Looking back at new gear during 2018

morgan_moore said:
I think we are seeing a lot of issues here.

Often the gap between kit and its reality. Much falls at the feet of manufacturers who deliver stuff that is not professional shoot ready until added a bunch of ding dongs.. often so bulky the thing does not do what we wanted in the first place.. feeding a desire to replace the original item.. which actually we should have just passed on.

Take the EVA for instance.. the slo-mo is the same or less than the directors phone, the zoom range less than an EX1 from 2005, a monitor that is useless and codecs only unlocked when you chuck a small PC on the back attached by a poor consumer connection and a set of Meccano. I could say basically the same of the FS7.

Progress indeed!
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J.Brown said:
That's the thing. There are, or should I say all, cameras suffer from not being ready as is. All of them, or at least most, do need junk attached to make them workable. Or maybe we are asking to much? I haven't seen any camera rigged for feature filming that didn't look like a pile of junk when ready to shoot.
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Yes, even with our ENG cameras, they didn't come out of the box ready to go, you still had to add at least a lens and batteries and VF(yes, they're native VF's, but they cost extra and don't come in the box). BUT all the pieces were designed to work TOGETHER, even though a lot of them were from different manufacturers(lenses, batteries, wireless, etc.). My ENG cameras may be big and heavy to some(no bigger or heavier than my F55 or C300 when rigged for shooting, though), but they are so much more streamlined and elegant compared to the mess that most "Cine" cameras are in a ready to go configuration.
 
Run&Gun said:
Yes, even with our ENG cameras, they didn't come out of the box ready to go, you still had to add at least a lens and batteries and VF(yes, they're native VF's, but they cost extra and don't come in the box). BUT all the pieces were designed to work TOGETHER, even though a lot of them were from different manufacturers(lenses, batteries, wireless, etc.). My ENG cameras may be big and heavy to some(no bigger or heavier than my F55 or C300 when rigged for shooting, though), but they are so much more streamlined and elegant compared to the mess that most "Cine" cameras are in a ready to go configuration.
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I still really miss my Sony DSR-500WS, just for shooting (not the pictures although it made pretty pictures). It was like a 2/3 sized BVW-D600, realtively small, light, fit on the shoulder better than any camera I've ever owned. If I had that package with the imager, recorder and formats of my C200, I would be in heaven. The smaller AB batteries on the back, great ergos...Same with my Arri SR-2, just needed the handgrip and shoulder mount and it fit like glove but was small and light enough to fling around. All of the cameras today just seem like a big hodgepodge with little about ergonomics considered.
 
J.Brown said:
That's the thing. There are, or should I say all, cameras suffer from not being ready as is. All of them, or at least most, do need junk attached to make them workable. Or maybe we are asking to much? I haven't seen any camera rigged for feature filming that didn't look like a pile of junk when ready to shoot.
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phfx_jarredFincherProbstXenomorphMindhunterCamDeptD_1-640x480.jpg


https://www.cinema5d.com/david-finchers-custom-red-xenomorph-for-netflixs-mindhunter/


I imagine integration being the future for higher end cinema cameras.
 
But that's not a rig on set by the looks of it. More like testing in a warehouse. I like slim down camera setups but then I'm just a guy shooting so no crew most of the time and no need for pile rigging.
 
After DF used that camera, I'm not sure anyone ever saw it again.

Also wonder why they covered up the RED logo on the monitor (what looks like during production).
 
Lot of good points being made here. I agree part of it is the failure of the gear to deliver. I do a big variety of different type jobs and one camera is good for certain things but not for others so I end up needing several different cameras. And they all have shortcomings that have to be worked around. For example NONE of my cameras have a good LCD.

My remote POV camera I like to use for events where I can't put a person is a great asset but has a load of shortcomings I've been dealing with for 6 years. Panasonic released an improved model in 2016 addresses most of the shortcomings. Well I finally went ahead and bought one last month (4 grand) and now life will be easier (and quality better + 4K). Of course it has a couple new frustrating shortcomings too.

Another part of the gear addiction is many of us like to rig out a setup. We like to piece together a bunch of stuff that looks like some impressive contraption. Kind of like hot rodders endlessly modify their cars which are never "finished." Not saying there is anything wrong with that. I also don't think that is so much a problem with those at a certain level of production, either, as they tend to just want streamlined functionality.
At this point in my life I keep striving for smaller, lighter, easier, quicker. I'm tired and don't enjoy lugging around a huge load of gear. I don't usually have great (knowledgeable) help either.
 
Smaller, lighter and quicker is in the direction I'm going. I just want a clean camera and maybe that's why I like to use my FS5 more and more despite my FS7 having better IQ.

This year I put it on myself to have a cap on what I'll get. At first I really wanted an X-T3 and Mavic 2 Pro but I can't justify getting either. Instead I have other things like another M7 panel in the very near future, faster memory cards to offload material faster to clients and some bits and pieces to complement my flash system.
 
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