With so many accessories for all cameras these days, it's sometimes a little difficult to see the wood from the trees. Here, Cody Blue explains which of his accessories for his Sony is absolutely essential to his videography.
I am a recent entry to the world of videography. My photography has always been the only way I use my camera to make money, and product photography was and is the bulk of it. However, time and time again I was asked if I can do video work, as video begins to dominate the social media interaction rates. At first, it was a thoughtless "no" and I would move on, but as time passed, the question was asked more and more often. It got to the point, where I had turned down enough video work to justify purchasing a camera that can do video (Sony A7 III) and begin learning the trade.
One area that I found difficult, is essential purchases to aid in videography. I'm long past the stage where I buy any old tat that gets funded on Kickstarter, so I began doing a lot of research. One item that cropped up again and again is a monitor so you can see the footage you're capturing more clearly. I'll let Cody Blue go through all the perks, but he's not alone on deeming monitors to be essential. I am currently using Sony Play Memories and either my tablet or my phone, but as he mentions in the video, this is far from a good solution.
Do you use a monitor and would you say it's a must-have? Share your views in the comments.
Limiting the article by adding a brand to it. I almost skipped it. I have the SmallHD in my GH5 setup with the crane 2 and it is awesome. The next best thing for the crane 2 or gimbles is the monopod which I use for get overhead shots as well as close to ground shots so I don't have to walk leaning over. Also great for jib shots.
Who are these self-anointed *experts*?
Hey bud! I never claimed to be an expert and the author never mentioned I was either. I'm just a guy who happens to make a living shooting video and I'm sharing some of the things I've learned along the way. Lots of people (especially beginners) find my videos helpful and that's what matters to me.
I for one enjoy your videos. Sharing your experiences is a nice thing to do for photography/video community. Cheers!
Thanks for sharing Robert! I wish you the best in your videography journey - and now you'll be able to see what you're shooting :) Cheers.
Hum, another article praising the "moving picture" is the future and SONY is the path to go...
Sorry, I do understand some pro have to make money with their job/little corp. But why a MILC is the only path to fullfill customers wishes ?
Frankly, that mantra about the photocamera which must be a moviecam is so lame. It is just a well marketed idea.
Sorry, but when you are doing a photo + movie job, when taking a movie rush, you obviously loose the ability to take interesting photos in the same time (you are taking a movie or a photo, not both at the same, until you claim a 4k/FHD snap taken in a video stream is good enough for your customers). Don't try to make us believe is just 'turning a knob and tadaa', you know it is not so simple.
You have to cover an event with photo and video ? sorry, but the ONLY path is being at least two persons, and each have the right tool for its own job.
The moviecam hold by the 'cameraman', and the photocamera by the photograph. Why should you bother trying to play with the same set of lenses ? Do a photocamera need an external fluffy stereo mic, batteries, gimbal and external hardrive or the usefull set of lenses ?
Do you really make me believe the photograph meet the cameraman and swap/exchange lenses ? or even worse, the cameraman change his view and mindset to photographer and vice-versa ?? If you want to make me understand that there is no difference between taking a photo and taking a movie rush, you are just plain wrong. I don't say you cannot do a decent cut and paste at the end, just that you are far away of what you should have achieved.
I've seen a few weddings covered for movie and photo souvenirs. And on theses 3 events,the funny part was that the video specialist have done its usual and really nice job in movies rushes but the photos were useless as the photographer got the shot with a better/adapted focal lenght. And the photographer did wonderfull photos and none of its movies were cut and pasted in the final delivery. From what I've seen of the trashed rushes, the photographer agreed with me that he missed a few moments while trying to get that some of the wasted movie snaps.