Updated D.O.P production kit - Sony FX6 in Adelaide
Every year since I first went freelance in 2011 I have kept up with new technology in the industry, the first camera I bought 12 years ago was the Sony A77 – really a nice little DSLR at the time, coming off the back of the Canon 5D revolution in the industry circa. 2010.
In 2013 my A camera was the Sony FS700 which brought HD slow motion to the forefront capable of shooting up to 240fps – very impressive at the time!
In 2018 I sold the FS700 and bought the FS7 which is still my C camera to this day. It still holds up for a third camera in well lit interviews or for locked off third camera shoots.
In 2020 The A7S3 became my gimbal / A camera / B camera that I used to work in conjunction with the Sony FS7. The A7S3 quickly became my favourite tool to use – It’s nimble, a low light powerhouse, light enough to run on the gimbal and offers 4k 10-bit S-Log3 at up to 100fps.
Since the start of 2023 I have invested significantly into additional camera kit to continue to offer a range of options for producers and clients alike.
Below is a round up of all of the new kit that’s been added to my full kit which is included in my day rate in Adelaide and Australia wide.
Sony FX6 cinema camera
This Sony FX6 cine camera that has now become my A camera included in my day rate.
I have used this Sony FX6 in Adelaide on a few shoots in the past couple of months and I have been genuinely so impressed by what this camera is capable of! The high base ISO for low light conditions is incredible!
This rounds out my current camera package setup:
Camera A: Sony FX6
Camera B: Sony A7S3
Camera C: Sony FS7
Portkeys 5″ On Camera Monitor
After a bit of research I decided to go with the Portkeys! Mainly for two reasons, it’s very bright in outdoor environments. Being based in South Australia means I do a lot of work in harsh conditions during summer so having a bright outdoor monitor was crucial.
I have been using this monitor either as an onboard camera monitor, gimbal monitor or a client / director monitor depending on the specific job.
Another reason I decided to buy the Portkeys was due to the fact it has bluetooth camera control. This means I can control the A7S3 on the gimbal via the monitor without needing to touch the camera! It was quiet a weird feeling the first time I did this but it’s been great to not have remote control. It also opens up options for controlling the camera in more niche projects where the camera is out of reach etc.
Accsoon CineView HE Wireless Transmission
For the past few years, I have been using a DIY wireless directors monitor. While this has worked very well for me, I decided to buy a setup that is a little more plug and play but also has a few more features built in to keep up with the current trends of remote producing.
Recently, I had a shoot to conduct a remote interview with the Sony FX6 in Adelaide while the producer was in Singapore. We used a laptop next to the camera for the producer to ask questions via google meet. It worked well and thats nothing new.
Using the Accsoon CineView HE Wireless Tx/Rx I had a live view from the FX6 going into the transmitter. The receiver was plugged into my SmallHD 7″ monitor via HDMI but also, using the built in USB output on the receiver I plugged it into second laptop and joined the google meet call. This enabled the producer to have two feeds from the set.
When it came to shoot b-roll, I put the transmitter onto the gimbal with the A7S3 and had a live view from the gimbal beaming up to Singapore. For comms, I called the producer via WhatsApp and wore my Airpods.
It worked a charm! A live link from the gimbal to anywhere in the world with comms to the producer sitting in their office thousands of miles away!
This transmitter / receiver unit works at up to 365m away (line of sight), has up to 4 receiving options such as tablet, phone, receiver etc.
If you’re a director, producer or client on set, I can provide a live view in 1080p HD on either the main camera, off the shoulder, tripod, gimbal or hand held.
Light Modifiers
Some would say spending thousand of dollars of pieces of fabric isn’t the best use of budget! I am so happy these are now a part of my kit.
Being able to manipulate light, block it, diffuse it and shape it has been such a great investment.
I’m often filming interviews in offices and corporate spaces with over head spot lights and fluorescent lighting where colour balance is all over the place. Having these modifiers sitting in the production van enables me to block any overhead lights from faces, reduce light coming in from windows and also reduce sunlight by 1.5 stops when conducting interviews outside.
All of the modifiers are from the Matthews brand which I imported from the USA. Matthews equipment have been a staple on Hollywood sets for decades.
Overall, one of the most basic yet favourite purchases of my career!
Lens
To round off this latest update to dop production kit, I have also invested in some nice zoom glass. Having a zoom range from 24 – 200mm at f2.8 combined with the incredible low light performance of the A7S3 and the FX6 means that low light shooting isn’t as restrictive as it once was!
One of my favourite setups when covering live events or run and gun is using the A7S3 on the gimbal with the 24-70 2.8 and using the 70-200mm on the Sony FX6 in Adelaide. Using this combination I can cover (almost) any scenario and get a wide range of different shots.
If I need to be ultra wide establishing shots, I’ll pop the 12-24mm on the FX6 which takes less than a minute.
Both of these lenses are ‘Mark 2’ from sony, they are lighter, have manual aperture rings and and super sharp even at the edges of the frame.
Post Production Updates
On the post production side of things, my current edit suite is a Mac Studio M1 Max.
I have been editing off this machine for close to a year now and it hasn’t skipped a beat which is what you’d expect from a mac of this spec.
I have had 3 x streams of 4k .MXF video files in a multi-cam edit perform without any buffering or issues (using an external SSD).
It’s enabled me to edit as fast and efficiently as possible. No complaints!
Hire Paulfor your next video project
Paul is available for hire on a half day, day rate or per project basis in Adelaide, Australia wide or Global at very competitive rates.
Camera kits can be built for custom jobs. See full kit list here
Get in touch for availability and rates