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Confessions of a VDSLR Shopaholic
  • 131 Replies sorted by
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    @stonebat

    In this case it is not shopaholics party. It is some fairy tales party :-)
  • stoneystoney
    More like a drinking kool-aid rehab center. Whenever a member expresses his desire to buy a new gear, others would say, "Don't do it man. Get a grip. Calm down and let me show you how to use built-in EVF." Sorta group therapy.
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    >More like a drinking kool-aid rehab center.

    This things are made to drink regularly and feel better about yourself.
  • stoneystoney
    Exactly. Then one day I will appear with a monster rig!!!! Supersize!!!!

    In fact I need a heavy duty WF717 tripod.
  • stoneystoney
    @CobyD Most of the time my Dual Pre is connected to a laptop. Recording directly to a laptop sounded a way better. No AGC. $50. No complaint.

    I'd use something else like H4n on a shoulder rig to do dual system recording.
  • sfbay_jonsfbay_jon
    @ Rambo
    I live in SF. Do you need a grip? (no charge)
  • brianlucebrianluce
    Create my own blog site. Start talking about HD & gears stuffs. Become famous. Go to Hollywood. Date Megan Fox....

    Marry Megan Fox
    Start torrid affair with Olivia of Oliviatech because Megan doesn't understand you.
    Tabloids publish lewd photo of you and Olivia in trashy motel room with various DLSR gear spread across bed. Megan divorces you. Olivia leaves you for Brad Pitt. Wind up penniless on skid row. Hollywood calls you to star in reality show about your life. Enter DSLR 12 step program.
  • sfbay_jonsfbay_jon
    @ Stonebat
    If others' buying makes you feel good is that Kaufenfreude?
  • last_SHIFTlast_SHIFT
    Well I just got laid off - so no new gear for me - I guess I should start learning how to shoot :-)
  • stoneystoney
    @sfbay_jon Who?

    @last_SHIFT I hope you are joking cuz that doesn't sound funny.
  • RobertoRoberto
    YDNIY = "You Don't Need It Yet"
    YAGNI = "You Ain't Gonna Need It"
    (From programming theory)
  • last_SHIFTlast_SHIFT
    @stonebat

    Unfortunately not a joke but staying positive :)
  • TommiHTommiH
    My two cents: The best footage I've ever captured was with a GoPro 1080p. You know, measured with the shivers that you get when you realize you captured something good. :)
  • brianlucebrianluce
    @TommiH
    Best I ever got was handheld with a TRV900. Happened to be at the right place at the right time.
  • Mark_the_HarpMark_the_Harp
    @brianluce +1 The TRV900 is a wonderful camera. I still have one and use it for live multicamera streaming as it has firewire output. I don't use it now for recorded video as Standard Def seems so last century (live, it's fine). 3 CCD, great colours, not great in low light but a wonderful camera. I still have my anamorphic lens to use with it.

    On the topic of being a "shopaholic", any camera is good if it's there when you need it and you're not so precious about it that you won't take it out. I went to a fairground and took some "good enough" photos / vids the other day, but I wouldn't have risked the GH2 (and glad I didn't, thanks to one scary ride where I was barely able to hold on to the camera I took). This is where it all boils down to why you're doing video. Sometimes less is more!

    I think a "serious" camera is a bit different - assuming you're using it not just as a hobby - because whatever you buy should at least earn its cost back in revenue. And you have to factor in 2, 3 or 4 or more times the cost of that camera to spend on mics / lighting / reflectors / pelicases / stabilizers / tripods etc. The good thing about spending serious money on peripherals is that they tend not to date as quickly as cameras do, plus you can usually add to your collection as you need it.

    Shit...just realized I have 7 video cameras in various states of usability. I too have felt guilty about buying gear. I've even invented justifications like "I'll sell it again after using it for this specific project". Oh god, time to join that 12-step program.
  • RobertoRoberto
    I try to consider digital camera more and more like a consumable, not kit. Our government does the same, letting us write-off the full cost at purchase date. The "depreciation schedules" must have just got ridiculously unpredictable for the tax-man: "What, zero-value already?"
    Accordingly, I try to make electronic stuff pay for itself in its first job. Then I don't feel so bad seeing it gathering dust. But tripods, lenses, reflectors? Still earning their keep after many years of service!
    Of course, we're all buying more kit because we've suddenly got cheap Chinese labour. Once our shelves are full, this will end like it did with all our kitchen appliances.
    Thanks for the brilliant satire, Stonebat.
  • last_SHIFTlast_SHIFT
    Hold on now - we've always had 'cheap Chinese labor'. Just that now they are bridging the quality gap AND 'made in usa' are just pricing themselves out of the casual user/DIY/filmmaker on a budget demographic. I just got the Wondlan Sniper 1.3 'aka' Zacuto Striker kock off - and you know what it's a damn good tool - 25% less than the Zacuto but pretty damn near the quality. Sure the knobs can turn smoother or the rods can be finished nicer - but that has no effect on the final output. Look at all these awesome deals Vitaliy has arranged with TrustMT and Cinematics - fucking amazing. In the end, its the same lesson - if you need to spend money - invest in good glass, that will get you much further than overpriced rods and knobs.
  • RobertoRoberto
    Hold on with our "hold on" talk..
    Australian English does not refer to items as "cheap" meaning "poor quality" as Americans do! The labour (labor) is cheap and the cheap (inexpensive) goods are as well-built as any dear (expensive) kit we've seen!
  • Mark_the_HarpMark_the_Harp
    @Roberto ...and English English!
  • stoneystoney
    If I can start all over again...

    I would readsome books about lighting and color. Then I would use existing gears to take video. No HD? Fine. No 1080p? Fine. No 24p? Fine. iPhone, old compact camera, or whatever. Just take some video. Import into editing tool. Learn how to edit first (e.g. Premiere Pro CS5, Avid). Learn how to apply color correction (e.g. MBL, Colorista II). Try various effects (e.g. AE CS5). Try all necessary plug-ins. No need to buy any of them. Use trial versions. Trial expired? Reinstall OS. Try again. 60 days should be enough to learn basic stuff. Also use a laptop's built-in audio recorder to record audio and try to edit it.

    While learning the softwares, start looking for "cheap" vdslr deals. e.g. GH1. Usually good idea to get a cheap zoom kit lens. Panasonic or Canon or whatever. Also cheap MF old lenses from ebay. Just a couple of lenses good enough to start. Normal and short telephoto FOV will do it. e.g. 24mm and 50mm lenses for 2x crop system. Just learning a body takes... a while. Try to get decent footages with the basic gears and make sure to edit nicely.

    That might take months. 3 months... tight. 6 months... maybe. Possibly a year. Total cost so far is $1K + software. To bring down the cost of software... FCPX or something like student discount.

    Then buy a tripod and a shoulder rig. Try to get good footages with new gears. Then Sound? FF? MB? Filters? Cage? Sound? Lighting? It depends. One at a time. Each time try to improve footages. Actually there seems no order. Sometimes cage first. Sometimes audio gear first. Sometimes cage and shoulder rig at the same time. At the end I gotta have a working set of gears.

    When everything is ready, start advertising and moonlighting. As I'm making money, start upgrading a body and getting better lenses. And stop feeling guilty about spending :)
  • RobertoRoberto
    @Mark_the_Harp .. Hear! Hear!
    @stonebat ... That's GFC V.2.0 survival talk! I like it!
  • last_SHIFTlast_SHIFT
    If I could start over again - I would have started this 20 years ago :-)
  • stoneystoney
    I know a guy who does amazing work at almost everything he touches. Yes he does only one thing at a time.

    He repeats this quote to himself over and over: “Do it until it becomes boring, then keep doing it until it becomes beautiful.”
  • Mark_the_HarpMark_the_Harp
    @stonebat Lots of wisdom there! Also I love your fantastic last quote: "Do it until it becomes boring, then keep doing it until it becomes beautiful". That applies hugely in music too - if I've rehearsed so it's boring to me, chances are I've just about got to the point where I can be inspired to make it beautiful for a live audience. There's a similar but not identical quote around this same subject of expertise: "Amateurs practise until they get it right; professionals practise until they don't get it wrong".

    I think one of the hardest (for me) challenges in doing video work is in knowing what will work in editing, and what can't be rescued and needs to be redone (and having the guts to ask for it to be redone when everyone's under time pressure or getting tired).

    From another life, spent doing broadcast audio work for many years, you definitely learn that it's easier to get it right at the time than to try to rescue it afterwards. And with experience, you get to know exactly what to ask your colleagues / the "talent" for, to make it right. If that makes sense!

    Anyway, yes, it's not (totally) about the gear. My own pet hobby-horse is that the best gear won't make you better, it will give you the possibility of better.
  • last_SHIFTlast_SHIFT
    This all reminds me of these countless threads we have on forums....'How do I get a cinematic look?'

    Have a cinematic mind - in other words...have a story to tell!
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