Coming soon are gear reviews. I will post what gear I use and why I use it. I will let you know how the gear stacks up to professional use on set. I’ll describe the advantages and disadvantages to any of the gear. I work on a wide range of productions, tv commercials, corporate and web videos so can recommend gear that’s versatile and worth considering taking on your next shoot.
Also if you have questions on film and tv gear let me know and I will pass on an industry veteran opinion.
With the range of gear options increasing everyday it’s important to know what works well and why.
First up I will let you know about my lighting gear and will give the pros and cons for HMI lighting.
Happy shooting til then.
Tag: Sydney DOP
At last a really useful drone
It seems every man and his dog has a drone these days. The sad fact is though that the vast majority of these are either not equipped with a decent camera or are flown badly or even worse illegally.
To get great results you do need to get a professional drone crew. On shoots that I have been on by far the best results have been achieved by a two person Drone crew. One person to fly the drone and the second to frame the camera.
The good news is that there are better drones everyday equipped with better cameras giving more options to get the shot. I have to admit though I am old school and can easily see the advantages in shooting from a Helicopter with a stabilised mount. In this type of setup you can choose the camera and lenses you need rather than having to accept a fixed lense that distorts the image from prosumer type drones.
But all that aside, here is the best way to enjoy using a drone I have seen.
Move it with Michelle
Unless you have been living under a rock, surely almost everyone is familiar with the kickass reputation of Aussie TV personality and trainer Michelle Bridges.
Tim Bradley at Minds Eye Films certainly knows now that she applies this can-do attitude across all areas of her life, and especially so in her training programs.
Working on water
Its not just you – Tim from Minds Eye Films is definitely looking like he has been on a vacation somewhere with a lot of sun. But in fact, Tim’s tanned skin is actually a result of days of working in an idyllic location – on water!
And not just any body of water. Tim has been shooting on Sydney’s iconic harbour and the pristine Pittwater for two exciting projects for two separate clients. Minds Eye enjoys the challenges that come with tackling a new location, and shooting on a 50-foot game fishing boat and a 60-foot yacht certainly presents some unique ones!
Gear gear gear ….
Does it ever end ? No, when it comes to film and TV gear. So with that in mind I have a bunch of new gear. New lighting frames 10 x 10, 6 x 6 and 4 x 4. Also a new Chromakey green 10 x 10 screen as well as some new new textiles for my other frames.
I also have a new monitor stand setup to make having a monitor on set in the right place easier and faster. This is a combination of a few Mathews products specially designed for onset monitors.
I now have a “low boy ” attachment for my Wally dolly kit. This enables the tripod head to be mounted to the T frame on the dolly, making for some really nice low angle shots.
Then there is a load of other new gear, including Shot bags x 4, C stands and more light stands.
All this new gear comes included with all my existing gear as part of my shooting package which means I can handle any shoot.
Is this the future ?
Cameras are getting smaller and stranger shaped, but this one even with its odd looking body just maybe the future or cameras. Say hello to the DJI Osmo, a new handheld camera that lets you shoot 12MP photos and 4K video while being stabilized with a 3-axis brushless gimbal.
The camera system is basically a sleek handheld stabilizer that comes standard with the Inspire 1’s X3 camera, which packs a 1/2.3-inch Sony Exmor R sensor with an ISO range of 100-1600 (100-3200 for video), a 20mm (35mm equiv.) lens with a 94° field of view, and DNG support or You can also choose to buy the grip for a new X5 camera if you’d like a Micro Four Thirds sensor and mount.
Dragon Upgraded to swapable OLPF
We have just completed the Dragon camera upgrade to take the latest swap-able OLPF (Optical Low Pass Filters) We also have both of Reds OLPFs which give more options for shooting.
The OLPF come in two varieties:
The Low Light Optimized is the original RED DRAGON OLPF tuned for higher ISO shooting, and similar to the OLPF used in the EPIC MYSTERIUM-X. This OLPF provides excellent color and tone reproduction in dim environments. Use this OLPF to capture and preserve color quality in mid-tones, darks, and shadows.
The Skin Tone Highlight OLPF offers a stop of extra highlight protection, the most incredibly accurate skin-tones and color science as well as additional flare control, with the expense of a stop of light sensitivity. Use this OLPF to capture and preserve color quality in highlights, bright colors, and well-lit environments. While using the Skin Tone Highlight OLPF with ND filters there is no need for Infrared filtering.
Back soon ….
Thanks for a great year !
We’ll be back and ready to go January 5th 2015 after recharging our batteries at the beach.
Merry Christmas and Happy New year!!
More lenses
We have added another lens to our range. The Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Lens is a great addition as it adds a great wide angle option for both stills work and is fabulous on our Red Epic Dragon.
The Red Dragon camera is built to work with Canon lenses and takes advantages of the lenses internal motors enabling all sorts of focus options that no other professional cinema camera offers. By shooting with the light weight high quality Canon L series lenses, it enables shooting with an ultra light weight camera setup.
Mindseye on top of latest technology
New Optus infomercials benefit
Producing two cinematic quality TVCs at low cost and with a limited shoot time? No problem! It’s a challenge Tim faced recently when he was shooting two new infomercials for regular client Optus – and he tackled it using his Red Epic camera and his brand new Canon Cine Prime lens set.
North Coast NSW & SE Queensland Videographer 