Sony Venice 2 8.6K FF

I don't think the fear is that YOU'LL lose the footage, but rather that someone else will. I actually just had an AC pass one of my cards back into circulation a week ago without backing it up, and the footage was lost. Luckily it was only a small amount of footage that wasn't mission-critical. And anyway I didn't take the heat because it wasn't my fault. I didn't dual record with the camera even though I could have because I can't remember the last time my footage got lost or corrupted, but now I may reconsider in similar situations.

Of course, one would hope that if they're hiring you with a Venice then they're not giving you a greenhorn DIT. But you can never be too careful

Also, as I recall, Coughlin mentioned that he also likes dual record because it ensures he gets a backup of the footage for his reel
 
If someone else (who I did not hire) loses the card or reformats it after I turn it over to them . . . not my problem. People who I didn't hire aren't even going to be touching my camera anyway. And I'm not going to supply a bunch of extra cards for dual recording without charging extra, which if that's what the client really requires, then those cards will quickly pay for themselves through extra charges or I will rent cards and add my markup. Either way -- fine with me. But that's not the same thing as if I felt it was necessary to dual record. I have complete confidence in my cameras, media, and protocols.
 
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Doug Jensen said:
I have complete confidence in my cameras, media, and protocols.
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Out of curiosity, does this also apply to SD cards for you?

I generally do dual-slot recording for peace of mind, although I've only ever had cards fail on me on two occasions (in both instances, a bad batch of Sony cards).
 
drboffa said:
Out of curiosity, does this also apply to SD cards for you?
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Nope. SD cards do not offer the same peace of mind. Fortunately, I only have two cameras (FX6 and S1H) that record on SD cards and I don't use those cameras on any high-end shoots where failure would be a disaster. . I use Sony TOUGH SD cards and I trust them 99%. But if I wanted extra safety for a certain FX6 shoot then I would use CFexpress cards and probably also use dual record. Low-end cameras and media require more precautions, and that is one of the benefits of mostly shooting with cameras that use better media. If I had a Venice, I'd certainly not be using dual recording unless a client demanded it and paid extra for it.
 
FWIW, 512 GB AXS cards are rented out for $75/day on Share Grid. In LA, Venice itself is rented out - stated price, before any negotiations - for about a grand per day, $3,000/week, $9,000/month (includes two 512 GB cards).
 
I’m curious to see factual data and statistics that show that expensive media has extremely low rates of failure (aside from just assuming it does due to the price tag).

I don’t know if CFast is considered high end but it is used in the Alexa Mini which has been the most popular camera for high end work and I’ve had issues with CFast that makes me not trust it (though the issues have only occurred on my C300s and not my Amiras, and dual recording has saved me at least once when a card went bad).
 
Eric Coughlin said:
I’m curious to see factual data and statistics that show that expensive media has extremely low rates of failure (aside from just assuming it does due to the price tag)..
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Yes, that would be interesting but I don't need to see any 3rd party research. My data is based on 16 years of actual hands-on experience with Sony SxS, AXM, and XDCAM optical media that I trust 100%. Some of the shoots I've been responsible for during that time have had as many as 25 cameras -- in some pretty rugged conditions. Never so much as a single glitch. I have no idea whether that reliability would carry over to other brands/types of "expensive" media and cameras, but my gear is rock solid. Granted that is just anecdotal evidence, but it is my own anecdote. :-)

Damn, I better find some wood to knock on because I've probably just jinxed myself.
 
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Well you can’t knock on my wood because I don’t swing that way.


See, when I single record, I hire an armed transport of three men to protect the media when it travels from the camera to the memory card reader in the computer. It immediately gets placed in an armored safe and wheeled over to the computer. I then have three top tier DITs to handle the memory card, fact checking each other’s work to make sure not a single mistake is made. Everyone are dressed in hazmat suits and a tent is setup to ensure no dust or particles get into the card. The whole cast and crew gets strip searched to remove any magnets that could damage the media and also to ensure no one steals the card and hides it anywhere. We also do cavity searches because I give my cast and crew the best dental plans.

And want to know the absolute worst part? The client doesn’t pay for a dime of this. It’s all out of my pocket. Because my reputation is at stake, and I’m not going to lose my reputation just to save $20,000 per shoot.

Now contrast this with when I have dual record. I have my paid intern (they pay me to get the opportunity to work for me) setup my armchair and shine my shoes while paid intern number 2 who’s got a cold removes the memory card with their snotty hands, coughs a few times, and fiddlesticks, they trip in a muddy puddle and drop the memory card in it, but five second rule saves the day, then Alec Baldwin takes a few shots which knock the card out of the intern’s hands and it falls into the toilet full of Richard Gere’s business, but with the help of some rice the intern does the cell phone drying trick. Now you think the Intern is sweating at this point, this was their big opportunity to impress me and maybe some day upgrade from paid intern to unpaid intern followed by staff intern and if they really impress, then after 10 or 20 years, Head of the Interns. But no, this intern ain’t sweating none cause his boss man told him at the start of the day, “Bro dawg, don’t be worryin’ bout’ deese memory cards, yo, cause we got dem backups already so if you wanna sidetrack on the way to the intern DIT and chat up hot intern girl #7, you go right ahead boy. We got chyoo covered.” So anyway, this intern after all of that plugs the microSD card into the laptop, and sure enough it works despite Richard Gere and the backup card isn’t needed after all.

Long story short, there’s a peace of mind in having a backup that allows me to be more careless. A prime example is when I have a backup recording and I haven’t copied over the original yet, if I need to eject the media midway through copying, or eject the memory card, I won’t even bother properly ejecting, no worrying about stopping copy half way through as we’ve got to move locations. If anything goes wrong, I’ve got a backup. Just makes things simpler.

But there are many more reasons for having a backup. Feel free to check out my book called, “Eric Coughlin’s Complete Field Guide to Dual Recording.” Also check out my dual recording master class (audio recorded by Matt Gettemeier).


On another note, I skimmed the demo videos and didn’t find them that impressive. Moreso a comment on the videos than the camera. Dig and The Dig for the F55 and Venice, respectively, were better. I was really hoping for a short called Digger or Digging or Dug to make it a trilogy.
 
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Not sure which part you’re referring too. Wasn’t intending to jab in a negative way. Referencing your books wasn’t meant to have any negative connotations. Sorry if it came across that way!

I think Matt had mentioned working with you on a book or something. He’s my go to audio guy in St. Louis. Cool guy!
 
Eric Coughlin said:
Not sure which part you’re referring too. Wasn’t intending to jab in a negative way. Referencing your books wasn’t meant to have any negative connotations. Sorry if it came across that way! I think Matt had mentioned working with you on a book or something. He’s my go to audio guy in St. Louis. Cool guy!
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Ah, I'm sorry I misunderstood. I thought the last paragraph was about my videos on various cameras. I get it now. I didn't get the "Dig" reference but now I remember those old Sony videos now. I hope you don't mind if I edit my other post to fix my mistake.

BTW, did you ever see Sony's video called "Broken Nail" with the female skateboarders. It was great. I first saw it on the big screen at NAB and I still enjoy watching it. It's not the slickest or best shot video I've ever seen but there is something about it that feels right. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gBgsAP-nbU
 
Oh, I think I see what you misunderstood. Yeah, I was referring to the Venice 2 demo videos not being impressive, not your videos.

Fun video. I guess I need to get into skateboarding as apparently it’s just a bunch of hot chicks.

I wonder if the F35 had a launch video. I’m not aware of one. Most expensive digital cinema camera I’m aware of.
 
There was another video a few years ago that Sony was showing at NAB on the big screen that was shot at Carnival in Rio. I can't remember which camera it was shot with (maybe the F65 or Venice) but it looked incredible. Very well-shot with amazing color and detail. Unfortunately I can't find it online but even if I could, there's no way it would knock your socks off like it did on the big display at NAB. Amazing. If there was ever a video that made me want to drop $100K on a camera I didn't really need, that was it.

BTW, I haven't even watched the Venice 2 demos. I'm sure it's another great camera, but so what? There are a ton of great-looking cameras now.
 
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