Zach Goodwin

There are many ways of film making, but traditionally, a shot will be planned to an extent where a gimbal is a hinderance compared to solutions that you can use when you have that much control over the scene. Why use a gimbal and have to rely on autofocus when you can build a track for your camera and retain control? I say traditionally, because things like Canon's autofocus, affordable gimbals and the modern revolution of film making has led to tiny crews shooting gorilla movies in locations where they have no control, and then such tools become useful. There comes a point however where you can't just roll up to a location and shoot.

I've said this a bunch of times, but I always felt the beauty of Canon "color" is due to the large user base back when they were the only option. Between vision and Cinestyle and Prolost Flat, the best settings were defined by extensive R&D by some of the best DPs, colorists and enthusiasts that gave a neutral starting point for grading or just simple lens selection to achieve a desired "look." For someone like me... A beginner in practical terms... This made the entire process palpable.
When Magic Lantern became a viable, stable option, the opportunities were tremendous. But in some ways, the implementation of ML may have hurt Canon's video segment growth because I am almost convinced that the pencil pushers felt the video popularity of their cameras since 2012, was based on their own internals and were oblivious to the impact that ML had on their video segment sales. 
Well, that and their innate desire to protect their cinema line and their lack of market placement in the consumer 4K television market, led to stagnant development in their video segment. 
Either way, I hope Canon extends their lines and update their video functions because I would love to use Canon again. 
As far as auto focus... When I started the hobby, I couldn't afford any good native lenses... So I went with manual vintage lenses. Just recently, after I bought my G7, I picked up a Sigma 30mm f2.8 and although I use it primarily with manual focus, sometimes for a quick punch, I'll hit the af button and get it close... Very useful. And with my recent purchase of the FZ300, the continuous AF is so spot on, it's like having a focus puller following you around with a tape measure. And as long as you're judicious and creative with your shots, I can't see why it couldn't be cinematic. So, I can understand why a filmmaker of any level or discipline could find it useful.

When Auto Focus gets invented I will try it.
 
But to be serious there are times when AF can be usefull. On small chip camcorders it can be nice. In selfie mode with good face detection. Just to name two.
But there is no such thing as Automatic Focus. 

IMO auto focus and 'cinematic' shouldn't really be uttered in the same sentence.  However for things like an impromptu talking head in a run and gun environment with a large sensor, a good af system capable of tracking focus of a face will always be welcome.  I highly doubt I'd ever use such a thing since I actually like the aesthetic of a human being pulling focus by eye.  
If people like to think a Canon will make their colours nicer without having to learn how to set up wb, profiles and learn how to use curves that's up to them.
The fact here isn't about af or colour.  It's about the fact that the image from the 80D doesn't even deliver true 720p.  it's mush.  and is noisy.    The lack of video ergonomics of a mirrored camera can be worked around when the image is worth working around for - the 1dc, 5dmk3 in raw, etc.  But entertaining any positive discussion about Canon cameras not of the Cinema EOS range or ML hacked for film making is madness.  Those still buying such devices for cinematic type film making are either ignorant to what else is available, blind or buying out of sympathy for Canon.  I see no difference between the 80D and the 550D/T2i in terms of video performance.  Canon hasn't made any worthwhile video improvements on their non cinema eos cameras since the 5Dmk2!    

All this going on and on about color --as if content creators could never make a good video without someone's skin tone looking like a Vermeer painting right off of the sensor.  C'mon, someone's skin tone should probably be the least of your worries with modern gear.  All of it is more than good enough. 
Sorry, I really shouldn't gripe and be an old fart about this.  
It's just that you're making interview videos for freaking YouTube.  If you have half a clue what you're doing... Sony is fine.  Panasonic is fine.  Canon is Fine.  Nikon is fine.  I mean, look what you're getting for less than 1K.  It's practically magic these days and it only costs a handful of beans.  Use it, make fun stuff, and be happy.
(Jeez, I'm seriously getting curmudgeonly about things these days.  Don't get old kids, it makes you cranky!) 
So anyway...I'd buy a G7... and why would you need a speed booster for talking head studio stuff? 

Okay, okay. You don't want someone looking green...but what new camera when properly set up for studio shooting is going to fail at acquiring decent skin tone?
Or any camera made in the last few years, to be honest?
Serious question, that, Mattias, you play with more cameras than just about anyone.
I'm just amazed people will dismiss a camera because some other camera makes human flesh look subjectively "dreamy."  Even though that may well be true, when you can control your set up and setting, you can dial in the colors to your liking.
Maybe I'm the one being nuts here, but I really think that for this level of production, one could buy a used $200 G3 and a used $10 Pentax lens and still make it look great. 

Everyone is going to be a bit biased toward what they own or choose to use because it took all their research and money to get to that decision (plus the additional time and expense of buying and selling and renting and demoing everything under the sun before making the right decision). But while everyone's choice is usually eventually right for their needs–it gets pretty exhausting deluding yourself and going down the wrong path–many cameramen will then embrace the strengths of their given instrument the more they use it and their bias will only extend as their needs are changed by their choices, rather than the other way around. If you've got an A7S you're gonna shoot low light; if you've got a Dragon you definitely won't.
There are a lot of talented guitarists, each using and loving completely different guitars, and to what extent choice informed aptitude and aptitude informed choice is debatable there, too. It goes both ways. Causation, correlation, and whatnot.
I think the only mistake is believing everyone shares your needs and your taste (and your finances). I like just about everything if it's done well, maybe it's a lack of cultivated taste, so it's easy for me to say "do your thing," but I also think everyone is going to do their thing anyway so being too set in your beliefs won't help unless you're making your own decisions (which you don't need a forum to make). No one else's needs are your own, so every recommendation is going to vary.
You seem like someone who is very thoughtful but also opinionated, and it's good to think before drawing a conclusion. But don't be too quick to dismiss those who form their opinions intuitively rather than intellectually. A lot of the greatest filmmakers operate that way when picking coverage, directing performance, etc.–choices far more important than codec. I think Paul McCartney never learned to read music. Bias is good, it shows intelligence. Intransigence isn't, it reveals solipsism.

Well the A7S colour weaknesses are sadly all too clear in that clip. Noisy, compressed, inaccurate, thin and dreadful on the Rec.709 conversion, only the custom LUT (with a lot of expertise efforts) can save it even after that dodgy white balance, mixed light, exposure all remain difficulties faced by Sony users.
Sony need to make it EASY to get Canon or Nikon like colour from their cameras.
They should really trash their entire picture profiles line-up and start again.

They only have hamsters working on the DSLR video side, they transferred the more intelligent bunny rabbits to the Cinema EOS department.
Sony only have guineapigs.... Us!

Cheers!

Hi guys, I've until now been proudly and strictly amateur, and really learning for the sake of learning and the enjoyment of the process. Recently, a friend of mine has started his own business and it has been going really well for him. He is going to an expo, and has asked me to attend, to shoot video of the event. Normally I would have said no straight away for any number of reasons, but, this guy has gone above and beyond for me and my family in recent years - to put perspective on it, he has, without question or complaint, or recompense in any form took my learning disabled son out every week for over a year when I have been bed bound with illness, and built a log cabin for me in my garden - so I owe this guy big time.
He hasn't got the budget to pay anyone, in fact, I am helping to cover accomodation for his team, so me being there isn't taking away the chance to get a pro in to get better results than I can achieve. He understands that I am not experienced or professional, he obviously knows my health and emergencies with my son may cause me to be unable to attend or stay and is still happy for me to try, which is why, I said yes.
Obviously I want to do the absolute best job possible, but, I'm a overawed by it all. Firstly, the expo has a press accreditation application, but I don't know if that's appropriate for me, also it allows members of the public attending to "snap away as long as you don't sell the photos for any purpose" , but doesn't mention the exhibitors, presumably the rules for the public apply at a minimum.
Secondly, I have an equipment list which isn't going to do me many favours, this kind of work wasn't on my radar when I was getting my kit together. I have manged to beg/borrow/steal the following which I think will be a suitable kit to take:
Cameras:
A Sony a6300 & NEX 7 C/Y adapter, C/Y Speedbooster, C/Y Zeiss 35-70, C/Y Zeiss 80-200, 50mm f1.8 OSS. I have two Sony batteries, one brand new, one that came with the NEX and has seen years of work along with a year of storage, but seems to be working just fine. I also have two relatively unused off brand batteries.
For the above cameras, I have two 256Gb Sandisk Extreme 95MB/s cards, also an adapter for the go pro's card below, that accomodates the NEX 7's video without a hitch
A Canon XA10 that is barely used but been in storage for years and is in an unknown working state, no cards etc
A go pro hero 4 silver and a metal housing which solved it's plugged in overheating problem. I have a sandisk extreme 64Gb card for it.
Sound:
A Shure Lenshopper with the built in recorder
An AT875R with Rycote Softie
A Shure MV51
A Zoom H4n
Very good (for music) earphones
Stabilisation:
A Gitzo tripod
A Sirui Monopod with feet and ball joint, which seperates into a normal monopod and a little ball jointed tabletop tripod
A manfrotto 502 head
Lighting:
Two large and one small cheap and nasty LED units
Computing:
A surface pro 2 with a 1.5Tb external HD
iphone with it's camera and app ecosystem including a surprisingly accurate enough light meter.
 
Italics indicates gear I have been promised by a reliable person, but, as always, until it's in my hand's I can't be certain I will have it
-------------------------------
The Plan
Day 1 - setting up, Im going to take the go pro and a6300 w. lenshopper on the monopod, NEX-7 to hand (spare in case of failure, photography), and just document the team setting up the stand. The go pro will do a time lapse while I get cool and interesting shots of the process
Day 2 - Trade. a6300 + monopod. I'll spend this time around and about the expo getting interesting shots of other stands, interesting people, interesting locations within the center itself, the signs etc. This is the teams most imortant day and I don't want to be there putting them off or being a nuisance to the people they are hoping will become customers. I'll have some of the product and will hand them out to people to hold while smiling for a photo - models and notable attendees - if they will allow me to take them and my autism doesn't turn me into a puddle of antisocial water, and again if they are willing, a few signed products.
Day 3 - Public. Go pro in an unobtrusive corner, a6300 on monopod, nex to hand. I'll be hovering around the stand, getting shots of the great unwashed being, hopefully very enthusiastic about the products and the team being pleasent, lovely people.
Day 4 - Public and tear down - Another Go Pro timelapse of the teardown and more public shots admiring the product
Evenings - Candids of the team (go pro, a6300) and a few more formal "interviews" (MV51, tripod & lights)
Obviously if the Canon is is good working order, I will be using that in place of the a6300 with the AT875R mic, the a6300 with become my backup and photography and the NEX will stay in the bag.
------------------------------------
So, what do you think? Am I mad to even try, have I overlooked anything important, am I overthinking this way too much, will I get kicked out?
I would be extremely grateful for any and all advice, ideas, guidance and wisdom. The expo is in May, so I have time, and I can afford to invest £500 or so, but that's only justifiable if it will be useful to me for what I actually use my cameras for - short films & family stuff!
It's worth pointing out, that gear that I have (or have access to) which I'm not taking includes:
A BMPCC in a decent rig with sigma 18-35 with a tilta follow focus and a z finder pro, big external battery, 5 internal batteries
A Phillip Bloom Slider of unknown length (but almost certainly won't be the shortest if the guy who will lend it to me is anything to go by)
Beyerdynamic M99 with cloudlifter, NI komplete Audio 6
A bunch more lenses and adapters for the e mount
A metric tonne of mounts for the go pro.
 
Cheers!

stop worrying about your equipment.. it´s fine  ..ask yourself of the legal status of the project.. where will it be shown.. filming people in public for commercial is.. well.. not excatly legal.. at least not in my country.. and remember that every sound you hear.. if there is music somewhere in the distance.. you have to license for that right of use... I´d advice get in contact with the expo, you probably need a permission..  and also make up the story you want to tell.. don´t just hold your camera on things 4 days long.. good luck, do it and enjoy your learning curve

For batteries I'd get these: http://www.pts-trading.de/patona-premium-battery-f-sony-np-fw50-nex-3-nex3c-nex-5-nex5a-nex-7-p-4945.html .

For peace of mind, might it be worthwhile getting a couple more Sony batteries for the A6300? They are small and easy to carry and their mere presence will be a comfort once you see the battery bars fading before your eyes. Remember a charger too!

Thank-you so much for all the replies!! My experience of these events is sorely limited, so I had no idea - I've been binging on other peoples footage all day but what you've written is absolutely gold for me! The con is Bodypower, all about fitness with an emphasis on massive muscles etc, I have a feeling most people will be fine with the cameras, I tend to err on the side of respectfulness, even when unnecessary. And, yes, more Sony batteries is on the list! Hoping to find them for less than RRP though, £50 a go is steep, but don't want to end up with fakes either!
Ebrahim, I've got a nerve condition which results in fibromyalgia, and because I minimise my pain relief, I use a wheelchair to keep my mobility. For this event, because I won't have my son to look after, I'll be able to use the oramorph and that should see me through, and monopods make passable walking sticks! If you have any general tips for filming, at times when I can't use it, I would be really happy for all advice on this as well - I usually have 4-5 hours during school time to use my camera, and I am very motivated, but sometimes the pain or the difficulties in working from a chair just impede me too much. It's my dream to write, shoot and edit a movie, and I'm having a blast teaching myself the techniques and getting out there and giving it a go, but I just don't see a way to get beyond the writing stage at the minute, I don't feel it would be fair to get other people on board with a project, which I can't be sure of being physically up to following through!

I work in the trade show industry and everything Tupp said is correct. Also, don't be afraid to record people in your client's booth without their permission. Your client is renting that space and during that time, it is their property. You have every right to record people who enter their property... Just don't overthink it. Or worry too much about it  
Even though it seems to be a camera friendly show, during set up, you may want to refrain from recording other exhibitor's booths. A lot of these people are exhibiting products for the first time and they can be leery about unknown people standing in front of their booth, during set up and recording their material. 
As far as equipment... What you have is fine. The majority of hired videographers that show up at a trade shows have either a monopod or a small steady cam with a shiny Canon camera attached. So good 1080p is more than enough. And most have either a rode video Mic attached and plugged into their camera, or no mic at all. If you plan on doing floor interviews, just get a decent lav and plug it directly into the camera, or a recorder, your Shure will be perfect for this. Pick up one of those cheap Audio Technica or Azden lavs and you should be good to go. Just remember not to get in the salesman's way. You should be a fly on the wall and most of the time, not even in the booth and filming from the aisle with a small footprint. Don't bring too much gear because there will be nowhere in the booth for you to store it and you don't want to have to lug around a bunch of gear you don't need. Also, remember it will be warm in there, so dress accordingly. Show management and the convention center look for any way they can save money, which usually means turning the AC off every night and putting it back on a half hour before the show starts. With all of the lights and people, it can get pretty toasty.
Good Luck!!!

Don't over-think this job.  You are not shooting "Lawrence Of Arabia."  On the other hand there are a few things to consider in regards to how trade shows work and on how to optimize the video coverage for your client.
 
First of all, do not contact to the trade show management directly about anything.  As an exhibitor, your client is a paying customer of the expo, and he is the one who should deal directly with the show management on all matters.  You are not with the independent "press" -- you are hired by an exhibitor, and he will probably get you an exhibitor's badge.  I have been to a few trade shows, and I have never heard of trade show management prohibiting an exhibitor from shooting his/her own booth.  So, unless this expo is the "Anti-Paparazzi Con" or the "Paranoid, Secretive Espionage Agencies Con," don't sweat the lack of official permission to shoot.
 
Secondly, your idea of shooting a time lapse of the booth set-up is nice, but keep in mind when choosing your camera position that things move around a lot and unexpectedly appear and disappear during a trade show set-up:  fork lifts; man lifts; push carts; carpet (will eventually cover any bare concrete that you see); signs (erected from the floor and hung from the ceiling); and, of course, big, opaque booth walls will appear.  You might have to move your camera out of the way at some point.
 
It is probably wise to shoot some live coverage in your client's booth during set-up, but most of that footage will probably be dull, so there likely is no need to spend the entire day shooting set-up.
 
The first day/morning of a trade show is usually the most active and exciting.  Your client will probably want some shots of his booth full of attendees.  So, be ready to shoot at the start of the first day.  Don't get too big with your rigs -- be nimble so you don't miss anything.  A camera with a zoom lens and a monopod are probably all that you need, perhaps along with a shotgun mic plugged into your separate recorder (the camera sound will grab anything off-camera).  Look for interesting/positive interactions.
 
Be mindful that the last day is usually the slowest (that morning might be good for sit-down interviews) and that, at tear down, most exhibitors want to pack up and go home.

I dig it.

My workflow process (works with any camera. Is universal!):

1) Hand over media cards to editor.
2) Go home.

Or you're just a little too much... Anyways, what was it you said again..?
 

Let me know if you'll be at nab, I'm alway down to meet more people. 
 
Actually even if Andrew doesn't make it for some reason, I see no reason the rest of us can't get together.

I would pick A ...and find another bird...(Panavision dolly in on a crane...I have a budget!!!)

Or a hot girl of course...

Must be some bird...

ha, look who doesn't want anyone going off on a tangent. love you, man.