FS7: NO Sony Fs7!!

Ben Scott said:
So funny how different we all are. I find the lack of a locking mount on the FX6 to be a big minus!
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It’s good and it’s bad. Locking mount is good if you are
using big heavy lenses, PL mount or similar. It is sturdy
enough that I never had to use a rail system and lens
support in 4 months of using the FX9 while shooting
the comedy series ‘Humour Resources’. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt13787342/
I wasn’t saying the locking mount is bad, it’s just for a different type of work where
having the absolute strongest mount is most important
and a bit of ease of use is sacrificed. Which is often the
way to go. But with clients wanting faster stuff and often
only willing to pay for me (lower budgets) for a majority of my
work, it’s not ideal. Can’t do a one handed lens change
with that style and I almost never have anyone
working with me so the easier things are, the better.
So yeah, it depends on what you are usually doing.
I am going for minimum gear that gives me a look
that might be 75% of what a bigger crew can get.
Of course I live in a small town in Alaska so I’m not
exactly ‘big time’ here so take anything I’m saying
with a grain of salt.
 
I just hate the bit of wiggle/play I find inherent in the regular E-mount cameras and figured the lock would sort it.

Show looks great!
 
quijotesco24 said:
I don’t see the use of Autofocus or not as an analogy to the Digital vs Film.
AF on cine/video cameras will get better and better that’s a given.
But being a photographer since the first AF cameras were born and having been working in all kind of environments with all kinds of cameras, and remember AF on photo cameras are very advanced, I can tell you there is today still a use for manual focus in photography same as there will always be on Cine/Video world.
Sometimes the subject gets the most sophisticated AF go wrong (shinny surfaces for example), because the moment called for hyperfocal focus (the fastest Focus method on earth), or because the shot is so important you don’t want to miss focus. In those situations even with top of the line photo cameras you still use Manunal Focus.
It’s obvious that both technologies will co-exist more and more on Cine world. But I highly doubt we will a focus puller go jobless because technology any time soon.
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Sure but I dont think anyone has said there will be no focus puller, certainly I didnt , its a tool.. use to it to when you need it .. just like a FP will use a small monitor .. but they will happen for sure , some are arguing it will never happen .. it will
 
Ben Scott said:
So funny how different we all are. I find the lack of a locking mount on the FX6 to be a big minus!
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In speed-shooting, Ben.

3, 4, even 5 lens swaps per minute. Every second counts. An additional 2 seconds on a lens swap might mean missing an important moment. Which is why I do not use front-caps or back-caps during this type of shooting.

I’m not experiencing wiggle on the Fs7mk1 that has no lock. But I mostly focus with finger on focus ring, only rarely use follow-focus.

Besides the time issue, the locking mount requires two-hands, which can be problematic. You are knee-deep in water or a muddy area, with no place to set the camera down safely in order to free up both hands. What then? I have to hold the camera between my legs, gripping the camera body between my thighs, in order to have use of both hands for the lens change.
 
JPNola said:
I got a rental. Not to be flippant, but Post isn’t my concern. Client asks what cameras I own, approved Fs7 & FX9 tandem.

It likely isn’t that different than mixing A7sii & Fs7. Or mixing GoPro with Fs7.

That shoot was also mixing in some Sony Handycam model.

Fs7 & FX9 were both in rec 709, HG7.
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I just mean it's great to continue using both cameras. So the fx9 is an addition, not a replacement. And I wasn't trying to be critical about matching in post, just wondering if the client thought, "great - two matching cameras"
 
Ideally the mount could be where the locking ring is optional. Meaning, the lens clicks into place as on the Fs7 and also has a locking ring you can use if desired.
 
I was terse in my reply and I apologize, a. Had a brutal week during which I had to go 38 hrs without sleep. One thing with COVID is that it is at times not possible to replace yourself on a job, because of the pre-testing requirement. Any replacement has to have tested negative and tested negative with a specific lab. Clients often will not accept results from other labs. Which is why I recently had to submit for testing three times in one day, at three different labs. I have to be well over 100 tests at this point. And it doesn’t matter that one has had complete vax, they still want a negative test result. “Lawyers.”, as one Producer put it.
 
JPNola said:
I was terse in my reply and I apologize, a. Had a brutal week during which I had to go 38 hrs without sleep. One thing with COVID is that it is at times not possible to replace yourself on a job, because of the pre-testing requirement. Any replacement has to have tested negative and tested negative with a specific lab. Clients often will not accept results from other labs. Which is why I recently had to submit for testing three times in one day, at three different labs. I have to be well over 100 tests at this point. And it doesn’t matter that one has had complete vax, they still want a negative test result. “Lawyers.”, as one Producer put it.
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It’s gotten to the point where I almost
wonder why I got the shots at all.
Because it doesn’t matter, still have
to wear masks, get tested, and social
distance. Apparently you can still get
it and still spread it. Wondering at what
point we will be able to be over this pandemic.
68% of my town has been vaccinated and
then there is probably another 10-12 percent
that caught it and recovered which should
also build antibodies. At what point do
we get to open up I wonder?
 
Teddy_Dem said:
Curious if anybody has tried any of the EF Sigma ART lenses with the Sigma MC-11 adapter on either the A7S3, FX3, FX6, or FX9. Does the autofocus work well or at all in video mode?
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Tried the MC-11 with the Sigma 40/1.4 (on A7RIV) and 35/1.4 (on A7SIII)... they work decently for all modes of AF, but get kinda clacky noise-wise.
 
alaskacameradude said:
It’s gotten to the point where I almost
wonder why I got the shots at all.
Because it doesn’t matter, still have
to wear masks, get tested, and social
distance. Apparently you can still get
it and still spread it. Wondering at what
point we will be able to be over this pandemic.
68% of my town has been vaccinated and
then there is probably another 10-12 percent
that caught it and recovered which should
also build antibodies. At what point do
we get to open up I wonder?
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Well, I got the vaccine because the risk of getting a severe case of covid outweighs my fears of the shot. I know several people who have gotten severely ill and at least one has died. As far as things opening up I don't understand why productions can't accept vaccination cards instead of putting fully vaccinated people through testing protocols...
 
scorsesefan said:
Well, I got the vaccine because the risk of getting a severe case of covid outweighs my fears of the shot. I know several people who have gotten severely ill and at least one has died. As far as things opening up I don't understand why productions can't accept vaccination cards instead of putting fully vaccinated people through testing protocols...
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I had pretty much no fear of Covid itself, in fact
I’m pretty sure I had it in December of 2019 before
we knew it was here. I personally don’t know anyone
who had a severe case of it. However, I know that the
way it works is, it spreads through everyone. Most
don’t have bad cases but they can spread it to others
who can die from it. So I sort of saw getting vaccinated
as being a ‘good neighbor’ and helping my community
and state. Sort of the same reason I wear a mask even
though I’m not really worried about it and not even sure
how well a cloth mask will work preventing the spread.
But there seems to be no benefit to the vaccine.
Productions still want you to take multiple tests.
I’m sure it has to do with legal concerns so they
won’t get sued. When I was camera op for ‘Humour
Resources’ I had to get Covid tested every couple weeks.
My state was the first to open up the vaccine to
everyone and had the highest vaccination rate in
the country for awhile. But recently we have been
plummeting as quite a few states have passed us in
vaccination rate. The states chief medical officer
acknowledges it is probably because people are
seeing little benefit from being vaccinated as they
still will need to wear masks, social distance and
be tested.

I also wonder how this may change production. One
of the reasons I was hired as camera op for that show,
was they could not fly crew into my town (where the
main talent now lives) because of the rules our state had
around Covid. So I was running a wireless transmitter
from my FX9 back to a LiveU transmitting the signal to
the directors in LA and Montreal so they could direct
the actors and me. However the LiveU
pretty much wouldn’t work unless we could plug in to
Ethernet as it came from the production company in
Canada and their SIM, cards apparently didn’t ‘play
nice’ with US cell towers. So whenever we were shooting
outside, I would run the transmitter from the camera
to a laptop (hot spotted through my iPhone) to a Zoom
call which the directors were on. On the Zoom cam I
would just select the FX9 instead of the built in laptop
camera so they could see the shot. We did the entire
series (6 episodes) this way. And last week, I got
a request for a typical corporate shoot. B-roll and
interview. But the client wanted me to do that same
setup so they could view my interview framing/shot
and conduct the interview themselves. It seems like
more and more jobs might start using a form of this.
 
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I know a fair few otherwise very fit under 40 year-olds absolutely destroyed by Long Covid. It is a complete lottery as to what your symptoms will be and how long they will last. It's not 'Death or Fine'. A Director friend of mine can barely walk 100m without being out of breath now after 6 months.

A mask will prevent spreading by a huge factor. Huge.

https://youtu.be/DNeYfUTA11s

I've had my 2 Pfizer jabs. Absolutely happy to do my bit for other people now and wear masks as long as it protects other people and makes them feel comfortable. As you say, to be the 'good neighbour'.

I've only done a couple of Covid-era shoots - one with clients on Zoom watching the greenscreen shoot and giving performance notes and the other a shoot I set up and then remotely triggered recording from another room and monitored on a Shogun.
 
How was your 2nd shot, Ben. I had some side effects -- body aches, fatigue and upset stomach, but nothing terrible (knock on wood)...
 
Just had my first Pfizer. Yes to good neighbor. But also, shooting my first wedding of the season this weekend and I either need a test or be fully vaccinated. (NY state rules) so starting a couple weeks after the 2nd shot I won't need to keep getting tested (for those shoots at least)

I can't wait for life to get back to normal. I hate wearing a mask, I hate social distancing, I hate the pervasive dread.
 
Normal will return eventually, and hopefully sooner rather than later. But I would also like to no just what the risk level is once the population is fully vaccinated even before we have boosters for the variance. Because there is a definite cost to business and life quality of life from maintaining this regime of precautions. And for example, I know of some well-heeled people who booked vacations the same day they booked their vaccine shots. ( the vacations were scheduled after the vaccines of coursr) and I see that is both the sign that people are champing at the bit 2 go back to normal and also that there's going to be a massive wave of spending and consumption that should get us all back to work at full capacity this year
 
Oh this has absolutely decimated my career. Completely stopped it dead in its tracks. Frankly I'm screwed. But I don't want anyone to die so I can go film a mayonnaise commercial.
 
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