Essential kit for a DoP?

[Policar]

What about things like cranes/dollys etc. I want to try my hand at designing and making some of my own, sourcing out any welding when I need to. Would this be snubbed by some directors, even if they were genuinely up to par with good quality branded versions?

Yes.

Remember, good dollys are so expensive you can't rent them (Chapman; etc.) and low end jibs $1000/day. The more you invest in cheap gear the more you water yourself down. And I thought you wanted to do documentaries?

Unless you're just doing it for fun or as a self-contained production company, in which case results are what matters... to some extent.

For a documentary, C300 and sound devices 302. Any decent lenses.

I find the Zeiss CPs fairly meh, but they rent well and are well-respected. I just find the look boring, they're totally decent lenses.

 

[sonofaresiii]

I hate to sound like a jerk, but this isn't really a question that should be asked, from a financial standpoint.

You should invest in gear as you need it and know you'll get a return on it. That doesn't mean asking other people what will make you money, it means you start working, realize you're being limited by, say, the quality of your lights, you recognize that a more expensive kit will earn you more money (including know how and why and what gear will fit those needs) then you go and buy it.

Specific questions are fine, e.g. I'm looking for a piece of gear to do this, here are some potential options, how have they worked out for people with similar needs?

But a generic "what do I need to buy to get jobs? " is way too broad for any of us to give useful information for you specifically.

 

[leeburnett]

Don't get me wrong, I'm really not asking this question purely from a view of wanting more jobs and more money, I just wanted to know people's views on how the industry views the DPs role in terms of gear. I want to invest in lenses and lights and I know that's what I need to up my skill base, but I want to know how to invest in this kit wisely with gear that will be respected rather than just whatever works. I have some money and an aim for what I want to work towards in terms of kit, I just don't want to put money into things that are going to be useless.

This has been really informative for me in seeing how different people view the role of the DP if anything else, I never meant for it to be generic and a cover-all, just some pointers about what to think about before I invest in anything else, so you might view it as too broad a question, but the answers have really helped.

And no, you don't sound like a jerk at all, it's a fair comment.

 

[Policar]

Don't get me wrong, I'm really not asking this question purely from a view of wanting more jobs and more money, I just wanted to know people's views on how the industry views the DPs role in terms of gear. I want to invest in lenses and lights and I know that's what I need to up my skill base, but I want to know how to invest in this kit wisely with gear that will be respected rather than just whatever works. I have some money and an aim for what I want to work towards in terms of kit, I just don't want to put money into things that are going to be useless.

This has been really informative for me in seeing how different people view the role of the DP if anything else, I never meant for it to be generic and a cover-all, just some pointers about what to think about before I invest in anything else, so you might view it as too broad a question, but the answers have really helped.

And no, you don't sound like a jerk at all, it's a fair comment.

In my mind the better you are the less gear you need. All you really need is a light meter and Slocombe didn't even have that.

But you can make a killing renting a lens kit, it's just that as soon as you buy gear at a certain level you're pitching yourself as being at that level, too. And if you're better or worse than your gear it puts you in an awkward place.

I'm just lucky no one's hiring me so I can blame my cheap gear lol.

 

[Patryk_Rebisz]

In my mind the better you are the less gear you need. All you really need is a light meter and Slocombe didn't even have that.

But you can make a killing renting a lens kit, it's just that as soon as you buy gear at a certain level you're pitching yourself as being at that level, too. And if you're better or worse than your gear it puts you in an awkward place.

I'm just lucky no one's hiring me so I can blame my cheap gear lol.

This is quote incorrect as times keep on constantly evolving - things that worked 10 years ago - don't anymore, things that worked 5 years ago are not the case, things that worked 2 years ago are transforming into something else too.
Gear is a HUGE asset to production companies AND to your own creativity. On jobs that can't afford so and so you throw it in for free because you have an idea you want to try - something you couldn't have done without the gear as you would only ask for what's necessary for particular shoot. I was lucky enough to jump on the gear owning bandwagon early on, the DP friends who didn't are less financially secure (and in general are doing lesser caliber of work as gear also equals more work and more work equals more opportunities to advance).

 

[David W. Jones]

You should invest in gear as you need it and know you'll get a return on it.

^^^ This ^^^

 

[j1clark@ucsd.edu]

That's the thing, at the moment I'm getting a few corporate and product gigs, and also a few narrative docu style music video jobs. Ideally though, I want to work in cinematic documentary mainly.

In your list, if I was to work on a documentary aimed at the festival circuit, would your DP owner/op setup be ideal? You wouldn't recommend getting lights as DP???...

It's hard because I want kit that will give me more chance at getting work closer to DP, but also provide me with some half-decent kit to work on personal projects where hiring in just isn't viable.

Definitely not able to spend $150k (about £80k)... that would be over 10 times the kit I have now. But I do have about £15k ($25k) to spend. So the Alexa is out of the question (besides, would this not be hired in on bigger gigs??), so I'm thinking some decent CP.2 lenses, a half-decent light set-up with add-ons, and just generally upgrade my FF and other things.

Others may differ, but I was impressed with the Canon C100 on a recent shoot @ ISO 3200... While no where near the Alexa class, for doc/corporate (which is why the owner bought it...), it looked like a 'around $5K' solution...

Because I'm not single, working in a hightech 'day job'... I recently bought a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, during a mid summer 1/2 sale... I've not really tested the ISO 1600 max, but 800 seems ok to me.

Since I bought the GH-1 early on, I was expecting to up grade to the GH-4 at some point... however, I was more impressed with the Blackmagic booth people at NAB, relative to being technically competent, and started thinking more about the Blackmagic line... then the sale came along, and that clinched it.

This would be for the 'around $1K' solution...

 

[Policar]

Others may differ, but I was impressed with the Canon C100 on a recent shoot @ ISO 3200... While no where near the Alexa class, for doc/corporate (which is why the owner bought it...), it looked like a 'around $5K' solution...

Because I'm not single, working in a hightech 'day job'... I recently bought a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, during a mid summer 1/2 sale... I've not really tested the ISO 1600 max, but 800 seems ok to me.

Since I bought the GH-1 early on, I was expecting to up grade to the GH-4 at some point... however, I was more impressed with the Blackmagic booth people at NAB, relative to being technically competent, and started thinking more about the Blackmagic line... then the sale came along, and that clinched it.

This would be for the 'around $1K' solution...

As a C100 owner/op, I concur! Awesome camera for the money, bad viewfinder, no HDSDI/genlock but if that's not an issue for you (you don't do much dual system sound) I can't recommend it highly enough. I found it to be considerably cleaner than the Alexa at 3200ISO, but the Alexa has two stops better highlight detail at base ISO and better color rendering, though the Canon has beautiful slightly "margarine" colors that, while creamy, are just a little too much.

Brilliant image, though, I prefer it to the F5 and Epic, and great single-operator ergonomics. The ultimate wedding/ultra low end corporate cam, IMO. And the AVCHD is surprisingly just fantastic, no joke.

For an owner/op with about a 20K budget targeting wedding/documentary/corporate, I'd get:
Used C300 (or new C100 if you have to)
24-70mm f2.8; 70-200mm f2.8 II IS... look used at the last generation to save, though the new ones are stellar
Sound devices 302
G3 Lav; 416; Oktava MK012
LED panels as best you can afford
C-stands, flags, reflectors

Rent a few "cinema" lights (or a prime kit if you want, but why bother) and you've got a video making kit, too.

For a look at some no-budget material shot on the C100 you can check out my reel. Not at the level you're looking to shoot at and more hobby stuff than anything, though I got paid for a lot of it, but an example of what it can do on tiny little sets.

The soft stuff is dSLR fwiw, sharp stuff 90% C100.

 

[sonofaresiii]

This is quote incorrect as times keep on constantly evolving - things that worked 10 years ago - don't anymore, things that worked 5 years ago are not the case, things that worked 2 years ago are transforming into something else too.
Gear is a HUGE asset to production companies AND to your own creativity. On jobs that can't afford so and so you throw it in for free because you have an idea you want to try - something you couldn't have done without the gear as you would only ask for what's necessary for particular shoot. I was lucky enough to jump on the gear owning bandwagon early on, the DP friends who didn't are less financially secure (and in general are doing lesser caliber of work as gear also equals more work and more work equals more opportunities to advance).

Refreshing to see someone posting this, too often I see a lot of the older guys bitching athe the "idiots" and "amateurs" who buy gear. Renting everything, at least before you get to a certain point, just isn't the landscape right now. I'd have missed out on some very rewarding projects if I didn't own my gear, or at the very least many of those projects would have been a lot worse and benefitted my career less.

Maybe I'm an amateur to some, but I make a living doing what I love, and I get to do it because I own my gear.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really not asking this question purely from a view of wanting more jobs and more money, I just wanted to know people's views on how the industry views the DPs role in terms of gear. I want to invest in lenses and lights and I know that's what I need to up my skill base, but I want to know how to invest in this kit wisely with gear that will be respected rather than just whatever works. I have some money and an aim for what I want to work towards in terms of kit, I just don't want to put money into things that are going to be useless.

This has been really informative for me in seeing how different people view the role of the DP if anything else, I never meant for it to be generic and a cover-all, just some pointers about what to think about before I invest in anything else, so you might view it as too broad a question, but the answers have really helped.

And no, you don't sound like a jerk at all, it's a fair comment.

Fair enough. I think you'll find thiugh, and probably have, it's not a question that can really be answered, because what do you mean by in the industry? Big budget studio movies? Don't own anything. Documentaries? C100 and a zoom recorder. Web series? Bmpcc and a lowel kit. Weddings? 5d mk iii, some nice fast canon glass and maybe a glidecam. Low budget indie features? Whatever the newest RED camera is.

So again it's back to, depends on what you (or a hypothetical person) is trying to accomplish and what field they're working in.