Filming snowboard competition - accessories?

S

sheeley

Active member
Hi, I've been reading the forums for a while, and they've proven to be a great resource. I'm planning on purchasing a DVX100B in the very near future, and along with that will obviously be getting some batteries and filters, obvious simple things, and a wide angle lens. Can anybody recommend other equipment I should be aware of? And I've been reading about EVS - they seem to be pretty popular on here, are there other vendors worth looking at or that have discounts?
Thanks!
 
.6 century wide angle a descent tripod and a couple batteries and you are good to go! A nice boarding backpack to throw it all in is a plus also. Burton makes a good pack.
 
I think a good rain cover would be essential when filming in wet climates like snow. Also, a UV filter to protect your lens. I worked with a DVX over the weekend that had a follow focus ring, very useful if you're doing manual focus, especially if you're filming snowboarding. Not essential, but very useful.
 
On the topic of snowboarding packs designed for photogs, I owned a Dakine Sequence and found it really small for video stuff, I wouldn't recomend it for carrying a video cam. Make sure and carry a rain cover, as well as some clear plastic bags. I will say it now, and until I die as well.....carry gaffers tape! If there's one thing I never leave on a shoot without, its gaff tape. This stuff has saved my ass before and it's really handy. Deffinetly get a good quality polarizer (B+W makes the best) and an ND grad (also get B+W). You'll pay a little more, but the quality is worth it. Depending on how much you plan to use your LCD, one of those LCD hoods could be handy too....Bogen makes excellent tripods for people who need to travel light, yet still have good equipment. I use Bogen 755 legs with a 503 head. I highly recommend this for anyone who has to carry their tripod on their back. Only thing I could recommend over this is maybe a set of carbon fiber sticks if you have the money, but that's just mainly to save weight. A Chamois eyepad, such as the ones available from filmtools.com are also invaluable, especially when filming snowboarding. They help seal unwanted light out of your viewfinder, and also make it a little more comfortable to put your face on, as opposed to plain ol' rubber....I also always carry with me a leatherman tool, handy for just about anything. A follow focus isn't really necessary, unless you REALLY need it. It will just add unwanted bulk and weight to your camera, not to mention it may get damaged- put your money elsewhere. A good pair of thin gloves is also good to have, such as the glove liners from Manzella, they have grippy dots on the fingers and palms and keep your hands nice and toasty, yet still offer enough dexterity to operate most things on cam. Hope this helps!
 
Thanks guys! I'm curious...a polarizer in addition to a UV filter? And what is a ND grad? I'm fairly new to the filter thing. :D
 
sheeley said:
Thanks guys! I'm curious...a polarizer in addition to a UV filter? And what is a ND grad? I'm fairly new to the filter thing. :D
Click to expand...

Yeah I think a polarizer would be a great addition if you're shooting snowboarding, get those skies nice and blue. ND=Neutral Density filter which is, simply put, a dark peice of glass that helps get a proper exposure by limiting the amount of light being let into your lens. An ND Grad is a filter that fades from darker to transparent glass. It would be used, say, if the sky was properly exposed but the snow is too bright, you could put on the ND grad and keep your snow from overexposing. Also, I would reccommend the Ogio Ty Evans bag, it is awesome
 
Yeah, on another note, be really careful about stacking filters with a DVX....it will vignette (black in the corners of the image) So if you were to use your polarizer, take off your UV filter first. It would be good to do some tests to see how many filters you can have on before it vignettes.....Also, might be a good idea to have both types of ND filters on hand, because sometimes the in-cam ND's just aren't enough.....
 
Thanks so much for the info, guys! Hopefully I'll be purchasing by the end of the week?! Waiting to get an e-mail back from Rush... or should I just call them? Hehe I think my lack of patience will lead to a call being made tomorrow.
 
Hi Sheeley, please just try and call, my computer time is highly limited and I am better able to take calls.
 
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