S1H new price
- Thread starter m_maamoun
- Start date
I wonder if, at some point, cameras will be so light that a small "wrist held" gimbal will be more than sufficient while all the controls will be wireless without a smartphone app. Fuji reps have been mentioning 5G for the file transfers but short range remotes ought to come with most cameras.
ahalpert
Major Contributor
Almost none of the wedding photogs I see are using battery grips or 1-series bodies, although a few do. and a few use Fuji MF or take some shots with MF film. Granted, that's only 1 sector and they put a premium on size/weight because they usually carry multiple bodies on a body harness
Personally, I dont want cameras/lenses to get any lighter. AF has already eroded my manual focus competitive advantage. Now they're going to erode my strength advantage? No thanks
NorBro
Major Contributor
Small, private weddings are like any other freelance job where you might see a Sony or Canon or Blackmagic or RED...whatever the guy or gal has.
I'm talking more sports sidelines and red carpets. If you ever have a chance to work one (mean that sincerely), let me know what you see, I haven't been on one since 2019.
I'm talking more sports sidelines and red carpets. If you ever have a chance to work one (mean that sincerely), let me know what you see, I haven't been on one since 2019.
ahalpert
Major Contributor
Well, I was talking about the photographers, not the videographers. I don't think I'll ever see a wedding photog using Blackmagic or RED. From what I've seen, they use Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji APS-C, Fuji MF, and MF/35mm film, in that order of popularity. Maybe Sony is overtaking Nikon now.
I've worked some red carpets, not in years. Don't remember what the photographers were using. Never worked sports sidelines.
I do a lot of work with a dance photographer. I know she has battery grips for her Sony cameras, but I think she doesn't generally use them, even in studio.
Lens size: yes - I've heard multiple photographers express appreciation of the compactness of my Tamron 70-180. It's basically an f/2.8 telephoto zoom trapped in an f/4-sized body. And that does make it easier for me to fly it on a gimbal
I've worked some red carpets, not in years. Don't remember what the photographers were using. Never worked sports sidelines.
I do a lot of work with a dance photographer. I know she has battery grips for her Sony cameras, but I think she doesn't generally use them, even in studio.
Lens size: yes - I've heard multiple photographers express appreciation of the compactness of my Tamron 70-180. It's basically an f/2.8 telephoto zoom trapped in an f/4-sized body. And that does make it easier for me to fly it on a gimbal
NorBro
Major Contributor
There are too many people doing this work to sample everyone, and every small job that exists out there. You may shoot weddings for the next 40 years and never see a battery grip in your life while a NBA photographer may never see a Sony camera on the court. It's all relative.
I probably should have rephrased my comment and said something like this:
Most professionals I have seen on sports sidelines and a couple of red carpets and many on YouTube use battery grips if they aren't using the 1-like bodies...
As far as weddings, there are some really beautiful ones on YouTube shot with RED cameras and ironically it's probably the most RED footage I have seen throughout the years (besides random tests).
I probably should have rephrased my comment and said something like this:
Most professionals I have seen on sports sidelines and a couple of red carpets and many on YouTube use battery grips if they aren't using the 1-like bodies...
As far as weddings, there are some really beautiful ones on YouTube shot with RED cameras and ironically it's probably the most RED footage I have seen throughout the years (besides random tests).
Sports photogs seem to still be using multiple bodies from the 1DX line, with telephotos on monopods and with shorter primes handheld. You'd think all Canon users will gravitate toward R3, which should come out - or get tested - at the Olympics. Sony is likely to go after the big corporate accounts as it did with the AP deal. A1 really has the specs from the next Olympics.
As to the miners hats - I see a multiple camera rig on some sort of a vest. From a technical perspective, something like RX 100 with different focal lengths working simultaneously and the belt monitor showing something akin to an NFL director's control truck should be today's technology. RED took a chunk of business from ARRI with its lineup, forcing the release of Mini. The next advancement should be the Mini Mini. A la Comodo, Pocket 6K and FX-3.
As to the miners hats - I see a multiple camera rig on some sort of a vest. From a technical perspective, something like RX 100 with different focal lengths working simultaneously and the belt monitor showing something akin to an NFL director's control truck should be today's technology. RED took a chunk of business from ARRI with its lineup, forcing the release of Mini. The next advancement should be the Mini Mini. A la Comodo, Pocket 6K and FX-3.
Bassman2003
Veteran
I really like using a battery grip, but only if I am shooting a lot of vertical oriented photos like a studio shoot. I would guess the sports crowd uses them more for the battery life and the fact that the top of the line cameras for Canon & Nikon come with a grip. To equate them with "professional" is not an association that I think is always true but I see your logic as amateurs often do not have a grip. I think modern needs for images favor horizontal rather than portrait (screen viewing) which kind of negates the need somewhat.
NorBro
Major Contributor
I only call them professionals based on where they are working (or who they may be on YouTube such as freelance photographers who are now also trying to educate, build a brand)...but that term means different things to different people.
Some vloggers make more money than many of us using a point-and-shoot.
That might not be the definition of a professional to some, but their bank accounts are professional.
Some vloggers make more money than many of us using a point-and-shoot.
That might not be the definition of a professional to some, but their bank accounts are professional.
Bassman2003
Veteran
I did not phrase my post very well. "To equate the use or non-use of grips with professionalism is is not always true..."
ahalpert
Major Contributor
Really? I thought that smartphones were pushing media towards portrait orientation. Certainly true with the insanity in video right now
ahalpert
Major Contributor
Right, which is different from fashion. Which is different from landscape. Which is different from...
Again, I was only speaking about wedding PHOTOGRAPHERS. I've seen the youtube RED-shot wedding videos. Which isn't the major advantage some might think, although they certainly have good codecs and probably better color fidelity at the edges of the exposure range. And a few years back, the difference might have been more evident between their cameras and BM or Canon/Sony.
BM cameras are more common, and I've shot with people using them at weddings.
I find a lot of the heavily-graded BM-shot weddings I see online to look really tacky. I don't know why people equate fancy grading with some sepia nonsense or something, but that footage is going to age really poorly.
Aside from trying to capture rich, naturalistic imagery with perfect exposures and focus, and expressive camera angles with flattering lightings and elegant compositions that cut together well - what I notice most about the relative strengths and weaknesses of my wedding footage vs other people's mostly boils down to directing style, both directing the subjects and staging a scene or tableau. Which brings me back to the discussion of how technological innovation (while there'd be no film or video without it) is really less important than writing/directing - the choices of what to put in front of the camera and how to make it shine
Bassman2003
Veteran
From a photography perspective, portrait mode works best for printed photos, most often of people. Since so much is viewed on digital devices, horizontal 'fills the screen' more... I can't comment on media created by smartphones. I am speaking on photo camera generated content.
ahalpert
Major Contributor
Fills the screen as in people will be looking at a crop, hence a landscape orientation photo can be cropped to various aspect ratios while filling any screen you throw at it? Because I would have thought that a portrait orientation image would fit a phone better if it's going to be shown in full. Like we have to shoot 9:16 for IGTV and it gets shown uncropped
NorBro
Major Contributor
Will you start your own wedding video company one day?
ahalpert
Major Contributor
I do about one wedding a year under my own umbrella, so I guess I already have?
The challenge with weddings is securing clientele. A lot of the studios I shoot for will land one couple and then shoot all their friends' weddings like dominoes, seeing as they all seem to wed at the same age.
So, trust is the big thing - trusting that the studio will show up and get the job done since it's a once-in-a-lifetime event (and since they already handled it successfully for their friends...). And which, of course, advantages long-established studios and large outfits. In other words, it can be hard to break into.
But I would certainly make more money doing that, and I've given some thought to the marketing aspect (which is all that's getting in the way, really). Cut out the middle-man for the shoot and capture the editing contract myself... That being said, weddings are a tough gig with long, hard days and late nights (not unlike narrative filmmaking in that way), so it's a lot tougher than most of my other work. But they're about 1/3 my income right now, so I'm not in a position to walk away from the whole thing... But clearly I'm of two minds on the matter...
NorBro
Major Contributor
I've been told there's a guy somewhere in Eastern, maybe Central Europe who was charging like $50,000 cash per wedding at these insane castles.
The weddings supposedly lasted about a week and mostly everyone was on a tremendous amount of alcohol and drugs.
It was nuts...I've been told.
The weddings supposedly lasted about a week and mostly everyone was on a tremendous amount of alcohol and drugs.
It was nuts...I've been told.
ahalpert
Major Contributor
That sounds insane. One advantage of working for the studios I work for is they do high-volume and have weddings all over the place. The ones they give me are always within a 2-hour driving radius of me. Occasionally 3-hour. Often just 30-60 minutes. Whereas I meet photographers who have their own company and have flown in from Maine, etc, for the weekend to shoot that one wedding. I'm very travel-averse because of the family responsibilities, so it's a nice bonus to get so much work so close by. But maybe I could do that with my own company, I dunno.