Oliver Daniel

​ Haha, well I'm sure he would if he didn't have to provide receipts of everything he wants to buy for his business. I know for sure he's getting a top spec 5k iMac and Thunderbolt 2 RAID Drive Whatever TB now anyway (with a 17% discount). Not a bad start!

​ Wow! Well there is the Arri Alexa Mini, Red Epic, Cooke Primes, Iron Man Suit for Aerial Shots......

​ Well, as it's pretty much the same as my own business model, I expect the investment will boost product quality, improve productivity, increase creative and technical options and ultimately attract a better client base. As long as you work hard, network, stay on the money and let your creativity run wild - it's a system that will eventually begin to pay off. If these things don't happen, then the investment is a waste. People hire your brain and not your camera This is quite a good topic - thanks for all the feedback and I hope it helps out!

​That's not bad at all! I'll put it forward. Lots of opinions and suggestions - very interesting how there are many differences but i've noticed a big push for a major camera body in the league of an FS7 from most. My own business doesn't own a "Big A Cam", we normally rent when it's needed and we do just fine. An FS7 for example is £130+VAT per day, good value for a days shoot. (although plans are in place to get a Big A Cam soon). My own opinion is simply not to cannibalise his budget for investing in a huge item, and use the money more sensibly. Get some lenses for corporate work (as suggested by some) and boost the vintage set for more creative purposes. Make more money and THEN invest in the Big A Cam, especially with cams like the URSA Mini on the horizon. What I've learnt from running my own business is that efficiency is key to being successful. If your Mac starts playing cheeky buggers, things get bad quickly and deadlines are missed. If you don't have bare essentials on hand for quick bread and butter jobs, you lose money. If you don't have decent storage cases, gear gets wrecked and repairs are costly. Another way of looking at it is if he buys something like the FS7+Mac+lenses, then hires more lights if needed and uses some profits to purchase the lights he needs. He can make money off the rental fee for the FS7 when not in use, undercuts rental houses. Sells his other camera bodies and unused equipment to get the A7S as B-cam for current gimbal, slider etc. That's another nice solution. Now my head hurts......I should really get him to sign up to the forum and do this for himself! I like helping out though!

​ Makes sense. Firstly he won't ever go PC. Ever. If he buys the FS7 (to get it working) we are talking around £7500, leaving £5000 for everything else. The Mac Pro or iMac 5k (with external HD) will eat that up easily and more. No money for lenses and lights (the two things that will last over a decade). Plus the FS7 is too big for the gimbal, slider and current tripod, hence why he needs a smaller camera like an A7S. We have to remember what effect this equipment will have on the proposed business. You need a reliable machine, that's priority. There is no use having a camera without enough lights and lenses - although you can rent these - every filmmaker really needs these essentials on hand. That's where the majority of the look comes from. In my experience I could be shooting a video in hours from now for some quick cash - not possible if I don't have the tools at hand. The FS7 would admittedly be a fantastic investment and can be rented out when not in use - he actually wants a C300 Mk II but I think that's a massive stretch. There's also that new JVC camera and other stuff.... to be honest it's a fantastic dilemma to deal with!

Another thing I didn't mention is that his iMac can barely run 4k footage from an FS7 or bigger, it even struggles with XAVC-L 1080p. He clearly needs a better machine.

​ Interested, why would you pick this option? I advised against this because a camera lifespan is 2-3 years and takes up a big chunk. If he spends the money on a fast editing machine, lighting, lenses (and say the A7S for gimbal/B cam when FS7 or similar is hired) - most of these items will last a long time. Maybe you a different viewpoint, I'd be interested to hear. Exactly why I raised this topic!

This isn't a wish list post - I'm actually conducting research and opinions from others with experience/knowledge for a very lucky friend who has received a £12.5k ($18,800) investment to exclusively purchase filming equipment for his existing business. (other factors are taken care of). His operation is strikingly similar to my own - but we collaborate instead of compete. The background is that he is a freelancer who is setting up as a company, filming mostly commercial projects such as corporates, music videos and other little bits. He rents a lot of equipment and uses it so much, he wants to buy it (under a company) and bring on additional crew members as he goes. He currently owns (from the top of my head) a GH3, GH2, 70D, GoPro 3, slider, mini jib, 3-axis gimbal, 2 Kino soft lights, few spotlights, cheapish tripod, 3 year old iMac, USB 3.0 consumer hard drives, and a few vintage lenses in all sorts of brands, mostly primes. (I know for sure he only owns ONE electronic lens - a Panasonic pancake). He rents all the time - better lenses, bigger cameras (C300/FS7/Amira) , Arri Fresnels, LED panels with V-lock, but he understandably wants to convert these rental charges into ownership so he has the gear on hand at all times and saves money in his budgets. I think it's a good idea - I did this two years ago and it worked great!! The most important thing for him is to have reliable professional equipment of high quality which boosts productivity and creativity = more profit. I advised to update his iMac (5k?) to a new model and get faster hard drives (Thunderbolt RAID), buy the Arri light kit, buy the LED panel, fresnels and a professional haze machine, buy the lenses, purchase a new B-camera (for his DSLR compatible gimbal/slider/jib/smaller jobs), grab the accessories with whatever is left over and rent the bigger camera when its needed - and eventually buy the best suited A-camera when he's made the appropriate dosh. Just for a variety of opinion... what would you do with such an investment?

​ You do have a point and Rich has a point. You are both right. There are times when I've shot something on a GH3 and I've thought... "man, this would look much better on the A7S". But I've had the GH3 in my hands and something to shoot, so I've tried to be as creative as possible and create the best image possible with the camera I have. When form factor comes into it, the story does change. I've never been stood there with a GH3 and thought "man, this would look much better on a Red Epic". Actually because my crew is tiny and the Epic needs A LOT more work to operate sufficiently on a shoot, the end result with the Epic will likely be worse as much of my creative energy is going into operating the camera. if you look around you can get an A7S for around £1200. It's probably the best value mirrorless camera for skilled operators. And besides, it's only a matter of time until a "Ninja Star 2" style 4k recorder is released.

Here's a spot on blog post about the URSA Mini: https://frankglencairn.wordpress.com/2015/04/19/blackmagic-ursa-sanity-check/ Some good points made there.

Well there is your answer, the URSA Mini isn't ideal for you. All Blackmagic cameras need light. I use the FS7 a lot and yes, it's superior to current Blackmagic cameras for low light. You just have to be very careful with Slog3 as the shadows can get very noisey, especially at high ISO. 95% of the time, I'm under controlled lighting. The off-the-sensor mojo is very important to me, and this is where the URSA Mini is more desirable than the FS7. For run & gun, the FS7 will be hands-down the better tool. I don't know this obviously... just think it will be!

This is why I'm tempted by the URSA Mini over the FS7 - I much prefer the organic quality of Blackmagic. Also the URSA Mini can shoot in raw. On every shoot, I would shoot 2-3 of the main "money shots" in raw, and everything else ProRes. It's a workflow that makes sense in relation to having a speedy editing codec but really maximising the quality out of the shots you intend for showreel purposes. The only blip I have against owning the URSA Mini is CFast 2. You can buy a lens, a drone, a camera, slider etc for the price of a little card. They are an absolute rip off. Weren't Atomos working on their own affordable version? Or was this a dream?

Conpletely agree. Try using a rigged up RED Epic with a tiny crew and tell me it's easy. I'd love a C300 Mk II but it's too expensive for me - I'd be better off gunning for the FS7 or URSA Mini and use other funds to get lenses. It's a camera for high calibre freelancers and production companies. Yes, I do have my own production company making stuff week in, week out - but it's small with two directors and a part time accounts lady.

Yes I would think we are talking about cinema cameras, as the URSA Mini seems specced for that purpose. Dynamic range is more important to me, but I do find it very useful if my camera can perform well under low light - it helps when you can use lights with less power (more portable, like LEDs) and be able to get a detailed, clean image. It's true that some shoots can be difficult when you have a tiny crew and a load of Arri Fresnels to rig up. My point in being is that many enthusiasts want the next best image quality, and will keep on buying camera after camera like they are chasing the dragon. When will the said enthusiast wake up and realise that moulding the light is the key to maximum image performance? An A7S won't do it for you. If I relied on low light capabilities then a lot of my images would be horrible. Those who are documentary/run&gun/shot grabbers/spontaneous - this might not apply to you.

I use Impulz too. It's lovely. Also Osiris. Some of my highlights go weird on Osiris though. Has anybody ever tried Crumplepop Finisher? I'm telling you that plugin (when used correctly) is absolute magic. The difference in sharpness and clarity is staggering. It's not a drag and drop thing, you have to tweak it to look right. If you get it, my tip is to be careful of the brightness control and tone down the detail control.

Thanks for sharing - cool! I've always thought these cameras produce one of the most unique and pleasing images on the market. It's going to be difficult for them now the URSA Mini has been announced. On paper the URSA seems the better option, not to mention the solid distribution Blackmagic have worldwide. I want these guys to do well, they've done a great job. They need help though - let's hope they can get this image into the hands of more filmmakers.

Totally get your drift, but others don't. Some people out there think a low light camera means you don't need lighting, which is a very bizarre way of thinking when shooting. (Excluding the spontaneous and some documentary stuff). There are many "tests" on Vimeo where opinions are based on cameras where substantial lighting hasn't been used. How can a cameras image quality be tested when it hasn't been given the ingredients it needs? (Excluding low light tests). The A7S for example, creates by far it's best image under decent lighting at a low ISO. I've historically made loads of my projects with very little money to nothing. Lighting never gets thrown aside. Last year I made a zombie music video in a complete blacked out lunatic asylum. I lit the entire thing with just 2 small LED lights and a reflector. Sure, I had the Sony FS700 (decent low light) but if I didn't bother moulding the light then the video would of been a waste of time. A lot of us camera nerds are so obsessed with cameras that we spent all our money on cameras and not the juice that feeds the image. Low light is a fantastic feature to get more information and clean images - but knowing how to mould that light, in whichever form or source with decent composition is the key to amazing images. It's what sets you apart. (And your ideas of course!) So when this brings me back to the URSA Mini and what it's intended for, it seems perfectly fine. I'll always have some form of light kit, even if it's a bit of foil on a piece of cardboard and a little torch to shine on it.

​ If low light is such an issue for low budget production - shouldn't more people actually consider buying a decent set of lights before upgrading to yet another camera body? Lights last for over a decade, camera body 2-3 years. I don't find low light much of an issue as I'm covered on all bases. Something a lot of the camera nerdy community forget is that lighting is No.1 for creating images (in aspects of tools).

I've been unusually nerdy about camera tech this week thanks to Blackmagic - I even watched the press conference URSA Mini bit. This company are very impressive. Very, very tempted!

​ I'm putting serious thought into investing my Sony FS7 savings into Blackmagic (URSA Mini, Micro Camera & Video Assist). They just seem by far the most innovative & best value company who listen to their users. They are delivering some amazing tools for little cost - and it will only get better. I've had my eye on the FS7 but i must admit I much, much prefer the "feel" behind the Blackmagic image (prefer the Cinema Camera/Pocket). i think those sticking to DSLRs should just forget Canon for now - there are plenty more tools elsewhere to tell stories.

I honestly think the previous "sensor in a box" cameras from Blackmagic are history - now replaced with the URSA and the URSA Mini. I still think another Pocket camera could be on the cards for next NAB 2016 though.

It's probably going to do really nice 1080p video. 4k is almost bloody useless if the colours are crap and the dynamic range is poor.

I was viewing on the iMac 5k Retina display, lens was Olympus 12mm M.Zuiko. A lot of the shots were fine, but the really wide landscape shots (of a racing track) had aliasing all over it, it was horrendous! I love drone work, so this Micro Camera is interesting. Also for handheld gimbals too where rolling shutter can be a pain!

I love GoPro. What a series of innovative cameras! I agree with you though, the GoPro isn't ideal for a lot of professional work - I've had so much drone footage put in the bin because the GoPro image didn't quite cut it. I've also been disappointed with GH4 drone footage, the last project I did was shot in 4k and it had aliasing all over it. Very surprised!! This Micro Camera would be a great experiment... Quite the companion to the new URSA!

As a consistent user of the FS7, this camera really does appeal to me. I've always liked the Blackmagic image - one of my favourites. Just found the ergonomics awful previously! This camera seems too good to be true. My only worrying critique is the CFast 2 cards. Far too expensive rip-off media. This camera does seem fantastic though. I think investing in Blackmagic now would be a great move, they are improving so much and they are very innovative and aggressive. They will only get better every year. Want! (With free CFast cards please!)