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tl/dr: Made a small and simple doc film years and years ago with my first 'hybrid' camera. The process was inspiring and changed my outlook about working with motion pictures: A bit of online chatter here about cameras that are older and it got me thinking because I recently posted a doc my wife and I are currently working on. It was made with recent camera gear and fancy new computers and software. Something old. Something new. Well, as a retrospect, here's a look at the very first film we attempted. This was in 2011. My entire career at that time had been broadcasting and corporate. Didactic stuff. That was my reality and vocational training. If making a film was compared being an architect designing a building, my education was basically akin to being an electrician. Installing wires and cables I could do -- and that was kind of it, y'know? So when we set out to shoot this 'Camino' flick, our assumption was that we were going to do what was typical for us: Subject-matter-experts-interviews, b-roll, maybe even having a presenter doing stand ups and narration. That type of thing. Interestingly, this upcoming shoot was immediately preceded by a corporate assignment in southern Spain. The experience of filming some pretty incredible scenery footage only to know that it was going to be handed off to my client who would hammer it into a dry travelogue video was disheartening. Also, a year before we had also made a standard travelogue video ourselves in Japan. We were underwhelmed by the results we created there too. My wife saw my frustration with all this and started asking "why". Why were we doing things a certain way. What exactly would we be offering the world with another video that was a parade of talking heads telling the viewer what to think/feel? No acceptable answers were readily available. So, the day before this journey we decided to ditch all the audio gear, the Sachtler tripod, and the HD video camera with multiple lenses. Into the backback went a used 5DII and a nikkor 50mm prime. That was it. Felt a bit naked, tbh. But that was the first day we set off into the world as filmmakers rather than as a cameraman or a broadcast ENG person. We wanted to make something completely impressionistic and opposite of what was typical for us. We'd only use 1 small cam, 1 small lens, a walking staff as a makeshift monopod. This epiphany came about not only from the conversation with my wife, but also the realization that a really simple camera rig was not only going to give me an opportunity to run and gun cinematically; but to do it better than with the extensive gak I normally carried around. Cinematic shooting was something that I never really felt the freedom to explore --until that moment. And so we went to make a humble unassuming little film. The simplicity became it's value. Less was more we reasoned. Create a vibe rather than an info dump. Our modest film might not seem like much, and there's so many mistakes I made first time out of the gate I still cringe at, but it changed our view about our careers. From there we started to be interested in what it took to be better storytellers. Could we actually do that? Really? All of this to say that perspective really matters. And that the gear we talk about here can actually offer new perspectives. But it was the attitude first and foremost that needed a shift. Cheers.

Anyone here specialize or enjoy documentaries? My wife and I made a doc for our small community and were wondering if it had any viability beyond in-town screenings at the local film fest. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/gorqbss1yxq6lufl81x44/HAWK_WATCH_SCREEN_DRAFT.mp4?rlkey=x5d8vcd4igr3bix0cdsgajq0b&st=mt1xzunz&dl=0 The 1st draft here is still loosey-goosey, but if you're so inclined, take a look and see if the story intrigues you enough to say, "Yeah, you might be able to get this out there other places." We feel it's such niche topic that distribution isn't much of a reality, but maybe being niche is a positive in a certain way --and with a significant cut down it could have opportunities? Not sure. As one work on these things one gets rather myopic. As you might imagine, feedback from folks in our local community is too biased. They're just happy to see themselves, colleagues, and friends in a film. Any advice is welcome if you have time to watch.

On DPReview you can check all the cameras added to their database https://www.dpreview.com/products/search/cameras#! Not including the niche ones, or weird re-releases of Panasonic compacts, I came up with this... GFX100RF / S1R II / Sigma BF / Powershot V1 / OM-3 / Leica SL3-S / Sony a1 II / Nikon Z50 II / Fuji X-M5 / Leica Q3 43 / Canon Cinema EOS C80 / EOS R1 / R5 II / Sony ZV-E10 II / Z6 III / GH7 / S9 / X-T50 / GFX 100 II / GR III HDF / Leica SL3 / X100 VI / OM1 II (7000+4500+800+5900+6500+900+800+7000+5000+2000+1000+2000+3500+5000+7500+1300+1600+2000+2500+1000+6000+1600+2000=77,400) All RRPs in Euros for the notable new cameras released in the past 12 months. 77400/23=3,365.217 If you take out the crop sensor models / APS-C, we get an average price of 4350. Who do they think we are? Oligarchs?

It believe it's the nominal price the factory sells the product for. Typically the retail price is 2-3x that. So why does the price at retail differ so much? This is because the importer typically does marketing, answers questions from customers, pays for the existence of the repair facilities (and typically covers the cost of warranty repair) etc. Then obviously there are shipping costs and retailer markup. These are not included in the CIPA numbers but they are included in the retail price.

I’m an Italian composer with background in pop-rock music and orchestra (I was keyboardist/songwriter in groups and I played tuba in marching bands.) MUSIC I WRITE: both classic orchestral (or with pop-rock instruments), and modern hybrid electronic (ambient soundscapes, synths, textures..) I personally play and record piano, guitars, bass, keyboards (this makes the music “alive” even with a vst orchestra). FAVORITE FILMS: almost everything but porn and scary horrors 😄 My favorites are drama, adventure, comedy, action, sci-fi, animation, kolossal. I’d also write for monster horrors like Tremors anyway! 🙂 MY MUSIC (& concerts/covers): https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqwrFAHE2GMU8jXz-ghliobGXuYHH99ht Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielenasuti/ If the budget is limited I can write music that gives the emotions you need anyway, maybe with a simpler arrangement. If you want something specific I can do a little Demo (the quality of my music has improved lately, now I can produce things I haven’t released yet).

I suppose it depends on a few things, namely how yellow your 57mm has become and yeah, not mixing the older single coated versions or even the second gen MC versions. I honestly haven't had any trouble with mixing all lenses from the newest gen and maybe only need to do a slight adjustment in post for really, really subtle color shifts. Have you thought about the UV light trick with your? I remember there was a cheap IKEA light that people were using for a while with nice results. I should look back into that because I have a few M42 Yashica and Mamiya lenses that could really use it.

Watched the whole thing in one sitting, really remarkable. Really solid acting from everyone involved and the 'one take" episodes were very well done. I almost want to watch again and just focus on the camera the whole time. There were some interesting choices with where to have the various episodes take place and to have to think about the limitations of space and time that come with this style of storytelling. It's normally easy to manipulate these elements in traditional filming and editing so here it's fun to see the creative use of transitions and blocking.

Interesting… Fairly soon, I need to invest in a few small light primes, specifically for full frame 6k video for my S9. Sirui might just be a little too late to the party however because I am looking at the Lumix 18, 50 and 85 which can all be had at decent used prices and are actually available. I hate mixing brands for this kind of thing and if they were launching a trio of maybe 24/50/85, I might have been more interested, but with only an 85 announced…

Ciao Daniele, nice to meet you too! Good initiative and kudos to you BTW, be welcome! : ) Maybe this may help some other ones here to look for cooperation with other users and make this forum to always have in mind that film making is essentially a colective work... and not some lonely activity behind a distant keyboard ; ) I will write you through DM... where are you exactly based in Italy? - EAG

For me it's the original Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. That camera, and all the wacky c-mount lenses I used with it, was just so much fun to use and everything I got out of it looked so much better than it should have, at least to my eyes. I FELT like an artist using it, as opposed to a videographer. That was such a special sensor, and to this day I still don't understand why every camera manufacturer hasn't switched to a menu system like it (and the other BMD cameras.)