[Craig Alan]

so the faster the more money. I’m will to get a slower backup. The incremental back-up can be done at night and the initial one I’m willing to be patient as long as I can do it in background or take breaks while I’m working.
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll check them out.

Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic HPX250P, FCP X 10.3, teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

I don’t have experience with MBP but what I am told and haven’t had time to deal with it yet is to take it to apple store and insist on a new one. They will of course look into the problem before doing so. It might be a software issue or some component who knows. But if what they did doesn’t solve it insist that you get a new unit that your livelihood is on the line. Make sure to do this while under apple care and if you can extend the warranty at additional cost. If one store doesn’t help you might find another one that will. Also when you bring it in insist on a loaner and clone the one you have onto to the loaner. That way you don’t loose any time and it might show something if the loner doesn’t have the same problem. Shutting down is not a symptom of the system not being able to handle a project that is too large. Slowing down or crashing FCP or freezing maybe.

Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic HPX250P, FCP X 10.3, teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

What is the nature of the crash? Does it just turn off and reboot or do you get a kernel panic notification? If its the former, its not about size. Its a hardware issues that effects a percentage of imacs that Apple knows about but won’t admit it.

if it the later it could be a clean install might help. If might be bad ram. the system log might provide some clues.

Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic HPX250P, FCP X 10.3, teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

yup. So what system or service should I look at that could do incremental backups of 7 stations with a raid 5 media drive each without my needing to be doing it? I’m wearing too many hats and working 2 or sometimes 3 times the amount I’m being paid for as is. What would it cost? I have gotten over 3/4 mil in grant funding over the last few years. And we are building a new studio next year where me plan on closer to 30 computer stations.

But for now 7 iMacs and raids with softraid software. That would be a lot of storage. And I would want it to run without needing my supervision. Backup storage systems across the internet. What would be the cost. The studio is crowded as is and so is my home office. Would love that safety net and off site would be better. theft fires etc happen

Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic HPX250P, FCP X 10.3, teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks Mark,
My conclusions after some more research. I’m gong to go with a Metabones T Smart Adapter Mark IV but not the speed booster which does not work with the PXW-FS7M2 or the A7Sll.

I’m going to use only canon lenses with both cams including a 24-70 zoom or something similar but mostly primes.

We’ll use a follow focus control and manual focus. If it turns out that the new updates allow for auto focus fine but I doubt it. Wired focus doesn’t make sense to me and quality video zooms for high end sensors are expensive. Better to just swap lenses when needed and use the distance from subject and good lighting to create the shot.

I’ve seen footage from the FS7 and really like the look.

Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic HPX250P, FCP X 10.3, teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks for the link. I’ll keep them in mind.
They are cheaper than other places.
I like that it is free if they can’t recover anything.
like that its a short drive for me.
Good to know.
FYI: they want $1600 to recover a raid over 2TB.
Have I had projects that if lost I’d pay that to recover? Yes.
Are those projects backed up? Yes. Have I done back ups of back ups and taken one off site?
No guilty. Do I wish that I could afford your services and have automatic incremental back ups? Sure.
And I wish I could order Alexa cameras instead of the Sony FS7s I am applying for.

The raid that died had a small percentage of class projects over last semester and the one just 5 weeks old. I’d prefer to recover them but wasn’t counting on it and I apologized to the 2 teams that were effected. And told them they still had time to produce some nice short films this year. I saved the four drives, labeled them, and figured if there was new software out there that could make that doable I had nothing to loose. Last semesters films were already graded and finished. This semester they will reshoot the two projects that were lost. They still have time to produce something that will be included in a montage reel of student work and/or a short film that is stand alone.

I had just received a large order which included 6TB drives that will be replacing the 2TB drives in these raids. I planned to use raid 5 and I bought copies of softraid to format them and to monitor them. So more than twice the amount of storage and with some protection. Important projects get backed up. At the time I made the decision to go with raid 0 it was because 6 TB was not really enough overhead for our needs, Pegasus or equally expensive raids were the only recommended raids for the new thunderbolt Macs, and 2TB drives were the best bang for the buck. So I went for the larger capacity and faster speed. I backed up what I thought was important. I was one week away from swapping out all the drives when one died. That’s on me. Bad management.

AFAIK I can’t afford incremental backups of all 7 raids in the studio. Individual projects backed up on a stored drive, sure.
But its tedious and time consuming. Open to suggestions and if I had a ball park figure I’d consider better solutions for future grants.

Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic HPX250P, FCP X 10.3, teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Speedbooster is a cool thing

Was on my list for the very reasons you mentioned.

But once you do, it gives you a lot of power in post that you never would have with a camera shooting a straight Rec709 gamma profile: you’re basically shooting HDR.

Need to experience it before I’ll get it. I’ll be back.

And of course, you don’t have to shoot in Slog. You can shoot in Custom mode with a Rec709 gamma, and the camera will act just like a standard video camera.

Thanks will use that as a fail safe.
But will learn the other.

So if you have some investment in big batteries, I’d say go ahead.

Already have a set for my new kino flo select on order so I’ll look into that

Forget the handle arm that comes with it–Sony’s arm assembly is junk. Buy the Shape FS7 handle.

Sony specifically mentions this in their updates in the mark ll. Which is more a structure upgrade than anything else. Locking mount and better quality build.

The standard viewfinder on the FS7 MkI isn’t too hot. If you have the cash to get a replacement, go for it. Otherwise, it’s fine–not horrible, not great, just fine. I am not sure if they’ve improved it on the II, but it looks pretty similar.

Looks the same to me. I’ll look into it. But plan to mount a Shogun monitor recorder but only as an option.

Frankly, the 24-70 (I think you mentioned that you had that?) would work for most of that stuff, especially paired with the 70-200.

was looking for an autofocus lens to avoid pull focus on run and gun shoots. But that’s not what you do. So instead do you have a pull focus system like a Zacuto kit with rails, pull focus control, mountain plate and so worth?

Any other add ons you decided you needed?

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Todd, you make some excellent points and there is a long history behind this. My first two camcorders lines were Sony 200/150/170 and we had one XL2 and bunch of Canon minicams. The XL2 was my go to cam if I wanted an artistic feel. It was not film though it came closer to film than the Sony for sure. Sony was rugged and reliable. The Canon head needed adjusting every year. It was also a huge pain when it came to ingesting into FCP. Canon apparently had a different firewire standard than Apple. But the shots seemed more painted and less digital looking. And yes the controls were so much better on the Canon. Great audio controls built in with real knobs and well organized. The shape was a bit odd for shoulder mount. But neither was designed well for this.
I am a huge fan of the Canon DSLRs. 5D in all its variations. Though I’ve used it for video its not really designed for it.
The 1DX is suppose to be pretty good in this regard and we are getting one.
Not a huge fan of the EF mount but love the glass and less expensive than the other choices and I never had a lens get messed up by this less solid mount. Including the 70-200mm which I have used a lot. Though now-a-days I prefer the 24-70mm. That’s just a taste thing.

Did you look at the sample shots from the FS7? I think they look really good. To me it doesn’t look digital, has a very natural look to it.

Do you have a link for some sample footage from the 300 mark ll?

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Hi Blaise, That’s where I had landed after 2 days of searching.

What do you think of the next gen?
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?sts=ma&Ns=p_PRICE_2%7c1&setNs=p_PRICE_2%7c1&N=0&srtclk=sort&Ntt=sony+fs7

and yes the Sony lenses from the reviews indicate a weakness. They just don’t manually focus well. So the Metabones is a must and is suppose to work well. The Bloom review even says he uses a speed ? one to get a full frame image which he prefers and is on the DSLR.

How advanced is the color correction process? I know its an art in and of itself but can you learn an easy post practice to color correct to get the equivalent of “out-of-the-box color”?

Being a user, what should be bought to complete the kit? I’d like a basic zoom if the Sony one is not the best choice. And accessories that are needed/you’d recommend. Thanks.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks Tod. Of course I’m not comparing the Sony Alpha a7S Mirrorless Digital Camera to a camcorder other than the quality of the sensor. the comparison is the Sony PXW-FS7M2 XDCAM Super 35 Camera System or one of the other variations of this cam kit (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?sts=ma&Ns=p_PRICE_2%7c1&setNs=p_PRICE_2%7c1&N=0&srtclk=sort&Ntt=sony+fs7) to the Canon C300 Mark II. Yours is the first recommendation for the Canon over the Sony line I’ve gotten.
I know the Canon c300 (before 4k became the standard) was highly recommended but pricey.

And Yes I understand that I can’t afford a cinema quality zoom. I just want an ENG quality zoom for general purpose.

I’ll do a search for reviews on the c300 mark ll

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ibWoMiLyX8
don’t bother with review but scroll through and look at footage.

Mac Pro, macbook pro, Imacs (i7); Canon 5D Mark III/70D, Panasonic AG-HPX170/AG-HPX250P, Canon HV40, Sony Z7U/VX2000/PD170; FCP 6 certified; FCP X write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

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