AndrewS

Look Stab you are exactly the person that you are worried about.  
 
I don’t post much on the internet but this idea is so misguided I had to come out and say something.
 
I’ve been in the business for 14 years now and I thought that with FCP v2 and miniDV as a tape format the industry would explode within 2 years and belatedly it has, but not how I expected it to.  It was DSLR’s that really changed the game.  No one is transferring film to miniDV so they can cut film jobs in FCP, people are now shooting with digital negative!  The Blackmagic cameras are absolutely amazing because they are giving people digital negative for less than what we used to pay per hour to grade film negative.  
 
We used to pay $1,400 an hour to grade negative in a DaVinci suite but now resolve is free.  The burden is on operators and artists to add the value.  Now that everyone is shooting digital negative we have added a grading suite to our post house and we bill ‘only’ $1,000 and hour to grade jobs.  We have one of Australia’s most sought after colourist in our employment and they are busy, even at $1,000 an hour.  Any director or DOP can now grade their own jobs in the same software we use (for free I might add, you don’t really need the desk) but the top end directors and DOP’s understand the value a professional colourist brings to the job.  Our colourist’s are happy to share their tips and tricks with me, an editor, but also our assistants or anyone that wants to know because their unique skill and mastery of their craft will keep them in demand even if I were to leave and offer grading at half the price.     
 
A lot on people new to the industry find the Blackmagic raw footage difficult to deal with because that have never graded actual negative or dealt with a digital negative work flow.  Everyone just chucks on a LUT and called it a day while a real colourist can dial in any look you want, live, with clients in the room and match the look between all the shots.  Experience is where the values is and everyone I know shares their experiences.    
 
Some of the advice offered on the web is incorrect or misguided but its amazing what someone like Shane Hurlbut shares for nothing.  I’m sure his paid subscription is amazing but you can lean pure gold from him for free.
 
A influx of “new kids†to the business offering services at a significant discount to us is going to erode our profitability.  They/You (Stab) already have.  As richg101 said a lot of these people do a shocking job and won’t get rehired but we still suffer because clients demand we cut our rates to compete.  Sure we’re delivering jobs shot on Alexa with Cooke S5’s professionally graded from the camera RAW, at a quality that is the same as when we worked with 35mm, but something shot on a 5D roughly graded from the h.264 looks 90% as good (sometimes 99.9%).  Most clients can’t tell the difference and don’t want to pay the difference.   
 
I’m not complaining, in fact this has been great for me on personal level because I’ve been able to get my personal projects up to the same quality as my professional ones.  Professionally I’ve never been busier.  Sure budgets are dropping but there is more work than ever before, with the web there is a much higher demand for video content at every level.  I’m always going to share all of my secrets because we all learn together, I’ve learnt a lot about DSLR’s and the like from the people on this site (respect ANDY LEE) and I really appreciate it.  I’ve just started my own blog to share my knowledge with people other than my assistants and to help me solidify the lessons I’ve learnt from my professional experience.  
 
People I’ve worked with and helped are now all over the world working in different parts of the business.  I helped an friend get his head around the basics of shake and now he’s VFX artist at D-Neg having worked on the latest Avengers movie.  An ex-assistant is the post supervisor for a company that cuts both movies and TV series work, she’s a good friend and back in the day I helped her and I know she’d do the same for me if I so required.  This business is all about the connections you make because you really never know where the next job will come from.  If you turtle up and withhold knowledge why should anyone share their knowledge with you, or hep you when you need it?  
 
There is no problem sharing your knowledge with others it makes you a better artist as you debate different ideas, experiment together and get inspired by others creativity.    
 
Stab you seem to have experience behind you so don’t worry about the new kids just worry about the next job.  I always wonder how I can make the next job so amazing that people will be beating down my door just to work with me.  Experience means your next job is better than your last so just think of the head start you have.  You have the head start of experience so please help new people learn the ropes, others have done it for you so don't turn you back on the film making community.            

Look Stab you are exactly the person that you are worried about.  
 
I don’t post much on the internet but this idea is so misguided I had to come out and say something.
 
I’ve been in the business for 14 years now and I thought that with FCP v2 and miniDV as a tape format the industry would explode within 2 years and belatedly it has, but not how I expected it to.  It was DSLR’s that really changed the game.  No one is transferring film to miniDV so they can cut film jobs in FCP, people are now shooting with digital negative!  The Blackmagic cameras are absolutely amazing because they are giving people digital negative for less than what we used to pay per hour to grade film negative.  
 
We used to pay $1,400 an hour to grade negative in a DaVinci suite but now resolve is free.  The burden is on operators and artists to add the value.  Now that everyone is shooting digital negative we have added a grading suite to our post house and we bill ‘only’ $1,000 and hour to grade jobs.  We have one of Australia’s most sought after colourist in our employment and they are busy, even at $1,000 an hour.  Any director or DOP can now grade their own jobs in the same software we use (for free I might add, you don’t really need the desk) but the top end directors and DOP’s understand the value a professional colourist brings to the job.  Our colourist’s are happy to share their tips and tricks with me, an editor, but also our assistants or anyone that wants to know because their unique skill and mastery of their craft will keep them in demand even if I were to leave and offer grading at half the price.     
 
A lot on people new to the industry find the Blackmagic raw footage difficult to deal with because that have never graded actual negative or dealt with a digital negative work flow.  Everyone just chucks on a LUT and called it a day while a real colourist can dial in any look you want, live, with clients in the room and match the look between all the shots.  Experience is where the values is and everyone I know shares their experiences.    
 
Some of the advice offered on the web is incorrect or misguided but its amazing what someone like Shane Hurlbut shares for nothing.  I’m sure his paid subscription is amazing but you can lean pure gold from him for free.
 
A influx of “new kids†to the business offering services at a significant discount to us is going to erode our profitability.  They/You (Stab) already have.  As richg101 said a lot of these people do a shocking job and won’t get rehired but we still suffer because clients demand we cut our rates to compete.  Sure we’re delivering jobs shot on Alexa with Cooke S5’s professionally graded from the camera RAW, at a quality that is the same as when we worked with 35mm, but something shot on a 5D roughly graded from the h.264 looks 90% as good (sometimes 99.9%).  Most clients can’t tell the difference and don’t want to pay the difference.   
 
I’m not complaining, in fact this has been great for me on personal level because I’ve been able to get my personal projects up to the same quality as my professional ones.  Professionally I’ve never been busier.  Sure budgets are dropping but there is more work than ever before, with the web there is a much higher demand for video content at every level.  I’m always going to share all of my secrets because we all learn together, I’ve learnt a lot about DSLR’s and the like from the people on this site (respect ANDY LEE) and I really appreciate it.  I’ve just started my own blog to share my knowledge with people other than my assistants and to help me solidify the lessons I’ve learnt from my professional experience.  
 
People I’ve worked with and helped are now all over the world working in different parts of the business.  I helped an friend get his head around the basics of shake and now he’s VFX artist at D-Neg having worked on the latest Avengers movie.  An ex-assistant is the post supervisor for a company that cuts both movies and TV series work, she’s a good friend and back in the day I helped her and I know she’d do the same for me if I so required.  This business is all about the connections you make because you really never know where the next job will come from.  If you turtle up and withhold knowledge why should anyone share their knowledge with you, or hep you when you need it?  
 
There is no problem sharing your knowledge with others it makes you a better artist as you debate different ideas, experiment together and get inspired by others creativity.    
 
Stab you seem to have experience behind you so don’t worry about the new kids just worry about the next job.  I always wonder how I can make the next job so amazing that people will be beating down my door just to work with me.  Experience means your next job is better than your last so just think of the head start you have.  You have the head start of experience so please help new people learn the ropes, others have done it for you so don't turn you back on the film making community.            

DigitalWarS I'm in the same boat for my home camera.  The 70D has a higher data rate for its H.264 but apparently moire is an issue which is yet unproven for the A6000.  
 
The 70D does not have a EVF which is SUPER useful shooting in full sun.  Nor is MagicLantern there yet.
 
The Technicolor Cynestyle is fantastic for making the most of consumer cameras, I'm constantly amazed at how well this stuff grades with the Alexa and RED footage we normally get. To be fair the 5D H.264 is terrible compared to those cameras but you can get them in the same ballpark and cut between them, which for a 5DMK3 with L glass costing maybe $5k VS an Alexa with an Angenieux Zoom at maybe $200K is pretty good.  
 
You are right Sony E-mount and Sony Zeiss E-mount Lenses are very expensive.  I've used a 5DMK3 with the $100 Canon 50mm f1.8 and got fantastic results in both stills and video.  Again that isn't the best lens ever, but it has an amazing price to performance ratio.  I really like my Helios 44-2 and the manual focus is great but the Cannon 50mm f1.8 has autofocus for stills!   
 
I'm wondering if I should buy a super cheap Canon 700D to use with my Canon glass and save up for a A7s when the time is right.