2010 Subaru Forester 2.5X Touring with a 5 speed manual.

Replaces my 1999 Jeep Cherokee Sport 2 door 5 speed manual

For the daily stuff... a Mercedes Benz 230E....
All the kit fits perfectly in the boot. Even the scanner hides under the armrest..

For weekends, an Opel Calibra, two door coupe. The boot is just wide enough to fit the sticks - and it takes the whole load of gear.

Fuel is a prime consideration, as I do 10,000Km during the footy season.. the Benz gives me 10L/100km with air on. The Calibra gives 7L/100km but the ride is rough compared to the Benz.. :) That, and the fact that its a rare car here. Only 465 imported.

The Calibra's 2.5litre blueprinted V6, has 180 horses at the wheels, designed to cruise at 270Kmh.... not that ive gone that fast, y'know...

Ben

2002 Honda CR-V

equivalent model to the US Special Edition- leather, sun/moonroof, hard cover on the spare

right-hand drive, and all guages in metric only

handles like a champ on our crazy roads!

'89 Civic DX hatch with 172K miles on it, torn upholstery, broken A/C, and a weak igniter. Bought it in 2002 for $500 when it had only 50K miles on it. Might not look too great, and might not be too fast, but it was a great bargain.

Volvo 2001 S40. Sortof dented & a turd, but I love it. Turn the key & it goes. Plus, has a sunroof which I love!

THIS ... after buying all that video kit.

2003 Volvo S60. Reliable and comfortable car.

May 1990 build GMH Commodore wagon, bought from a wrecker all stove in on the front end, fixed and just over 110,000km added since.

I have used a 2003 Toyota Echo 2 door hatch on a shoot. With the back swing-open parcel shelf removed, there is a remarkable amount of useful space. A visiting producer was thoroughly amazed at the the amount of stuff which kept pouring out of the back of it spread out wide on the carpark for hand-carrying to the location.

Steve Rice, who trades as Darling Films here, has a short Mercedes Vito van which does double duty for his set-building and carpentary work. (Wants to do a bit more on his film, goes out and builds a few more kitchens to raise some funds.)

Silver 2006 Pontiac GTO 6-speed. nothing like 400 horses to get me to the photo shoots!

'05 Honda Element. Not the fastest but has room for just about everything!!

Audi RS4

V8, all wheel drive, 450hp. Perfect for chasing cars around the racetrack...and vice versa


Gravity Masters on Vimeo

Craig: I'm not jealous or anything. Nope. Not at all. Happy with what I've got. Really.

You buying ANY of that? <grin>

I drive a 2007 Mini Cooper S Type with JCW tuning kit. I love it although it is hard to get a ton of equipment in it.With everything in pelican boxes, I can get my full kit in there pretty snug. You have to take the back seats out of course but it makes a pretty cool light production vehicle.

I've got an '06 Cooper S - love it to death. I can fit a good amount of equipment in hard cases in it for light productions as well, but when I require a bit more room I take the '01 Subaru Forrester. I don't like driving it nearly as much, but it gets the job done. If we require more space I take the mini and one of my guys drives the forrester. Good times.

Here is my gear hauler, 2005 Mercedes Benz Sprinter.

Darn you, David! That's my dream vehicle right there!! :-)

They are a great vehicle! Nice space with great mileage.
Here is the work area.

I drive the Element as well. It's perfect for this work, and I don't think they're ugly at all. :)

2008 Lexus IS-F

- 5.0L V8 416 HP
- 8 Spd manual/automatic with steering wheel mounted paddle shifters
- 0 to 60 4.6 secs, 170mph Top Speed
- ULEVII, 23 mpg hwy

http://troper10.com/_MG_2671.jpg

Ducati 848 (ContourHD camera fits in my backpack!) Plus I have several camera mounts for it!
OR
Honda Odyssey Minivan if I have to take the rest of my gear!
As the pic shows, the Odyssey is good at landscaping too!

I have a Ducati 1198 and 1098S:
http://www.stevenunez.com/images/Xer2.jpg
http://www.stevenunez.com/cycles/troybaylissreplica/DSCN3678.JPG
and I too have a Contour Bullet cam~

I'm likely gonna sell one and buy a Sony EX1 or something similar!

Sweet bikes! Can't imagine having to make a choice of which to sell. Take the Ohlins stuff off the 1098, put it on the 1198. Part out the 1098 and you should make a lot more money!

I sold my VFR to get a Pro Tools rig. Made enough $ with audio to buy the 848!
Now if I can make enough $ with video....!

2005 Impala

Great setup David

Thanks Ray.
26 miles per gallon isn't bad for being able to hall all my crap about.

WANT!!!!! Darn it David... lol

Hey Trevor, all the gear comes out and you have the ultimate mobile party room on wheels!


Here is something that holds a wee bit less gear, and gets a touch less gas mileage than the Benz Sprinter. My old chase car for track events, a 77 Ferrari

2008 Cadillac STS, trunk crammed full of video gear and my laptop.

Next time around, I think I'll get something a little more practical.

Perhaps you should try a Mini Cooper ;)

Drive a sedan now, sold my sports car last year and did a 60 second video to market it. Shot with a Sony HDR-FX1, edited on vegas.

See it here:

Porsche (http://stagemasters.net/stagemasters_da_016.htm)

I have a 2005 Daihatsu Sirion, with A/C. A must in mid-England :) It's 4.5 years old and I'm just coming up to 15,000 miles. So you all know who to blame for global warming.

No winking! 2003 Mini Cooper with the back seats folded down, a plank of plywood down to make it all level, and a yakima box on top.

~ ~ Lisa

Yowza, a Mini? That's hawt!

Granted my most recent camera purchases were the JVC HM-100 and the Panny GH-1. Mini is a theme, looks like.

~ ~ L

Nice, I like the Gold color as well!

Here's mine just before I drove her off the lot a couple of years ago :)

iPhone snapshot, sorry about the dullness...

Sweet Trevor. Did you realize you could use her as a production vehicle?? You live just north of me. We could have the Mini production vehicle team. But perhaps you shoot with bigger rigs.

~ ~ L

Mini here in Moscow as well, a 2002 veteran :)
Got a brand new Subaru Impreza WRX STI, couple of months ago, love it!

Sweet Trevor. Did you realize you could use her as a production vehicle?? You live just north of me. We could have the Mini production vehicle team. But perhaps you shoot with bigger rigs.

~ ~ L

Yep, I actually bought my first mini (an '06 convertible S) about a year after I started photographing weddings and carrying around a ton of equipment. Even the convertible shocked me with how much it could carry, but it had major drawbacks. I traded it in last year for the one I have now (an '06 hard top S) and the difference is amazing - the hatch back offers a huge area to load gear, without the obstruction of the rear roll bar that's present in the convertible. no more loading from behind the front seats - i just load from the back. I can fit my large hard case with camera, medium hard case with mattebox, a few litepanels 1x1s, scrims, reflector, monitor in it's own hard case and a few C stands in the mini with the rear seats folded down. I can either throw some additional crap up front where the passenger would fit, or I can forfeit that equipment and take an assistant or my 6'6" sound guy/producer (DVIer Brian Lukrich) with me.

They're incredibly capable cars. I love using it for light production work, but I generally use my family's Subaru Forrester for hauling more stuff with another person.

As far as driveability, safety and comfort are concerned, I'd take the mini over the forrester any day...

I'd still like to have a sprinter for production work some day. Hmmmm... RED Scarlet S35 or a Sprinter? That'll be the decision for 2010 I'm afraid...

At least we know Sprinters will be delivered in 2010. ;)

Well played, sir.

My current set of wheels has finally gone to the scrapyard in the sky, so im looking for something to replace it, and was wondering what cars other cameramen drive, and why?

Ive been considering a diesel estate - to cover many miles in, and fit lots of gear in. maybe a bmw 330 diesel touring. but i know a lot of people use range rovers as camera cars, so maybe one of those might do the trick?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

To be honest, Discoveries are better as camera cars as there's much more space in the back - Rangies are not so good on load carrying, or sitting at weird angles - the posh seats are not too practical - the Discovery with 7 seats can be much handier.

All that said, I traded my Discovery in a 3 years old for a ......... Ford Transit!

Being a van, tax wise it's much better. It depreciates less, and the amazingly daft thing is that the driving position is so much better! I'm 6' 1" and the Disco doesn't offer much under the knee support for tall people - the seat finishing a little early and on a long journey, it's very tiring. I can honestly say that after travelling 7 hours in the transit, I get out and am not tired, and I don't ache. I was also impressed that they're speedy too - mine is a SWB low top model. 3 people fit in the front with no problems, and there's heaps of space too. I've got a small jib that can sit on the tripod and just be lifted out the back - excellent. It's been 100% reliable and very easy to get speeding points in.

The Disco was a great car, I'm not knocking it at all - but I haven't missed it. If I needed another car, just for people and a bit of kit, I'd happily buy another - but for what I'm doing now, the van beats it for usefulness.

wondering what cars other cameramen drive, and why?Merged with our long-running "what do you drive" thread in Home, Away From Home.

Thanks - hadnt been to this corner of the forum, didnt realise there was such a thread!

Just made an upgrade!

Moved from a Toyota Tundra to a 2007 Chevy Silverado 2500HD duramax diesel truck. It pulls the production and grip trailer like there is nothing behind it and gets 17MPG down the highway empty, 14 with trailer which is pretty awesome for a 7000 pound truck. Once I make a couple of modifications (intake exhaust and computer chip) I should be getting between 20 and 22 MPG down the highway. I'm super excited about the possibilities in the future

Interesting...

All the Ford guys are pickup drivers as it looks...

I grew up around trucks and would drive a bigger vehicle if I could rationalize the fuel consumption somehow...

I've been using minivans for some time now...partial to Fords...my wife has a 2000 Windstar and I have a 2002 Windstar with 120K on it. It gets 26 MPG highway with gear and assistant (and sitting squatty in the back), ,about 20-21 MPG all around. It's comfortable to drive.

I've got a bad back, but other than that, the easiest all-around vehicle I've ever had was a Ford Taurus Wagon. A small EFP package and the seats partially folded down so I can seat three, and I still get 30 MPG highway. For everyday practical transportation, that car paid its way in spades.

I've been looking at an Element for some time...I think they're quirky enough to fit my personality, but a Sprinter would be a good standing storage unit as well as transporter and David's pics just bring me back to that line of thinking.

If I need a hauler/daily driver I'll have to stick with minivans/Element type stuff... But maybe I'll be able to justify a Sprinter and a personal vehicle next year if things pick up this year...

Good useful thread.

Figured I better get Brazil in this long-running forum-book!

Like for all you in euro-land and most other places, things are spendy here. We've got a small production team (3 families, 1 single), so everything has to do double duty. All vehicles are four-bangers, two are dual fuel (gasoline/alcohol).

Main rig for people/gear moving, is a 2005 Chevy mini-van (Zafira), seats 7, with two back seats folding down into the floor for expansion and rear seat that flip up. Fits our 12ft Kessler crane hardcase and lots of Pelican gear/camera cases and tripods boxes. All dark tinted windows for security & heat control and auto window roll up when I hit the alarm. Nice and very, very tough with 100k+.

Second is our field production rig, a 2009 Toyota HiLux 2x4, crew-cab. Does our rough, "off main route" stuff very nicely, but the mileage sucks (8km/l) and it's gasoline only. Same rig with diesel-4wd was $30,000(!!) more...so it'd never pay for the difference in fuel savings.

Last of all is our tiny "fade-into-the-background, nobody-would-bother-stealing" 2007 Fiat Fiorino. It's a little, white, bread delivery truck thing...unmarked, w/ all tinted windows, and all-enclosed/no-window, raised steel back. Fits a HUGE amount of gear for short city hauls, yet fits into tiny parking spots anywhere. Millions of them around, so no probs with leaving gear inside (with alarms). Plain jane, 5 speed manual, no radio, no air-conditioning (but 40mpg).

Had a steel rack on the top for hauling 50ft of dolly track, but finally went to just steadicam work now (dollies are too much hassle for not enough gain for our productions).

Figured I better get Brazil in this long-running forum-book!

When I was down in Brazil (Recife and Olinda) working on a documentary back in 2001, we used a VW Combi van to get around in and there seemed to be a TON of them on the road. Always eyed up the small Bandaranti (sp?) trucks with envy, just for puttering around...

For the last few years, I've been driving a very nice Chrysler Town and Country minivan. It was an exceptional choice for toting around my production gear without advertising "expensive equipment inside!" It was roomy enough to carry my 3 cameras in cases w/accessories, 2 crates of lighting gear, 2 cases of audio gear, a dolly and 40 ft. of track, plus tripods, booms, greenscreen kit with rods and stands, etc, and still leave just enough room for 2 passengers. When not working, it provided an exceptionally comfortable ride for family outings. I hated the idea of driving a minivan when we first got it, but I grew very attached to it and loved its functionality.

It was taken out recently while parked in a parking spot outside of a restaurant where I was in a meeting. Evidently, a driver was driving full clip in the parking zone without realizing that she was no longer on the road (it is speculated that she was likely totally wrapped up in a cell phone conversation and wasn't paying attention...never even slammed on the brakes.)

She turned out to be just fine, but totaled her car, and totaled my van.

After much searching, we were not able to find a suitable similar replacement for the van that would accommodate my specific needs, so we started searching for other vehicle types, and I recently brought home a very nice older model Ford Explorer we found via Craigslist.

It appears to be an exceptionally well-maintained (with full documentation) unit that handles very well and drive much more comfortably than I anticipated from something that is essentially a truck chassis. It is a mid-sized model with V6, so it should prove capable of hauling my gear, yet be a bit more economical on gas than larger model V8 SUVs. So far, I have played around with packing my gear into it, and although I am having to reconfigure some of it for a good fit, and put some bars and rails on the roof rack in some cases, it all fits well, and doesn't even bog down the vehicle like used to happen with the minivan.

The only drawback I've seen so far is that the sliding side doors of the minivan allowed me to access some gear easily without having to actually unpack the cases. But I think the extra performance and durability gained from the Explorer will balance out the transition very nicely. (I work on a couple of productions each year in some of the more rugged mountain regions of Northern California, and there have been some times that the van just wasn't up to the task - so the Explorer should prove a benefit in such cases.)

-Jon

Hi Jon!

Glad you weren't in your van, and I take it your gear wasn't either(?).