pro stills transitioning to video. panic mode w/ first event-d780-15-30 g1 vc 2.8

[rocketman122]

I am a stills photog slowly transitioning to video. in my country, since covid, many have left and there is a demand for videographers.

using d780- having a HUGE issue with tamron 15-30 2.8 lens. I have only ever shot video in 1 event, ever. was not paid. it was last week. it was a bar mitzvah. so, first time using my gimbal (weebill S) . something happened that had me panic badly. shooting on the gimbal it would just cut out and stop recording.

I checked at home the next day. at first I just put it on the gimbal, pressed record/stop multiple times and I was perplexed what it can be. it didnt cut out. would let it FAF (full af), so then put my hand close to the lens till it focused, then moved it away to let it focus on background. did this a few times and it cut out. I was able to recreate the issue. screen went black and it posted "recording interrupted" on it and closed live view. now what? I tried my other lenses. 40mm art 1.4, tried 85 1.8g both good.

I thought it may have been the gimbal causing the issue with the cable connected to the camera. I took the connection cable out and it kept doing this. it kept cutting out after a few times. I configured the AF and sensitivity lower in the menu, then tested over and over, it would cut out, so then again, kept lowering the settings, till I was at the lowest setting. it kept cutting when it would focus back and forth on something close to something far, specifically, when I took my hand away. so when it went from close focus to far.

im not planning to shoot as a paid video guy anytime soon, because I want to make sure im at a good level and feel I know what im doing. so only plan to get into it, next year. till then, learn, practice research and hone down my skills. so I just join my friend as a video help. shooting from monopod candid or gimbal on the dance floor. but right now, im not sure what to do. maybe the AF speed is too snappy for the camera to keep up. it does have good af speed that lens.

what Im thinking of doing, is first contacting the importer of tamron lenses here in my country and explain my issue. ask him if theres a place I could test another 15-30. be it the g1 or g2. for stills, the lens is phenomenal. and im guessing this duo dont work well together. and if I need to get a new lens, im not sure which. options

-tokina 16-28 2.8
-sigma 20/24 art 1.4
-sigma art 24-35 f/2 but I lose wide angle-ness and its needed at times. 20mm or so.
-sigma 14-24 art 2.8

any insight help appreciated. cheers

[NorBro]

It's a long conversion and there's too much to cover - but, in short, only Sony and Canon (certain models, mostly the new ones) have great and reliable AI video AF; the rest of the companies aren't using it yet so you'd badly mess up your shoots if you relied on it continuously.

[rocketman122]

so how do people use older gear to shoot weddings? I even saw someone use a glidecam last month. how does one do proper focus if there isnt F-af? I mean, till now, they were shooting video in weddings so seems odd I need to get a sony or canon ? in fact, I saw a videographer who uses sony and doesnt even use a gimbal in a wedding. I shoot with many videographers as I am a veteran stills photog.

[NorBro]

How weddings are shot now compared to, say, the 80s has drastically evolved.

Today, they are like blockbuster, cinematic features with extremely high production values.

You can still use older gear or any gear to shoot a wedding but the overall concept about focus is simple; if you're using a big sensor with a fast lens that's wide open or close to it, you will not be able to constantly keep things in focus all day long without a machine or someone else (like a focus-puller) helping you. You will eventually miss something, perhaps a moment you wished you didn't (no matter how good you are).

If you use smaller chips or stop down lenses, or have multiple cameras, or use your cameras' tools to help you, you might be okay but you have to understand limitations.

Like if you're on a gimbal, it's even worse because you can't touch the camera, so you'll have no choice but to rely on the system or stop down or live with out-of-focus areas as you fly the camera around and people enter and exit your focus zone (if it's on the shallower side).

[rocketman122]

I saw that the nikon camera did ok. but it obviously has some issue with the lens. it racking focus from close up to far back and it triggered the camera to shut off and not sure why. I need to try another lens like mine to see if its the lens itself or the camera doesnt like something about the specific lens. it works fine with my other 2

not even that way back, but have only seen most move completely to gimbals in the last 5 years. before that, some used them, others didnt. I know one guy who doesnt have one. he uses a monopod and 5d3/4 on the dance floor. I dont even think those cameras have peaking. not certain. I saw this hipster video guy shoot almost all handheld. except for backup on a tripod.

I see people using c200 or fx5 cameras at times. how the hell do they shoot on the dance floor. no gimbal with those. some use panasonic s5 but doesnt it have bad LV F-AF ?

[NorBro]

Yeah, around 5 years, but I'd say probably really more like 6-7. Around 2015 I think a lot started changing (cameras were getting noticeably better for less money like the FS7 and Blackmagics, which started in 2012 but were accepted very slowly), gimbals/drones were flying off the shelves, YouTubers were everywhere.

By 2018, it was a new production and post-production world and the next talent generation pretty much took over.

I was in the generation before that, which took over around 2010 with DSLRs for video (of course not everywhere, but that was a monumental movement).

People do really great things without gimbals so you don't need to use them, but they just add some more [insert superlative here] to the footage, especially with shallow DOF and when the camera is beautifully tracking the faces while everyone is moving.

As far as no image stabilization, you can use lenses with IS, or a monopod on a dance floor is very common and works extremely well, and there's also post stabilization which can be job-saving (but with consequences depending on the footage).

The Panasonics do have bad AF but if people are using only a few seconds here and there from slow-motion then they might be getting a lot of usable footage. And also keep in mind not everyone is seeing the focusing errors/twitches on YouTube (even the people creating the product).

[rocketman122]

HOLY COW!!! im so happy. was just doing more research. figured out the weebill s gimbal does follow focus on the lens. so i can promise myself good consistent focus.

wait, ill reply to your post, and thanks for the help, but im so psyched so passing it another friend who didnt know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCDbxHf_AKU

[Peter C.]

moved

[Imamacuser]

If your camera stops recording, that would lead me to assume that the memory card doesn't have a fast enough continuous write speed. I have a Nikon D7000, and it continues recording when using AF, even when I'm using D-series lenses from the 90s that hunt like crazy to find focus.

Because Nikon's contrast bases AF is so bad, it best to use manual focus or a single AF point that holds it's focus until you half press the shutter.

[ahalpert]

If your camera stops recording, that would lead me to assume that the memory card doesn't have a fast enough continuous write speed. I have a Nikon D7000, and it continues recording when using AF, even when I'm using D-series lenses from the 90s that hunt like crazy to find focus.

Because Nikon's contrast bases AF is so bad, it best to use manual focus or a single AF point that holds it's focus until you half press the shutter.

I concur. I would try the recording with a lower-bitrate codec and also with a faster SD card if you have one. It seems likely that you may just need faster SD cards. You can probably find out the minimum required SD card standard for the video format you're shooting by looking in your camera manual

Re: shooting weddings with older gear - if you're good enough, you can do anything. Sure, gear matters. But not as much as operator skill and creativity. There's more than one way to skin a cat. I used to shoot weddings with zooms, now I shoot them with primes. I miss some framings that I could have gotten on a zoom. But all the footage looks better. It's a trade-off. I use gimbals. They're extremely useful. But you have better control over camera panning with a fluid head tripod, especially on a long lens. It's a trade-off. Do what works for you. Practice practice practice. And never stop refining your technique. The single biggest piece of advice I could give any wedding cameraman is that you should review your footage after every shoot. See what worked and what didn't work, what looks good and what doesn't, and learn from that. I used to focus on trying to shoot weddings the way other people shoot them, but now I focus on trying to shoot them better. Most people are lazy idiots and I wouldn't take anyone's word for anything if I were you, including myself

[rocketman122]

ok, so updating this.

the camera works fine in mf mode with the same problematic tamron 15-30 lens. the camera has issues. it has memory card slot issues. my cards are new uhs2 for this camera. so not the cards. has many errors. screen brightness for settings is bright. for iso or WB its gray and flat. it at times is showing f/0. the camera doesnt recognize the lens then after 2-3 seconds goes back to normal

https://postimg.cc/gallery/PtvH8WD

it has warranty. they sent it to the usa. will take 2 months to repair. bummer. got a replacement camera from them for shooting weddings.

im now in transition to get a sony for video. a7riii as a starter camera. part for stills and part for video. many things about it that I like more then choosing the a7iii. budget is tight. I think for gimbal work and full af, the sony is better. but the d780 does pretty good too. but the damn weight on a gimbal..sheesh.

[rocketman122]

just updating this. camera came back and they found nothing. from a few people I spoke to, they may think the lens needs a firmware update.

it does the same issue on another d780 and not 2 other d750 or d3s camera. it costs aprx $120 for that