Thanks Patrick. You did not find it condesending because that was not my intent. I am pretty active on this board and guys that have read my posts figure out I am blunt and have a sense of humor. When I reread that post I thought, who am I to tell some guy he needs to learn to walk before he can run. It wasn't a bad post, but it could have been read wrong. I read a lot into what I see here myself. I did not revise my post about DSLRs, I revised the second post I made on page 3.

Jon F,

Thanks for the counter point. You are correct, just as I am too. I don't know how many models of video cameras are on the market but it is in the hundreds maybe a thousand, I don't know. They all have two things in common. The will record a video image and an audio sound track. After that it is all about your budget and what tool you need to do the work at hand. In Brock's case, It sounded to me like he was making a rookie mistake. That old misconception about you build a kit, learn a few shots, and now your a pro ready for any thing. That is not how this industry works. The kit you guys are helping him build has nothing to do with "corporate work", even in the broad sense of the term. I wanted to be sure he knew that before he continued to invest in the wrong gear if he really wants to eventually do so called corporate work.

Steve

Edit: Brock, your post above this one and this one crossed in the stratosphere at the same time. I will respond more later.

I also got an 18% gray card and new 32 GB SD card for a very good price.

As to the "good price" for the 32 gig card...what class of card did you get?

I hope it was at least a class 10.

You can find "lesser" cards which hold that same amount of gigs...but they don't have a fast enough read/write speed to record video over a long period of time...or even a short period of time.

I may be wasting this post and not giving you enough credit for knowing this.

However I've seen too many make the mistake of just looking at the gig number and a low price thinking they've saved some money...while not paying attention to the more important numbers.

Also, isn't there a time recording limit on the T3i? Even if there isn't, surely the battery won't go for very long. What if you're shooting a continuous 2 hour lecture? Stopping the camera to change cards and battery is unacceptable.

I often use a t3i as a second locked-down camera on 2-camera interviews.

For what it's worth...primary camera is a Sony PMW EX3 and that's where all audio goes.

Both cameras shooting 30p HD/HQ.

With two 32gig cards in the EX3...I can roll for hours without worrying about any "break".

T3i has ML in it...but still has the breaks every time it reaches the 4 gig limit.

I don't worry about timing that camera. It runs continuously...even beyond the 29 minutes without a hitch.

I did a half dozen sit-down interviews just last week with a correspondent who did nothing less than one hour and a half long interviews.

The battery lasted just under one hour and twenty five minutes each time with continuous recording.

I have yet to run into an overheating issue. (knock on wood)

I did a very quiet battery change during the interview since I had the producer watching the DSLR to let me know when it stopped recording if/when the battery died.

Here's a link to a photo from one of those LOOOONNNNG interviews.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152157271490827&set=gm.10151891573986603&type=1&theater

Clients knew of the DSLR limitations...and still wanted the interviews shot with it. All to save a buck but they felt the balance between money saved and still getting a "high enough" quality HD image from the second camera made it worth while. The client in this case was Caracol, a National Colombian television network, but I've also used the t3i DSLR as a second camera on CBS Network News interviews because they too asked for it...even though the DSLR does lose a second or two when it goes from one 4 gig file to the next.

Yea John it was a class 10...

It was best buys "deal of the day." It was a San Disk 32gb for 20.99. Pretty good deal so I jumped on it.

In regards to not giving me enough credit, you were right to ask me about it as I really only learned about different speeds of cards a couple weeks ago. I appreciate you looking out for me. Much appreciated

Professional videography BUSINESS or HOBBY?

Okay, now for an editorial comment on a couple threads here where professional videographers want suggestions on what to buy within a specified budget.

In the first example the poster was looking "for an affordable LED Spot" and had a target price in "the $300 range", wound up really liking the Light Panels SOLA 4 light with a retail of $1,500 and a street price of $1,300. http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/photon-management/521587-need-help-led-spot-suggestions-2.html To Danny's credit, providing a highlight on the talent will add to the video presentation and the one source for the light was about $300 under retail.

In the second example (here), Brock was looking for suggestions on what to spend a $500 tax refund on (he did say this was for his "hobby" -quotes were his - but he's definitely a pro wannabe) and wound up actually spending probably over $700 - as best I can guess.

This is about budgeting. Without good budgeting one could actually go bankrupt, or worse, even get divorced (that scenario would be "below" being bankrupt). In one of my former jobs, my annual review was based in part on how well I performed in budgeting and being over budget or more than 3% under constituted poor performance.

Question(s):
What's going on here? Do videographers have a soft spot when it comes to buying equipment?

Are videographers poor money managers? (this is only a sampling of 2 so not totally scientific)

Did Brock get a free pass from his wife for some more money? (If he proposed a good argument for additional funds I'd like to know what it was)

Did Danny mis-write his original post and really intended to say he wanted to SAVE ~ $300?

Did they all rationalize, thinking that their new purchase would be more than made up with income from greatly improved videos?

Did Brock feel that what he is doing is really for a "hobby" and therefore budget be dammed? I can see it now, "But Honey, I can probably earn it back on my first gig", "It'll pay for itself", ...

Well, at least some of us tried to help them stay within budget. In Danny's case maybe it was Doug Jensen who did him under with the comment about "dragging around that 20 pounds"... and Danny fell for it. 20 pounds, Yikes! I guess his kit is already too heavy. It did seem like a really good light (so good, in fact that I even added it to my To-Buy List), but later I read Taky Cheung's "fix" using a Comer 1800 so the Spot took a real ratings hit on my List.

Guess I'm as guilty as the next guy in acquiring kit items.

Maybe it's "our creative thinking" - rationalizing how much better our work will look, how much easier it will be, or maybe how much more we can make. Maybe there's both an upside and a downside to being creative?

Well...to be honest, my wife was planning on spending $500 of the tax refund and I was going to spend $500 as well. Turns out she spent $600 so she was a little more lenient on my purchases. lol. I spent less than $700 so I at least stayed close to her.

My thought process, like you stated, was that by shooting with the better equipment, I can make better videos and potentially attract clients once I get good with it all.

Now that said, I tried to limit myself. I didn't go too far over budget. I guess I could use that line of reasoning and go out and purchase all the equipment I want and call it an investment, but I'm happy now. No more purchases until I am making money off of what I'm doing with my current gear

John,

Didn't I read that your considering upgrading an old camcorder (not sure if it was you)? When I get time later I am going to make a post that just might make you rearrange that "to buy" list again.

Brock says " No more purchases until I am making money off of what I'm doing with my current gear". Ha, that is one of the three big lies! ;) :) :)

Pro or amateur? For what it is worth. Way way back in the eighties when I started out as a still guy a professional photographers trade organization defined that question. Their standard was: The photographer must earn 50% or more of his NET income to be considered a professional photographer.

Last month Chris Hurd published a feature article I wrote on the content side of this web site. It is a satirical look at me, video guys, and our industry. It is here: The Evolution of My Industry at DV Info Net (http://www.dvinfo.net/article/misc/the-evolution-of-my-industry.html)

If you are bored enough to read it and want to comment on it, please do that on the thread all ready in progress for comments here: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/dv-info-net-announcements/521253-extra-extra-read-all-about-steven-digges-hits-nail-head.html

I am not trying to blow my own horn, some of the jabs I take are pertenint to this thread :)

Steve

Time is money, but I can't let these posts go unanswered!

To Brock:
Well...to be honest, my wife was planning on spending $500 .... Turns out she spent $600 so she was a little more lenient on my purchases. lol. I spent less than $700 so I at least stayed close to her.
You did really good. In a brief look at street prices I was getting over $750 so that was excellent. And the Tascam DR100 looked like a deal. Hopefully she doesn't make too big of a deal about the little bit you went over.

My thought process, like you stated, was that by shooting with the better equipment, I can make better videos and potentially attract clients once I get good with it all.
I can see we think along similar lies, er... I mean, lines.

Now that said, I tried to limit myself. I didn't go too far over budget. I guess I could use that line of reasoning and go out and purchase all the equipment I want and call it an investment, but I'm happy now. No more purchases until I am making money off of what I'm doing with my current gear
Investment? Great idea. Two thumbs up! After all, it isn't like it doesn't have some resale value.
Don't forget how much you saved over 'retail'.
As for being "happy now" .... we'll be watching.

And, as for Steven:
John,

Didn't I read that your considering upgrading an old camcorder (not sure if it was you)? When I get time later I am going to make a post that just might make you rearrange that "to buy" list again.
Ummm... moi?
Did you get that in writing?

Brock says " No more purchases until I am making money off of what I'm doing with my current gear". Ha, that is one of the three big lies! ;) :) :)
I think we both got him covered on that one. Surely a statement that will go down in infamy. Hopefully (for his sake) his wife isn't reading his posts! And there are archives .... he may wind up wishing he never wrote that one. My grandmother said "Never put in writing what you don't want someone else [or a wife] to read."

Last month Chris Hurd published a feature article I wrote on the content side of this web site. It is a satirical look at me, video guys, and our industry. It is here: The Evolution of My Industry at DV Info Net (http://www.dvinfo.net/article/misc/the-evolution-of-my-industry.html)
And I did read it, it was really good. I was going to comment but so many others said a lot of what I thought about saying, and did it better. That was a really good read.

As for "jabs" ... hey, this is serious stuff. Isn't it?

John, what I love about the Panny GH3/2 is there is no recording time limit =)

Haha! I already went through B&H and put some items into my wish list. I really do need a wide angle lens though! LOL

The gear acquisition never ends. Never think you're done buying stuff. This is a very expensive hobby/business. The most important things you can buy are the knick knacks you'll need on gigs. Things like audio connectors, clips, cables, converters, etc. You'll know what I mean when you're on a gig and some tiny crucial piece of equipment would have made the difference in a successful shoot.

Steven, I enjoyed your article, but I'm afraid it's out of date. No mention of 4K?! ;)

Patrick, I have been waiting for that. Congrats, you are the first one to say it!

And 4K, I can draw with rocks better than that.

Steve

Brock,

That AT899 and Tascam DR100 mkII should do the trick. Use a long XLR cable and headphones when you can - and put the recorder on/near the talent when you must. For placement, center the mic just below the 2nd button on a dress shirt, loop the cable to reduce cable noise, and use gaffers tape when necessary to avoid clothing noise.

Regarding placement, if it's not centered, you can get volume changes when the talent moves their hear left and right. Mount it too close and you get big changes when the talent looks up or down. Too far and you get additional noise and room sounds.

Regarding the slider, the keys are good stands/mounts (so it doesn't droop as you move the camera) and a decent photo-style ball head, so you can aim the camera as needed.

It will be interesting to see if the slider becomes a key part of your kit or if it collects dust. Part of it depends on the quality of the slider. If it doesn't deliver smooth enough shots, you'll find yourself avoiding it. The other aspect is need. A slider complicates things with more stuff, setup time, and complexity. I use mine not when I might like it, but when I need it. If I need to shoot an inanimate object like a circuit board, I definitely use either slider or jib. Otherwise, I might as well shoot a photo. Frankly, I go for the jib more often than the slider, despite the additional size and weight. The ability to roll the jib where it needs to be and quickly place the camera wherever I need it in space is really nice. To position a slider for critical framing is more of a trial and error thing.

All that said, getting the equipment to gain the experience is a critical part of the process. DSLRs with manual focus and control over shutter, aperture, ISO, and picture profile - plus the ability to change lenses - are excellent for learning image capture. They force one to learn about camera support and motion as well as external audio solutions. They don't always make sense (especially when delivering to a paying client), but when you're on your own time and budget and want low-light capture and/or shallow DOF, they blow away anything that was available before the D70 and 5D2 came out in 2008.

One nice thing about buying a lot of this gear is that if the shoe doesn't fit, you can always sell it and reinvest. Cameras eventually go obsolete, but mics, camera support, lighting gear, and lenses all hold their value for years.

Best of luck with your projects. Let us know how this round of gear works out. :)

OK Guys,

Here is good news. It does not have to be a choice between camcorder or DSLR anymore. The pictures are (bad snap shots) of my DSLR rig, kind of. It is my Sony EA50 kit. The manufacturers finally caught up and built a real camcorder with the benefits of a DSLR and everything that is awesome about a camcorder in one unit. And, bang for your buck, it is dirt cheap in my opinion. The basics are:

An aps-c sensor, a single sensor large enough to get the shallow depth of field you get from a DSLR

Sony E-mount interchangeable lens system. Accepts entire line of Sony e-mount lenses

Sony has an adapter for it to accept their entire line of A-mount lens

Metabones (third party) adapter available to accept Canon EF mount lenses. That is what I use. Also made for other brand name lens mounts.

Semi-Shoulder support design and ergonomics

Comes with a power zoom kit lens 18-200mm f3.5- 6.3

AVCHD, 35 MBS

Built in stereo microphone

Included shot gun microphone

Two channels of XLR audio with limiting, VU metering and plenty of options

Classified by Sony as Entry Level Professional, that is important only because the camera is supported and serviced by Sony Professional services. If you have ever dealt with consumer services you will know how important that is.

That is just the basics. Since I am old school from the Betacam days this is an electronic wonder to me. In terms of all the features and options that are built into it for the low price. I bought mine when they were first released. I already had the Canon lenses so the choice was a no brainer. I paid $3,700.00 (maybe $3,800.00) for it. First street price, worth every penny. Then it started to drop as it always does. Currently at B&H for $3,325.00 plus Sony has a $600.00 rebate until March 31, 2014, final cost $2,725.00. A thousand less than I paid one year ago and I have no regrets!

I work with broadcast cameras on a regular basis, I don’t own them. I always own cameras like this because they are perfect for many of my clients needs. It saves the clients and me a ton of money.

Sony EA50 page: Sony | Micro Site NXCAM & AVCHD (http://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/micro-nxcamsite/resource.latest.bbsccms-assets-micro-nxcam-latest-nexea5ouh.shtml?PID=I:nxcam_landingpage_banner:nexea5ouh)

In the Sony forum here on DVINFO there is an EA50 sub forum. If you are truly interested in this camera don’t look at the current pages first. Go to the beginning because about five of us bought it at the same time last year and we chronicled everything good, bad and ugly as we worked our way through it. No there is probably too much to read as others joined in and the forum is going strong.

It really is a DSLR in a professional camcorder format for $2725.00. To me, that is incredible because I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on cameras in the past that had nowhere near what this thing has. And I own a lot of equipment. Anyway, food for thought. I am throwing this out there because guys in this thread are investing money in gear of this level and genre. Lots of bang for the buck.

Steve

Brock,

That AT899 and Tascam DR100 mkII should do the trick. Use a long XLR cable and headphones when you can - and put the recorder on/near the talent when you must. For placement, center the mic just below the 2nd button on a dress shirt, loop the cable to reduce cable noise, and use gaffers tape when necessary to avoid clothing noise.

Regarding placement, if it's not centered, you can get volume changes when the talent moves their hear left and right. Mount it too close and you get big changes when the talent looks up or down. Too far and you get additional noise and room sounds.

Regarding the slider, the keys are good stands/mounts (so it doesn't droop as you move the camera) and a decent photo-style ball head, so you can aim the camera as needed.

It will be interesting to see if the slider becomes a key part of your kit or if it collects dust. Part of it depends on the quality of the slider. If it doesn't deliver smooth enough shots, you'll find yourself avoiding it. The other aspect is need. A slider complicates things with more stuff, setup time, and complexity. I use mine not when I might like it, but when I need it. If I need to shoot an inanimate object like a circuit board, I definitely use either slider or jib. Otherwise, I might as well shoot a photo. Frankly, I go for the jib more often than the slider, despite the additional size and weight. The ability to roll the jib where it needs to be and quickly place the camera wherever I need it in space is really nice. To position a slider for critical framing is more of a trial and error thing.

All that said, getting the equipment to gain the experience is a critical part of the process. DSLRs with manual focus and control over shutter, aperture, ISO, and picture profile - plus the ability to change lenses - are excellent for learning image capture. They force one to learn about camera support and motion as well as external audio solutions. They don't always make sense (especially when delivering to a paying client), but when you're on your own time and budget and want low-light capture and/or shallow DOF, they blow away anything that was available before the D70 and 5D2 came out in 2008.

One nice thing about buying a lot of this gear is that if the shoe doesn't fit, you can always sell it and reinvest. Cameras eventually go obsolete, but mics, camera support, lighting gear, and lenses all hold their value for years.

Best of luck with your projects. Let us know how this round of gear works out. :)

Great post. Spot on about the slider and jib. I do the same thing. Some times I take them with me to a shoot and never have a chance to use them because of the time commitment.

Steve

It's all Patrick's fault! I've got all this video to edit and he got me sidetracked:
John, what I love about the Panny GH3/2 is there is no recording time limit =)
Spent the past several hours searching for info on the GH3, looking at prices, reading craigs list ads, and got nothing done.
With one ad a guy is using his Nikon lenses and an adapter - this sounds interesting. I still have my f/2.8 wide angle.
In one review it said that to get the 16:9 format it crops from the 4:3 format. Obviously there is going to be some resolution lost doing this but I don't know how significant that would be.
I really shouldn't be looking.

@ Jon:
That AT899 and Tascam DR100 mkII should do the trick. .....

Regarding placement, if it's not centered, you can get volume changes when the talent moves their hear left and right. Mount it too close and you get big changes when the talent looks up or down. Too far and you get additional noise and room sounds.
One thing I remember reading or hearing about and that is to have the lavaliere mic facing down rather than up. Don't remember if this was just for the 899 or in general. Do you have any thoughts on that idea?

All that said, getting the equipment to gain the experience is a critical part of the process. ....

One nice thing about buying a lot of this gear is that if the shoe doesn't fit, you can always sell it and reinvest. Cameras eventually go obsolete, but mics, camera support, lighting gear, and lenses all hold their value for years.
Here we don't know anything about Brock's finances, he went over budget on the purchase, partly by getting carried away by expanding the scope. His wife knows he spent more on his stuff than what she did. Then he says "he's happy" with what he got. No sooner has he said that and the next post he says he's got a "Wish List" at B&H (!). Not only that, but it's already getting populated with a wide angle lens and who knows what else.

Should we be concerned if we are enablers? Maybe the family could even be going without food on the table as we're tantamount to encouraging equipment acquisition. Thinking about this, my gosh, how can we sleep at night?

Well, enough of this guilt trip. It's late and I gotta get work done tomorrow.

Stephen, that Sony EA50 looks pretty sweet. Looks like it overcomes one of the key DSLR flaws for handheld work - that they're front heavy. The LCD is on the back and everything goes forward from there. ENG cams have the viewfinder next to the lens for a reason - it gets the weight over the shoulder.

My solution for handheld DSLR work is to use a monopod. (I compared about 15-20 models and chose the Slik Pro Pod 600. It's cheap, solid, small enough to fit in a rolling suitcase, and as light as many carbon fiber models.) I use it in one of three modes - standing (for standing interviews on the fly), tucked into my belt (for human tripod work), and held just below the camera (as a faux steadicam). Aside from the faux steadicam style, the forward weight is often on the ground and never anchored higher than the hips. Works great at tradeshows (which is about the only place where I shoot ENG-style.)

Being able to have one camera that can shoot ENG style as well as shallow DOF on a tripod for interviews is pretty killer.

Last month, we rented an FS700, and it was pretty nice to be able to shoot with a large sensor in an integrated package. It's not really ENG-ready out of the box, and we didn't use it that way or use the audio inputs. It was all about slow motion b-roll, which was a blast to shoot and edit.

One warning about the Metabones adapter though... It's not robust. We rolled our jib into the parking lot with the camera on it as well as a modest lens. The surface got a bit rough, so we stopped, looked at the camera - and the lens was drooping by about 15 degrees! The adapter is held together with some tiny jeweler screws, which stripped. The adapter was ruined, but fortunately, it was a final, optional shot and nothing else was damaged. Anyway, treat the adapter like fine china. And if you hang a big lens off the end, use cheeseplates and whatnot to support both camera and lens. You don't want this to be the weak link during a critical shoot.

John - regarding pointing lavs down, this can help avoid p-pop from plosive speech. Most lavs are omnidirectional, so the angle doesn't matter - except for keeping the plosives from directly entering the capsule. That said, I mount both up and down - whatever works best with the clip, the clothes, and the broadcast loop.

As far as the questions about video guys being bad a finance goes, I think we are inherently at a disadvantage to the rest of the normal business world. If I were to go start any other business, one of my first moves would be to go to a bank and apply for a loan for all the start up. So many video guys go from hobbyist to making it their business so gear is acquired over time rather than all up front. And the other disadvantage to that is so much of our gear trends change over night. If I were to go open a bakery, mixers, ovens, and ingredients and a space would be the main things I need and those things hardly ever change. So many of us are just finally completing our HD kits and being tempted already with the world of 4K. Thank god 3D never went anywhere.

John, if you're interested in the GH3, you should wait a couple of months when the 4K GH4 starts hitting shelves.

Stephen, that Sony EA50 looks pretty sweet. Looks like it overcomes one of the key DSLR flaws for handheld work - that they're front heavy. The LCD is on the back and everything goes forward from there. ENG cams have the viewfinder next to the lens for a reason - it gets the weight over the shoulder.

The nex-ea50 is even worse then a dslr, all the weight is in your hands and it extends even further from your face, so if you"d add a heavy canon lens to it that won't be a fun experience, the only thing that shoulder pad does is to create an extra contactpoint for holding your camera steady.

Noa, come on, "it is worse than a DSLR"?

The EA50 is NOT a shoulder cam. A shoulder cam has the shoulder rest in the middle or forward of center on the camera body so the weight IS resting on your shoulder. They are a pleasure to work with for run & gun. The Ea50 has a shoulder pad to give a support point but the majority of the weight is in you hands. Some guys are adding a weight to the shoulder pad to help with the balance but I have not.

The kit lens is very light, so the camera is comfortable and easy to operate on my shoulder. My Canon glass is all f2.8 L series and very heavy. It does make shoulder shooting somewhat difficult because of the front weight. But, I have my hand under the lens supporting it and operating it just as I do with a DSLR. The camera body has two points of contact and support behind that. It is better not worse.

For those of you not familiar with this design it works like this. The camera is controlled and supported by your right hand. The back strap adjustment is critical because your fingers are in use on controls. Your left hand focuses AND supports the camera when not on the focus ring. The shoulder pad gives a third point of contact and support.

So I agree with Noa to a certain extent. I do not want to mislead anybody at all. I do not agree with him saying it is worse than a DSLR.

Noa had an EA50 and sold it. He knows what he is talking about. He also has a great affinity for DSLR or even smaller cameras. He has stated many times he does not like big cameras.

Noa, I think you know I respect almost all of your posts, but I disagree with you saying it is worse than a DSLR. But hey, I am old school. I like having all of the professional options and tools that camcorder body provides.

Steve

Hey Steve

I solve my handheld problems very easily with my ENG rig. It makes the front end a feather weight!!
All it does is take the weight off the front with a mini ballhead attached to rails under the front of the camera and that has a 2 section sprung rod which goes into a waist belt that has a little pouch for the rod.

The dual springs in the rod take all the weight off you and are adjustable and of course allow you vertical movement still. Absolute magic if you are doing a lot of handheld stuff ! If I forget to use it at weddings my back is pretty sore after a night at a reception but when I use it the camera virtually weighs nothing!!

Chris

In my experience, there are three ways to balance things, two of which I like...

1) Mount an EVF (electronic view finder) near the front. That is the traditional, proven ENG approach.

2) Support the camera from the waist, like Chris mentions in his post. I really like this approach for DSLRs wtih a loupe. I lean back a bit to restore balance. The main benefit is no weight at all on arms and shoulders.

3) Add a shoulder mount and add weight behind the unit. Unless the camera is very light and you have extra stuff to carry anyway (battery, audio preamp, etc), I don't care for this as it adds weight to the shoulder, rather than re-balancing (EVF style) or re-anchoring (belt style). Like a good backpack, the less weight on the shoulders, the better.

Then again, solution 3 is better than holding a forward-weighted rig all day with your arms. I did that the first time I took a DSLR to NAB. Those were very long days!

I do not have trouble handling my short focal length lenses in R&G shoulder. As Noa said, when I get into the heavy Canon glass like the 70-200 f2.8 it is no fun. So like John said, I put my mono pod on it, attached to the lens ring tripod mount. That works well, but I feel it is a bit limiting.

Chris, I read about how you made your ENG rig in our section. Does the spring rod really float and adjust well? I can't help but picture it in my mind like some kind of stiff, squeaky shower rod?

Steve

When I use a monopod in "belt mode", it works great in "human tripod mode" until it's time to walk. Lifting the monopod off the belt or even off the floor generally causes a small jolt. Even with a true ENG camera, one should lift the unit off the shoulder when walking, otherwise every step will send a jolt through the body into the camera. So, lift the camera and use the arms as shock absorbers. Hopefully, the walk is short. If not, we're getting into steadicam territory.

To me, the main goal of the spring shouldn't be to float the unit as much as to allow one to place or lift the unit with a minimal jolt to the camera. For floating, one really needs the isometric arm of a steadicam.

Agreed John. The floating I would want from a belt shaft would be a little vertical movement to raise the lens up or down a little without the rigidness and tilting required by a mono pod. I don't buy the claim of belt support manufacturers that it will absorb your walking. Definitely steady cam work.

Steve

From my experience with the monopod in the belt trick, it *amplifies" the jolts of walking! Sure works great for standing in position and aiming/shuffling without carrying the weight though! For interviews, I extend the monopod to the floor. When I need to pan, tilt and frame, I shorten the monopod and do the belt thing.

The Steadicam Solo looks like an interesting product for run 'n gunners.
http://www.tiffen.com/userimages2/Steadicam/Solo_SS.pdf

And, hey, it's kinda back on topic as it costs, wait for it... $500. ("Got $500 to spend....")

At CES in January, I asked a Tiffen rep and he said that it should be shipping in April. I have no idea if the schedule still stands.

What I like about the Solo for lightweight, budget shooting is that you can potentially use the same floor, belt, and monopod tricks, plus you can work your biceps and fly some brief steadicam shots. For longer flights, you'd want to budget for a vest and arm, but this adds more than fits in a carry-on, weighs more, and costs a bunch more. It won't help the transition from pod to flight - in fact it will likely be worse! But you could easily shoot an interview with the floor method, a long framing session with the belt method, and some flying b-roll shots with the flying method.

Another couple advantage to the Solo without vest are, 1) the vest and arm make everything (sitting, eating, rest room) more cumbersome, and 2) with a traditional Steadicam system, you need a stand to store the thing. With the Solo, you'd just extend the thing to the floor and hold it like a staff. You can't just let go like you can with a stand, but you can put your weight on it, rather than the other way around.

BTW, I tried the Solo briefly at CES and it felt good, though with the demo camera (was it a GH3?), it was so light that it was fairly touchy, as should be expected. (Hey, I'm no trained op. All those beasts feel touchy to me!) Yet even with this light camera, I wouldn't want to carry the thing for extended periods. It doesn't take long before the arm starts to burn.

Anyway, for $500, the Solo with dual gimbal and pod operation looks like a nice, small, light, useful solution for single shooters on the road.

One other nice thing about getting an external recorder, rather than recording into the camera... You can get that up-close, wired lavalier sound without having to run a wire to the camera. You can't wire anything to a camera on a Steadicam. It's all got to be wireless or independent.

From my experience with the monopod in the belt trick, it *amplifies" the jolts of walking! Sure works great for standing in position and aiming/shuffling without carrying the weight though! For interviews, I extend the monopod to the floor. When I need to pan, tilt and frame, I shorten the monopod and do the belt thing.

I use my monopod in a belt holder method...but never while I'm trying to walk.

I like steadicams but, frankly, they limit you as well since now the camera is mounted on a bunch of extra equipment which keeps you from quickly putting the camera in a lot of places to give you extra angles.

I would never consider walking with the monopod in my belt holder to get a smooth shot...but I do hole the whole camera by the monopod OUT of the belt holder and, using my arms as "shock absorbers" get a pretty smooth moving image. But, no, I would not consider that equal to a true steadicam either.

Each tool has plusses and minuses and no tool works for every possible application in film making. That includes the type of camera used to capture an image...and sound.

Brock,

Have you received your recorder and mic? How do you like the results compared to your previous solution?

Hopefully, the results are good. :)

Brock,

Have you received your recorder and mic? How do you like the results compared to your previous solution?

Hopefully, the results are good. :)

I got everything and am very happy with the results so far. I am still getting used to syncing audio and video up and post, but that will come with experience. I appreciate all the advice you all gave for this. It meant a lot. I'm sure I will be asking a lot more questions soon!

Excellent! Glad to hear that the advice and general information was helpful.

Regarding syncing, I always do it by hand. One tip is to look at the waveforms to get things close, especially looking at strong peaks. "P", "T", "K" and other hard consonants are especially good for visual alignment. For the final check, I mix in a bit of the camera sound and listen for phasing or delays. If you hear a discrete echo, it's not close enough. If it's a strongly filtered or phased sound, you can do a bit better. If the phase sound is subtle, that's good enough. If there is no phase sound, there are two possibilities: 1) you absolutely nailed it and should buy a lottery ticket, or b) you didn't actually mix the external and camera audio. :)

Enjoy!

Great advice! Thanks!