Extremely Frustrated, I'm tired of clients saying T2i does not look professional

It doesn't look professional, it looks "experimental" but that isn't a bad thing!. My band ripped on me something terrible when I pimped my DSLR, they were like "you need all that stuff just to make that little camera work?"

They were right to poke fun. Sometimes I feel a little embarrassed shooting with it. I'll be filming and then I'm removing this tiny little piece of plastic card and replacing it with another. That doesn't look particularly professional IMO

If the battery get's depleted and I need to replace it well, you know the story.

If I was a paying customer and someone turned up with a DSLR rig I'd be suspicious too, anyone would be. We know that DSLR's can do great things but they dont!
 
Can we have a competition to build a DSLR rig as cheaply as possible yet have the most "bang for the buck" as far as "professional look" goes? Anything is fair game, even if its not functional, fake or not even connected to the camera.
 
shaocaholica said:
Can we have a competition to build a DSLR rig as cheaply as possible yet have the most "bang for the buck" as far as "professional look" goes? Anything is fair game, even if its not functional, fake or not even connected to the camera.
Click to expand...

Great idea! Hang a stud finder off your rig in addition to the usual. Maybe find a way to pipe a motorcycle muffler away from HDMI port. Curb feelers on your tripod. The possibilities are endless.
 
First_mobile_phone1.jpg


pick up one of these on ebay or the goodwill and next time someone says something about the size of the T2i- pull this out and compare it to their cell phone. By their logic this one must be better. Puts it into perspective and reminds them that technological advances apply to video gear as well.
 
shaocaholica said:
Can we have a competition to build a DSLR rig as cheaply as possible yet have the most "bang for the buck" as far as "professional look" goes? Anything is fair game, even if its not functional, fake or not even connected to the camera.
Click to expand...

Man, someone would make out completely out of vines plant leafs and sticks and win lol But I do agree there should be a contest for that (winner gets 100$) lol then everyone would try to build one real cheap and there'd be alot of solutions other then buying one of the expensive ones


@Edweirdo dude, I've been hearing alot of people discuss how people say it doesn't look professional, that's the most awesome example I seen for explaining it to them thanks
 
William_Robinette said:
You need more self confidence. And no, I'm not being an ass.

But to spend money on these things for the "look"" they give to your rig makes about as much sense as lighting said money on fire.

Your clients hire you for your talent not your equipment. Don't forget that.
Click to expand...

Well said. I'd say that probably is the best answer to the original thread question IMO.
 
i was just recently on a Microsoft gig as a 1st AC and they didn't have a problem with it. maybe because it Microsoft but the camera was pretty bare bones.

the DP just said okay so we have to use the 5D for this one, which turned into the whole day
 
I went out on a music video shoot Monday night and when I pulled out my 550D the clients, one by one as they saw it, started getting upset and nervous. They thought I misunderstood and thought I was there for a photo shoot. The manager asked "That's the camera?" like it was the most absurd thing he'd ever seen. I just smiled, held my head high and said "That's the camera" before going back to setting up.
All night the manager was kind of egging me on saying he doesn't know how I am going to produce anything good with the camera.
When I started shooting he was still watching, waiting for me to fail but when I played back for the band right after the take on my 8" LCD everyone kind of shut up and let me shoot.
 
Last edited:
MCAN said:
I went out on a music video shoot Monday night and when I pulled out my 550D the clients, one by one as they saw it, started getting upset and nervous. They thought I misunderstood and thought I was there for a photo shoot. The manager asked "That's the camera?" like it was the most absurd thing he'd ever seen. I just smiled, held my head high and said "That's the camera" before going back to setting up.
All night the manager was kind of egging me on saying he doesn't know how I am going to produce anything good with the camera.
When I started shooting he was still watching, waiting for me to fail but when I played back for the band right after the take on my 8" LCD everyone kind of shut up and let me shoot.
Click to expand...


lol, great story.

Also I no longer have this problem as I have generated a pretty good "local" buzz about my gear and what I use. Also many many music directors are now filming on these HDSRLs so everyone is starting to notice.

I had a couple ask me now, like wow that camera records great "what kind of camera is it" :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)


On the flip side of the things I now have a small mic attached to the hot shoe + the battery grip and it actually makes my camera look a lot more professional but on top of that the grip allows me now better control which is great for handheld and the mic while still not really good it is better than the on camera mic.


But yeah I no longer have this problem but it's still cool to see people posting their stories.
 
I get comments all the time on the "impressive" size of the XL1 I shoot news with at work.

I'm always torn on my response ... the XL1 is really quite small for a TV camera. :huh:

- Mikko
 
Image is everything. If you want to command the big bucks, you have to look it.
Even if half your gear is "FAKE" or "unneeded"

When people who know nothing about video are cutting checks for $5k and up they expect to see what THEY interpret as PRO GEAR. They get worried by "SIZE" because everyone knows SIZE MATTERS.

You have to know how to play the game.
migrant-low-res-still.jpg
 
Last edited:
In this business..image is everything! Earvin "Magic" Johnson


If you gonna be a pro you better look like one,act like one and your work better look like it's done by a pro.
 
Two things I do on a shoot if people are wary of how small my gear is. The first thing I do is go through the cell phone analogy of how things are smaller and better these days.

The next thing I do is show them some random footage I shot and that usually does it. In a few years, this won't even be an issue.
 
I had the same concerns as the original poster because I think the average uneducated person would feel uneasy if their videographer arrived with just a little DSLR. I wonder if those new Olympus PEN camera commercials will help... they claim to have filmed these commercials in HD with the actual PEN camera (they say so in the ads). On the other hand, when they show the last shot in the commercial you see a huge crew surrounding the tiny PEN cam.

My plan is to get a RODE VideoMic for my T2i and a hefty tripod. This should help improve the "image" of my rig. If anyone still complains I'll carry along an Ipod Touch or Zune HD to show them examples from the camera.
 
I'm curious as to why the camera conversation isn't taking place BEFORE you set foot on set?

All this uncomfortable confrontation about the camera not looking "pro" could be avoided.
 
I'm curious as to why the camera conversation isn't taking place BEFORE you set foot on set?
Click to expand...
Well when I did production with a video camera I never thought about telling a client up front what I was using. I'd just show up with my DVX100, they'd seem impressed and we'd do the shoot.

If you're suggesting that we say to a client up front "Oh, by the way, when I show up for the shoot I'll be using a tiny camera but trust me, it's HD quality and really good!", I suppose we could say that but it seems like it might cause more problems.

However, if you showed a client your killer demo reel and then once they were hooked you pulled out the DSLR and said "And guess what? All that incredible footage you just saw was made with this camera!", that might work. But I'll bet the client will ask for a discount. :)

Personally I still think I'm just going to add some stuff to my DSLR to make it look more imposing.
 
I had a shoot last weekend and I told the artist this is my small cam I use, he told me "I seen your work I don't care what you use"......

It seemed odd at first, but then I realized that at the end of the day your work speaks more then the actual gear you use


peace
 
What I mean by speaking upfront is discussing with the client what type of "look" they are going for. Which inevitably brings you to what type of camera you are using.

I guess if they hired you based on dslr footage, and didn't ask about your equipment, then mentioning the actual camera might not be necessary.

I'm so used to having to talk to my clients about setting up a p2 offload station that explaining what the camera can do is second nature. I'm still having to calm down clients who want tape!
 
Cieloent said:
I had a shoot last weekend and I told the artist this is my small cam I use, he told me "I seen your work I don't care what you use"......

It seemed odd at first, but then I realized that at the end of the day your work speaks more then the actual gear you use


peace
Click to expand...

Great to see people who are doing work that clients like with these small cameras! Do you have a reel or site I could see?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top