What Should You Bring to a Video Shoot?

Previously on "What Should You Bring to a ____ Shoot", we talked about the equipment you might want to consider when shooting a wedding. On our second edition, we're going to talk about what you might want to bring when you have to shoot video.

I asked Daniel in our rental department what he brings when he does a video shoot, and the big name here is Canon. If you didn't already know, we carry the Canon C100* and C300 in the rental department, and it's become apparent that these cameras are two of the top choices in shooting video. A lot of that is because Canon's Cinema cameras are lightweight and compact; perfect for "run-and-gun" shooting. The file quality the C300 offers is truly impressive and easy to work with when editing. Each camera comes with the necessary accessories, including the grip and monitor.

Let's look at the rest of his list:

Equipment Daily Rental  Weekly Rental Sennheiser HD202 Headphones $8 $24 Sennheiser MKH 416 Short Shotgun Mic $55 $165 LED Video light bi-color 4x6" Gisteq $30 $90 Canon EF 16-35mm II f/2.8L Lens $35 $105 Canon EF70-200mm f/2.8 IS Lens $40 $120 Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L Lens $30 $90 Canon C300 Video Camera (includes grip and monitor) $400 $1,200 Sandisk 64GB Xtreme CF Card $20 $60 GoPro HD Hero3+ Video Camera with 16GB Micro Housing (includes GoPro Hero3 Battery Backpack) $45 $135 Total $663 $1,989

Let's talk about sound. Generally, you're going to want to shoot with a mic. Whether it's a tiny mic you clip onto your shirt, a handheld mic that you can pass between yourself and your interviewee, or, in this case, a shotgun mic you can affix to the camera, using a mic is the best way to avoid ambient that can really ruin a great video. If you're going to be shooting outside, you might also want to bring a "dead cat" to reduce wind noise. 

Listed above is the Gisteq LED Light panel, which is definitely something you may want to consider, especially if you're going to be talking with guests at an event. You never know how bright, or how dim, the light is going to be, so having this light, which you can attach right to the camera, is a good precautionary step. Not to mention, the ability to adjust the temperature of the light enables you to change the look and feel of your video. (Please note: the Canon C300 is fabulous in low-light situations.) 

Next, the lenses. Here, Daniel chose three different Canon EF mount lenses, which are great, because not only can you use them with this camera, but they also work with other EF mount Canon cameras, like the 5D Mark III. Just be aware, attaching these lenses to your cinema camera will offer a slightly different length than on your DSLR body. You may also want to try out Canon's Cine lenses. We currently have the:

	Daily Rental	Weekly Rental
Canon CN 24mm T1.5 Cine Lens	$125	$375
Canon CN 50mm T1.3 Cine Lens	$125	$375
canon CN 58mm T1.3 Cine Lens	$125	$375
Total	$375	$1,125

All of these lenses are tack sharp and offer amazing image quality and focal control. Play around with them to decide what lenses will work best for your shoot.

As you can see, Daniel also brings along a GoPro. More than anything, it's a nice camera to bring along to any shoot, for time-lapses and first-person video. Bring all mounts and accessories you think you'll need, including housing, because you never know. 

If you're planning on shooting for an extended period of time, as with any shoot, bring extra batteries; you never want to get stuck on a shoot without power. Also, always bring lots of memory and storage back-up. It never hurts to shoot more video than you need and back it up right on-site, just to be safe. Double check your list, and make sure you bring all of the cables, chargers and whatever else you may need. Those small bits and pieces may hold your shoot in the balance! 

For more tips and lists on what to bring to a shoot, stay tuned with our RentalBlog! And for a full list of equipment available in our rental department, click here.

*We also sell the Canon C100 Cinema camera.

What Should You Bring to a Wedding Shoot?

We asked our wedding photographers in the rental department what they bring in their bags when they shoot a wedding, and here is what we found.

A great camera to use as your main camera body is the Canon 1D X, with a Canon 5D Mark III as a back-up. The 1D X is great for the fast-moving moments of the wedding. From the walk down the aisle to the kiss to the dancing, the fast frames per second (FPS) allows you to capture subtleties that you may miss while shooting a single frame at a time. The fantastic video quality on the 5D Mark III makes this camera a worthy companion (if you're asked to shoot a bit of video for the wedding as well). Fast, easy, and compatible lenses! 

Bring a nice assortment of lenses, including a 24-70mm, 70-200mm, 100mm macro,  and 35mm. Whether its a wide angle shot of the bridal party or a close up of the wedding rings, a variety allows you to shoot anything; never limit yourself. 

With the lenses and camera body, our shooters also packed a 600EX-RT flash, a Gary Fong diffuser and a small Speedlite soft box, which allows you to create softer lighting when there isn't a ton of light available. 

As with any shoot, there are always extras you'll need to bring with you. Carry lots of batteries! Camera batteries and charger, AA batteries for your flash, the charger for you laptop, etc. Bring all of them. Bring a lot of storage, both in memory cards and external hard drives. Especially if you have a second shooter, or an assistant, with you, download the images and back them up throughout the day, that way nothing gets lost.

Speaking of an assistant, bring one of those, too! It doesn't hurt to have someone there with you. Whether they're setting up lights, shooting along side you, or just carrying your stuff, having another person there to help you is worth it, both in cost and lack of headaches. But, please, don't put them in your bag. That's just cruel.

If you're interested in renting any of this gear for your next shoot, here is some pricing for you estimate (all prices are for a 1-day rental):

Canon 1D X: $195 

Canon 5D Mark III: $135

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 II USM: $45

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM: $40

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro: $35

Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM: $35

Canon 600EX-RT: 30

Gary Fong: $6

Speedlite Softbox: $10

Do you bring different equipment with you when you shoot a wedding? We want to hear about it! Leave your list in the comments section, and you could be our next "What Should You Bring to a ______ Shoot" blog post!

Foto Care at GEAR2: The Show

Foto Care's staff and friends (including Pat from Canon and Cliff from Profoto) setting up our booth.

This past Sunday, April 21st, Foto Care participated in GEAR2. GEAR2 is a mini trade show that featured video and cinema vendors, equipment and rental houses. We were very excited to be able to show all of the amazing Canon equipment that we rent and sell!

Ryan sets up rig

We had a lot of Kobold lighting as well as some light modifiers from Broncolor, like the Parabolic Umbrellas!

Daniel from Rentals was able to get some great photos of the show. Enjoy!

Photo by Daniel Orren

Photo by Daniel Orren

We had a lot of Canon equipment to show, including the 1D C, C100 and cinema lenses.

Photo by Daniel Orren

Photo by Daniel Orren

Photo by Daniel Orren

The booth looked great all set up! Photo by Daniel Orren

Photo by Daniel Orren

This great Rotolight set up provides flattering lighting for video. Photo by Daniel Orren

Daniel took this photo of Ryan using the Rotolight above! Photo by Daniel Orren

Rental Manager, Fred was at GEAR2. Photo by Daniel Orren

Richard from the digital department of Foto Care talks with attendees. Photo by Daniel Orren

Photo by Daniel Orren

Daniel Visits CES 2013

Daniel from rentals recently entered, and won, a trip to this year's Consumer Electronics Show through Engadget! This event is a great opportunity for Daniel, as well as Foto Care, because he is getting some real hands-on time with the latest and greatest in the electronic world and knowledge of what's happening that he can bring back and share with us.

 

Thaddeus Harden on Transitioning to Video

Video has become an important tool for photographers as more and more cameras are capable of shooting high-quality video. From the 5D Mark II to the C500, many photographers are beginning to experiment with shooting video to add another element to their work. Photographer Thaddeus Harden is doing just that. Harden has recently created "Motorcycle Mason," the adorable tale of his son, Mason taking to the town on his bike for a fantastic adventure. We asked Harden to tell us about his experience diving into video and shooting this short:

Motorcycle Mason from Thaddeus Harden on Vimeo.

Q. What inspired you to get involved in shooting video?
A. I bought a Canon 5dIII and 1DX in August 2012 from Foto Care specifically to add video productions to my arsenal of skills. Doing a video of my son was a great way of getting my feet wet and gain some experience with the cameras. I bought the bike for my son's second birthday in May. He immediately took to it as if he was born to ride. He's on it nearly every day and, as you can see in the video, he loves every second of it. This is my first "Action film!"

Q. What equipment did you use for this particular shoot? What kind of crew was involved in creating this video?
A. The main camera was the 5D Mark III and we used the 1DX as a secondary, camera B. Both do an outstanding job. And it was great to be able to have a second point of view (Camera B) while covering some of the scenes. With a 2.3-year-old child, we had to be as efficient as possible, and on a few shots we didn't get a second chance. My favorite lens was the 14mm. Great, undistorted perspective, very close-up focus while still wide angle and staying sharp with the bike moving in and out at a variety of distances. We used a light weight flat-form dolly truck to do a lot of our moving shots while hand-holding the camera. This turned out to be a fantastic tool. All real "Man"ual labor, push and pull. Small, but we were able to be very quick and mobile with it. We also used a Cinevate Atlas FLT 35 for a few of the scenes.

My crew was all family. My main assistant was my nephew and he's grown with me quite a lot over the years. My wife, besides being a great Mom on the set, also added some unique ideas of her own with some great perspective shots. Mason deserves a considerable amount of credit himself. He was outstanding throughout the shoots. Very patient, very easy, and as you can see, very cheerful. We really did ask a lot of him, and a few of the days were fairly long going from one location to the other. He not only followed directions incredibly well, he also gave us some of his own personality that we didn't expect and no way could have directed.

Q. How long did it take you to shoot and edit the video? What programs did you use for postproduction?
A. We shot about 15 days of footage, but plenty didn't make it into the final. Using Adobe Premier, we spent about the same amount of days editing, fleshing out some of our ideas. Working in Premier we had plenty of power, speed and tweaking all within the program. We've barely scratched the surface of what all is possible with it. The entire production took about 3 months in-between jobs, and two bikes. The first bike was "compromised" after some hard riding in his beginning days. I watched the bike closely over the shoot, and at one point, while doing some rehearsing (without Mason on the bike) we managed to total it. Though most of the story was pre-visualized, we did have a lot of the shots develop on the fly as we explored the city.

Q. Do you think you’ll be delving a little deeper into the world of video?Absolutely! This was just the beginning....

Q. When can we expect movie star Mason to bike on in to Foto Care to sign autographs?
A. Mason actually goes with me on a lot of my run-arounds in the city. He's definitely one of my best buddies. I bring him into Foto Care a lot. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to scribble out a few!

We think that this is a great first attempt at shooting video, and we are looking forward to what Harden, and Mason, come up with next!

Julian Bernstein on the Canon C100

The Canon C100 is one of Foto Care's newest additions to the rental department, and we've been pretty excited about it. The C100 has gained a lot of it's popularity in the video world for it versatility and portability and seems to be changing the way photographers deal with video. Our friend, Julian Bernstein, recently rented the C100 and shared some of this thoughts on the camera system as well as the Cinema lenses that accompany the camera.

Q: Why did you choose to rent the Canon C100 (versus the 5D Mark III, C300, C500)?

A: The project we were shooting was for web only and didn't have much post so HD was fine to shoot in. We shoot with the  5D Mark III regular and its great! But the UI and form factor make it a little tiring, also the lack of waveform is kind of a pain. When I tested it out in rentals I found it very intuitive I got the feel for the C100 and its functions right away (which was great since I was shooting the next morning.)

Q: You mentioned that you liked the Cinema lenses. Why did you like the Cinema lenses so much? What were the benefits? What lens was your favorite to work with?

A: They are FAST, t1.3 is awesome! It pulls focus very smooth. We were shooting a pretty contrast scene with the subject brightly lit with BRON Lightpipe (awesome light BTW) on a black glossy background and everything holds

up beautifully.

Q. What was your favorite feature of the C100 (i.e. the ND filters, programmable buttons, etc.)

A: The cineform profile and the waveform. The C100's button's are organized very well too!

Q: I see that you has quite a set up on that camera, what equipment did you add to it?

A: My setup for the C100 was fairly simple, compared to my usually 5d rig. I had to 7" monitors (1 with passthrough), the Redrock double follow focus (I operate the camera from either side depending on the setup and I dont have to remount it), I had all this mounted on a Zacuto base and rails (making easy to balance), then I a had it on Fred's Combo jib and rolling sticks.

Q: Any other comments or opinions?

A: Just that it was a fun camera to use. Its a lot more smooth of a work day than using a 5d and lot less gear hanging off rig.

Q: Would you rent the camera again?

A: TOTALLY!

Here are some behind the scenes photos from his shoot!

The C100 is available to rent at Foto Care for $275 per day/weekend and $825 per week. The rental staff will gladly show you the ropes to help you get shooting.

You can also purchase the C100 at Foto Care for $6,499 (body only).

Canon 1DX

Canon 1DX - $195/ Day Rental

As usual Canon has built this series tough with the right stuff to perform in a changing shooting environment. I personally like the range in ISO (50 in L Mode - 204800 in H2 Mode) especially because of the improvements in noise reduction; up to 3 more stops than what we are used to now. Continuous shooting up to 12fps Raw (14fps JPG) also available in Mirror LockUp, and improvements on AF are of the most notable. The hardware behind this amazing tool of imagery is what makes it all possible, particularly the 3 processors.

The Digic 4 processor dedicated to Auto Focus and Metering Sensor is my favorite.  It’s faster and more accurate, and for available light, sports and event shooters, this means a lot. Then there are the Dual Digic 5+ processors handling advanced noise reduction and the rest of the innermost mechanics of the camera. 

For more in depth points of interest please come in or call us. We personally take the new stuff for a test drive first!

            Features:

•   Full Frame
•   18 mp
•   Dual CF Card Slots
•   USB 2 Out
•   Ethernet Out
•   Mini HDMI Out