Here's a thing. . .form factor ?

combatentropy said:
There's something to be said for being able to toss your camera in a backpack, as a forum poster once said here. And many times in my car, I have wished that I had a video camera to catch a sunset or some other spontaneous thing.
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Good words throughout the whole thing.
 
Weird, I feel the exact opposite. The fs100 is the first camera form I've ever used that I felt was "the right idea" (a modular box). Quality rigs are available, it's just that they're more expensive. So you see lots of cheap rigs that are built so poorly that it almost goes counter to their purpose (a rugged grip/support), and because so many people buy these cheapos for superficial reasons I feel they get a bad rap. Also, the versatility of the modular approach is undeniable. While it's nice to have an Aaton-esque design in controlled settings, lugging such a camera 3 miles up a mountain would be a huge pain. I love being able to have the bare minimum with a DSLR + telephoto with a lens collar + Sachtler. It makes remote locations actually possible ​without having access to a helicopter/sleds. Of course, I realize my type is in the minority group...

In my opinion, I would like to see less plastic buttons. Bring back metal knobs and switches! Half the fun of shooting film is having a camera workhorse built to military-standards and knowing you can rely on it. Having a grid of buttons is compact but feels tacky and is much slower (having to cycle through settings, etc.) Panasonic got the right idea with the joystick, but a metal one would be a nice touch.
 
combatentropy said:
My first camera was shoulder mount. (It was cool, the JVC GR-S707U. It was S-VHS-C --- yes, Super-VHS onto the compact VHS tapes. It also recorded Hi-Fi, so I could overdub music onto the monaural track without erasing the dialog. We're talking about the days of deck-to-deck editing, folks!). Here's a picture of the camera, although that's not me (although it kind of looks like me):

Filming by Matt Bigwood, on Flickr
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I saw the link to this forum via my Flickr stats - seems like ages ago I used that camera. Footage I shot with it when that photo was taken in Croatia was broadcast on HTV West news in the UK. I also went on to use a Sony TRV900 for several years from around 2000, although I always envied my colleague's VX2000 for its better low light performance.
 
Matt_Bigwood said:
I saw the link to this forum via my Flickr stats - seems like ages ago I used that camera. Footage I shot with it when that photo was taken in Croatia was broadcast on HTV West news in the UK. I also went on to use a Sony TRV900 for several years from around 2000, although I always envied my colleague's VX2000 for its better low light performance.
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Ha, ha! Welcome to DVXUser, my fellow camera user. Your timeline almost exactly mirrors mine --- except for the whole Croatia thing and getting broadcast.
 
righteous. said:
Holy moly how did I miss this? I would love that...
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Wouldn't the Edelkrone Modula 3 rig offer similar ergos?

In my mind that is my ideal rig when used with manual aperture glass and a FF. I have yet to use it. Don't have the coin to kit it our right and am not pro enough to justify the expense. I really love the form factor reminds me of the XL1 I used to love.
 
.....after all this time (not so long) the best new announcements have been small zooms. now we need some that don't start at $20K.
 
Since this got resurrected, I think the F5/55 is the best body out there, at least in my book.
More rugged than the FS100, all the plugs and buttons at the right places and angles ( except the headphone - whet where they thinking?) but still a modular box.

Looks like a camera, that I would design for my use, if I would design cameras.
 
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