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Best camera for Las Vegas desert in August? C300?
Hello-
Putting together a mostly exterior, documentary shoot in Las Vegas in early August. Hot I know. We’ll be shooting dawn/early morning and dusk/night, so at least not the middle of the day. But we’ll be outside, on the ground (tho close to our vehicle), for say 3-4 hours stretches, and hope to be able to roll thru most of that timeframe. Have been working with DP on best camera to bring given the extreme heat. He owns a RED Scarlett (with big selection of Canon EF lenses) and is understandably biased towards using that as the A Camera, with 5D markii as B camera.
Haven’t heard the best reports about Scarlett in the heat, actually seems to be esp heat sensitive, and along with fan noise issues, thinking we’re just asking for a lot of headaches (markii has its known overheating issues too.) Been primarily shooting with Canon C300 lately and wondering if anyone out there thinks it’s a smart option given the conditions? Or really any other cameras? Ideally it’s portable/doc-friendly, large sensor, EF mount-enabled camera.
Love to hear what folks think.
Thanks, Nick
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3 Replies
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Well I can only speak to what I shoot, everything else is anecdotal.
I shoot with the C300 every day, and have never had an overheating issue (or heard of anyone else overheating theirs, either). I think it’s definitely a viable choice.
Anecdotally, yes, I’ve definitely heard of overheating issues with both of the other cameras you mentioned.
Since you already shoot C300 you know what a pleasure it is to use. I think it would be exponentially better for documentary-type work than any DSLR would. Scarlett, too, frankly. They can both give great images, but are both high on the “clunkiness” scale for ease of use in my opinion, where the C300 is definitely a grab-it-and-go camera (depending on how you have it configured).
I will admit that I’m biased, too. I got the C300PL right when they came out, and have been shooting with it constantly since. It’s my favorite camera, ever.
I don’t know if you are shooting in Las Vegas in the city itself, but remember that Vegas is very permit-restrictive as far as pro shooting goes. And some areas like Fremont street require another additional permit for shooting as well… and they are not cheap. And yep, they will stop you (unless you are shooting during NAB week when claiming “demo” goes a long way). Whip out any professional-looking camera and within 15 seconds you will be joined by at least two bicycle cops asking to see your paperwork.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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Many thanks Todd.
So a big endorsement for the C300 got it.
Wondering what you’re preferred configuration is for the C300 in a more run and gun/doc-style shooting situation? Some kind of cam stabilizer rig? How do you monitor?
Nick. -
NIck…
Yeah the C300 definitely gets my endorsement. But as I freely admitted I’m completely biased.
[Nick Ravich] “Wondering what you’re preferred configuration is for the C300 in a more run and gun/doc-style shooting situation?”
The short smartass answer to “How do I run-n-gun” is, “I don’t.” But it’s mostly true, I rarely am in run-n-gun or doc style situations. I do mostly commercial production and almost all of my scenes and setups are fairly planned out. So, I really don’t do run-n-gun… and I almost never do handheld… I’m almost always on sticks, a dolly, a slider, or a jib. But, that being said, as luck would have it I spent this afternoon doing run-n-gun handheld. Go figure.
As it happens someone asked me about my particular config just a couple of days ago in another thread so I already had a couple of pics…
My usual studio setup is Zacuto plate (they make this ultra-low-profile rods plate for the C300/C500 since it is so top-heavy), 6″ rods, follow focus, matte box, swingaway bracket, prime lenses…
My usual handheld setup is Zacuto plate, 12″ rods, shoulder mount, swingaway bracket (locked), zoom lens, matte box, and two additional grip handles…
…it’s not what I’d call ideal though, or super comfortable. If I did very much handheld I’d probably opt for the “C-shooter” rig from Zacuto which looks like this…
It looks like it would be a nice workable rig, and I like the re-positioned handgrip. I haven’t bitten the bullet on that yet since I haven’t needed it. Actually I only need the some of the parts since I already use that exact same baseplate and rods.
Let us know what you decide to do. Always like to find out what others figured out as workable.
T2
__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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