New Equipment including a Sony FX6 in Adelaide – Freelance DOP

Sony FX6 Adelaide

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

Sony FX6 Adelaide

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

Sony Fx6 DOP Adelaide
Using the Sony FX6 on a recent shoot.

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

Accsoon cine HE

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

Mathews 40 x 40 floppy cutter
Matthews 40 x 40 floppy cutter

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

Sony 24-70mm f2.8 mk2
Sony 24-70 f2.8 mk2
Sony 70-200mm f2.8 mk2

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

Mac Studio M1 Max

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

Lot’s of new gear! CMA Media Video Equipment Update

New Video Production Camera Equipment.

Over the past few months we have took the plunge on some shiny new video equipment that is helping us to capture some stunning images as well as make certain types of projects easier and time efficient. From cameras to monitors to iphones, here is a list of some of the new production gear that we now have in-house. 

Sony A7S3 Mirrorless Camera

Well it was a long time coming and I couldn’t be happier with this camera. Using it over the past few months has been a dream, incredible stabilised 4k 60p video when used in conjunction with the DJI RS2 Gimbal. Filming 2 camera interviews has been fantastic as the picture profile, sensor and 4k image creates a very close match with the Sony FS7 camera

Using the Sony A7S3 on location
Using the A7S3 underground at a recent shoot.

DJI RS2 Gimbal

Back in 2013 I bought the Glidecam HD4000, it was my first foray into using camera stabilisers and it definitely brought a lot of value to productions i was working on. Flying that with the old FS700 with the vest and arms was, (although a pain to balance and ‘suit up’) a joy to use. It brought silky smooth pictures and i had a lot of fun learning how to fly a Steadi-cam. I used this setup on the Dubai Travel Series I shot back in 2016.

I ended up selling the Glidecam in 2018 as I hadn’t used it for a while and was doing more directing work. In May 2020 I bought the DJI Ronin-s, it was a whole new world to learn. I struggled a bit a first to remove micro shakes in the pictures and master smooth gimbal shots. The Gimbal itself was well made and enabled me to quickly get smooth walking shots and walk-throughs. 

It was slightly annoying how I needed to re-balance the gimbal every-time I used it and when changing locations on shoots throughout the day i did find myself strapping the Gimbal into the passenger seat of the car so i didn’t have to re-balance at the next location. Not ideal as it bashed up the equipment a bit (and probably wasn’t super safe either!).

2 months ago I sold the original DJI Ronin-s and bought the updated version, the DJI RS2. After using it for a few months, I can honestly say it’s a very good upgrade, the steadiness of the pictures coming off this Gimbal are amazing, it’s lighter than the original and I don’t need to re-balance every time i get to a new location. 

I have been flying the A7S3 on this gimbal, and when paired with the 4k 60p images in the s-cinetone colour science. It’s just been an absolute joy to use! I recently used this new video equipment combo when creating a quick social video for Anytime Fitness

OneTake Only Teleprompter / Autocue video equipment

Teleprompter Hire Adelaide

With the events of 2020, the way video was produced around the world changed. Remote interviews became more popular than ever as well as live streaming due to the need for social distancing.

I have completed many projects of the last year that involved talking to camera such as community announcements, CEO announcements and Zoom ‘look-a-like’ calls where the person is looking down the lens like in a Zoom call but the camera on the other end is a professional video camera instead of a desktop camera.

After renting teleprompters for specific projects over the years, it was finally time to purchase a teleprompter / autocue for in-house use.

Dual client monitor setup with Ipad / Phone & Monitor

Two Camera Client Monitor
Dual camera directors monitor on a recent shoot

I have been providing a client / directors monitor for setups for a while now and i have found it’s been a great asset to have on set. The (minor) problem I had was when doing multi-camera setups in a studio or an on location interview, I was only able to give a live feed from the A camera to the client or director. 

I decided to create a rig where i was able to provide 2 streams (or 3 if necessary) to the client / director. It needed to do two things: 

  1. Both screens needed to be on one rig / cage for ease of setup and keeping as light a footprint as possible.
  2. Modular so that when the monitors are not sitting on a light stand in a controlled interview situation, they can be moved around or held by the director in his / her hand around the set.
Testing a dual camera directors monitor with a SmallHD 702 bright and an Ipad

I bought an Ipad tripod mount and an Iphone mount and hooked them onto a Noga Arm. I tested out the idea on an interview shoot a few weeks ago and it actually worked quite well! 

Two live camera feeds wirelessly to two monitors. The A cam was using a wireless HDMI transmitter and receiver using the system I built last year and the B Cam (Sony A7s3) was using it’s built in Wifi to send the video feed to the Ipad / Iphone.

Hire Paulfor your next video project

Paul and his team of trusted video crew are available for day rate hire or project rate hire in Adelaide at local rate, 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

Sony confirms the A7s iii will arrive ‘later this summer’

Sony A7s iii coming soon

Will the sony A7s iii arrive soon?

I’m not usually one to write about rumours and upcoming releases but the possible release of a Sony A7s iii i admit i am a bit excited about. VP and Senior General Manager of Sony’s Digital Imaging Group, Kenji Tanaka revealed this week in an interview with DPReview that finally the successor to the ageing Sony A7s ii will be coming ‘later this summer’ (or Winter) if you live down here in the southern hemisphere.

This is a pretty solid confirmation from Sony and that we will see a new camera from the A7s line in the coming months. The jury is still out as to what the specs maybe but Tanaka did promise that the camera will have ‘supreme’ performance and a completely redesigned camera.

“I can confirm that a successor to the Alpha 7S II will be coming, later this summer. Right now we’re focused on the launch of the new camera, and it will be a complete redesign of the whole system, including the image sensor. Everything is new. We hope it will meet and exceed the expectations and requests of our customers. I’m very confident that our new model will meet their demands.” – Kenji Tanaka

the specs would i like to see on the a7s iii

4k with a 60p frame rate

Recently i’ve been filming a fair bit of architecture content on the main camera (Sony FS7) on 4k / 25 & 60p and then using a Ronin S Gimbal for a bit of b-roll of the presenters walking around etc. So, (and i know this is a bit predictable) the first thing on my list would be 4k/60p to match the tripod based b-roll i shoot on the FS7. Being able to shoot 4k/60p on the Gimbal with the A7s iii would be fantastic with matching the aesthetic.

3 recording streams

Using a b-cam like the A7s iii on a gimbal would be great. But having a wireless signal from the gimbal to a directors monitor / client monitor is currently not possible with the A7s ii as the camera can only output 2 video streams:

  • 1 stream to the card for recording
  • 1 stream to the viewfinder on the camera (for operator viewing) 

If the new A7s iii has 3 recording streams built in, i could then have:

  • 1 stream to the card for operator viewing
  • 1 stream to the viewfinder so i can shoot on the gimbal
  • 1 stream to HDMI output for wireless signal to the monitor receiver.

 This would be great! I’m not holding my breathe for this capability, but i would be very satisfied if it could!

*Note if you have found a way to do this, leave a comment below!

10-bit 4:2:2 recording

Same reasons as the above, having 10-bit on my b-cam DSLR would mean an exact specs match on the main camera. I would also feel a lot more comfortable when directors / clients ask me to shoot in S-log. Shooting s-log on an 8-bit b-cam is always a little risky in harsh or low lighting conditions in my opinion.

Recap & ‘nice to have’

No 30 minute recording limit

This would be useful for shooting 2 camera interviews and not having to cut recording half way through the interview. Murphy’s law is at 29 minutes and 40 seconds the subject is always in the middle of a great sentence or statement! Having this be a thing of the past would be great.

Other specs and ‘nice to have’ specs

What specs would you like to see in the new Sony A7s iii? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Hire Paulfor your next video project

Paul and his team of trusted video crew are available for day rate hire or project rate hire in Adelaide at local rate, 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