First dslr only event at DVinfo.net

Noa Put · November 30th, 2013, 03:53 PM

As some might know that beside taking my dslr's with me on a shoot I also never leave home without my trusty Sony cx730 handicams, I use them mainly for covering static events like ceremonies, danceperformances etc where I can leave them on a tripod and they are great performers, beginning this week I covered a business event where I decided to leave the handicams at home and make it a large sensor only shoot.

I took my panny gh3, g6 and sony nex-ea50 (which I sold today!) with me, the sony was only used to shoot the presentations on a stage as I needed xlr connectors for 2 audio feeds I got to record the speeches. The Sony was equipped with the stock zoom lens which struggled with the lower light on the stage, I left it at 1600 iso but the f-stop went to 6.3 more then I wanted when I zoomed in. I also used the Sony for the handheld interviews at the end, all the rest is Panasonic footage.

Light conditions where awefull, they used a combo of powerfull yellow and blue led spotlights in the side and back and a white light on front, if there where 2 speakers on stage, one often would cast a shadow on the other and depending on their position I had different color which could be more blue or more yellow. They also changed the light intensity halfway the presentations on stage as the first part was quite dark so I do have 2 different exposures. On top of that the led lights in the venue whereof the cheaper type giving me horizontal stripes which I couldn't get rid off. So whitebalancing was a nightmare and on stage I just left it on auto.

At the end it worked out good enough considering the circumstances, I thought I'd share it and if anyone has any questions, shoot :) it's currently password protected but password will be taken off soon.

password: sca

James Manford · November 30th, 2013, 05:40 PM

I liked it, the Sony footage and Panasonic footage matches really well, couldn't tell the difference. A bit surprised the EA50 is now gone though!

How would you rate shooting a business event in terms of difficulty ? I've never done one before other than weddings, but a family friend who owns an events venue will be hosting an award ceremony and he's asked if I wanted to shoot it for experience. It's next year in March.

I want to do a really good job. I don't have any specific requirements so i'm free to film it as I wish. Any tips for a first timer ? They will have speakers on podiums.

I want to create a short trailer like you have for use in my portfolio but also provide a long form.

Noa Put · December 1st, 2013, 05:01 AM

Quote:

A bit surprised the EA50 is now gone though!

I"m surprised too :) Wasn't planning on selling but was contacted by someone tha's active on this forum and lives about an hour drive from my place as he wanted to buy a new ea50 and he had some questions about the camera and I just offered my camera :)

I have been shooting with it for 11 months now and even though it's a great and very versatile camera it was not the camera for me. For the business event shoot I did it's a perfect camera, I had 2 live audio feeds running to the camera through xlr so I could record the speeches and control the sound levels very accurately and I was able to shoot the interviews with the 24mm f1.5 Samyang lens handheld with a big videolight on top and that without too much shake. The thing is, I maybe do 2 events like this per year and to hold on to the ea50 just for that is not the intention. I took it with me to most of the weddings I did this year but started to use my smaller dslr's more at the end of the year, I got really tired dragging that large thing around all day, my micro four third camera and lenses are so small and light I can easily fit quite a few lenses and 2 bodies in a backpack and move quickly from one to the other location.

Anyways, about shooting an event like I posted here, for me they are much easier then shooting a wedding, I was there from 11 in the morning until 11 at night and I have to make a 6-7 minute and 2 minute highlight video which will be used on the organizers website but some images will be used on the local tv to promote the event. During the presentations in the cinemahall (with the large screen) I leave one camera fixed on a tripod that records the entire event including the audio this was the ea50 equipped with the stocklens , for each speaker I shoot a closeup, a medium wide shot and a wide shot and then I lock the camera in that position and take my slider which had the panasonic g6 on it with either a 14mm f2.5, a 7,5mm samyang fisheye or a panasonic leica 25mm f1.4).

With the slider I just walk around making a few sliding shots from the side or back, I also have my steadicam (blackbird) with the gh3 and the 12-35mm f2.8 lens on it which is in standby on teh side of that hall to take some quick shots.

This I repeat for every speaker that comes to present his project, when they present the actual awards I shoot it all from the ea50 on the tripod as they announce the winners one by one so I can't move around anymore.

During reception it's the steadicam with the gh3/12-35mm lens and the ea50 with a 85mm f1.4 on a tripod for talking heads,( I sold the ea50 and the 85mm but will be getting a Olympus 75mm f1.8 instead to use with the pannny g6). I shoot as many details as possible in the venue (like you would do at a wedding) on the tripod, slider or steadicam so I can choose afterwards in post.

At the end of the wedding we shoot some run and gun interviews, I connect a xlr cable and mike to the camera (I prefer a direct connection to prevent any interference in sound which can happen with a wireless system) and then shoot handheld.

Good sound is key and I have been using my tascam dr40 as well with good result, I only need to find a camera now that can replace my ea50 for these type of events and that I can use much more during the year when I do weddings and suddenly the sony rx10 is back on my radar. The ea50 had the stocklens on as I needed to zoom to reframe quite often but it was struggling hard, when I zoomed in and even not so much the f-stop went quickly to f6.3 and I didn't want to go higher then 1600 iso, I was also using the pp3 preset which helps a lot in dark environments but it also introduces more noise which I had to clean up with the good but timeconsuming neatvideo.

I was hoping the rx10 would do better with it's constant f2.8, I might couple it with a ninja 2 and the sony xlr module, I have to think about it a bit more but need to decide this month as I need to make some business investments before the years end to assure the government gets less of my taxmoney and I get more gear to play with. :)

James Manford · December 1st, 2013, 04:33 PM

That response covered more than I asked for - thank you!

November 30th, 2013, 03:53 PM	#1
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	First dslr only event As some might know that beside taking my dslr's with me on a shoot I also never leave home without my trusty Sony cx730 handicams, I use them mainly for covering static events like ceremonies, danceperformances etc where I can leave them on a tripod and they are great performers, beginning this week I covered a business event where I decided to leave the handicams at home and make it a large sensor only shoot. I took my panny gh3, g6 and sony nex-ea50 (which I sold today!) with me, the sony was only used to shoot the presentations on a stage as I needed xlr connectors for 2 audio feeds I got to record the speeches. The Sony was equipped with the stock zoom lens which struggled with the lower light on the stage, I left it at 1600 iso but the f-stop went to 6.3 more then I wanted when I zoomed in. I also used the Sony for the handheld interviews at the end, all the rest is Panasonic footage. Light conditions where awefull, they used a combo of powerfull yellow and blue led spotlights in the side and back and a white light on front, if there where 2 speakers on stage, one often would cast a shadow on the other and depending on their position I had different color which could be more blue or more yellow. They also changed the light intensity halfway the presentations on stage as the first part was quite dark so I do have 2 different exposures. On top of that the led lights in the venue whereof the cheaper type giving me horizontal stripes which I couldn't get rid off. So whitebalancing was a nightmare and on stage I just left it on auto. At the end it worked out good enough considering the circumstances, I thought I'd share it and if anyone has any questions, shoot :) it's currently password protected but password will be taken off soon. Private Video on Vimeo password: sca

November 30th, 2013, 05:40 PM	#2
James Manford Trustee Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: London, UK Posts: 1,393	Re: First dslr only event I liked it, the Sony footage and Panasonic footage matches really well, couldn't tell the difference. A bit surprised the EA50 is now gone though! How would you rate shooting a business event in terms of difficulty ? I've never done one before other than weddings, but a family friend who owns an events venue will be hosting an award ceremony and he's asked if I wanted to shoot it for experience. It's next year in March. I want to do a really good job. I don't have any specific requirements so i'm free to film it as I wish. Any tips for a first timer ? They will have speakers on podiums. I want to create a short trailer like you have for use in my portfolio but also provide a long form.

December 1st, 2013, 04:33 PM	#4
James Manford Trustee Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: London, UK Posts: 1,393	Re: First dslr only event That response covered more than I asked for - thank you!