Dustin

So I did check and my copy is the f2 after all. I had been at work when I was messaging here. Maybe I just need a little more time but I’ve yet to get results that I absolutely love.

Sorry I think that’s what I meant. Must just be my copy. Just not feeling this lens at all.

Not sure if this is the right place to rant- has anyone had any experience with the Samyang 12mm 2.8? I purchased a few months back wanting a nice wide lens for my Sony a6500 but can’t seem to get results I like. The corners are super soft even at f8 and the image in general lacks so much contrast it makes the a6500 look like a cell phone camera. I’m exaggerating of course but this lens is just not at all what I was expecting. Unfortunately I’m passed my BH return window so may have to cut my losses on eBay. May just try to flip and at least use funds towards something like the Sony 10-18 f4...

Hey All not sure which nephew we’re referring to but i might’ve gotten mixed up with another person as I have no nephews lol. I received the Samyang 12mm 2.8 and it seems to be a nice small/wide lens for the money. Just what I was hoping for. Gimbal arrived Monday (but possibly Saturday). I plan to shoot a demo next week of my own house as a sample, since most of my video work has not been in this genre or close. I’ve been practicing shooting SLog2 but it’s tough to expose for me. I’m using my histogram and the built in exposure meter but I’ve read to expose between 1-2 stops over. Let’s say I’m shooting a kitchen scene with nice windows but not much light. Would I balance between the two readings and maybe increase my iso from 800 to 1600 with the appropriate f-stop to match? Or should I rock an ND filter in-doors so I don’t have to adjust my f-stop? Shooting in cine4 is easier to wrap my head around because I’m not thinking as much but I realize you give up a bit of dynamic range. The other thing is codec... isn’t the 1080 120fps a better codec than the 60fps? I usually like working with my 1-2 memory settings so I guess I’ll make a set of 120 and 60 and see which I like better.

Lovely image there! Well I ordered a Samyang 12mm f2.0 and it will be here tomorrow. I just wanted something really wide without spending a ton of money. I plan to put it through it’s paces this weekend and see if it will work for the style I want to shoot. I also have the crane v2 gimbal coming in which I’m excited about because I’ve been wanting a gimbal for some time. Should be here next week.

So I went with the Samyang for now as the F4 seemed a bit too slow. Clearly you use it with good results. Also as I’m doing this on the side didn’t want to invest too much extra yet. I’m certainly thinking our local market is the same as what you’ve described that more are wanting video. At least that’s what a few realtor friends of mine have said. I’m not quite sure whom exactly I’m competing against locally but the market varies in quality from iPhone (super crappy) to professional. I’d say most of the listings I see though look to be lower quality iPhone stuff. Before my career change I did car photography for a luxury auto dealership so I know how to present something and get detail shots everyone is looking for. Just kinda hoping to keep it only at video but your right, might be limiting myself by only doing video!

Mark thank you for your response! Exactly what the kind of info I was wanting to find out. Like I said I’m kind of getting my feet wet with this a side gig but I can definitely understand the need for flexibility. I think my particular market, the videography just isn’t being done on a majority of listings. That tells me either a) they don’t have the budget (sub$3-400k houses) or b) they just don’t know anyone in town whom would do it or even c) don’t want to pay for it. What setup do you use man? edit—- missed your first post on setup lol!

I plan to but want to see how the first few gigs go. Pricing I’m still working on that too. This will be a side gig to me, so I’m just hoping to make some extra money on the weekends or nights when I don’t have anything going on. I realize with the fast-paced nature of real estate I will be working on their schedule more so than mine.

Thanks for the tip! I’m hoping to stay away from photography for now but we’ll see what happens. I realize to them it’s all just marketing but I figure if I can offer a service helps your return why not. I have a regular job so this would just be a side gig to make some extra money.

Thanks! Yeah I’m gonna try this one out first and see how it goes. If I need wider I certainly will.

Hey All, I hope everyone is staying safe! Chiming in here for some advice. Still rocking the a6500 going on 3 years now. I'm looking to start getting into real estate videography in my town (in the states) as I've become aware of a niche that I could fulfill and make some decent side change. Now straight to the point of my post - after a decent browse through in the internet of videos on this genre - I knew I had two holes in my setup to make this work, a wide angle lens and a stabilizer of some sort. I picked up the Samyang 12mm F2.0 wide angle lens and have a Zhiyun Crane V2 gimbal on the way. Between this wide angle and my Sony 35mm 1.8, and various vintage nikon glass and speedbooster, I should be covered for any lens I would possibly need. Does anyone on this board shoot real estate whom might have some tips regarding the gimbal? In almost five years of filmmaking this will be my first gimbal and while I've seen plenty of videos on how to balance, etc. is there anything else I need to be aware of? I assume once balanced if I wanted to swap to say my Sony 35mm 1.8 for some detail shots, I would need to rebalance? In any event, I think it should all be very straightforward and I plan to just use the EOSHD Pro Color profiles I've been using for years to make color grading a breeze. Just curious if anyone has any advice or thoughts. While I understand the business aspect of this - I hope to find away to break from the all 60FPS slowed down, jump cut look everyone on the internet posts and any suggestions on creativity in this genre would also be welcome.

Thank you for sharing this! My god it’s like a visual textbook reference. Really superb

Wow thanks all! Wound up using a shower curtain on a mic stand in front of my 528S and that was perfect! Thanks for the material to watch for next time!

Awesome thanks!

Thanks man! I’ve given it a second thought- I have a spare shower curtain and a mic stand I could drape that over and try shooting the 528 through that setup. Thankful for this communities quick encouragement!

Thanks all! Figured I just need more practice. I will keep tweaking and maybe post a clip. Further analysis of the clips from last nights exercise actually weren’t that bad. Sometimes judging results of the small Sony a6500 screen isn’t the best...

While being stuck in the house like everyone else, I thought I’d try my hand at a simple interview/talking head lighting setup. Most of the stuff I shoot is run and gun with minimal lighting. I was also inspired by film riot’s recent diy cinematic lighting video. I own an aputure 528s and 198c lights. I was quickly uninspired with the results. I had a cheap diffuser box I had picked up years back but while that helped it didn’t soften the light enough. I then took to DIY adding 2 white t shirts. This helped greatly to soften the light but then killed most of the power. Even when adjusting my framing and bringing the diffused light closer to my face, it still didn’t look quite right. I tried bouncing it off the wall at full power to the left of the test subjects (my wife) face but that gave it more of a nice living room feel not soft, cinematic look. I don’t have any video footage to show but basically I couldn’t seem to find a combination of softening and diffusion to get an acceptable soft light. Is it my gear or is it me? Is the 528s known to be harsh even with diffusion? Do I need a giant light dome style softbox? With all the lighting products that have come out I’m wondering if maybe I need to invest in some better lighting. I know I need better grip.

I have to say you guys should check out the Negative Lab Pro Facebook group, guys are using their mirror less and light setups and getting excellent results. Honestly I’ve used my plustek and gotten fantastic results that were as good as the lab, just takes time on the colors. I agree with @BenEricson unless you have 1-2 hours a roll to devote to scanning, support a lab! I use mail my film out in a prepaid mailer and use Old School Photo Lab but there are tons of labs. The darkroom is another popular one. My current 35mm setup is a Nikon FE2 with a 28mm, 50mm and 100mm e series primes.

I actually shoot 35mm film on the regular. It’s fun and the images look fantastic. I own a plustek 8100 film scanner, which I use vuescan to scan my images and a Lightroom app called Negative Lab Pro to convert. That said the process takes me 1.5 hours, so unless I have time to scan, I usually opt to have scans done by a lab for about $14. (Less if you give more rolls). Many NLP users make their own scanner with a light table, macro lens and camera and the scanning process is much faster than my plustek. Film is very much still alive in 2020.

Check out Spencer Sakuri’s YouTube channel. I believe he uses vintage FD lenses on his test with this.

This! If I didn’t already own an a6500 I would pick up this. I had thought about downsizing to it earlier this month. I don’t shoot enough to warrant switching right now. I think the g80/85 with a cheap speedbooster and some sharp primes would be the ticket for a good music video on the cheap! Do it!

@Mark Romero 2 @zerocool22 I agree with both of your sentiments. I would’ve liked to have seen more wide screen test comparisons between all of these but I think the S1H really shines here! I really enjoy the way this guy does camera tests and the effort he took to making a basic kitchen look like a scene from a film. Pretty cool I think.

Nice video on the S1H: https://youtu.be/gRXxnatRO8Q

Agreed! Dark, inside b-roll...not the best choice for showing off the camera!