[Steve Crow]

I don’t think you CAN focus the camera while using a steadicam. The reason I say this is that the action of re-focusing the lens will throw off the balance of the camera just by your touching it.

I have heard of more sophisticated productions using a two man crew to do this – the steadicam operator and a focus puller using a WIRELESS focus pull system so that the lens is never actually touched.

[Steve Crow]

Short answer is no….you want a lens that is around 2.8 or lower so that you can film in lower light and/or get a more shallow depth of field.

Also you want a lens with a FIXED aperture, not a range of apertures like the lens you quoted. Without a fixed aperture, as you zoom in on something the image will get darker and that’s no good.

You could make this lens work if you really need too by perhaps bringing in additional lights to illuminate your interview subject but this is not, by any definition, a fast or “fast enough” lens.

Hope that helps!

Steve
(the preceding information is simply my opinion and not necessarily that of CreativeCow.net, its agents or suppliers)

[Steve Crow]

Here’s a link to the official Sony product page for the pro version camera:

https://pro.sony.com/bbsc/ssr/cat-broadcastcameras/cat-nxcam/product-NEXFS100U/

I estimate about a 5K price tag on the street but that could be for a body only.

[Steve Crow]

And just to prove my point – a few moments ago I found news about the “Pro” version of this camera which will be called the Sony NEX-Fs100 which DOES have 24p – here are some early details

https://spotlogger.blogspot.com/2011/03/sony-nex-fs100-details-released.html

[Steve Crow]

Predicting the future is always a gamble but I’d say keep an eye out for announcements coming out of next month’s National Association of Broadcasters conference in Las Vegas.

Sony recently made an interesting announcement about the upcoming release of a traditional videocamera that has many of the features of the DSLRs such as a large chip size. (Sony NEX VG10)

For now I’m sticking with DSLRs but direction we are going is certainly encouraging. I have just read that the VG10 can’t do 24p so that’s an issue but this is an early model which will be improved on over time, better and cheaper cameras are on the way – that’s the way it always works! 🙂

[Steve Crow]

The camera is just part of what you will need in order to be an effective camera operator, are you including those costs in the figures you mentioned? I’m talking about things like a tripod, an ND filter, storage cards and loupe so that you can see the camera’s LCD screen in bright outdoor sunlight. Then there’s sound, is that included in your budget?

What about a lens? The kit lenses are “okay” but you will want to spend at least around $100 on a Canon “nifty 50” 1.8 lens.

If none of these real costs have been accounted for in your budget maybe take a look at the Canon T3i instead, it’s basically the same as the 7D but in a more “plastic-y” body.

[Steve Crow]

Thanks everyone, I will check out Travelers to see what they can do for me.

[Steve Crow]

Yeah the Rode VideoMic is working MUCH better than the NTG-2 I was trying earlier. So that’s going to be my documentary solution for right now.

[Steve Crow]

Thanks Phil, I will try that Zoom trick!

[Steve Crow]

Thanks everyone…after lots of back and forth with BeachTek Tech Support it looks like the issue is related to the Rode NTG-2 mic not delivering a very strong signal. It helped when I removed the windmuff from the Mic but I found I still had to crank the volume up on the mic (through the BeachTek box) practically all the way before the BeachTek could could even “work with” the audio signal it was being given. By that I refer to the little green lights used to tell you that you have a strong incoming signals – those didn’t come on until I removed the Wind Muff AND cranked the volume way way up. There’s still more hiss/noise being generated (by the mic I assume) than I would like.

I am still concerned that with this Mic setup I have to get very close to the subject in order to get a decent audio signal and for documentary work that’s not ideal.

It occurs to me that this particular Mic is most often used for voice overs where the talent is working very close to the Mic – for that it’s a great Mic – for documentary field work I am concerned. I am going to try using the Rode VideoMic just as another test but the last time I tried it I couldn’t hear anything out of the earphone jack – but I will be giving that another shot for comparison.