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$2400 to spend on DSLR accessories
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“Also, what size polarizing filter and neutral density filter would I need? I notices there are so many sizes (52mm, 62mm, 72mm, 77mm, so on) and I wonder if these mm sizes refer to.”
This is the size of the front of your lens, so it will depend on what lens you want to put the filter on. Should give you the mm size right on the front of the lens….. I believe.
I would also invest in a ZFinder Pro, rails and a follow focus. Using only the LCD is difficult at best when pulling focus while shooting.
Hope this helps.
Richard Cooper
FrostLine Productions, LLC
Anchorage, Alaska
http://www.frostlineproductions.com -
The Nikon lenses I have are all primes and constant aperture, so give good shallow depth of field if required. I use a Cokin filter holder and have a couple of different adapter rings for them, most of my Nikon lenses happen to have a filter size of 52mm which is small by today’s standard.
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Yeah if you have Nikon lenses already the adaptors are excellent.
Noah
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If you are going to shoot outside a ND filters are a must, I have been looking that the Faderfilter Fader ND and the LCW Fader ND. These are expensive filters so I will but one that fits my canon, 58mm and get a step down for my Nikon lens. A loupe (like the Z-Finder) is a must for outside shooting also.
Nikon E series lenses are a steal, they are really inexpensive and they are built better than anything is today. The glass is also very good, Good 70-80’s gear = top notch 2010 gear. One nice thing about old manual lenses is that the aperture ring is on the lens and not done by the camera. For us cheapo who went with the T2i that means we don’t have to find the shift key to change f-stops.
Norman’s got a lot of good suggestions but I would stay away from Cokin filters (unless you are getting the expensive P series) they are not the best quality. You lens is only as sharp as the cheapest piece of glass/plastic that you are shooting through.
The toughest thing is to balance what to spend the big bucks on vs the cottage industry things. Lenses and filters need to be top notch, they are what matters most. shoulder mounts, matte boxes, follow focuses as long as they work you can do with less then the best.
These cameras are really mini REDs in a lot of ways, but the best connecting is that what starts out as a $900 purchase to get into Shallow DoF turns into a $3000 package pretty quickly and that is not looking at many lenses.
But the one thing I don’t think you have answered is, what type of filming are you going to be doing. While most will say I want to do it all, you have to think about what is most important. If you want to do scenics you need to be spending your money on a good tripod vs a shoulder mount. If you are working indoor you don’t need ND filters and lens hood, if outdoors that they are a must.
Let the fun begin.
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I hope to be able to go on some wedding shoots, maybe some music video shoots as well. So yes, I’ll be doing some outdoors work. I imagine I will be doing some scenic stuff and some interviews.
Even with shoulder mounts, hand held seems to be pretty shaky on dslr’s. There doesn’t seem to be much to gain by spending hundreds of dollars for a shoulder mount that doesn’t really do much for the end product. I’m thinking of getting a handheld Glidecam (about $550).
Also, I’ll definitely look into those older Nikon e-series lenses. Is there any lens you believe is a MUST?
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35mm is a good focal length for interviews on the crop sized senor x1.6 I like the Canon 50mm f1.4 I use it a lot. You can get a Nikon 24mm fairly cheap, a 200mm will give a nice compressed look and allow for candid shots at a wedding.
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For weddings you need fast lenses, for some reason people don’t like to use lights during the ceremony. In my thinking zooms are important also since it is hard to move position once things get started.
As you are seeing every situation requires something different. All the gear like a steadicam and shoulder mounts take a lot of practice to use correctly. For me the worse footage in the world is bad steadicam. When I hire a steadicam guy I only hire someone that has years of experience and that is his main thing. But most steadicam with not allow you to get real long takes.
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Well if I got a handheld glidecam I would be able to practice and hopefully eventually make it look good.
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This is all starting to sound like way more money, time, and research then I was hoping it would be. I’m thinking about just saying screw it and getting that HMC 150. :/
I’ll need a good zoom lens and all sorts of prime lenses. And to add to that, I know practically NOTHING about lenses. I’ve been doing some research but I still don’t know what works best for what situation.
Many people seem to recommend a shoulder mount, but footage with shoulder mounts still look like shaky doodoo. Glidecams/steadicams are nice, but even the cheapest and smallest versions aren’t “cheap” and require dozens if not hundreds of hours of practice.
If I can only use $2400 for DSLR accessories it doesn’t even seem worth it to go that route.
Furthermore, no one has actually told me what THEY would buy if they were given $2400 to buy accessories. But hey, in lieu of that I have gotten some pretty excellent and thoughtful suggestions and resources and I want to thank you all for that.
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Well, I can tell you that sold my AG-HVX200 production kit in favor of a Canon T2i. Some of the other equipment I have is
* Canon 1.8 50mm lens (I also have the stock lens the T2i came with)
* Zoom H4n with separate wind muff
* Zacuto Z-Finder
* Fader ND
* 1 extra battery
* Two 16GB SDHC memory cards
* Rode VideoMic (already have a wireles lav kit) with “dead cat”
* Tripod (pretty crappy one really)There are other bits and pieces too but this will give you an idea. Sorry I don’t know what this all adds up to offhand but I can tell you that I really feel this is the direction forward if you want to upgrade your video to a much more cinematic look. Yes, it is much more difficult than filming with my HVX-200 but it’s worth it! 🙂
Regards,
Steve
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Steve Crow
Executive Producer/Founder
Crow Digital Media
Palo Alto, CA
Steve@CrowDigitalMedia.com
https://www.CrowDigitalMedia.com
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