Might be in a bad mood, but often with me, that gives me clarity.
My S5, 7 Artisans 50mm T2 cine lens and a bare rig seem to be the biz at the moment. When I have better cameras, why?
I have really struggled with the whole video thing. Not the tech, not the processing (as much), not the settings or results, just the doing of it. My solution is as old school as it gets.
I put the camera to my eye like a SLR stills shooter would, which is not how I have shoot a lot of my stills since some time in the early 2010’s and guess what?
It is generally more often in focus, steady, smooth and well composed. It is not a coincidence that serious cinematographers prefer eye cups to screens. DP’s and directors use screens to share and setup shots, but the actual camera tech, more often than not, uses an eye cup.
I have even ordered a deeper eye cup for the S5 and I am trying to come up with some way to use the shoulder rig with it, but focussing is the catch. The chest rig may work, still testing.
It is clearer in any light. Lets face it, it is the best screen you have and has no flare or glare issues.
It is bigger than the rear screen (relatively and practically).
It allows me to see the composition better, to be more engaged. This goes for stills also. I shoot tighter and more controlled images this way and always will, so it stands to reason.
It is more stable. I am the tripod. Even my movements as long as they are subtle and controlled are smoother. There is a time to move away from the eye, but often that is to a tripod or slider anyway.
It is more compact and faster to use. Pull the cam out of the bag and go. No rigging, no attachments, no cables.
Taken on the old Olympus 25mm f2.8 half frame lens at f4 (see below), this is it. The little handle on the side is for the heel of my hand or finger tips to rest on and to give the screen something to protect if when used. The top handle is mostly there for carting, getting out of the bag and putting accessories on (the big nose MKE-600 in particular likes to be set back a little). The tripod foot is for obviously what it is named uop as, but also helps stabiliser my hand.
In the same vein as above, I am going to try a little experiment.
I am only going to shoot video on a 50mm (ff equiv). I have plenty, they all have their “thing”, it makes life easier and seems to fit my eye at the moment. The 50mm above in full frmae, the 35 on APS-C, the 24mm Night Walker, 12mm with 2x digital extender in M43, 25mm Antique (above), 50mm Pentax SLR lens, 35 and 50mm Lumix lenses, 25 modern Oly etc. Lots of options in how to render the same magnification. I may even get that 24mm Anamorphic (50mm equiv in height/35mm in width or even the 35mm as it is a 70mm in height but a normal in width).
I am not curtailing my creative options, because every lens and format has different characteristics, just settling on a sensible focal length for now until I am ready to move on.
I find in video focal length is more of a comfort thing than a creative necessity.
Framing close-ups, wide shots, panning, focus drifts, deep or shallow depth etc are all creative options, but focal length tends not to be to big one. It is not a coincidence that many DP’s even those who use a variety of formats and even focal lengths, tend to sit close to a standard (of their own choosing) for most projects. Some even stick religiously to one lens and the spread of favourites tends to be either side of the humble 50mm.
The Creator for example was shot predominantly on a single Anamorphic 75mm Kowa with a full frame sensor (tight portrait lens in height, semi wide angle in width).
Bit over the camera sphere at the moment. Want to hear what you need to hear and you will find it, good or bad. Too many opions, few with a clean moral slate, many misguided or fans/haters.
Just use what you have, it is better than most anything available up until recently, oh and resolution should be your last concern.
Anyway, rant over, off to work again after a couple of weeks sick.