Buying advice on rig + sound for D800E

[andreasv]

Hello guys/girls.

I'm looking to invest in a smaller rig mostly for tripod and controlled shots on slider, but also be able to take it of
the tripod and do some "hand holded" shots for shorter periods of times.
I want to create shorter commercial promotion videos, no big projects.

My budget is not enormous, but I don't want to invest in budget products, I want to be able to continue building on
the rig.

For those who have not read my introduction post in "welcome" section, I'm currently work professionally with
still photography/retouch so film is new to me. I've done research but i'm still a beginner.

Would like to have opinions from people who have worked professionally with film and know what works in the
long run, no offense people. Thank's!

Gear
- Camera: d800E with grip (I own this already)
- 2x 2800 mah batteries + 2 stock nikon d800 batteries

- Zacuto sniper (http://www.pinjong.se/media/184360/Z-DSLR-SNP_1.jpg)
- Extra rod + counter weight to place behind shoulderpad
- zqhip 16" extender for FF

- Marshal 6.5" monitor HDMI
- Battery + adapter for monitor
- Manfrotto microball hotshoe mount for monitor

- Cowboy Studio fc270a tripod (I own this already)

- RODE NTG2 Mic with zeppelin + boom 3,2m
- Zoom h4n
- AKG K271 MK2 Studiomonitor headphones

- Kanova slider k2 with motor
- ND filters, no mattebox

- HDMI cabels
- XLR cabel for mic/h4n
- Clapper


Questions
- Do you believe that I initially need follow focus, or is it better to save the extra money on my small budget?
- Do you have any general opinions about the setup of rig or sound?

Thank you for your opinion.
Regards
Andreas

 

[treynolds]

I have gone back and forth on the Follow Focus debate personally. At first I didn't know much about shooting with a DSLR and I thought i NEEDED a FF. I got this one here and it worked OK. It had a bit of trouble with the height because i used a grip and with thin lens gears that i liked to just leave on my lenses it didn't always reach. This led to me having to modify my rail set up to accommodate that problem. I then started to get REALLY annoyed with the backlash (read: wiggle) in the gear on the FF. Any time i started a focus pull it would shake the rig. I made a mistake and didn't invest enough in a tripod so that little wiggle went a long way. I abandoned that FF after a while and went to an iDC friction based model. no backlash now. But this model was the older system zero that is now discontinued and had a hard mounted loupe that was a Hoodman job. The Loupe was trash and made the whole thing a pain in the ass. The other problem i found was that the friction based wheel had a tendency to slide on some of my older Lieca lenses that were rather heavy to turn. This made pulling focus yet again a nightmare. I eventually dumped them both and just use the old fingers on it. Sometimes with a slow pull is very critical and im completely locked off i use a long piece of tape around the lens barrel with two long ends that I pull.

At this point i am very interested in the Hondo Garage follow focus. http://www.hondogarage.com/index.php/product/landing/follow-focus
No backlack because its direct drive. Friction and gear based set ups. Only uses 1 rod so i can have a handle in its spot on the other side. Simple to repair and pretty solid form early reports. Built in a way that with a grip and my rails below camera i shouldn't need to raise it up at all to reach the lens. All for pretty damn cheap.

 

[Throwback]

Soundwise it's well known that you will struggle with the (low output) NTG2 into the poor preamps of a zoom H4n: the audio pages here have a lot of advice, but this boils down to getting a higher output shotgun (like the much better NTG3) or better preamp (either in a comparable recorder with lower self noise such as the Tascam DR100 mkii; via a standalone preamp or mixer, such as the Sound Devices MM1 or MixPre-D, which can feed any recorder [although the H4n, unlike many alternatives, suffers as it has no professional +4db line-level input]; or as a combined external recorder with mixer, such as the Fostex DCR302 or, cheaper, the new Tascam DR60). You might also want to broaden your mic selection, as shotgun mics can be problematic near reflective surfaces (typically interiors - e.g. comb filtering from a low ceiling or nearby wall), so a hypercardioid often helps when booming inside. Cheers, Roland