rdouthit

Frequency and viewer retention. Correct. To really "work" YouTube she should plan to do regular VLOG, BTS or some other relevant, regularly-scheduled uploads to the channel. Over time it will "raise all ships" in her channel. I gave the same advice to a producer a couple years ago. He stuck to it and now has more than a million subscribers on YouTube and a full time staff. I don't do this myself even though I have a channel, since I make the bulk of my money producing for other channels.

If you want to be successful on YouTube you need to have a regular, unbroken, never-ending schedule of content that retains viewers more than other videos in the genre. That's all the algorithm cares about (currently). If you want to just post for fun, that's fine. But don't expect to make a dime or get more than 1000 views unless you tailor your content to the needs of the algorithm. (I've been a YouTube partner since 2006) If you post a single series and that's it, it will just sit there and be buried by the algorithm. Nobody but your friends and parents will ever see it.

Note that you can conform 120p to 24/30p internally with the A7SII and the A99II.

I shot two channels to the A7SII today. Worked great. The A7SII can optionally power the receiver as well. (Though you'll want to run a battery grip for that since it sucks more juice.)

I own a video production company that specializes in automotive. We have a string of long-term clients in retail as well as editorial. Here's one of the shows we shoot for Motor Trend: Our (my) gear purchases usually revolve around solving problems: better slow-motion, more mobile, faster lenses to address low-light, better mounts for a specific rig shot, drones because... well, drones are awesome (I went out and got my FAA part 107 certification). Though I like new tech, I don't buy something unless it addresses a specific need.

I haven't needed it on the A7SII yet, but I shot this a couple months ago with the A99II, the dual-channel receiver and two transmitters. (The interview portion, not the intro.)

Yes. Any extended use in warm weather (actually, doesn't even have to be that hot) will cause it to overheat when shooting 4k video. The battery grip "fix" isn't really a thing. Some report it as helping, but I doubt the accuracy of their findings. It's never fixed any of my Sonys that overheat. (Even my A7SII on the latest firmware will overheat when shooting in direct sun, and that's with a grip.) I shot with an A99II for several months. Loved it. But the overheating was becoming more of an issue as we're heading into the summer months. (Worked great in Norway though!) Tip: the A99II (and actually all new Sony cameras) can use the dual-channel wireless receiver on the hot shoe.

I agree with ccdc88. I tested the A9 and the image is really, really good even without Slog/Cine Profiles. Obviously, if your workflow requires them the A9 isn't the camera for you. However, if you want a camera that is built exceptionally well, doubles as an amazing sports camera and shoots some of the cleanest 4k you'll see -- the A9 is an option. I considered it, but bought an A7SII for now since I like to shoot Cine4 lately and when I have a project we're shooting with the FS7 in Log, it's nice that the A7SII has that as well. That said, I'd love to have an A9 as well. I might buy one anyhow. (To use primarily as a camera)

I should mention... if you like the ZA 85mm, the 135mm f/1.8 will blow you away. Last post on this for now... but for a run-and-gun lens the Sony A-Mount 16-50 f/2.8 is a brilliant piece to work with in APS-C mode on the A99M2. Physically connected focus ring, weather sealed and a very nice image for less than $1000 brand new. Way less on eBay.

I just sold my A99II because it overheated frequently when shooting outdoors in even modestly warm conditions. I expect you won't hear much about this because not many choose to shoot video with the A99II professionally, and fewer do this outside in all weather conditions. I've owned a lot of different Sony cameras and it was far worse about overheating when shooting video than all except the NEX7. This is particularly disappointing because it is an amazing camera that takes wonderful video as well as stills and is in a body that is easier to work with over the A7SII (which I now shoot with, in addition to my FS7. Adding a battery grip to the A7SII makes it much a much better camera to use everyday.) But I need my tools to be reliable in the environment in which I use them. I own the full Zeiss A-Mount prime set, as well as a 70-200 G SSMII lens for it, so I was very much invested in the platform and wanted it to work. I still love shooting with the A-Mount glass on my FS7, so that's not all lost. The glass also works great with the A7SII, of course. (I still own an A77II for sports photography, but I'm testing an A9 this week and that has me swooning. My fingers are crossed for a 4K capable A77III.) Also: the battery grip for the A77/A99II is poorly designed for video. The base is rounded so quick-release plates wobble when mounted on a tripod.

Here's a test of the autofocus. I used a 6-stop ND to force a higher ISO at the same time. It's partly cloudy, so it's not 100% scientific. (I had to drop the A9 to ISO 800 for one shot to maintain f/2.8 for example)

Update: Shot some moving subjects today. Also brought out the FS7 for a comparison shot.

Fiat dropped off a base-trim 2017 POP edition for us. It doesn't even have a backup camera. Lol. I much prefer the rear treatment of your Lounge. I think your taillights are only on the Euro model. Are they LED?

Yesterday, I filmed part of a project with the Sony A7SII in Cine4.cine, which we use every day. I also produced many of the same shots using a new Sony A9 (standard color) that Sony sent us to evaluate (yay for Sony Pro Services). This was done in about 77º weather (f) and both cameras were in direct sun the whole time. No indications of overheating by either camera. You'll note a slight crop in the A9 image as its sensor is slightly smaller than the A7SIIs. Also, out of the box, the A9s skin tones are quite nice though highlight roll-off is pretty harsh given the lack of cinegammas.

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.

I use the Sony 16-50 f/2.8 a-mount on my FS7 almost every day. It's a fantastic lens (when I don't want to use my Sony Zeiss primes.) It's weather sealed, has decent optics and smooth manual focus when you want it (and fast SSM focusing when you don't.) Such a good value, I bought it twice (destroyed the first one shooting a few years of the US rally series... among other things.) It will require a LEA-series adaptor. Get the one without the focus system (LEA3), and it will use the better system built into the 6500. I previously owned the Zeiss 16-70 E-Mount (APS-C) and that was actually a pretty good lens. It runs about $1k (which is a bit over priced, imho.) It did have a tad too much distortion for me, however, and the manual focus feel was way too numb. Nice sharpness and it should have super-fast AF for photos on the 6500.

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.

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

Correction: the second camera is a 1DX Mk2.

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

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.

We have a Freedom 360 mount as well, and prefer the OMNI. The ability to have frame-accurate video sync is HUGE for any professional workflow. Though once the video is shot, you then need to stitch it up using the free stitcher, which does a decent job 90% of the time. However, if you want to customize the stitch (and you really do) then you need to get a real stitcher like Pano Video (the official supported app) or go with something cheaper but more challenging like PTGUI. I'd be hesitant to sell to the UK since it comes with a rather large hardshell case (slightly smaller than a Pelican 1510) that will be expensive to ship.

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.

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.