Minimalistic Filmmaking

[mercer]

1 hour ago, PannySVHS said:

 

Hey Glenn, awesome find. Visually one of the best DSLM/R cinema verite style narrative shorts I´ve seen in months, if not the best. The montage is stunning, leaving more impact on me than the highly acclaimed eyecandy piece "Towers of Turkey". Thanks for showing, very inspiring piece for every single no/low budget filmlover/maker. Colors are magnificient.

@meudig, Panasonic G85, better HD than GX85 and mic in. IBIS, 4K, 60p, strong 8bit codec, CineD, nice colors. It doesn´t have audio out though.

 

Hey Marty, yeah it is a great video... the filmmaker did an excellent job with the tool he had. I would never trade my 5D3 for an 80D or a D5500, but I do get excited to see what can be done with sub-1000 dollar cameras... especially the ones that get ignored by a lot of filmmakers.

I've never used a camera that has DPAF, so I am intrigued by the creative opportunities the 80D affords. And since I have recently realized that I could care less about 4K right now, my next camera purchase will be one of convenience and near Hollywood level focus pulling is definitely a convenience that will allow me to worry about framing, composition and performances. As I said, I am definitely tempted to pick one up.

But then on the other hand, I already have a more serious camera and the D5500 for casual shooting, so it may be unnecessary. But if DPAF is as good as it seems, a test of it with the 80D could help me decide my next big purchase next year, when I need to decide between the GH5, 5D4 and 1DC. But I am at least a year away from that purchase, so no rush really. Hope all is well with you and you're having a great summer. Happy shooting!

[meudig]

@PannySVHS The G80/85 body just dipped close enough to 800 dollar where I live. I was about to jump on it when I got an offer to buy a GH4 in great condition at 750.

IBIS must win over the Headphone jack, I am however currently trying to make sense of the different recording formats... but at least I will be a Panasonic shooter by the end of next week.

Cheers!

 

[JordanWright]

Cant go wrong with a Gh5 + Zoom! I use the sigma 18-35 but the Pana 12-35 is significantly smaller and lighter.

[maxotics]

I've been playing around with the Sony FDR-X3000 (4K)  Most of you will laugh, but it IS minimalist.  I should have bought the HDR-AS300 (1080) because I only use the X3000 in 1080.  Anyway, that camera is $300.  It weighs a couple of ounces, can fit in any pocket.  Fast on/off (ignore my incompetence in video below).  Has amazing image stabilization.  Can view while recording, or for playing, through smartphone.  In good light, the camera is superb.  In low light, it gets noisy fast.  To be expected.  I've used it with the Rhode videomicro because YES, believe it or not, it has an external mic in! Built in mic is surprisingly good. Does timelapse, quick photos.  Menu is very easy to use once you get the hang of it.

The biggest thing that bugged me was that if I shot myself, or something closer than 10 feet, it was slightly out of focus.  Like most action cams, the camera is fixed focus.  So I invented a gadget to pull the focal point in a bit.  Still working on it.  If you're interested, here's a video I did on that.  There's some sample footage at the end, goes black for a second or two beforehand.

There are some videos I've shot on YouTube, like "Going to get C100" which use the camera in the way the OP has in mind.