FS7: Handheld shooting?

K

KrocanX

Well-known member
Hi, owners of fs7,

I have a question for you. Is it possible to use fs7 handheld? Not shoulder. I know this cam is supposed to be used on shoulder and for handheld I should look at fs5. Currently I have fs700 and shoot most of my work handheld and yes I am probably the only one person in the universe who thinks ergonomics of fs700 is awesome. The main reason is that I am tall, really tall. So when I use ENG cams it looks weird sometimes, mainly interviews looks superweird with wider lenses.

I am looking to upgrade and I would like to go for fs7. The main reason is that I dont need external recorder for it. When I need 4K or better image quality with fs700 I shoot with Inferno but it is quite challenging handheld this setup for some time. So even though I would buy fs5 I would still need Inferno time to time.

Thank you for advice
 
I recently shot a 30 minute doc of short girls on a rural norwegian mountain farm. The girls are called "budeier", and their job is to tend the cows and produce cheese in the lush mountain area during summer months. Since i am 183 and the girls only 160-165 i enden up shooting primarily on Easyrig and handheld to get lower angle and more natural pov. Due to time constraints other fancy movement tools like tripod, dolly, sliders, jib etc. was not really possible. But the handheld gave me great footage. And the FS7 outperforms the FS700 in this regard so insanely.

I shot in ISO 8000 in extremely low light mountain farm rooms. We are talking tiny windows on either side, a small roof window, and zero electrical lighting. No problems. With Sigma 35 1,4 Art and Speedbooster, i could even shoot candlelit scenes and let the built in noise reduction do the heavy lifting. The footage looks great, as a handheld doc, in its finished state. 17 hours of raw footage doesnt really get big either with XAVC-L 50mbps 10bit 4:2:2 Hypergamma 7, but it looks awesome.
 
There's a forum member, plasticam, who manufactures a part to allow the fs7 handgrip to be mounted directly to the side of the camera. That's a possibility for you.

When I break down my fs7 into "small mode" I take most everything off, reverse mount the viewfinder so it sits in the middle right in front of the handle, remove the handgrip and baseplate that I use for ENG shooting, and hold it by the side like in a cradle of my hands (you have big hands i'd imagine, if you're as tall as you claim, I'm 6'2'' and it's not terrible). I find that method of shooting reminds me a lot of shooting with a vx1000 or similar mini DV cam that I used to film skateboarding with. It's not quite there, but its definitely manageable.

here's a little thing I shot with my cousin on a rainy day to see how effective "small mode" was while walking around sightseeing (he's from out of town)
https://vimeo.com/197818905


Smal mode fs7 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr


contrary to my ENG rig...



rig1 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr
rig2 by WestonHelmsley, on Flickr

-Wes
 
I'm pretty tall at 6'4" and I feel your pain. I very often operate the camera not holding it on my shoulder. I don't recommend attaching the grip directly to the body, in my opinion it is a very bad idea as you'll never be able to support the weight of the camera with one hand this way even momentarily which is often needed (FS7 is no C100 or FS5, it is much heavier). The camera is also terribly unbalanced this way. It is much better to simply hold it by the top handle with your right hand and control the lens with your left while supporting it . If you attach additional accessories to it in a smart "symmetrical" way so it does not lose its natural balance, this way the camera naturally "hangs", center of gravity directly below your hand (you can get surprisingly smooth shots this way, the weight of the camera / its inertia stabilize the shot). If like me you have big hands, your left hand can do a double duty of supporting the camera from the bottom while also operating the lens. Having said that, everyone has different needs and no two scenarios and camera configurations are the same - I have no idea if you are asking about operating the camera this way for at a 4 hour live event with a 17-120mm Canon lens, etc. , or if it's a small compact prime or zoom and takes are 3-10 minutes long. With ENG cameras I often hold them under my shoulder, wrap around with my right arm.
 
Agree. When ENG cams were still part of the arsenal (but rare for me these days) I'd sling underarm alot, sorta of off the hip if the shot turned into a longer hold- and also off the knee alot for low shots. You make a good point between 4 hr handholding and 5 min handholding- two different worlds when you can see them coming and rig for them but also alot of times you can't and you have to be ready for acrobatics. I like to shoot an axis around subjects while they are engaged with someone. Start close on their face and pull across for a reveal or just drift around picking up elements of whatever they are relating to/with. I usually only shoot off shoulder for "stand up" interviews and very general stuff. usually I'm shooting with both arms out working them in and out like a jib -while walking, and way up hi/way down low. This often involves holding the cam centered on my torso as the starting point for moves. I do like the grip beside the lens for this. I don;t tend to adjust the grip on the rosette (way too much time involved) I just grab the grip the way I need it - usually for the tail of the move. Scott B from here on DVX was my first customer for the Crony - he called and asked if I could make him one so he could shoot what he called Hasselblad style. With my Clockarms you can go from Hasselbald (grip within an inch of camera rosette, to 11" away in about 5 seconds- with a 15 degree supination of the wrist. Just sayin ;-)
 
Many thanks for replys!

I am 6'7" and my hands are big also, so I usually use my left hand as broughtonfilm mentioned. Unfortunately easyrig (or atlas) would not work for me - I often mix sitting in a car and running around car when there is no much time.

I dont do much 4 hr coverage, mostly 30 min max between shooting and resting or using tripod for longer times.

It seems that fs5 will be better for my style. Btw: my local Sony official dealer told me, that I should wait for NAB, maybe some new cameras are coming.
 
Krocan,

I like hearing how you shoot - but I don't understand - "I often mix sitting in a car and running around car when there is no much time."

What do you mean bro?
 
I would have definitely gone for years FS5 if it had 2 XQD card slots and the same codecs as the FS7. I'm also a few inches above 6' and I prefer to cradle the camera (or use two handles that slide on and off a top SmallRig FS7 plate rig combination). With everything stripped off the FS7, it can be a really lightweight camera, so I do my best to keep bulky things off it.
 
plasticam said:
Krocan,

I like hearing how you shoot - but I don't understand - "I often mix sitting in a car and running around car when there is no much time."

What do you mean bro?
Click to expand...

He's saying he runs around location to location. Shooting handheld and moving quickly then driving or riding along in a car to the next one. So wearing an easy rig would slow him down on shoots that he couldn't give up that time. (i think that's what he's saying, and i'm familiar with that kind of day)
 
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