Christmas Spot for Parrot Drones - Shot with a7s (in 4K)

caseywilsondp

Well-known member
Had the opportunity to shoot this spot for Parrot Drones and Scott Winns youtube channel:


Tech Specs:
a7s with atomos shogun for 4k
slog2/sgamut
iso ranging from 3200 to 25600
rokinon prime lenses (ended up not being a fan) and my nikkor zooms lenses.
movi, steadicam, and dana dolly for movie shots

A couple of cold nights in Utah and a fun crew, and definitely couldn't do it without the iso and dynamic range capabilities of this little camera.
Hope you all enjoy!

On a side note:
It's one of fewer and fewer spots where I'm actually getting to use the a7s on a paid gig, which is part of the reason why I'm in the process of selling the camera. I also have an NX1 which I'll use for family stuff around the house, and the occasional interview type gig I'm sure, but I'll miss the low light and slog2 in a tiny package, that's for sure. I might miss my nikon lenses more though... we'll see.
 
What's keeping you from using the A7s? Which Nikkor zooms are you using? Cool spot, how does the kid make the drone fly? Ha, ha.
 
On most of my shoots now the producer/director want something like red or arri or a bigger Sony even if there isn't slow motion or half the time even when the final output is going to be 1080p anyways. It's an image thing, and I'm not talking about what the sensor produces, just the image of having a "cool" camera.
I use the 28-70 2.8 and 80-200 2.8. It's older glass, but I love the look.
As for drone control, those particular ones are controlled on smartphones via Bluetooth :-)
 
Drat, I forgot about the smartphone controlled drones.

I have the Tokina 28-70/2.6-2.8 as my main video zoom, but I'm always looking for other looks since older 2.8 zooms are so cheap compared to what's being produced now.

Cheers
 
Casey, You are very, very talented! Not sure why you are not able to show that great video and have plenty of profitable business. I would send that clip to each drone manufacturer and say "you want a video showcasing your drone"? Can't imagine you would not get booked. Anyways, it is a great, entertaining video! Good luck, James
 
James,
You're too kind!
It's honestly less of me not getting booked and more my camera not getting booked with me. I think it's an amazing camera, but I think lots of people think of it almost like a gimmick
 
On most of my shoots now the producer/director want something like red or arri or a bigger Sony even if there isn't slow motion or half the time even when the final output is going to be 1080p anyways. It's an image thing, and I'm not talking about what the sensor produces, just the image of having a "cool" camera.
Sobering. What was your lighting package like Casey? The underpass shots were lit very nicely.
 
We had some smaller hmi's like m8s and m18s as well as a variety of large and small tungsten lights. We used some battery powered LEDs to get the drone lit on tracking shots
 
As I love to fly drones by myself, and I like my A7S and the A7S II, and I like to film colored lights at night with them this wonderful spot combines it all, and I love the great story - just perfect, will save it as my favorite!
 
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