Ok, a shallow grab at you attention, because this is a technical post, not a life changing philosophical discussion. Sorry ;).
In video, to be specific, what is important?
More precisely, in super quick video for sharing via a paper, what is important.
I have been shooting a lot of video lately, almost one short movie per photo job (5 clips yesterday including the sports podcast). I won’t pretend it is easy, but I have enjoyed the duality and the challenge. Oddly, the pressure of getting that winning shot is mitigated somewhat by the need to also get passable (not getting too carried away) video at the same time.
This is a phenomenon I discovered years ago playing sport. If I was carrying an injury or other impediment, I found it much easier to concentrate on the job at hand, with little time or room in my life for self doubt or to over think things. This seems to happening now. My stills are concise, on point, while my video is improving, but still short of where I need to be (B-roll especially- more on this later).
The reality is, my way of shooting stills is very close to the way video needs to be shot in most jobs. Over the shoulder interview, some B-roll and some stills. Silent cameras that can be used one handed are like gold, three hands even gold-ier (?!).
The Cobra as my spare “hand” is a good idea, but one I have not used yet, despite two ideal opportunities. The Cobra also makes an ideal semi-gimbal.
So, what has boiled to the surface?
The G9 in Standard profile (cont -5/all else 0/0/0) suits me for the paper. I am not after a “cinematic” look, just clean, sharp footage that I do not have to grade. I am finding Natural a bit flat for that and the clean whites of Standard suit the way I grade (for speed and to match the “Iphone” look the others are using). Reduced contrast is only for a little latitude in post.
The stabiliser is the priority after that, so three handy buttons are custom selected.
None for tripod/monopod.
Lock for hand held interviews.
Normal for hand held with gentle movements.
E-Stabe for full body movements, following, Dutch angles etc.
AF is not an issue. Until it can read minds and work faultlessly it is useless to me.
White balance is set to automatic for work, with a little room for correction from there or just accept what I get. If I have a little time, I can adjust with a white card, but time is rarely there to spend.
The little LED I have been carrying for months is also finally getting some use when fighting a backlit subject. This can be mounted on the Cobra for better directionally.
The MKE-400 mic, usually set to + gain with the limiter set on the camera handle most situation, well better than the on camera mics the other guys are using.
That’s work. Fast, direct, mobile.
My three big-rigs and the other cameras all have specific roles to play.
The work G9 is bare bones, which works fine for most things.
The second G9 with a zoom is for movements, rigs and braces. perfectly weighted with an attached top and side handle, and a plate for the chest and shoulder rigs. The depth of field of M43 with a wide angle lens even allows me to shoot with the shoulder rig in MF without a follow focus. At f4 with an 8-12mm giving me plenty of focus zone to physically move in and out of focus naturally, cinematically-organically (a thing?). This one is set to Natural (-5/-5/0/0) or Cine-D. I may upgrade it to Vlog-L with the key more to match grading with the S5 than anything.
The S5 is the premium unit when the widest dynamic range and best ISO performance is needed. Set up like the second G9, it has a Smallrig Gimbal extension handle attached to the base allowing me to connect a full sized HDMI solution to the cage side. It can also be used with the two bracing options, but the G9 is better for that with its smaller sensor (better stabe and focus depth), making the S5 the serious “A” camera. Flat profile is used for most work, no need yet for V-Log. What I love about the S5 is the base quality it provides without extreme measures. No All-i, RAW, SSD feed or super fast bit rates, extreme post processing needed, just good, done easily. The only issue of rolling shutter is fixed somewhat with APS-C cropping.
Asked to get a nice image of an interview, I managed to get said shot, then grab some of the interview, just as the reporter asked a good question, added some B-roll of the team training, then a bit of slo-mo while she was showing off a medal won recently. When TV are there, lights are supplied.
The OSMO makes the most sense for full gimbal moves……being a gimbal. It is also the odd angle, under water and hanging onto or out of moving vehicles camera.
The EM1x, my super-spare, has a cage made out of a Camvate generic allowing it to used as the second AF/movement option. The AF and movement stabe are better than the G9, but the video handling sucks because you cannot set up a custom setting for video. If I am doing a big project, it will get a run, otherwise it is my spare stills camera-extraordinaire.
Not done yet here as I want to look at workflow and end needs soon.