Darren Levine
Veteran
The first professional video camera i ever even considered taking on a vacation. You can call some DSLRs professional, but you can't call them professional video cameras, therefore i don't consider my 5d which i traditionally haul on trips.
The first thing i learned, was that no, you still can't think of this as a DSLR body style camera, because despite it's small size, it's just enough bigger than dslrs, even with a battery grip considered. This was my first issue, finding a bag which would sit on my waist and hold the camera with a lens attached. I'll get more into that later....
Why bring my work camera?
It's galapagos, an image maker's dream. i would venture that the vast majority of people that visit it, are bringing photo cameras, with video as an afterthought if at all. While i love taking photos, i left my 5d at home. I wanted to capture motion. I could have still just brought my 5d for video, or any other small video camera, but hey, this is an opportunity, and you don't pass up the best quality you can bring so long as it's not completely impractical. My first desire is to make great images, my nagging afterthought is to make it feel like i'm not working, which brings me to the lens selection.
Lenses
1. Yep, i didn't want any swapping, so i grabbed the new sigma 18-250mm macro. i did also bring the 28 1.8 just in case, and used it for about 20 minutes one night. This was my main effort to not feel like im working, because if i brought a whole bunch of lenses, i'd be swapping, cleaning, and straying more and more from actually experiencing the environment. I can say this, i'm very pleased i did. The lens spent most of its time at the long end, wides just didn't really entice me except for the occasional landscape. A little more reach would have been welcome, but i wasn't cursing the long end by any means. The slow speed of the lens was also a nonissue, i'm not a DOF fanboy, and i like my aperture at longer focal lengths to be at the optimal performance region for the lens, which in this case was f8-f11. The only issue i had was sealing. It was all peachy until i underestimated the moister one morning, and went to the top of the boat and one big gust fogged not only the front element, but also the rear element, AND one of the internal rear elements. not good. when the moisture subsided i can see theres some specs on that inner element, highly doubtful it will show up on images, but im rather obsessive about clean glass. The most ideal lens for me in this case would probably have been the 28-300L, but i did not want to have anything heavy, which brings me to tripods.
Tripods
None. Completely dismissed the idea and glad i did, i valued a light mobile setup. I did bring a monopod, which i found was very useful, but despite that and being a very light small tripod, i ditched it after 2 days. I relied entirely on optical stabilization, and warp stabilizer in editing. This is something that every videographer doing a trip like this needs to give thought to, because while a fluid head tripod would give the best results, you're always moving, you're with a group, and can't stay behind. You're required to be with a naturalist at all times. I likely would have kept the monopod on hand if my bag weren't as limitedThe small size of the camera and lens allowed me to shoot more or less like the dslr shooters, with one big annoying exception.
Focus
The hugest annoyance. the c100 has a push AF button, which is a great idea, but it's incredibly inadequate for wildlife as compared to any DSLR shooting photos with focus points. With all the mirrorless photo cameras coming out which have reasonably fast photo focusing, im a tad annoyed this feature doesn't work nearly as well. It's main problem is it doesn't work when stopped down, the aperture needs to be open or it does not activate. it's weird because i don't even see a mention of that in the manual, maybe it's a 3rd party lens thing.... the second main problem is that there's no focus points like on a DSLR, it has a box, but when you're trying to focus on a tiny yellow warbler amongst the leaves, it's useless. It does work well in certain situations, but it's nowhere near the speed of a DSLR taking photos, and that is what would make that feature very useful. What was very useful was being able to use the EVF like a DSLR
LCD and EVF
A lot of people complain about the poorish evf, but after shooting less than a day in galapagos, i thought of it in another way: holy hell would i have been screwed if they didn't provide an EVF at all. i used the LCD for two shots. i put a matte protector on it, didn't help, i did buy a hood, but never desired to even try it. shooting like a photographer is just far more intuitive for wildlife, so my eye was glued to the evf. i took the eyecup off my loupe and it fit rather nicely over the EVF and improved it quite a bit. the screen being rather small was annoying, but i was able to nail focus, however i did find myself second guessing, even with magnify. if a 3rd party can do something to magnify that evf, it'll be gold.
sensor cleaning
im trying to figure that out now, i'm assuming the glass protecting the nd/sensor area should be cleaned as if it were the glass on the sensor. i've been researching the options and seems the wet swabs are hated, so i just ordered the silicone sticystamp and a pen. i only had some small specs on it, but when i tried my lens pen, it made it horridly worse. all small specs, but specs nonetheless. the saving grace of it is that since the glass is a good distance away from the sensor, the particles wont show up nearly as clearly as sensor dust, i have yet to actually see the dust on the footage yet. love that the sensor and nds are sealed behind there. i do wish that they thought up an iris type or flip down something to flick into place to protect that glass whenever a lens comes off, but that's nit picking.
audio
left the top handle at home, didn't want to deal with the bulk and more case issues. i didn't need great audio, just audio. i've tried numerous laptop mics into the mic port, and there's just ZERO excitation power on that port unlike my 5d which takes those mics just fine. this is a small but annoying oversight, as popping in a laptop mic would have been a clean easy solution for internal audio without needing the handle. i did finally find a device that looks like an oversized AA battery which is basically a pass through mic power capsule. cost about 20 bucks and takes button batteries and after much nitpicking found a position with a 6" 3.5mm cable that keeps it out of the way.
Polarizer.
use it for one day, i would have left it on the entire time had it not been for the case issue. i got the maurami CPL, the one that's rated as good as the $$$ boys, but at only 90 bucks for the 77mm version. nice tight feel. essential to gain control over the sky and water, but won't make an iguana any prettier.
Battery
Never got through a full battery during any day. we switched from hikes to snorkling. Didn't even bother recharging mid day, using just the EVF seems to help a lot. Be sure to set it's brightness to high. Just recharged overnight, never packed a second battery
the bag
my final issue. i ordered a lowepro inverse 200 with the hope that it would work. Remember, this thing is a tad bigger than even the largest of DSLRs, i wanted the lens on at all times. unfortunatly, this bag just doesn't cut it. i LOVE the bag itself, but it just doesn't work well with this camer. it's great with the lens off, but with even this small lens on the best i could do was have it point down, but that puts a lof of pressure on the front of the lens. You're probably wondering why i didn't just get a backpack. i dislike backpacks in high heat, and this is the equator, that, and you have to take them off to get into them(i hate sling style bags). so when i saw this waist bag, i hoped. oh well. i just ordered the lowepro outback with the hopes that it will be a success. the measurements look right. fingers crossed
So that's it off the top of my head, probably missed something here and there, but this is basically stream of conscious.
next week im off to hawaii. and the c100 will get round 2.
The first thing i learned, was that no, you still can't think of this as a DSLR body style camera, because despite it's small size, it's just enough bigger than dslrs, even with a battery grip considered. This was my first issue, finding a bag which would sit on my waist and hold the camera with a lens attached. I'll get more into that later....
Why bring my work camera?
It's galapagos, an image maker's dream. i would venture that the vast majority of people that visit it, are bringing photo cameras, with video as an afterthought if at all. While i love taking photos, i left my 5d at home. I wanted to capture motion. I could have still just brought my 5d for video, or any other small video camera, but hey, this is an opportunity, and you don't pass up the best quality you can bring so long as it's not completely impractical. My first desire is to make great images, my nagging afterthought is to make it feel like i'm not working, which brings me to the lens selection.
Lenses
1. Yep, i didn't want any swapping, so i grabbed the new sigma 18-250mm macro. i did also bring the 28 1.8 just in case, and used it for about 20 minutes one night. This was my main effort to not feel like im working, because if i brought a whole bunch of lenses, i'd be swapping, cleaning, and straying more and more from actually experiencing the environment. I can say this, i'm very pleased i did. The lens spent most of its time at the long end, wides just didn't really entice me except for the occasional landscape. A little more reach would have been welcome, but i wasn't cursing the long end by any means. The slow speed of the lens was also a nonissue, i'm not a DOF fanboy, and i like my aperture at longer focal lengths to be at the optimal performance region for the lens, which in this case was f8-f11. The only issue i had was sealing. It was all peachy until i underestimated the moister one morning, and went to the top of the boat and one big gust fogged not only the front element, but also the rear element, AND one of the internal rear elements. not good. when the moisture subsided i can see theres some specs on that inner element, highly doubtful it will show up on images, but im rather obsessive about clean glass. The most ideal lens for me in this case would probably have been the 28-300L, but i did not want to have anything heavy, which brings me to tripods.
Tripods
None. Completely dismissed the idea and glad i did, i valued a light mobile setup. I did bring a monopod, which i found was very useful, but despite that and being a very light small tripod, i ditched it after 2 days. I relied entirely on optical stabilization, and warp stabilizer in editing. This is something that every videographer doing a trip like this needs to give thought to, because while a fluid head tripod would give the best results, you're always moving, you're with a group, and can't stay behind. You're required to be with a naturalist at all times. I likely would have kept the monopod on hand if my bag weren't as limitedThe small size of the camera and lens allowed me to shoot more or less like the dslr shooters, with one big annoying exception.
Focus
The hugest annoyance. the c100 has a push AF button, which is a great idea, but it's incredibly inadequate for wildlife as compared to any DSLR shooting photos with focus points. With all the mirrorless photo cameras coming out which have reasonably fast photo focusing, im a tad annoyed this feature doesn't work nearly as well. It's main problem is it doesn't work when stopped down, the aperture needs to be open or it does not activate. it's weird because i don't even see a mention of that in the manual, maybe it's a 3rd party lens thing.... the second main problem is that there's no focus points like on a DSLR, it has a box, but when you're trying to focus on a tiny yellow warbler amongst the leaves, it's useless. It does work well in certain situations, but it's nowhere near the speed of a DSLR taking photos, and that is what would make that feature very useful. What was very useful was being able to use the EVF like a DSLR
LCD and EVF
A lot of people complain about the poorish evf, but after shooting less than a day in galapagos, i thought of it in another way: holy hell would i have been screwed if they didn't provide an EVF at all. i used the LCD for two shots. i put a matte protector on it, didn't help, i did buy a hood, but never desired to even try it. shooting like a photographer is just far more intuitive for wildlife, so my eye was glued to the evf. i took the eyecup off my loupe and it fit rather nicely over the EVF and improved it quite a bit. the screen being rather small was annoying, but i was able to nail focus, however i did find myself second guessing, even with magnify. if a 3rd party can do something to magnify that evf, it'll be gold.
sensor cleaning
im trying to figure that out now, i'm assuming the glass protecting the nd/sensor area should be cleaned as if it were the glass on the sensor. i've been researching the options and seems the wet swabs are hated, so i just ordered the silicone sticystamp and a pen. i only had some small specs on it, but when i tried my lens pen, it made it horridly worse. all small specs, but specs nonetheless. the saving grace of it is that since the glass is a good distance away from the sensor, the particles wont show up nearly as clearly as sensor dust, i have yet to actually see the dust on the footage yet. love that the sensor and nds are sealed behind there. i do wish that they thought up an iris type or flip down something to flick into place to protect that glass whenever a lens comes off, but that's nit picking.
audio
left the top handle at home, didn't want to deal with the bulk and more case issues. i didn't need great audio, just audio. i've tried numerous laptop mics into the mic port, and there's just ZERO excitation power on that port unlike my 5d which takes those mics just fine. this is a small but annoying oversight, as popping in a laptop mic would have been a clean easy solution for internal audio without needing the handle. i did finally find a device that looks like an oversized AA battery which is basically a pass through mic power capsule. cost about 20 bucks and takes button batteries and after much nitpicking found a position with a 6" 3.5mm cable that keeps it out of the way.
Polarizer.
use it for one day, i would have left it on the entire time had it not been for the case issue. i got the maurami CPL, the one that's rated as good as the $$$ boys, but at only 90 bucks for the 77mm version. nice tight feel. essential to gain control over the sky and water, but won't make an iguana any prettier.
Battery
Never got through a full battery during any day. we switched from hikes to snorkling. Didn't even bother recharging mid day, using just the EVF seems to help a lot. Be sure to set it's brightness to high. Just recharged overnight, never packed a second battery
the bag
my final issue. i ordered a lowepro inverse 200 with the hope that it would work. Remember, this thing is a tad bigger than even the largest of DSLRs, i wanted the lens on at all times. unfortunatly, this bag just doesn't cut it. i LOVE the bag itself, but it just doesn't work well with this camer. it's great with the lens off, but with even this small lens on the best i could do was have it point down, but that puts a lof of pressure on the front of the lens. You're probably wondering why i didn't just get a backpack. i dislike backpacks in high heat, and this is the equator, that, and you have to take them off to get into them(i hate sling style bags). so when i saw this waist bag, i hoped. oh well. i just ordered the lowepro outback with the hopes that it will be a success. the measurements look right. fingers crossed
So that's it off the top of my head, probably missed something here and there, but this is basically stream of conscious.
next week im off to hawaii. and the c100 will get round 2.
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