On 15/1/14, Paul Stenquist, discombobulated, unleashed: >There were hundreds of videographers at the auto show shooting for >websites, television stations and the vehicle manufacturers. This guy >was getting ready to shoot the Cadillac ATS Coupe introduction. I was >seated nearby so I snapped his picture. I believe these cameras are >pretty darn pricey. I'm guessing those are battery packs to the rear, >but they also seem to serve as counterweights. I like the over-the- >shoulders rig with handlebars up front. Nifty, I think. Cotty will tell >us if it's truly nifty. > >http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=17654100&size=lg
The only reason these things are being used is because of the single large sensor. Think 'minimal depth of field'. It's in vogue at the moment. I give it five more years and then it'll fall out of fashion again. Yup batteries on the back positioned there as counterweight. That looks like an L IS 70-200/2.8 so limited zoom range, but then again this is not a general purpose rig. No good for wide shots in a hurry as he'd have to put that leviathan down and root for the 16-35. Doubtless another of his production will be positioned getting wide shots. Could be in-house production for the show itself. A news crew would never shoot with this setup. In video terms we refer to lenses by their zoom range ratio. The lens I use is a 6X13. That means it is 6mm at the wide end and has a ratio of 13-to-1. Hence 6 times 13 gives you 78mm which is what the focal length is at the long end. Plus I have a 2X extender built in which doubles the effective range to 12mm through to 156mm. This is a great news lens because it's relatively wide and yet can pop right in there for a tight shot in the distance. Need to be able to get the full range of shots in a short time, with one crew. Your man in the pic has wires and shit dangling everywhere. No good on news - need everything tidy and accounted for, heavy duty for repeated usage. And a good rain cover (built in to my camera cover) as rain doesn't slow me down. So is it nifty? Yes for him and his director. Not for me tho! Which reminds me that I was asked the other day about if i would ever like to film a drama and I said that it wasn't that simple. People work through knowing other people they work with and are comfortable with. I could no more pop over and start shooting drama than a drama cam op could slide in and start shooting news. We'd both fail miserably on our first day! And the drama director / news producer wouldn't trust us point blank. The drama cam op might shoot 3 or 4 minutes of footage in a day. I shoot 2 or 3 packages of about 25 mins each a day. Each location shoot I get anywhere from 30 mins to 90 mins max. I have to be able to blag my way into a house or an office to get a vantage point. We are as different as chalk and cheese. I could possibly switch over to a documentary shoot, but in truth I wouldn't enjoy it. Suddenly I go from working with one other person to a crew of 6. So I can't pop off to the bank when I like. Similarly, the job is done when the news story concludes. That might not be til midnight, while the drama guy is looking at his watch at 7pm thinking 'the pub is open' ! After 25 years I've still got the best job in the world, short of being a chair at the Moulin Rouge. Cheers! -- Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ Broadcast, Corporate, || (O) | Web Video Production ---------- <www.seeingeye.tv> _____________________________ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
