Does a bulky rig make you shoot differently?

M

MurtlandPhoto

Active member
I've been flip flopping my rig between a compact run n' gun setup and a full on cinema camera setup with my GH2/1's. When in run n' gun, I use almost no accessories and use minimal mounting hardware. I like this setup because there are almost no barriers to shoot... I can just grab my camera and go. Right now, I'm in the bulky stage which features a rod system with a cage and handle, a matte box, follow focus, monitor arm and monitor. Its a heavy setup that looks and feels professional. I feel that I take shooting more seriously when I use this setup.

I know that my camera will shoot the same quality of video with whichever rig I use but something mentally focuses me when I use the bigger setup.
Does this happen to any of you as well? Does your personal camera setup affect your mentality while shooting?
 
I tend to take more creative risks and get more interesting shots with a smaller rig, simply because it's easier to move around. Bigger rigs are often steadier, but "safer" and "more predictable," unless of course we start talking about an extra-long duration shoot, when handheld big rigs are more of a hindrance over a long timespan.

Can't say any particular hardware has ever made me "feel professional," though... "Mind Over Mattebox" to paraphrase.
 
Funny to me people think it looks professional. I think the cameras with all the attachments look tacky and unprofessional.
 
Personally I think there's a very unhealthy preoccupation with gear acquisition to make yourself look good. For me, even a matte box is a hassle as you are continually swapping and cleaning the filters. It's not that I don't use one - I do, but I read posts on forums talking about rods, rails, cages, sliders, rigs, follow focuses, in a way that unless you have all this stuff you can't shoot. It continually makes me chuckle when people post their rigs as if thats their total reason for being. The latest is the discussion on mounting power zoom ENG lenses on DSLR's - which make a DSLR ergonomically unusable off a pod. But wow, do they look good in a posted pic. If your primary reason for buying a DSLR is so you can rig it to zoom in and out then you have totally missed the point.
For me I need:
Two good fast, clean, dust free lenses ( prime or small zoom)
A good EVF so you can see your shot in daylight and check focus.
Good audio
Good tripod.
The rest is just peripheral if I have time and the inclination
 
it depends on what youre shooting.

if im carrying around a cine'd-out rig (follow focus, REAL mattbox, rails, dual grips, second sound, etc) i think like a feature shooter.
if im using one ENG style (basic rails and singlegrip and hands-on-lens focusing or maybe a monopod with a loupe or small external monitor) i think more "newsy"

once you get over all the marketing hype and what you think youre supposed to have, it really becomes a matter of common sense. you wouldnt mow your lawn with hedge trimmers. same logic applies to video gear
 
That essay is wonderful. I cannot tell if I've just had a eureka moment, or if it's just the coffee hitting me.


I have been shooting weddings on a Steadicam for years. Cameras have become so small that I don't feel the weight of the Steadicam anymore. I often shoot on GH2 with the 20mm pancake lens, on a Merlin. This combination is maybe 3 pounds total. It's air.

Since I've started doing that, I can't imagine shooting narrative any other way. I shoot on either Steadicam or Monopod and have recently started hating these shoulder mounted camera rigs. I've never known why, and I've never been able to explain it. Until now!

Thank you, thank you. Lots to ponder.
 
Drew Ott said:
Also here's an essay I posted on here over a year ago about this same subject. It went pretty much unread.

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Click to expand...

Hehe, I remember that well. Think I even commented it back than.

So...

since you are now obsessed with sociology and psychosocial development,
in a nutshell - what's your take now?
 
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