rdouthit

It's just another genre. Neistat and Fine Brothers are the role models to this group. Note that The Fine Brothers managed to shoot a show for SHO a few years ago using consumer Canon pocket cameras. These guys are content machines. If they stop producing at ridiculous rates, their revenue and social stock can crash. That's fine, but it leaves little time to improve the art. It's what they want to do and more power to them. I have friends that are into this, and the have a love/hate relationship with it. Personally, have no interest in that mill. 

It's just another genre. Neistat and Fine Brothers are the role models to this group. Note that The Fine Brothers managed to shoot a show for SHO a few years ago using consumer Canon pocket cameras. These guys are content machines. If they stop producing at ridiculous rates, their revenue and social stock can crash. That's fine, but it leaves little time to improve the art. It's what they want to do and more power to them. I have friends that are into this, and the have a love/hate relationship with it. Personally, have no interest in that mill. 

It's just another genre. Neistat and Fine Brothers are the role models to this group. Note that The Fine Brothers managed to shoot a show for SHO a few years ago using consumer Canon pocket cameras. These guys are content machines. If they stop producing at ridiculous rates, their revenue and social stock can crash. That's fine, but it leaves little time to improve the art. It's what they want to do and more power to them. I have friends that are into this, and the have a love/hate relationship with it. Personally, have no interest in that mill. 

It's just another genre. Neistat and Fine Brothers are the role models to this group. Note that The Fine Brothers managed to shoot a show for SHO a few years ago using consumer Canon pocket cameras. These guys are content machines. If they stop producing at ridiculous rates, their revenue and social stock can crash. That's fine, but it leaves little time to improve the art. It's what they want to do and more power to them. I have friends that are into this, and the have a love/hate relationship with it. Personally, have no interest in that mill. 

It's just another genre. Neistat and Fine Brothers are the role models to this group. Note that The Fine Brothers managed to shoot a show for SHO a few years ago using consumer Canon pocket cameras. These guys are content machines. If they stop producing at ridiculous rates, their revenue and social stock can crash. That's fine, but it leaves little time to improve the art. It's what they want to do and more power to them. I have friends that are into this, and the have a love/hate relationship with it. Personally, have no interest in that mill. 

The A99II every time. For me, the lack of an EVF makes the 1DXII a non-starter. The touch-focus is really, really good, however, and that overcomes a lot. But it's just not my style of shooting. Also, those files sizes are a bit ridiculous on the Canon.

Among other shows, I'm the DP for a series that runs on Motor Trend On Demand called "The House of Muscle" (it's about Muscle Cars.) This is a fun series to shoot since we travel around the country and drive some amazing cars. Weather is always an issue. For the series our primary cameras have been a Sony FS7 as primary a Canon 1DS Mk2 for secondary and a Sony A7S for rigged and gimbal shots. The A7S was good, but it wasn't perfect. 
After already shooting several episodes for this season, this past week we filmed in Alabama and I replaced the A7S (typically used with Nikon 20mm f/2.8 or Sony Zeiss 16-35) with an A99II (using a set of Sony Zeiss primes: 24, 50, 135). The show is delivered in HD, so 4k isn't necessary. Episodes 1, 3 and 4 were shot in Slog, and since I wasn't thrilled with the coloring done in post on episode 3 (totally different team handles post), that, plus needing fast turn-around pushed us to going with cooked 709s. Versus the A7S, the A99II delivered a much better shooting experience with negligible difference in quality. Here's some thoughts on how this overlooked camera performed:
When rigged for in-car commentary, the rotating screen of the A99II allowed me to run without a second monitor.  For exterior mounts the weather sealed body make me feel more comfortable with the occasional splash Much, much better battery life. It's a pain to de-mount a camera just to change a battery.  Full support of the dual-channel wireless lav receiver (I didn't use it for the House of Muscle like this, but for a 22-part series I shot for Autoblog last month we used it extensively on the A99II.) It's possible the A7S support it, but I haven't tried. More a plus for running Sony across the board I guess. Since we travel all over the USA to film this series, bag space is a premium and we're already packing 10 cases as it is. With the A99II I don't have to bring a second camera for photos (I always take a few for promo use.) The A7S simply wasn't good for action photos.  My FS7 has an A-Mount adaptor, so I can swap my Zeiss prime set between both cameras easily. The 135mm f/1.8 is a beautiful lens.  The full-frame video is good. Yes, there is some minor aliasing in FF mode, but nothing the client or the viewers will ever notice.  Autofocus in video mode is excellent -- for how I use it. The ONLY time I auto-focus is when the camera is mounted on a Ronin gimbal when we do tracking car-to-car shots. Even with the f/3.5 "issue," the camera performs very well in this situation. To reduce the shutter speed in bright light, I just add the appropriate number of ND filters to hit my target exposure.  The full-size DSLR-style body is more enjoyable to use. I found I shot a lot of run-and-gun with the A99II when I could have just as well grabbed the FS7 this past week. Built-in stabilization helped damp vibrations when running with a hard-mount on a chase-car.  Like the A7S the dynamic range works magic to "save" exterior details when filming inside a dark car interior.  A few areas where the A7S was better:
Sharper image overall (negligible as far as the client was concerned.) Smooth aperture adjustments "on the fly" thanks to a manual control on the adaptor we used with the Nikon lens.  

For car interiors you need a minimum 7 camera system or just use a Samsung Gear 360 until something better comes along. 

Nope, I don't work on Roadkill. Great show though. 

Among other shows, I'm the DP for a series that runs on Motor Trend On Demand called "The House of Muscle" (it's about Muscle Cars.) This is a fun series to shoot since we travel around the country and drive some amazing cars. Weather is always an issue. For the series our primary cameras have been a Sony FS7 as primary a Canon 1DS Mk2 for secondary and a Sony A7S for rigged and gimbal shots. The A7S was good, but it wasn't perfect. 
After already shooting several episodes for this season, this past week we filmed in Alabama and I replaced the A7S (typically used with Nikon 20mm f/2.8 or Sony Zeiss 16-35) with an A99II (using a set of Sony Zeiss primes: 24, 50, 135). The show is delivered in HD, so 4k isn't necessary. Episodes 1, 3 and 4 were shot in Slog, and since I wasn't thrilled with the coloring done in post on episode 3 (totally different team handles post), that, plus needing fast turn-around pushed us to going with cooked 709s. Versus the A7S, the A99II delivered a much better shooting experience with negligible difference in quality. Here's some thoughts on how this overlooked camera performed:
When rigged for in-car commentary, the rotating screen of the A99II allowed me to run without a second monitor.  For exterior mounts the weather sealed body make me feel more comfortable with the occasional splash Much, much better battery life. It's a pain to de-mount a camera just to change a battery.  Full support of the dual-channel wireless lav receiver (I didn't use it for the House of Muscle like this, but for a 22-part series I shot for Autoblog last month we used it extensively on the A99II.) It's possible the A7S support it, but I haven't tried. More a plus for running Sony across the board I guess. Since we travel all over the USA to film this series, bag space is a premium and we're already packing 10 cases as it is. With the A99II I don't have to bring a second camera for photos (I always take a few for promo use.) The A7S simply wasn't good for action photos.  My FS7 has an A-Mount adaptor, so I can swap my Zeiss prime set between both cameras easily. The 135mm f/1.8 is a beautiful lens.  The full-frame video is good. Yes, there is some minor aliasing in FF mode, but nothing the client or the viewers will ever notice.  Autofocus in video mode is excellent -- for how I use it. The ONLY time I auto-focus is when the camera is mounted on a Ronin gimbal when we do tracking car-to-car shots. Even with the f/3.5 "issue," the camera performs very well in this situation. To reduce the shutter speed in bright light, I just add the appropriate number of ND filters to hit my target exposure.  The full-size DSLR-style body is more enjoyable to use. I found I shot a lot of run-and-gun with the A99II when I could have just as well grabbed the FS7 this past week. Built-in stabilization helped damp vibrations when running with a hard-mount on a chase-car.  Like the A7S the dynamic range works magic to "save" exterior details when filming inside a dark car interior.  A few areas where the A7S was better:
Sharper image overall (negligible as far as the client was concerned.) Smooth aperture adjustments "on the fly" thanks to a manual control on the adaptor we used with the Nikon lens.  

Among other shows, I'm the DP for a series that runs on Motor Trend On Demand called "The House of Muscle" (it's about Muscle Cars.) This is a fun series to shoot since we travel around the country and drive some amazing cars. Weather is always an issue. For the series our primary cameras have been a Sony FS7 as primary a Canon 1DS Mk2 for secondary and a Sony A7S for rigged and gimbal shots. The A7S was good, but it wasn't perfect. 
After already shooting several episodes for this season, this past week we filmed in Alabama and I replaced the A7S (typically used with Nikon 20mm f/2.8 or Sony Zeiss 16-35) with an A99II (using a set of Sony Zeiss primes: 24, 50, 135). The show is delivered in HD, so 4k isn't necessary. Episodes 1, 3 and 4 were shot in Slog, and since I wasn't thrilled with the coloring done in post on episode 3 (totally different team handles post), that, plus needing fast turn-around pushed us to going with cooked 709s. Versus the A7S, the A99II delivered a much better shooting experience with negligible difference in quality. Here's some thoughts on how this overlooked camera performed:
When rigged for in-car commentary, the rotating screen of the A99II allowed me to run without a second monitor.  For exterior mounts the weather sealed body make me feel more comfortable with the occasional splash Much, much better battery life. It's a pain to de-mount a camera just to change a battery.  Full support of the dual-channel wireless lav receiver (I didn't use it for the House of Muscle like this, but for a 22-part series I shot for Autoblog last month we used it extensively on the A99II.) It's possible the A7S support it, but I haven't tried. More a plus for running Sony across the board I guess. Since we travel all over the USA to film this series, bag space is a premium and we're already packing 10 cases as it is. With the A99II I don't have to bring a second camera for photos (I always take a few for promo use.) The A7S simply wasn't good for action photos.  My FS7 has an A-Mount adaptor, so I can swap my Zeiss prime set between both cameras easily. The 135mm f/1.8 is a beautiful lens.  The full-frame video is good. Yes, there is some minor aliasing in FF mode, but nothing the client or the viewers will ever notice.  Autofocus in video mode is excellent -- for how I use it. The ONLY time I auto-focus is when the camera is mounted on a Ronin gimbal when we do tracking car-to-car shots. Even with the f/3.5 "issue," the camera performs very well in this situation. To reduce the shutter speed in bright light, I just add the appropriate number of ND filters to hit my target exposure.  The full-size DSLR-style body is more enjoyable to use. I found I shot a lot of run-and-gun with the A99II when I could have just as well grabbed the FS7 this past week. Built-in stabilization helped damp vibrations when running with a hard-mount on a chase-car.  Like the A7S the dynamic range works magic to "save" exterior details when filming inside a dark car interior.  A few areas where the A7S was better:
Sharper image overall (negligible as far as the client was concerned.) Smooth aperture adjustments "on the fly" thanks to a manual control on the adaptor we used with the Nikon lens.  

Among other shows, I'm the DP for a series that runs on Motor Trend On Demand called "The House of Muscle" (it's about Muscle Cars.) This is a fun series to shoot since we travel around the country and drive some amazing cars. Weather is always an issue. For the series our primary cameras have been a Sony FS7 as primary a Canon 1DS Mk2 for secondary and a Sony A7S for rigged and gimbal shots. The A7S was good, but it wasn't perfect. 
After already shooting several episodes for this season, this past week we filmed in Alabama and I replaced the A7S (typically used with Nikon 20mm f/2.8 or Sony Zeiss 16-35) with an A99II (using a set of Sony Zeiss primes: 24, 50, 135). The show is delivered in HD, so 4k isn't necessary. Episodes 1, 3 and 4 were shot in Slog, and since I wasn't thrilled with the coloring done in post on episode 3 (totally different team handles post), that, plus needing fast turn-around pushed us to going with cooked 709s. Versus the A7S, the A99II delivered a much better shooting experience with negligible difference in quality. Here's some thoughts on how this overlooked camera performed:
When rigged for in-car commentary, the rotating screen of the A99II allowed me to run without a second monitor.  For exterior mounts the weather sealed body make me feel more comfortable with the occasional splash Much, much better battery life. It's a pain to de-mount a camera just to change a battery.  Full support of the dual-channel wireless lav receiver (I didn't use it for the House of Muscle like this, but for a 22-part series I shot for Autoblog last month we used it extensively on the A99II.) It's possible the A7S support it, but I haven't tried. More a plus for running Sony across the board I guess. Since we travel all over the USA to film this series, bag space is a premium and we're already packing 10 cases as it is. With the A99II I don't have to bring a second camera for photos (I always take a few for promo use.) The A7S simply wasn't good for action photos.  My FS7 has an A-Mount adaptor, so I can swap my Zeiss prime set between both cameras easily. The 135mm f/1.8 is a beautiful lens.  The full-frame video is good. Yes, there is some minor aliasing in FF mode, but nothing the client or the viewers will ever notice.  Autofocus in video mode is excellent -- for how I use it. The ONLY time I auto-focus is when the camera is mounted on a Ronin gimbal when we do tracking car-to-car shots. Even with the f/3.5 "issue," the camera performs very well in this situation. To reduce the shutter speed in bright light, I just add the appropriate number of ND filters to hit my target exposure.  The full-size DSLR-style body is more enjoyable to use. I found I shot a lot of run-and-gun with the A99II when I could have just as well grabbed the FS7 this past week. Built-in stabilization helped damp vibrations when running with a hard-mount on a chase-car.  Like the A7S the dynamic range works magic to "save" exterior details when filming inside a dark car interior.  A few areas where the A7S was better:
Sharper image overall (negligible as far as the client was concerned.) Smooth aperture adjustments "on the fly" thanks to a manual control on the adaptor we used with the Nikon lens.  

Sure. You have to re-flash all 6 gopro cameras so they are unusable as normal cameras. (Can be flashed back, but it's cumbersome) Managing the data cards from 6 cameras is a pain. It comes with tweezers so you can pull the cards out. Managing power means plugging in all 6 cameras separately when in the rig to recharge their internal batteries. Nice thing is they are all synchronized for start/stop recording, but with each one having it's own power -- problems can occur. Note: you can get it with a V-Mount, but only if you buy it as a complete $5000 kit. If you have V-Mounts already, you CANNOT buy the power cable separately. Many have fried their OMNI units trying to jury-rig or buy a "compatible" cable for V-Mount power. It's annoying that GoPro doesn't sell these cables separately. 
Other GoPro array systems exist, but without a hardware sync, you have to deal with aligning them in post, which is a pain in a real production environment. The software does an okay job stitching, but I expected it to be better for the amount of money spent. 
I plan to sell mine (without cameras, just the rig). I just haven't gotten around to listing it on eBay. It's actually pretty good for where we're at right now with surround-video. But you have to avoid enclosed spaces, and since we do mostly cars, that's more of an issue for us. 

Sure. You have to re-flash all 6 gopro cameras so they are unusable as normal cameras. (Can be flashed back, but it's cumbersome) Managing the data cards from 6 cameras is a pain. It comes with tweezers so you can pull the cards out. Managing power means plugging in all 6 cameras separately when in the rig to recharge their internal batteries. Nice thing is they are all synchronized for start/stop recording, but with each one having it's own power -- problems can occur. Note: you can get it with a V-Mount, but only if you buy it as a complete $5000 kit. If you have V-Mounts already, you CANNOT buy the power cable separately. Many have fried their OMNI units trying to jury-rig or buy a "compatible" cable for V-Mount power. It's annoying that GoPro doesn't sell these cables separately. 
Other GoPro array systems exist, but without a hardware sync, you have to deal with aligning them in post, which is a pain in a real production environment. The software does an okay job stitching, but I expected it to be better for the amount of money spent. 
I plan to sell mine (without cameras, just the rig). I just haven't gotten around to listing it on eBay. It's actually pretty good for where we're at right now with surround-video. But you have to avoid enclosed spaces, and since we do mostly cars, that's more of an issue for us. 

I have a GoPro OMNI. 360 video can be a hassle to get right.  Especially be careful with parallax issues. The OMNI, for example, needs a minimum of 4 feet on all sides, so tight spaces are a problem. 
The Samsung 360 is okay for a single camera solution, but I'd pause before offering it as a professional offering. The market needs to mature. 
For top quality you're looking at $50k USD and up for a system. 

I have a GoPro OMNI. 360 video can be a hassle to get right.  Especially be careful with parallax issues. The OMNI, for example, needs a minimum of 4 feet on all sides, so tight spaces are a problem. 
The Samsung 360 is okay for a single camera solution, but I'd pause before offering it as a professional offering. The market needs to mature. 
For top quality you're looking at $50k USD and up for a system. 

That's a good point. My family is from Croatia (g-grandparents, but I still have family I'm in touch with over there), and the older generation there doesn't even own a computer in most cases.
It is a struggle. VHS sucked, but at the time EVERYONE had one. Lol.

I agree it's a problem. But it's not a problem for me. I shoot action sports all the time with MF, no problem. In fact, smoke from rally cars and drift quite often messes up AF tracking. That's why I initially had to learn the "hard way." Outside of the Canon 1DXM2 (we use as a second camera on a show I DP for on the Motor Trend Channel), I have yet to see any useful implementation of AF that I would bank on... and even with the Canon it messes up more often than I would like. 
 

Correct. Zero post. That was straight from camera. If I wanted to get some more analog looks I could always shoot in Slog3. 
The A lenses are still the best hybrid glass for the Sony FS7 imho, (which is my primary camera) since they have such great manual focus rings. And with AF they're good for stills work too. 
I just recently shot this in Spain with the A7S. So yeah, you're completely right. (Do your best to not look for the rolling shutter in this one.)
I don't think there's a better high-megapixel, clean 4k hybrid camera than the A99II right now. (Giving it a tip of the hat since the A7RII doesn't have Slog3 and it's batteries are way too small.)

I did. Tested the A99 and the VG900 at a Sony Store when they came out. Both were so clearly behind the curve it was painful.

Watching that Subaru video makes me very angry.  Angry because the a99 ver 1 looked about 1/1000th as good in video mode.  This camera looks spectacular, and Sony pissed me off with the version 1's video.  Still bitter 5 years later.  I am going to knock my a6500 off the end table now.  Oh wait, I won't, it'll break and I'll have to wait a month for Precision Camera to fix it. 
C100 Mk2 gets it pretty good - I assigned a button to quickly toggle AF on and off - I can track my son's baseball players running down the first base line and it'll track all the way.  Of course there is, of course, no perfect camera, and I am limited to that damn center box for AF.  The 1dxII I thought was worse in AF mode - but it could have been the extra anchor point of the EVF stuck on my face vs. holding the camera (1dxII) at arm's length.

Correct. Zero post. That was straight from camera. If I wanted to get some more analog looks I could always shoot in Slog3. 
The A lenses are still the best hybrid glass for the Sony FS7 imho, (which is my primary camera) since they have such great manual focus rings. And with AF they're good for stills work too. 
I just recently shot this in Spain with the A7S. So yeah, you're completely right. (Do your best to not look for the rolling shutter in this one.)
I don't think there's a better high-megapixel, clean 4k hybrid camera than the A99II right now. (Giving it a tip of the hat since the A7RII doesn't have Slog3 and it's batteries are way too small.)

My schedule is full. I enjoy my subjects. My bank accounts are healthy. My wife is happy. 

My schedule is full. I enjoy my subjects. My bank accounts are healthy. My wife is happy. 

You'll get more traction on FB if you upload directly there. However, since you can't currently monetize on FB, it will have to be for publicity only. I would recommend posting the full videos to YouTube and then post teasers, bts or highlights to Facebook. Facebook did just recently introduce mid-roll ads on videos and is starting to expand their revenue share ad program, but I think it's still a long time before independent producers will have access to that program.