EXPERIENCE SHOOTING ON:

SONY FS7: F5; F55; FX6; FX9.

Just about anything really if I can get my hands on it for a few hours before the shoot!

Current Gear:

  • Panasonic GH5s camera

  • Panasonic DVX 200 camera

  • HD Monitor SMALL HD monitor for focus assist and color accuracy.

  • Pilotfly H2 3 axis stabilising gimbal

  • Mavic Air Drone

  • 1 x Kino Flo Diva 400 dual color lighting fixture

  • 3 x dedo 150 Watt head focus/dimmable lighting kit

  • 2 x IKAN LED dual color highly portable battery powered lights (IB 1000, IB 500, Dual Color.)

  • 1 x Arri 300 watt fresnel lamp

  • 1 x Ianiro 300 watt open faced dimmable lamp

  • 1x Arri redhead with speedring and large chimera

  • California Sunbounce high tensile reflector

  • 1 x large lastolite diffuser

  • 2 x Matthews C stands

  • Lowrider camera mount bag

  • Sticks:
    Vinten Vision 100: Heavy cameras
    Vinten Vision 3: Small cams/DSLRs

  • Sound: Senheiser 416, Sony lapel mics, radio mics.

  • Camera car: Skoda Superb

DSLR’s have stolen considerable market share from some of the industries biggest camera manufacturers as programmers source more cost effective cameras. I am not yet fully convinced, DSLRS do require a large host of fiddly camera ‘add ons’ just to be able to shoot effectively. I currently have a Panasonic GH5s rig which is great on the right kind of shoots and a nightmare on the wrong shoot!

Most DSLR cameras are capable of shooting excellent images and really the main attraction is the shallow depth of field. High frame rates and high resolutions also help a lot for slow motion sequences. Essentially you have to know what shooting situations a DSLR is well suited to… and what situations it is not!!  “Run and gun” situations where things happen very fast can be very challenging to capture well.

Although the DSLR cameras do give wonderful pictures because of the shallow depth of field, there is a potential “too much out of focus” issue. The best results come from a DSLR using a ‘’film shoot’’ sort of style where the action is more directed and blocked out beforehand. The “run and gun” type DSLR shoot is normally a potential disaster in the wrong hands.