[David Turner]

Thanks for the Reply Mark.

Yea, for the record, I have the San Disk Extreme Pro 64GB SD 95mbps card (and don’t seem to be having any noticeable problems).

My problem is that I am repeatedly on shoots with other camera ops (hired by them) and they basically act like my SD card is not useable and require I shoot 100% on CF. If I had a definitive reason that they are wrong, I’d say so, but I want to know for sure.

Also, an interesting topic to ask about (maybe slightly off topic), is anyone has problems with larger GB cards? Is the only reason people stick to smaller ones a combination of paranoia of losing a whole day of shooting on 1 card and price? Or is there a legitimate worry of the Mark iii handling writing to large (64 GB or 128 GB cards)? I ask because for Documentary work, very large cards are definitely preferred.

[David Turner]

Small Update: I am getting video in Final Cut when editing. I just want to make sure I have all the settings right so my color correction will be right. Also, are there other uses for externally monitoring that I should be aware of?

[David Turner]

Hey Bill,

Thanks again! I really appreciate your feedback.

I guess the best thing to do is to describe exactly what I would use my lights for 95% of the time. All of my work is Documentary or “Documentary based”. What I mean by Doc-based is docu-advertising things which consist of interviews but also nice looking interior shots of businesses or events, etc (mostly for web content).

Most of the time I would be doing 1 person interviews. Second most, I would be lighting interior stuff (for example the stove or display case at a Cupcake store). Third most, I would be shooting outdoors or even interesting stuff at night where one or two battery powered lights would help. Very occasionally I may do a 2 person interview or something larger.

It would be nice to do interesting background patterns. But if I ever had to light something like a warehouse or large space, I would rent some more lights.

From what it sounds like, it may be a good idea to go with an entirely LED kit. Right?

Would you recommend against mixing Fluorescent lights and LED lights?

[David Turner]

Hey Craig,

Thanks. Do you think i could use this light as a Hair/Edge light in Spot mode for sit down interview setup? And then diffused a bit and in regular mode for run & gun key?

[David Turner]

Hey Bill,

Thanks so much for your 2nd response!

Your comments on the barn doors and LED lights is exactly the info I was looking for. The units I posted from Cool Lights have regular 4 way barn-doors, but as you mentioned, the flat panel units are not easily cut or shaped by barn doors or the like. That’s good to know and definitely factors in my decision.

I am set on using the Cool Lights fluorescent as a soft key that I will get a lot of use out of. Your response that they are a legitimate company was good enough for me to save $500 by getting this instead of the Kino Diva.

As for my other two lights, I could use some advice. I am a little bummed about not being able to have any battery powered lights for ultra-portability and super run and gun situations. What two other lights would you suggest to complete my small kit?

They purpose of them would have to be 1 to complete an interview lighting kit and 2 to have some flexibility for other applications. Is an Arri 650 & 150 a good choice (or a cheaper but equivalent lights to these?)

So I was thinking Flo light, 2 others I could use an opinion on, and this https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/358636-REG/Impact_R1642_Collapsible_Circular_Reflector_Disc.html for fill if I need it.

Craig was talking about the fluorescent units, but as a comment to Craig, these are best used for a very soft light with very little control. The Kino Flo Diva has only 2 “barn doors” (if you can call them that on these models) too.

[David Turner]

Hi Eric and Al,

Thanks for your responses. I called Tascam per your suggestion and they said I needed to manually go in and change the battery setting to AA batteries from Lithium Ion in the menu. They said I need to do this even if I eject the LI battery and only have AAs in. I will try this and report back soon if it helped.

[David Turner]

Hey Craig,

That Sola light looks great, but I read a few reviews and it seems like there are some fan issues. Namely, the fan is too loud and is not constant, but changing speeds often. I am hoping to find an LED setup that can be pretty directional.

[David Turner]

Hey Bill,

Thanks for your feedback. You still think the LED lights I listed have very soft output even in the “Spot” models? I thought the “spot” model was supposed to imitate more directional lights. I definitely am wary of this setup if it doesn’t give me any flexibility.

If you do still think these spot LEDs are way too soft and limited in distance, what would you recommend?

I am pretty keen on the Cool Lights version of the Kino Diva Lite as a great key that will serve me well for interviews & possibly some other stuff.

The reason I chose the other two was to complete the kit and add some more flexibility in the option of being battery powered. And not cooking the room of course. But I am open to going with something like an Arri 150 and 650 if those really made more sense.

[David Turner]

Thanks guys! I created an ISO with Toast and sent him that. I haven’t heard if he has had any problems burning it yet, but I think it will work out perfectly.

[David Turner]

Hey Al,

Thanks for the response, I appreciate the advice. I am leaning more and more toward Sound Devices gear by the day. I do have a few questions:

1 – Do they make a Recorder + Mixer? As in, a mixer that also records? So I would not have to purchase two things? If not do they sell discounted “kits” that combine these?

2 – It looks like there are a lot of 2 channels options. Is 3 channel just not popular? It looks like 2 or a even more expensive (and larger) 4 channel.

3 – Any recommended models in terms of SD stuff? Again things in my original post are most important: portability, ease of use, # of inputs, etc.