rdouthit

I'm in the Seattle area. I think you underestimate older users. If you give them a card that says "go to this web site" (you can make custom URLs for your VOD accounts) most will be able to accomplish the task. Though, maybe in your area things are different. That said, my larger experience is with international sales and in that area DVDs are long dead. "So I can just use that USB stick on my iPad?" -- you see the issue here, right?

If you're going to do passwords and a digital download of the video, just use Vimeo Pro to set up a PWD protected video download. You can use pwd-protected albums (with a single password) if every attendee gets access. Where I live hardly anyone uses DVD anymore, so for school events they're useless. Commercially, our DVD sales fell off a cliff by 2010 -- there wasn't enough volume to justify producing them (and we have a 4-drive robotic duplicator... now gathering dust.) Or if you need to do individual sales, use Vimeo VOD and distribute discount cards at the event that gives attendees %off for a set period of time after the event. With Vimeo they can then easily watch it on mobile, desktop and even some set-top box solutions using the Vimeo app. It also promotes the option, gives a timely call to action and is secured. With a key drive, regular consumers will be extremely limited in how they watch it. Some may just upload it to YouTube. I've used almost every service. I have videos currently available on iTunes, Amazon, and many other platforms. For what you describe, Vimeo Pro is probably the best solution.

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.

Give some credit to the light in Granada versus one hour before sunset in Connecticut. Spain can be quite lovely. (Also, there is some minor color work done on the Subaru vid.) I had intended on selling my A7S... but man, it's just such a good camera. The cover shot for the Subaru video was done with the Sony/Zeiss A-Mount 135mm f/1.8... by far my favorite lens anywhere.

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.

If you're a slacker and use auto-focus, it's stuck at f/3.5 when in that mode. It also overheats more often than I like when shooting 4k 100mb/s. For "mission critical" time where getting the shot trumps all else, and I'm not sure how long I'll have to roll, I can turn it down to 60mb/s and it removes that issue. Oh, added bonus, the multi-function shoe supports dual-channel wireless mics directly into the camera without cables. It's basically an A7RII with different mount, better weather sealing, better grip (for me), longer batteries, Slog3 and more programmable buttons on the body.

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.

I haven't had a chance to film a proper test, but here's a short clip showing a variety of settings as I rushed to get B-roll on this car done before it was too dark. Contains various shots from the A99II using full-frame and Super35 modes (you may not be able to tell the difference -- which is good), ISO from 800 to 2500. Some shots with stabilization on. Focusing all done manually. You can see over-eager video stabilization by the camera at 0:18 as I quickly move the camera to the hand pushing the button. Lenses Used: Sony Zeiss 24mm f/2 Sony Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 Sony Zeiss 135mm f/1.8

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.

I have a completely different POV on the videos of LDR. I own all her albums and really enjoy her music. That said, with the exception of video for the title track "Born to Die" (which had some nice set pieces and was shot well, it was a little too literal) every video of hers has been a mishmash of visual clichés (Love, National Anthem, and most others) and silliness (High by the Beach). "Love" is just one more video that makes me think LDR is incapable of hiring a producer that can make a decent video. Most of them resemble what I would expect from a first year film student. This really bugs me about her, since she's otherwise so clearly talented. Was the "Beatles, move over" comment sarcasm? Because there's no way the two should be in the same sentence. As talented as she can be, no one can compare LDR's contributions to those of The Beatles as they literally changed music and society. Along with long-time producer George Martin, they were the first to introduce distortion, false endings and use symphonic instruments in pop music. They can even be credited with moving music videos to the forefront with their groundbreaking music films. These are just the tip of the Iceberg of stuff we now take for granted, but until The Beatles they had never been tried. Even if you're not a fan of their music, they literally changed the trajectory of music, the music business and popular culture across the planet. LDR makes nice songs that ride the zeitgeist. So far, I can't say she's done much else of significance. I'm still holding out hope for her to come out with a music video that goes some place new.

Pop-out viewfinder on the RX100 Mk4 will be fine. Use the slo-motion liberally, but keep in mind the camera is a brick for almost 30 seconds after each shot (as it spools to card.) Autofocus will be pretty much useless for action so don't "focus" so much on that aspect of a camera. Action can mean many things, but when I shoot motorsports lens reach is everything. In fact I rarely shoot with anything less than 150mm equivalent and often venture out to 350mm. One of our B-Cams is an FS700 (you can get them really cheap now) that shoots with a Sony 24-240 (36mm - 360mm equiv) and we find it's a very useful combo.

I have a Macbook Pro for editing on the road (maximum 2013 model), we added a 6-core Mac Pro a few months ago for the office along with a 4k display, and just added a maxed out 27-inch iMac last week. We haven't done a ton of editing on it yet, but the iMac is pretty good. Two things drew me to decide on the iMac for the most recent purchase: the hardware h.264 encoding acceleration built into the i7 processor and the native support for the 5k display. After dealing with ASUS 4k Pro 4k displays in the office, and reading about others having issues with similar setups using other 4k displays, the 5k iMac was the best choice since it has a custom controller built in. I think we need to wait for one more generation before we can get external 4k displays working as well as they should when running externally on Macs. That's probably why there is no 4k Mac Cinema display yet. We did actually had a spare 4k ASUS display and decided to run it as a secondary display on the iMac (though, that too has been a pain in the ass.) The lack of Thunderbolt ports on the iMac isn't an issue because we edit over a 10Gb network to a shared RAID.

Lots of great options... Sony RX100 Mk IV: Small but powerful. And hey! 240fps that looks great. (maybe even the RX10 MkII?) Nikon D500: Look at my test against the FS7 in another thread. 4k. Good mojo. Less rolling shutter than A7S. Sony A7S: I shot several docs on one. If you can't do good footage with it, you need to find a new career/hobby. Used Sony FS700. Yes, it's AVCHD internal. Still kicks ass. (and makes beautiful 4k 120fps to external recorder if you want to go that route.) Sony FS5. Basically a new version of the FS700 with XAVC and internal 4k. A bargain at 5k. There are more. But these are the ones I have personal experience with and can recommend.

When I was putting this together, one of my staff said the same thing.

Today I put a Nikon D500 vs. my Sony FS7 to see if I could get a comparable look out of each with minimal fuss. I was pretty impressed with the results. Details: In this video we shot several scenes on both the Sony FS7 $8000 cinema camera and the new $2000 Nikon D500 DSLR. The Sony was in Cinema EI mode and shot on Slog3.cine with an Alexa-like LUT applied (Sony provided), it then received minor saturation and luma tweaks. The Nikon was shot using the Flat color mode and it too received saturation and luma tweaks. With more tweaking we're sure we could get color even closer but this was to test a quick grade since not everyone is a color master. We feel this is an easily-achievable match for almost any video editor. One thing to note is that the FS7 has a mountain more color information at its disposal. The Nikon requires that footage be shot correctly from the start. The Nikon was equipped with the Tokina 11-20 f/2.8 lens, the Sony camera used the Nikon 17-55 f/2.8 DX.

That's actually what I did for the second video. All the tests were done in the Flat picture style.

Here are number of tests with the D500. I just uploaded, so give it a few minutes to render the full HD versions. Covered: Rolling Shutter, D-Light Modes, Face Detection, Stabilization.

D Lighting is now an option for video as well. I just shot some samples I'll be uploading later. It should be available on the Vimeo page, on the right. I didn't add any stabilization in post. That was the in-lens VR doing all the work.

I'll be shooting more this week and I'll try to get some 1080 to check out. Aliasing wasn't an issue with the D810, so I'd be surprised if this D500 was any different. This was, literally, the first thing I've shot with the D500. Sorry, but I won't have a chance to do hat rolling shutter test. I'm taking off for a 10 day shoot later this week and won't be able to fit that in. I'll do my own testing for rolling shutter, but it won't be scientific.

I recently picked up the new D500. Nothing serious done with it yet, but I did have chance to shoot some casual stuff today. Here's some ungraded footage 4k UHD. Download link on Vimeo includes the original edit ProRes if you want to play with grading it. This was done with the Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 VR, handheld. Color profile is flat. White Balance set to Auto. Includes mixed interior and window light.

I agree they need to make an AF100 follow-up, and this is't it. That said, I have less than zero interest in an AF200. I simply wouldn't buy one. As for this new DVX200, Panasonic has my attention and I'll be seriously considering it for our 4k productions later this year.

There is still a bit more micro blocking with A77II in fast-motion sequences versus the A7S. You can see a little of that in the penultimate shot of the van passing (I don't include such a shot with the A7S in this sample, but I've done it enough at this point to know it's not a serious issue.) Also, as you probably noticed, the A7S definitely has more detail. As for latitude in post, both are now on XAVC-S and seem to behave rather similarly when doing color corrections. I'll have no problem cutting these two cameras together and outside of pixel peepers and large projections, a normal person probably wouldn't notice the difference. For a web spot I would have no problem using the A77II in a pinch. The biggest problem with the A77II was nailing focus. For some reason the Zoom to Focus doesn't really improve the clarity of the image. It looks like they just took the screen information and made it larger on the A77II. This is implemented much better on the A7S, which shows more detail on the enlarged image. To make sure these were both in proper focus I had to attach a SmallHD screen. It's funny. These past couple weeks I've been editing a project I filmed two years ago on an FS100 and a Canon 5DMkIII. Both those cameras were great for their time, but my god the fast motion micro-blocking on the FS100 is awful (nice image tho). Then there's the 5D with an image so soft I constantly think it's out of focus. (Note: I recently sold my FS100) Both the A7S and A77II are better modern options.

I own both the A7S and the A77II (which just received XAVC-S in the 2.0 firmware update last week) so I shot a quick comparison today. Download the master in ProRes LT to really pixel peep. To make the playing field as level as possible I used the same A-Mount lens on both cameras and also set the A7S to APS-C mode, which I use quite frequently in the real world. Picture profiles and other details are listed at the end of the video. I didn't have a lot of spare time today, so excuse the less-than-awesome slider shots. Shouldn't detract from the results.

No, it does not. It does allow for easy access to the battery slot, however.