Jedi Master Posted January 2 Share Posted January 2 It was an interesting year for me. During the late-spring, early summer I got interested in film photography again and dug my medium format (Mamiya RB67 and Hasselblad 500CM) and large format (Arca Swiss 4x5) gear out of the attic and took several trips to photograph the American West in B&W (T-Max 100). I no longer have an enlarger, so I scanned all of the negatives on an Epson flatbed scanner. That was a big learning curve, as getting good scans is not a trivial process, and it took me months to get results I was satisfied with. With respect to video, I upgraded my A6500 to a Canon C300 Mk3 with a few cine prime lenses. Also upgraded my tripod to a Sachtler Flowtech 75. I didn't upgrade any computer equipment this year as last year's setup is still more than adequate for working in Photoshop/Premiere/Resolve. My last video-related project of the year was re-doing all of the cabling in my home theater. It had developed into a mass of spaghetti as I added and replaced components over the years. Now all of the redundant cables are gone and the remaining ones are properly dressed and labeled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 8 hours ago, ntblowz said: This year I might get the Osmo pocket 3 after renting it out for an event where I m mostly doing photo and some video. I was quite impressed with the result as I can't be assed to put my cam on the gimbal. And I bought M1 max Mac Studio during boxing day clearance recently, the general speed and export speed increase by many folds vs my og MBA m1 with 7 core gpu and 8gig of ram. Now my MBA can enjoy some semi-retirement time lol, when I told ppl I been editing multicam 4k on this little machine ppl were quite skeptical. I have contemplated setups that included multiple cameras before and my brain kept wondering if there was a way I could make some sort of Franken-rig that included both cameras, like how street photographers often make BTS videos my mounting a GoPro in the hot-shoe of their camera. I could never get a rig that seemed to work, but the Pocket 3 is so small and so flexible (if you configure it to always keep level / never tilt) then you might be able to add it to another setup, potentially even using using both at once? Maybe it's an ill-conceived fever-dream, but I feel like it might just be a killer idea that changes the game in some situations - if I could only find that situation! My Intel MBP is slowly approaching retirement and I'm definitely looking forward to Apple silicone. When I last looked at the benchmarks the different 'levels' of their chips sure made a difference too. It won't be before time either, yesterday my wife and I shot the first couple of talking-head promo videos for her new business and the export was sitting at 2fps in places! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSMW Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 2 hours ago, kye said: have contemplated setups that included multiple cameras before and my brain kept wondering if there was a way I could make some sort of Franken-rig that included both cameras, like how street photographers often make BTS videos my mounting a GoPro in the hot-shoe of their camera. Me also including hot shoe mounted Go Pro. It was awful. At some point, I reluctantly came to the conclusion ‘tools for jobs’ which is why going into 2024, I’m going 4 bodies/5 lenses with a lens swap on one body only twice in a single shoot. To some it might seem to be a case of ‘more’ but in reality it is ‘less’ because it is replacing a system of 3 bodies/6 lenses, quite a bit of faffing and one of those units weighed 2.8+kg whereas going into ‘24, the heaviest will be 2.2kg (if I go Z9) or about 1.75kg (Z8) and less still if that Z6iii pops up or I go for a second Zf. Plus a lot less faffing. Could be even less faffing still with the OSMO 3 Pocket which after some research, fits my use case better than anything else out there compared with a gimbal. The only thing is 500 euros… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clark Nikolai Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 23 hours ago, kye said: Cool videos - I especially liked the last one with the pink skies, very nicely done! It's great to hear you're getting deep with the Digital Bolex, it is one of the oldest cameras that are still very relevant and create images as good, or better, than the megapixel behemoths of today. Your description of having a small setup that is ready to go reminded me of the way that documentary film-makers organise themselves when they're making a doco and that at any minute they might get a call from the main cast members that something is happening and they have to rush there to get coverage, so they have to own everything (no rental equipment) and it has to be ready to go at all times. Also wonderful that you're making real work and showing it. I think that anyone who upload a finished project deserves huge respect, but to get involved in a community and then have your work shown is next level. Congrats! Thanks. I'm very happy with them. I see them as little slices of life. The pink sky thing started as a way to tie that footage with the later shots where the sky really was pink. Kind of spooky and science fictiony. The Digital Bolex is great. When I first got it I wondered if I would regret the purchase and that some other camera would be better for me (I was also looking at the BM Ursa Mini 4K) but now every time I see the results I'm so glad I got the D16. (Look at the gold leaf on the harp when the sun hits it in Practise in the Park.) A few years ago when I got it Digital Bolexes were coming up on eBay (and even craigslist) every few months but now nobody seems to be selling theirs anymore. After trying all the settings I now leave it set at 200 ISO with 180 shutter angle. I use Bolex Gamma profile so in post I really just need to conform the highs and lows to REC709 and the shot looks great. (It took some experimenting to figure this out.) I use Color Finale Encoder to import into Final Cut. It's 2K but scales up to 4K really nicely. I wish they had made their proposed c-mount lens turret. It came with some very high quality prime lenses but it's time consuming to switch them. After using a bag I had I realized how awkward it was to work with it and didn't find any case I liked so ended up learning how to make a case and designing one. It works very well. I can be up and rolling in less than a minute. I have a 16-75mm zoom on the camera, with pockets that hold a 10mm and a 135mm. That's enough for most things. It's a depressing time in the world and it can seem like there's no reason to bother making art but then one only has to look at history and see what world conditions much worse than now that people lived in and yet they still made art. I would say for me it gives me hope and feels good to be creating a bit of beauty in a world that keeps throwing more things at us to deal with. There's much more competition at festivals now so it's harder to get your film selected than it was before. I used to have several screenings a year but now very few. (I started to wonder if I was becoming irrelevant then realized I always was irrelevant.) Just last night I got word that my new film has another screening coming up, so yay! mercer and kye 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuickHitRecord Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 As a full-time freelancer, it was a rough year for me. I made about 2/3 of what I did in 2022; it was the worst year I've had since 2018. I'm still trying to understand why. It was probably a lack of focus as I helped my wife through her cancer treatments, the last of which was in April (as far as we know, she is cancer-free). Also, I lost a large account -- a relief for my mental health, but it did account for a double digit percentage of my income over the past two years. And I took two personal trips, which meant turning down quite a bit of work (as they say, "take two weeks off, lose six weeks of work"). But yeah, it just felt really slow, especially the Fall/Winter. I've been watching the rise of AI and big jumps in smartphone technology closely, and I am wondering how much longer my skill set will be relevant. It may be time for a change soon, though I can't think of anything that I would rather do. Equipment-wise, I bought a second C70, two RF zooms, a Red Scarlet-X, and an M2 Mac Studio + BenQ monitor. I sold about 50 items that I just haven't been using. I probably have another 10 that I can let go of too. My new reel for 2024: mercer, BTM_Pix, kye and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSMW Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 27 minutes ago, QuickHitRecord said: I've been watching the rise of AI and big jumps in smartphone technology closely, and I am wondering how much longer my skill set will be relevant. It may be time for a change soon, though I can't think of anything that I would rather do. Not so much AI, as I can't see how that can in any way take over or have any real impact on what I do (weddings/events) but in other ways, photography and video services are continually evolving and no one is getting any younger...and all these factors do play a part and begin to add up. I've been through a few both personal situations unique to me, plus the global one's that impacted everyone in business (such as the Covid years) and looked at 'other options' several times, but like you, couldn't find anything else I would or in most cases, could be doing. Short of stacking shelves in a supermarket etc... And some things just do not make any sense such as for me, I have never been able to make any form of commercial photography or video work financially. Ever. Despite being surrounded by dozens of peers who can and do. But then I know people who cannot work out why they cannot make photo/video coverage of events work for them... Some stuff is just a bit of a mystery... I came to the conclusion that I was not born to be a wedding/event photographer, but for whatever reason, I am and it works for me where it might not for others and so I'll see out my full-time working career in this industry for the next 7 years. By that time, maybe AI droids will have come into being shooting weddings, but I will be heading for the exit by then so, good luck to the brides and R2Dphoto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 2 hours ago, QuickHitRecord said: As a full-time freelancer, it was a rough year for me. I made about 2/3 of what I did in 2022; it was the worst year I've had since 2018. I'm still trying to understand why. It was probably a lack of focus as I helped my wife through her cancer treatments, the last of which was in April (as far as we know, she is cancer-free). Also, I lost a large account -- a relief for my mental health, but it did account for a double digit percentage of my income over the past two years. And I took two personal trips, which meant turning down quite a bit of work (as they say, "take two weeks off, lose six weeks of work"). But yeah, it just felt really slow, especially the Fall/Winter. I've been watching the rise of AI and big jumps in smartphone technology closely, and I am wondering how much longer my skill set will be relevant. It may be time for a change soon, though I can't think of anything that I would rather do. Equipment-wise, I bought a second C70, two RF zooms, a Red Scarlet-X, and an M2 Mac Studio + BenQ monitor. I sold about 50 items that I just haven't been using. I probably have another 10 that I can let go of too. My new reel for 2024: Cool showreel, some nice shots in there. I'd suggest uploading it in 4K - the 1080p upload had glitches and stuff that I think are YT compression artefacts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronFilm Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 7 hours ago, QuickHitRecord said: I've been watching the rise of AI and big jumps in smartphone technology closely, and I am wondering how much longer my skill set will be relevant. It may be time for a change soon, though I can't think of anything that I would rather do. I've been wondering that too, how long until the rise of AI slashes down the relevance of my job by 80%. And what should I move on into instead? 7 hours ago, QuickHitRecord said: Equipment-wise, I bought a second C70, two RF zooms, a Red Scarlet-X, and an M2 Mac Studio + BenQ monitor. I sold about 50 items that I just haven't been using. I probably have another 10 that I can let go of too. Wow! Fifty items! That's a lot. (but probably what I should do myself.... ) 6 hours ago, MrSMW said: Not so much AI, as I can't see how that can in any way take over or have any real impact on what I do (weddings/events) It isn't unimaginable that in one day in the not so distant future that all the footage gets crowd sourced from guests, that the AI then fixes up (or even totally regenerates from scratch, just using the input sources as guides for it) and spits out cinematic wedding trailers and wedding photos. That's "good enough" to satisfy the low end of the market (as of course AI will massively undercut the humans). Then another five or ten years later after that? It will have leapt ahead and improved enough to be eating away at the mid market which is the bread and butter of many pros. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clark Nikolai Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 8 hours ago, QuickHitRecord said: My new reel for 2024: Wow! Very impressive reel. Bravo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSMW Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 2 hours ago, IronFilm said: Then another five or ten years later after that? It will have leapt ahead and improved enough to be eating away at the mid market which is the bread and butter of many pros. I’ve got 7 years so might just beat it being ‘above mid market’ 😉 IronFilm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercer Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 11 hours ago, QuickHitRecord said: As a full-time freelancer, it was a rough year for me. I made about 2/3 of what I did in 2022; it was the worst year I've had since 2018. I'm still trying to understand why. It was probably a lack of focus as I helped my wife through her cancer treatments, the last of which was in April (as far as we know, she is cancer-free). Also, I lost a large account -- a relief for my mental health, but it did account for a double digit percentage of my income over the past two years. And I took two personal trips, which meant turning down quite a bit of work (as they say, "take two weeks off, lose six weeks of work"). But yeah, it just felt really slow, especially the Fall/Winter. I've been watching the rise of AI and big jumps in smartphone technology closely, and I am wondering how much longer my skill set will be relevant. It may be time for a change soon, though I can't think of anything that I would rather do. Equipment-wise, I bought a second C70, two RF zooms, a Red Scarlet-X, and an M2 Mac Studio + BenQ monitor. I sold about 50 items that I just haven't been using. I probably have another 10 that I can let go of too. My new reel for 2024: Sorry to hear about your troubles, but glad your wife seems to be on the other end of her cancer! Well, your loss of work cannot be do to your skill set! That is some of the nicest work I've seen posted on this site! Really top notch! I love the Super 8 film/emulations and the B&W baseball footage! Is the C70 your workhorse? I'd love to know every camera used for every shot because we all know it's all about the camera... Btw, I'm pretty sure I still owe you a c-mount test. It's been a rough year for me and I have considered giving up on filmmaking altogether. I've definitely shifted a lot of my effort back to writing and I've been working on some audio dramas. With that said, I did get a chance to go out and shoot a little over the holidays and I am getting the bug back, so we'll see. I have a bunch of stuff to sell... cameras and lenses but I'd like to do that c-mount test with the BMMCC before I sell it. Does the C70 have a S16 crop mode? Also how do you like the Scarlet? kye and PannySVHS 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PannySVHS Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 4 hours ago, mercer said: Does the C70 have a S16 crop mode? Afaik it does. But i didn't doublecheck:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuickHitRecord Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 On 1/3/2024 at 11:45 PM, MrSMW said: And some things just do not make any sense such as for me, I have never been able to make any form of commercial photography or video work financially. Ever. Despite being surrounded by dozens of peers who can and do. Assuming you aren't making a living at this? A keen business sense goes a long way in this industry but unfortunately, I don't have one! On 1/4/2024 at 1:30 AM, kye said: Cool showreel, some nice shots in there. I'd suggest uploading it in 4K - the 1080p upload had glitches and stuff that I think are YT compression artefacts. Funny, I thought I had uploaded it in 4K. Thanks! On 1/4/2024 at 6:35 AM, IronFilm said: I've been wondering that too, how long until the rise of AI slashes down the relevance of my job by 80%. And what should I move on into instead? This is the million dollar question. Do you have any top contenders? I can't think of too many other fields that are equal parts technical and aesthetic like production is. I keep staring at this graphic, and trying to see what puts me in the center: On 1/4/2024 at 7:40 AM, Clark Nikolai said: Wow! Very impressive reel. Bravo! Thank you! That is much appreciated. On 1/4/2024 at 10:13 AM, mercer said: Sorry to hear about your troubles, but glad your wife seems to be on the other end of her cancer! Well, your loss of work cannot be do to your skill set! That is some of the nicest work I've seen posted on this site! Really top notch! I love the Super 8 film/emulations and the B&W baseball footage! Is the C70 your workhorse? I'd love to know every camera used for every shot because we all know it's all about the camera... Btw, I'm pretty sure I still owe you a c-mount test. It's been a rough year for me and I have considered giving up on filmmaking altogether. I've definitely shifted a lot of my effort back to writing and I've been working on some audio dramas. With that said, I did get a chance to go out and shoot a little over the holidays and I am getting the bug back, so we'll see. I have a bunch of stuff to sell... cameras and lenses but I'd like to do that c-mount test with the BMMCC before I sell it. Does the C70 have a S16 crop mode? Also how do you like the Scarlet? The C70 is my main workhorse, but a fair amount of my reel was shot with the original C100 and the C200. There's also some Red Komodo, 5Diii, and even something from my 7D. I've got a nice collection of c-mount lenses too, but like you, I haven't actually shot anything with them lately. I believe the C70 does have an S16 mode but as far as I know, it's available in slow motion only. That, and I haven't worked up the courage to put a c-mount adapter on mine. I'm leaning on my EOS-Ms exclusively for their ability to be used with c-mount lenses (and to achieve a 16mm crop, which opens up a lot more options than S16). But I would love to see a test! The Scarlet addresses so many of the problems that I had with the Red One MX, but the footage lacks the same "wow" factor in my initial tests. I'm not sure what it is. I know that I have to sell one of these two cameras, but I haven't made that tough decision yet. Definitely in 2024, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kye Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 7 minutes ago, QuickHitRecord said: This is the million dollar question. Do you have any top contenders? I can't think of too many other fields that are equal parts technical and aesthetic like production is. I keep staring at this graphic, and trying to see what puts me in the center: One thing that's sometimes useful in things like this is asking your closest friends what you are good at, because we're often blind to these things ourselves, or we know we're good at it but assume it's relatively common and so don't place much emphasis on it. One thing I did that was of benefit to me was using something called the Personal Business Model Canvas. The original Business Model Canvas is sort-of a business-on-a-page template, and the personal version is a redesign around you as an individual. This is the template for the personal version here: https://methodkit.com/wp-content/uploads/files/business_model_you.pdf What I did was fill one out for each of the positions / projects I'd been on in my freelance corporate career, and although the roles were all quite different I started to notice patterns and commonalities that hadn't occurred to me before, so it was a useful introspection exercise. If anyone wants to do their business, I also recommend the original Business Model Canvas - it's a very useful summary of the structure of how your business is operating, and in the associated resources online and in the book (which I also recommend) there are all sorts of questions and discussions about how to use it to find opportunities for improvements to be made, such as horizontal and vertical integration, in-sourcing, out-sourcing, etc etc. This is that template: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSMW Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 3 hours ago, QuickHitRecord said: Assuming you aren't making a living at this? A keen business sense goes a long way in this industry Then you assume wrong as I have been making a full-time living from photography and video for over 20 years…just not in the commercial world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronFilm Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 8 hours ago, QuickHitRecord said: This is the million dollar question. Do you have any top contenders? I think perhaps going back to my old career as a Software Developer. (it was a loooong time ago, we were programming on stone tablets with hammer & chisels) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostwind Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 3 hours ago, IronFilm said: I think perhaps going back to my old career as a Software Developer. (it was a loooong time ago, we were programming on stone tablets with hammer & chisels) That field is being "taken over" by AI a lot more than the video and photo stuff everyone here seems so worried about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emanuel Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 This is the fine example of a juicy thread ; ) Pity we cannot express all the feelings we have towards what we read. A special mention though to a couple among my favs now @QuickHitRecord@kye despite to never undersestimate the contribution of everyone of you... : ) I think it's one of the flaws here when people tend to neglect any of the voices heard. Every simgle one of you always have something to bring for our lives, so take care of each one of you. Your milestones, presence, daily life, even your beloved ones and part of your being, expressed in your stories posted in these lines, reach some other people here. Maybe not everyone but the ones to count. I believe a bit more of love and compassion for the other one is never enough either. To read this or that had this or that misfortune is something we should meditate about and feel sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings of others, as well share their achievements and joy with zero envy. As much as possible. Even though how human this flaw is, unfortunately. - EAG kye and QuickHitRecord 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronFilm Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 12 hours ago, ghostwind said: That field is being "taken over" by AI a lot more than the video and photo stuff everyone here seems so worried about. I think the demand for Juniors/Interns in that field is probably going to soon drop off a cliff, but I think the demand for Senior Software Developers will remain strong for years to come KnightsFan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Members BTM_Pix Posted January 7 Super Members Share Posted January 7 6 hours ago, IronFilm said: I think the demand for Juniors/Interns in that field is probably going to soon drop off a cliff, but I think the demand for Senior Software Developers will remain strong for years to come With the amount of dubious code that will be AI generated it will be a golden era for software testers to avoid, erm, "sub-optimal outcomes". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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