buying new PMW-EX1R documentary rig, would appreciate input

R

rob macfarlane

New member
I'm assembling my gear list, and would appreciate ideas, comments, and alternate ideas.

The shooting is on the water from the boat (bright, direct and reflected sun), interior of the boat (small confined spaces), and on shore. The goal is to shoot for personal use, filming wildlife - typically whales, pinnipeds, shore birds, crustaceans - and some documentary use at sailing events. A long time ago I worked on small indie films variously as camerman, gaffer, and sound operator - so this is moving towards what would have been a good quality 16mm camera setup for a one-man-band. The gear would be purchased by December, so I have time to consider alternatives.

Comments and critique would be much appreciated!

camera
1. Sony PMW-EX1R
2. e-Films MxR Extreme Expresscard Adapter (2)
3. SanDisk 32GB Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-1 cards (4)
4. Tiffen 77mm circular polarizing filter
5. Tiffen 77mm thin UV filter/lens protector
6. Century Optics 0.6 WA adapter
7. Century Optics 0.45 fisheye adapter
8. Century Optics 1.6 telephone adapter
9. Sony BP-U60 54 watt battery
10. Swit EXL-96 96 watt battery

tripod
11. Miller Solo DV 2 stage carbon 75mm bowl with DS20 head
OR
Miller Solo DV 2 stage carbon 75mm bowl with Compass 12 head
12. Libec ZC-9EX zoom controller

sound
13. Sennheiser MKH-416 shotgun
14. 90 degree short XLR cable mic to camera
15. J-Rod super strong twin mic mount
16. KTek shock mount
17. Rycote softie

NLE editor
18. Avid Media Composer (I can purchase for $300 through university discount)
Dell Precision M4600 4 core machine (already own)
Dell U2410 IPS monitor (already own)

For a case, the gear will need to go into a Pelican case (or 2) given usage around water. Tripod will have to survive in a regular nylon bag.

Some questions I have: for pulling focus outdoors under sunlight, are people using the EVF, the swing-out LCD screen, putting a cover on the LCD, or something else? I really don't want to put a second monitor on the camera if I can avoid it. I also don't know if I want to put the camera on a shoulder mount, so I'm not planning to get one at this time (hand holding on the boat and tripod use on shore is what I'm anticipating).

Thanks much.
 
Just going through the same process setting up a kit for 'ob doc' work.

I've opted to go with a Pelican 1510, with padded dividers and lid organiser. The Ex1 with accessories in the 1510 is a super tight fit, but you can get these onboard aircraft, which is a big benefit to me. If you want something bigger and more comfortable then look at the 1600.

I decided to purchase 1 x Sony BP-U60 and 3 Sony BP-U30 batteries. I like the smallerBP-U30's because they keep the camera a bit lighter, which really helps for shooting long days filled with hand held observational stuff.

Just picked up the Century Optics 0.6 WA adapter new on ebay for $250, which is about $100 cheaper then I could find it anywhere else. They still have a few left - http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/220833507181?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

You may also want to add a good pair of headphones and set of radio mikes if you need to record voices at any point, especially on a boat where you may not be able to always get a mike close enough to your subject.

Good luck with it all.
 
Last edited:
Thanks much for your note, I've talked with a couple of professional cinematographers and as a result have changed out the head to a Sachtler FSB-8 on Sachtler's CF 75 legs - I was told this would be a proper fluid head and I'd be happier with it over the DV-20 head. Otherwise the gear is about right and I'm pricing it out through several contacts in the field. Hopefully the gear will be here by end of September and I can start working with it.

And good luck on your end, as well.
 
Thats an impressive list.

I am surprised you don't have a stabilizer of some sort, either shoulder or steadicam.

In your talks with Professional Camera guys why did they go against the Ds20 head (as this is what I have my eye on for a tripod head).

Good luck with it.
 
I have to mention something and please don't take this the wrong way.

Why are you buying such good equipment, then not buying SXS cards?

If your documentary work is truly as important to you as I believe it is...why are you risking losing footage by going a cheaper card route?

Take a moment to use the search function here. See how often these card adapters fail...no matter what "pro" marking may be one them...then ask yourself if you are really willing to risk losing once in a lifetime visual moments because you chose to save a little money now? Yes, SXS cards have been known to have issues too but no where near as often as the various adapters do.

I understand budget limitations. However you've put so much else into consideration, then scrimped on buying cards. I think that is a mistake.

Best of luck and please keep my advice in perspective. Not trying to beat up on you or be arrogant. Only making sure you really understand saving a little money now could cost you a lot in the future.
 
EIREHotspur said:
Thats an impressive list.

I am surprised you don't have a stabilizer of some sort, either shoulder or steadicam.

In your talks with Professional Camera guys why did they go against the Ds20 head (as this is what I have my eye on for a tripod head).

Good luck with it.
Click to expand...
Apparently the DS-20 is a fluid-effect head, and the FSB-8 is a fluid head. Huge difference between the two. I've used fluid-effect heads in the past, and fluid heads on some bigger projects where someone else was paying for equipment rentals - and the difference is night and day for pan/tilt movement.

For a stabilizer I'm going to start with just trying to shoulder-mount/hold the camera; I don't expect this to work very well. I've used the Kenyon gyro stabilizers and they are heavy (they have to be to work!) and use a fair bit of power - so I'm not going to purchase gyros. I'm thinking seriously about getting a steady cam mechanism that can be mounted to the boat (not me) that would stabilize the camera inertially. I will definitely be renting several different versions to see if anything works particularly well. Hopefully one of them does!
 
Lensmith said:
I have to mention something and please don't take this the wrong way.

Why are you buying such good equipment, then not buying SXS cards?

If your documentary work is truly as important to you as I believe it is...why are you risking losing footage by going a cheaper card route?

Take a moment to use the search function here. See how often these card adapters fail...no matter what "pro" marking may be one them...then ask yourself if you are really willing to risk losing once in a lifetime visual moments because you chose to save a little money now? Yes, SXS cards have been known to have issues too but no where near as often as the various adapters do.

I understand budget limitations. However you've put so much else into consideration, then scrimped on buying cards. I think that is a mistake.

Best of luck and please keep my advice in perspective. Not trying to beat up on you or be arrogant. Only making sure you really understand saving a little money now could cost you a lot in the future.
Click to expand...
I hear you on the cards. If an SxS card is a requirement for getting footage every time, then I will be purchasing Convergent's NanoFlash product. I see zero value in purchasing proprietary, extraordinarily expensive media from Sony when there is equivalent media readily available elsewhere. And going with the NanoFlash puts the camera into an increased bit-rate than Sony's SxS cards, at roughly an equivalent price - e.g., 2 sxs 32GB cards = approx $2,000 - for an additional thousand dollars why net get the better quality video as well?

You may be absolutely correct - I will find out! And thank you for the input.
 
rob macfarlane said:
I hear you on the cards. If an SxS card is a requirement for getting footage every time, then I will be purchasing Convergent's NanoFlash product. I see zero value in purchasing proprietary, extraordinarily expensive media from Sony when there is equivalent media readily available elsewhere. And going with the NanoFlash puts the camera into an increased bit-rate than Sony's SxS cards, at roughly an equivalent price - e.g., 2 sxs 32GB cards = approx $2,000 - for an additional thousand dollars why net get the better quality video as well?

You may be absolutely correct - I will find out! And thank you for the input.
Click to expand...

I appreciate your consideration of my advice.

FYI...there are Sony Pro 32 gig cards available for around US$650.00 if one shops around a bit.

I like the nano drives but I'm one of those folks who prefers not to hang more than I have to on the camera body.
Just more to go wrong or get bumped and broken.
However...that's just me. ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top