter that the camera is booked that weekend. 

 

Thank you, Tyler. Responses like these are the reason why I joined this forum. This is so helpful for me, and I hope your response will be helpful for other members later on.

I don't live in a media town, so Sharegrid and the general occasional email with "We need a camera for an indie pilot of a TV show that we're going to pitch to networks" as its gist are what comes through. Theft is also a concern... I do know a rental house in Boston that rents out other peoples kits for a percent of the daily rate. Based on what you said, if I do end up getting a camera, that might be the route. It's a bummer because I'll be in CT for another 2 years right in the middle between NYC and Boston.

Oh, and with damaged rentals? Someone I know rented a set of Sigma cine lenses for an industrial type shoot. He got the camera/lens too close to I think a saw blade cutting through stone. Some of those stone fragments chipped the lens glass.

On 8/2/2019 at 10:15 PM, David Ruck said:

I've been investing thousands of dollars in lights and grip gear. That's still added significant value for me

Everyone always needs an extra light. Or that one flag to give a little negative fill.

A few months ago, I bought an Aputure 120D II with a bunch of Bowens light modifiers. That light has given me so much value. Interviews before and after that light are like night and day. Before I was using a 2-panel setup through a silk-type cloth. With the 120D, I just put on a 48" beauty dish to get great soft and controllable light. A new camera couldn't have made the shots before the light look any better.

On 8/2/2019 at 4:33 PM, Bruce Greene said:

It seems to me that if you continually rent out your equipment, then you will be a rental house without the equipment available for your own use. So, you might make a profit, but you'll loose the marketing advantage of having your own kit available.

From my experience, owning cameras can be good marketing, but not a good investment for making a rental profit.  For me, the marketing advantage was worth it, but I won't be buying anymore cameras as I no longer need that type of marketing.

To be useful as a marketing tool, you'll need to own the camera package that few of your competitors will have, and that can mean an expensive package. Even better would be to also have some type of unique accessories that others won't have, but I can't think of any right now ?  In other words, think about what kind of package will get you new types of work that you want to do, and that your competitors will not have, or will not dare to invest in.  Maybe some unusual vintage lenses? Something like that.

I see what you mean by not having the equipment available if it is rented out. That's a good point. The marketing advantage of "I have a camera package with X" is lost, especially if an agency calls looking to book it for a date that it's rented out. And if they call and realize that it is rented out, would they call back? They might just think, "Let's find someone more reliable." Not sure.

Do you know of any unique accessories that would give a marketing advantage (I know you said you couldn't think of any at the moment, but maybe one has popped up since then?). Buying a gimbal has gotten me work. I also put together a cine-modded Contax Zeiss set, but I have been very protective of that.

What is your reasoning with that wedding photographer who uses Leica rangefinder cameras? Is it sharpness that you are worried about with zoom lenses?

Wedding photographers, or really any photographer, need their photos to be tack sharp. For event photos, I use 3 lenses with an A7RIII: a 25mm, 40mm, and 135mm. I don't use zoom lenses because they just don't have that crispness at 100% zoom. So, I get that.

But, for video, how important is a sharp image to you and how often will you need that image to be sharp as if done with a prime lens? Each video frame isn't a 47-megapixel photo. Most corporate and music video content is 1080p. Is there a noticeable difference for that kind of work to you? For work when sharpness matters, could you rent what works?

If you really want that 135mm focal length without spending much money (more to see if it is worth spending money on one), you could go vintage with an adapter. Find a 135mm prime, Contax, Nikon, or Canon FD. Those vintage lenses will be very sharp and have a very nice aesthetic.

If sharpness and good color rendition are important and money isn't much of an issue, the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 II with image stabilization is shockingly sharp (if kept at f/4 or above). It's big and heavy, but it competes with prime lenses at f/4. That will give you reach all the way to 200mm if you need it. 

I've been thinking for a while about financing or leasing a camera and then renting it out to agencies to pay for the monthly cost. I know at least 3 people who do this, but I'm unsure if it is a good idea. Do you rent out your camera? Did you purchase your camera with renting it out in mind?

A little ranting and thinking out loud here:

The hardest thing for me getting in to film these last 2 years has been dissociating personal cost impressions from business cost impressions. $100 in my personal account is a ton of money. But, $100 in my business account is now seen as next to nothing. I don't wait a couple of days to purchase a few hard drives for a project because of the sticker shock. The difference makes sense because business expenses are not expenses after revenue has been accounted for. In other words, it's not an expense on profit in my personal account.

With personal cost impressions in mind, people don't flinch when buying and making payments on a new car, even when that car is $12,000 on up. Why should I flinch when buying a cinema camera in the same price range, especially if it is a business cost, rather than a personal cost? To add to that, aren't higher budget cameras more likely to get rented out? And, if they are more likely to get rented out, does the money gained from renting it out offset the cost of leasing it to the point that it ends up being less expensive than a lower budget camera?

I'm torn between getting an Eva-1 or C200 or jumping and getting the recently-price-slashed Varicam LT or a Red.

This is not about "expensive camera = more work." It's about making work less like work. Shooting on durable cine cameras that have great color and are easy to edit in post makes me happy. I hate messing with loose Metabones mounts, poor codecs, gross colors, and "fixer" LUTs. All those issues are just barriers to the fun of camera work. Having a camera that pays for itself in renting it out to people while also giving me the joy of filming (that I'm guessing everyone here shares) sounds worth it to me.

Have you made this jump? Was it worth it? What should I be considering when thinking about this?

 

I would like to add to this that while these will work they are optical adapters like teleconverters and could degrade image quality of the lenses.

 

I would recommend as others have stated as well to decide what lens mount you want to go with either by choosing lenses first, choosing a camera body first or both (Mirrorless Sony's for example can be full frame and adapated to a wide range of lens mounts). I wouldn't recommend having mixed lenses from lots of different mounts and trying to adapt them all individually.

I've found that optical adapters with built-in ND filter rings heavily reduce the image quality of the shot. The bloom is unbelievable.

But, I have a Lens Turbo and a straight glass-free adapter. The image quality of the Canon 50mm FD lens converted through the Lens Turbo is very good, suitable for 4K work, and is indistinguishable in sharpness at around f/2.8 compared to the adapter without the glass. I agree that most of the time adapters with glass reduce the quality of the shot, but I think with the case of the Lens Turbo, the compression of the light onto a smaller sensor compensates for a decrease in sharpness as a result of a second layer of glass. I could be wrong here. Just my thoughts from using the 50mm on both types of adapters.

Canon's line of FD lenses are good for that vintage look while retaining sharpness. They can also be modified with focus rings and cine rings. A good set would be a 28mm, 50mm, and 85mm. You can mount a Lens Turbo to the GH4 and then swap out the three lenses as if the camera is an FD mount camera.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1218399-REG/mitakon_zhongyi_mtkltm2fdm43_canon_fd_lens_to.html

I'd recommend getting lenses from the same brand (all Canon or all Pentax, etc.) because the appearance of your shots will vary by lens brand. Canon has a different coating on their glass than Pentax.