Tag Archives: sony fs7

cameras

who’s the chump?

On Friday I was working a VIP Super Bowl party for Rolling Stone magazine. I’m stationed on the RED carpet with other press (video and photography and VR). Next to me is this guy that I overhear is working for the PR firm. They ask him if he is shooting video with that (gesture to iPhone on osmo mobile gimbal). He says yes, it is 4K. Later there was some confusing about whether he got an interview of someone that they could use. He wasn’t using any microphones, just the iPhone.

So I’m there hired by Rolling Stone through a production company to basically do the same thing. Film b-roll and grab a few interviews with our guy. I’m using a fully loaded Sony Fs7 with an Easyrig. And we’re not shooting in 4K because it is all going to web and social. I bet his back wasn’t feeling it later.

cameras

Alexa mini – a camera every week

I didn’t expect Arriflex to jump on the square-box-camera wagon after the Amira. But today’s announcement of the Alexa “mini” is just that. All that you would expect from Arri in a refined little package for less money.

It really is curious what RED has hinted at with the peak at their new “Weapon“. Perhaps it is the dragon sensor in a more refined body than the EPIC. Maybe RED truly is the innovator they claim to be with ARRI making the Alexa fit into the EPIC mold (body style at least).

Also the C300 mk2 has the internet a buzz as well. Will Canon bring a competitor to the Sony Fs7 or just more of the same and tell the customers it is better? We will see if they can keep it under wraps until NAB or just start announcing early.

cameras, cinematography, lenses

Sony Fs7 first shoot

So I had the opportunity to rent and use the Sony Fs7 last week. I expected to like this camera, had one on order but postponed until some more work comes along. This outing was straight forward vox pop style interviews. I encouraged the producer to go with it so they could easily cut into the 4K image without a loss in resolution.

The camera really is well laid out and easy to jump into using (for someone that has used dozens of cameras). The number one thing that myself and any other user is going to need to spend some time with is the the CINE settings. Shooting in Slog with LUTs can be confusing and an extra step in the process for post. Make sure that you and your post pipeline are familiar with this and do some testing. For this project we went with a fairly flat “Alexa” style LUT and baked it in by selecting that the LUT be applied to internal recording.

If you are planning on filming long interviews I would recommend that you get the 128 GB cards. Shooting at 4K chewed through the 3 64GB card I had in no time or 32 minutes each. If you are downloading cards on set the reader is USB3 so make sure you bring a computer with this connection speed or you’ll be waiting a while.

I was using the camera with the Metabones Ultra lens adaptor. This worked great with my Canon Full frame glass. I really appreciated having the built in ND filters on the camera rather than messing with screw in filters on the lens.

I didn’t get to take advantage of the slow motion features too much on this project, but did run through it in my prep for the shoot. Like the Fs700 it has the capability to do slow motion in 1080. But unlike the Fs700 this camera can run at 180 FPS continuously.

I look forward to taking the camera out again on the next shoot.

sony fs7

general, videos

End of the Year

Goodbye 2014.

It has been a busy and productive year for Little Tree Films and myself. We worked on some fun projects for Shriners Hospitals for Children – Twin Cities and shot a couple of weddings and did a spot for Edgewood. I worked on a project that took me to Pittsburgh and Phoenix in the same week. I also shot for Victory motorcycles in the legendary Bonneville Salt Flats. I did some more work for Best Buy with my friends at 1 Light Films. I finished out the year filming a performance of the Nutcracker done in Burlesque.

Next year we hope to expand the business and work on more fantastic projects. Hopefully we’ll see a HELIX and Sony Fs7 join the stable of gear. And we look forward to the cool toys that haven’t come out yet. See you next year.