FS700 Purchase Advice

T

travelsthroughimages

Member
I am looking to purchase an FS700 Rig and have a few questions. Our budget is right around 20-25k for the full package including some lens options. Below is a list of the gear I was looking at and would love any advice or thoughts good or bad. Thanks for your help in advance!

- Does the the newer FS700R come with the 2k/4k upgrade already?
- What is needed if I decide to go with a convergent 7Q? I am not sure I will buy this right away but would like to know what the total cost might be for everything (SSDs, licensing for Pro Res, Body, Battereis, etc.) Anybody with experience, would love to hear how it worked for you.
- I am having a hard time deciding on a studio rig, right now I am leaning towards a RedRock Studio w/follow focus and matte box. Suggestions? I do like the like the feel of Movcam as well, I just have more experience with RRM.
- Along with The FS700 I am looking at getting a Metabones Speedbooster with 35, 50, 85, and 135 Zeiss ZE's. I currently have a 70-200 2.8 and a 24-105 to add to it.
- Any other suggestions?

Thanks!
 
Yep FS700R comes with the 4K upgrade.

I have the 7Q, as well. Great monitor/recorder. Here are the basic costs for you to get rolling:
Odyssey7Q - $2300
SSDs: 256GB for $400, 512GB for $800. Need two drives to record 240fps @ 2K RAW. I went with 3x 256GB. Gives me two for 240fps and an extra while the other two copy to a computer.
FS700 codec package for 7Q - $800. This lets you record RAW and soon, ProRes, from the RAW signal. Also the 240fps mode. Can't record 240fps without it.
Battery plate, i have this one from Olof at WestsideAVstore.com. I think mine was a little more when I bought it, $98 is a steal for the portability/versatility it provides.
So minimum to start out on the 7Q w/battery plate and 240fps option... $4000.

V mount:
I use v-mount batteries with this Tilta v-plate. Check with the seller to see if they have the cable for the FS700. I didn't pay attention and mine didn't come with it. I had to make my own. But other people (like Tony Reale, I believe) bought the same plate and it came with the cable.
This plate lets you also use the 7Q D-tap cable and power your FS700 at the same time. My V-mount battery has a D-tap directly on it, so I can power the FS700/7Q/Alphatron all at once. This is great for running your whole rig from the v-mount (I use mine for studio setup and for a shoulder rig counter weight.)

For rods/plates/etc. I would go with Berkey System. Not only is it lighter than everything else I've used, it's stronger and holds better. Something about the texture of the material. Other places have anodized/powder coated finish that is somewhat slick/polished. His are anodized but matte, so they grab like nothing else. I've got his top plate, bottom plate, rods, lens support and other random clamps/blocks. It's like camera legos. I attached two blocks to the left/right sides of the 7Q so I can pop on handles. I've rigged the camera a million ways with the cheese plates. Hell, he even milled out a special cutout on a 15mm rod so I could use a 1/4-20 inside the rod and mount my Alphatron EVF on it:IMG_5829.jpgIMG_5831.jpg
Was only about $100 in parts and it works beautifully. Couldn't recommend his stuff enough. Lots of attention to detail. Now, he doesn't make matte boxes and follow focus units. It's purely rigging gear.

I'm not a huge fan of RedRock Micro stuff. I know a guy with some of their stuff and it seemed a bit cheap to me. Zacuto is nice but a little on the high end. I'm probably a bad person to ask about the studio stuff because I have a weird mix of stuff. I've gotten great results out of a Fotasy $170 follow focus. I was just on a shoot with an Arri follow focus and Zacuto follow focus... I'd be hard pressed to buy those (which don't have hard stops) over the Fotasy, which feels about the same and has hard stops. Then again, I don't use the follow focus a ton and don't often have shoots where it is critical to have/use one.

Speedbooster is great and the Zeiss ZE line is awesome. I've got the 50mm and 85mm and I love them. 24-105 is a good pick with the speed booster, great range and ends up being about a 2.8 with image stabilization. I'd say your lens lineup is pretty stellar.

I'd say all your lenses, FS700, 7Q setup, rigging, and other gear should come in around $20k just fine.
 
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