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It is. Around a decade or so back, I was what is known as skinny fat, ie, very little muscle tone but a surplus of fat around my middle. I never exercised, had developed asthma, smoked and drank (but not heavily) and it was a gradual erosion/accumulation more than anything. I decided to do something about it around the time of my 40th birthday. I’m 53 in a few weeks and never been in better condition and actually have a fitness competition (Hyrox) that I have traveled to Ireland for from France, in a couple of hours. Why mention this? Fatigue, or reduction of from being in shape. And not just the physical, but the mental which is unseen but contributes. But I still have trouble getting to sleep after an intense 15+ hour day because despite downing tools, I’m still buzzing. The next day though…and I can never lie in and catch up no matter how late I went to bed or how tired I am, by lunchtime, wiped out and can easily grab another 1-2 hours early afternoon, but it’s not until the day after the day after I feel recovered, so never take back to back jobs anymore. No way I could be working the way I have been for the last few years one to two decades ago and I guess another factor why when other photographers or videographers ask me how I do what I do, part of that answer is level of fitness. But as with all these things, it is only a part of a greater whole. 2.8kg unsupported in and out of your hands all day though is a bit nuts which is why it has to go!

I also need a day rest to fully recover from previous day, if I did back to back shoot I will be very tired on 3rd day. The days of flying C70 with 18-35mm 1.8 on Ronin all day is definitely past my time. So this year I downsize my setup to rs3 mini and ZV-E1 with <500g lens (or R8 with 600g lens) instead of the hefty 24-70 2.8 on R5 on Ronin rs2 pro, that is over 1/2 the weight saved, with this new setup I m not as over tiring as before which is good for me.

It will depend of course on the individual but for me, for stills, under 1kg is fine but for video, I prefer around 1.5kg as a sweet spot, as I find that is a nice stable platform and not too heavy. Over 2.5kg is for me getting a bit much. A bit much as in it’s not that heavy per se, but over the course of a long shoot, hanging off your hip (best IMO) or sling (going to feel that one very quickly!) not desirable. I am currently debating first of all Lumix vs Nikon for video…but that is another topic entirely and not relevant, but whether I go: A. Hybrid units; 1 static, 1 light (1kg) most of the day, 1 heavy (<2kg) various times but not all day, or, B. Video and photo units; 1 static video, 1 roaming video (1.5kg), 2x stills (1kg + 1.25kg). Pros and cons for each and for me to work out but bottom line is I am ‘happy’ to go up to 2.5kg for a single unit, but only if I will not be using it all the time. On me, either attached or in hand, 2kg max is about the max based on my experience that I would be comfortable with for video and 1.5kg for stills.

This conversation begs the question: what is the acceptable weight for a handheld setup? IMO, 1.5kg is the upper limit. What do you think? BTW, I just turned 50.

Word, a few things are much more important than other ones we people tend to forget... EAG :- )

OK, here you go: using the D-Log M 10bit setting and the official DJI D-Log M LUT (I hate LUTs, but what can you do): Harsh highlights and very processed-sounding audio (set to stereo, front). Not stressed in lower light as expected. Colors are good, but somehow not so appealing. I nixed a bunch of outdoors shots because they were all overexposed (based on using auto exposure), not a problem with current GoPro's (used to be). Noise reduction was turned off in the camera, sharpness set to -1, not -2, from 0. GoPro's look to me to have better handling of highlights, more appealing color, and much better audio. Pocket 3 does the job in low light, where the GoPro essentially cannot operate. I do not think anyone would shoot a mediocre attempted blockbuster film with the Pocket 3 (as was done with the fx3), and it's not a crash cam. But if one wants to move with the camera in dim places and loves portability this is the only alternative. It does, btw, charge really fast and it is a nice screen. But that audio... I will try again outdoors in bright light.

This is quite serious stuff. I don't know if you've seen any on P. Bloom's videos from last year, but the guy had massive lower back pain. IMO, humans are not meant for carrying significant weight 8 hours a day for a career. I'm not actually sure can work anymore.

Got the first SJ20 actioncam and compared it with GoPro hero 12. I can't believe it so amazing night shoot!

I just saw this video where Waqas demos the OFX version of the Motion Blur effect, and it does a seriously good job - I've linked to the final result: He's also applied a blur to counteract the ridiculous sharpening (what a great idea!), corrected for the lens distortion, and added a subtle grade. I have no idea if the OFX version of this has recently gotten better or if it's just been there all along, but it's waaaaaay better than the tool in the UI, which is what I tried previously. I haven't played with it yet, so this might be a cherry-picked example where it worked ok, but it's interesting and worth playing with, especially on clips with more subtle movement.

No D-Log option for 4K 120P. It seems to me the Hero 12 (11) has greater dynamic range using G-log (which is available at all frame rates and resolutions) than the Pocket 3 D-Log. At least the Hero 12 handles highlights better. I am now shooting the Pocket 3 with EV -.3 now to try to improve the preservation of highlights.

4K 120P Slow Motion Demo Standard color (no D-Log).

Gratuitous very tenuous link to post, but just for ‘proof’, my daughters little story on IG…

At 658g, I guess the G9 ii isn't so bad. It gives 842g of lens and accessories. Here are some of the fastest setups and weights: G9 ii + Panasonic 9mm f/1.7 = 788g G9 ii + Olympus 17mm f/1.2 = 1048g G9 ii + Olympus 25mm f/1.2 = 1068g G9 ii + Olympus 45mm f/1.2 = 1068g G9 ii + Olympus 75mm f/1.8 = 963g G9 ii + Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 = 1418g G9 ii + Olympus 75-300mm f/4.8-6.7 = 1081g There are some nicer lenses at the telephoto end, but many put us over the mark as you'd expect.

I agree, even though the lighter the better, it will obviously depend on the balance of the rig, the rig itself and time spent with. That's why the choice of your rig is not a little thing as much as size and the necessary effort to handle it and carry on. Just turned a year plus too less than a couple of weeks ago (I'm from October 17 : ) - EAG

Funny we are in the same page over here and sharing of same concerns for real, not a surprise when you're actually only a year and a few weeks younger than me... ; ) I believe we should all be right then ;- )

I contemplated the idea of carrying something around to build my strength, but in the end didn't / couldn't be bothered / decided to lighten the rig. Some things are a matter the strength of muscles, which grow quite quickly if you do strength building exercises, but other things are about the tendons and other stuff, which grow incredibly slowly. For me, carrying a heavy camera around ended up hurting my wrist, so I figured it was tendons / ligaments / etc which all take time to grow.

I know you're joking, but I had this discussion a few weeks back with a steadicam op friend of mine, and he made the comment about how he needs to do a few steadicam gigs per month otherwise he doesn't keep up that fitness without those workouts. And I feel similarly, as a Boom Op it is a very physical job just like a Steadicam Op, but needing the consistent technical precision every scene of a focus puller / 1st AC. Is why I now try to hit the weights if I ever have a stretch of time without booming (due to whatever reasons, be it lockdowns, or because I'm just Mixing on gigs instead, or if it is a slow patch, etc), so as to keep up my strength. As it's so important to maintain. I had a scene yesterday that absolutely brutally murdered my arms, put me in a world of pain, yet had to push through while trying to nail a rather difficult complex scene (I swear it would've been 10x easier, with less shadow risks, if I'd been allowed to boom from the upper floor level looking down rather than from being at the level of the the lounge/kitchen itself. But wasn't given permission for that). Ah well, at least the second half of the day was the cruisiest I've had this month! And we wrapped early too, which is nice, then we had our friday wrap drinks.

Yup. Maybe the older one. There is a new G2 that just came out: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1787638-REG/blackmagic_design_micro_studio_camera_4k.html

Imagine this applied by camera processor with accelerated hardware for this specific effect.

I don't see your problem, just build strength by carrying around a brick all day when you're at home or running errands. It's a standard industry strength training practice. This photo shows a steadicam operator popping down to the shops on his day off:

Speaking of weight, one of the principle reasons I am shifting some of my kit, - my main unit clocks in at just over 2.8kg 🤪 My targets now are 2 units 1-1.5kg each. I don’t mind a bit of chunk and heft, but anything over 2.5kg…as just one of 3 units is a bit much on 12+ hour shoots!