I’ve been pretty lucky this fall that I’ve stayed busy with a lot of shooting, but haven’t had too much travel beyond the Northeast. I do enjoy, in theory (and usually in practice) the idea of traveling for work, but I often hate the hassle of airport travel with lots of gear, connecting flights, etc. I also like to come home at night and see my family. But still there is an adventure in business travel, and it’s part of the job, so I don’t generally turn it down when it comes my way. Read more…
Posts Tagged ‘equipment’
The Big Ole Lens Test Party
This all started because on a daily basis, it seems, my Twitter feed is chock full of discussions about how lens X is SO MUCH better than lens Y, etc, etc. People talk about how much better a certain lens looks over another and I just don’t buy it. I mean, I would guess that there is a difference, and I’d hope so for the difference you can pay between cheaper and more expensive lenses, but I just couldn’t imagine that on the same camera, the differences would be monumental. Read more…
It’s small, it’s HD!
So back in April I wrote my recap of attending my first NAB conference. I discussed how one of the items I was checking out to buy was a new HD field monitor. I wanted something to work with my 7D (which I was starting to use more then) and my EX-1 (as well as any other camera going forward). I was most interested in the existing Marshall 7″ offering, the prototype Marshall 5″ and the SmallHD DP-6. I settled on the SmallHD and soon after returning from NAB, pre-ordered one. The big selling point for me (other than image quality) was that the DP6 would have HDMI, Component AND HD-SDI inputs. Neither of the Marshall monitors had that. This meant it would work with any camera out there, which was a huge plus. They “guaranteed” that we would have the monitor 75 days after purchase. That was fine; I wasn’t in a huge rush. Read more…
Cost of Entry
It costs money to make money. In most cases that is true. To be a doctor, lawyer, etc. you need an (often expensive) education. To own a machine shop you need tools. To work in video production you need equipment.
It seems that nowadays, though, that cost of entry into the professional field of video has plummeted to an all time-low. The 2-year old “HDSLR Revolution” has spawned an amazing number of new video makers into the industry, snatching up these highly affordable cameras and going out and creating content and landing jobs. Our inexpensive cameras are being used by the big boys, and we are seeing prime-time tv shows, commercials, and movies being shot on cameras that you can buy at WalMart. Suddenly it doesn’t take deep pockets, bank loans or strong business plans to buy your way into the industry. Read more…
A Nice Set of Legs
I wasn’t planning to do a review of my new purchase, but some Twitter buddies were curious about my new tripod, so I thought I’d post a little overview. It just arrived yesterday and has not gone on a shoot yet, but I played with it a bit today and can go over some of the features. The tripod in question is the Manfrotto (Bogen) 535 Carbon Fiber legs with the new 504HD head. I wanted a second tripod and when I was at NAB, in April, that was one of the things I was looking for. Read more…
Expansion
So this week I added a new piece of gear to my arsenal. Unfortunately this piece of gear won’t make me much money, but it will get me from point A to point B. I bought a new car, a minivan, in fact. As anyone in production knows, having a good sized production vehicle can be essential. Even though our cameras and a lot of other gear have gotten smaller, there is still a ton to take on shoots. My previous (now second) car was a Mazda 3 wagon. A great, fun, zippy little car. I could pack A LOT of stuff in it. I used to joke that this car could JUST barely fit whatever was needed. Read more…
NAB Wrap-up
I just got back last night from my first trip to the NAB Show in Las Vegas, and after a good night’s sleep I am now beginning to feel human again. It was a short trip, only there for 2 full days, but I sacrificed sleep in order to pack each day with as much stuff as possible, and my head is still spinning a little from everything I saw and everyone I met. This trip also included what will hopefully be the first of many All-In Film Charity Poker Tournaments on Monday night. It went great, and was well received. I will go through my highlights of the whole trip for you all. Read more…
It’s Heeerrree!
My shiny new Canon 7D camera is here! I pre-ordered it through Amazon about three weeks ago, but Amazon seemed to be behind the ball on shipping. I had been seeing clips posted online from people all over who had received THEIR cameras, and I wanted mine! So I called Calumet Photo in Cambridge and Newtonville Camera in Newton and got on their waiting lists. Sure enough, the next day (yesterday), I got a call from the fine folks at Newtonville that they had one for me. That was easy. Read more…
Going Steady
On Wednesday I took some time to attend the Learning Lab series at Rule Broadcast. I have mentioned Rule in the past, as one of my go-to rental/sales houses in Boston, and since they moved to their new facilities (after merging with Boston Camera) they have been conducting these weekly sessions on new equipment and techniques. I have attended a few of these workshops, and they are potentially dangerous for techno-geeks like myself. It was through a similar session Rule hosted two years ago that made me buy my EX-1, and virtually all of them feature new gear that I feel I MUST have. As I said… DANGEROUS! Read more…
Seeing RED
Last week I took a day off from working and, well, worked.
My friend was working as production manager for documentary filmmaker Alla Kovgan on a film they were shooting this week in New London, CT. They brought in a DP from Armenia (Mko Malkhasyan) who Alla had worked with previously on her STUNNING dance-film Nora, which they shot in Africa. I am a huge techno-dweeb, especially when it comes to cameras, and they were shooting on the RED One, a new-ish camera that I had only worked with for a tiny bit before but am planning to use on an upcoming project, Read more…