julienjarry

I've had a lot of cameras over my 10+ year journey of photography and cinematography and I've had a lot of Sonys from A7sii to FS7 to A7iii and FX9 and I've loved every one of them for their different reasons. As the 2022 year comes to a close I am investing in 2023 by purchasing this used Venice 1 with the plan to level up my commercial work and step into the world of narrative. Sure, gear doesn't matter. Well, a lot of times it does. Will the Venice get me new and exciting work? Maybe. Most likely, no. I have to put in the work and put myself into situations where opportunities may present themselves - then, do my best to act. Will the Venice inspire me to create? Yes. Will it help me shoot what I want to in 2023? Yes. Let's see what happens and what kind of images I can create with this thing. Head over to the cinematography threads to see the work.

It's absolutely amazing how technology moves. To think a tiny camera like the FX30 would be a strong FS7 upgrade image quality-wise is just awesome. Something I am sure most we're thinking too much about 5+ years ago. It's cool to see that between the FX9 and now FX30 there are true S35 options out there for the folks that fully embrace the format and still have all of their lenses etc. Great write up and thanks.

Back in the day when I first got my FS7 (and earlier), I didn't know what I was doing from a post-production standpoint and, like today, I was still learning something new about cinematography every day. After years of manipulating images in post, making mistakes, and learning what I like, I feel like I have finally come to a good understanding of what an image should (to my taste) look and feel like. I look back at my work from 3-5 years ago and things are washed out, overexposed, and quite the opposite of 'rich'. Bright IRE values are at 99 and dark IRE values are at 0. A few years back I started to realize that I wasn't producing the image I really wanted and through conversations with other DPs and colorists I learned that 'professionals' don't expose as bright as us ' self-taught corporate shooters'. I started to look at some of my favorite films and see how their IRE values were so much lower than mine. It wasn't easy to get used to at first but once I saw it - I saw it. Of course, everything is relative and your exposure, art department, and gear choice should be motivated by the story. With that said it is also important to understand that your brightest part in the sky doesn't have to be 99 IRE and your darkest part in the scene doesn't have to be 0. I recommend heading to shotdeck.com or googling some of your favorite movies and looking at their luma and color values. pull those frames into your NLE and compare their histograms and vectorscope tools to some of your frames. That's the ticket. Of course, this all depends on your style and what you like. For me, I am desperately trying to make my image feel more organic and look like film (when appropriate). Below is a good example of my protecting the highlights and producing a dark exposure. I think it feels wonderful. What do you think about this whole topic? Shot on Sony FX6 and Leica R 19mm f2.8 v2

1000% agree.

Awesome images and moments and I love to see how you've configured the FX6 for shoulder work.

Loved using this setup while wrapping a feature doc in New Mexico. You can go find frames in the Cinematography section of the forum. Canon FD 20-35mm f3.5 produces a softer, creamier image. The SmallHD Cine 5 is an awesome new monitor that allows me to keep this package small but still have serious tools and brightness. Finally, The FX6 crushes.

Here are a few frames from our last day of shooting after 2 total weeks of shooting a feature doc on food and culture. Shot on FX6 and FX3 below, I am very pleased how well they cut together.

These frames look incredible.

I just got back from a doc day shoot in Denver telling the story of a monitor engineer for one of my clients as part of a larger series. I am now back at my desk looking over the footage, grading, and exporting a few clips and I thought I would share them below. The main wide was shot on the FX9 and Sony FE 35mm f1.8 (a lens I love for this sort of thing), the wider of the two side shots was shot on the FX6 and Sony FE 85mm f1.8 (again, love), and the close up was shot on the FX6 and Leica R 100mm f2.8 macro. Both Sony lenses were shot at 1.8 and the Leica was at 2.8 and boosted in post to match the others.

This has a lot to do with the longer lens catching the light. I would have liked to see at 24-70mm side by side from the same angle comparison. My guess is that if you flagged that light you wouldn't have had such an extreme color shift. Look at the floor highlight in the wide, its the same color as the long lens shot. I think you're experience flare from the light more than anything else.

yea dude thanks. as far as vintage lenses go, they're one of the first places in your signal chain where you can take the sharp digital edge off.

For years have I been trying to dial in the most 'filmic' look for my look. That doesn't always mean grainy, etc. To me, that just means pleasing and rich tones and colors, ultra-smooth highlight roll-off, and some form of 'x factor' that you can't describe. I've recently come across Dehancer, a plugin for NLE's and I thought it would be a good time to run-through an ultra quick workflow for how I get things looking filmic. 0.) Protect your highlights, use filtration, and a vintage lens (you don't have to). 1.) Blur the image to your liking (or not at all). When you compare film to digital, the first thing you'll notice is how sharp the digital image is. 2.) Blur the edges. Vintage lenses aren't perfect, especially around the edges. Create a subtle vignette blur and see if you like it. 3.) Grade your footage well. I personally use Phantom Luts and right now VisionTeal is my favorite one in the bunch. It instantly gives the 'x factor' film look that I am going for for a lot of my work. 4.) Add grain, halation, and blooming (to taste). Check out the few images below of my most recent grade experimenting with Dehancer for the first time. What do you think? Do you have any tips to make your images look more like film?

Great post. I've learned to not assume the airlines will give me a deal with the media pass. Some have started to require you email them a week in advance and get approval (Jetblue). I've also learned recently that some TSA folks don't know the rules about 150 and 98wh VM and GM batteries. You should know this information better than they do and hold your ground when they tell you you can't fly with 2x 150wh batteries: https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/lithium-batteries-more-100-watt-hours I've recently put Apple Airtags in all of my cases. It's really nice to know where all my stuff is at all times. I carry on batteries, lenses, and cameras. I check tripods, lights, and other grip-type items. I wrap checked items in clothing. I also use TSA locks on all my bags. My wife and I travel with Thinktank Airport International V3 as our carry on and small backpacks as personal items. Having a large tote you can pull out at anytime as a backup for things like food, etc is a good idea too. Finally, crew members love to gate-check your stuff. The first thing I do when I get to the gate is politely tell the crew member that I am a professional filmmaker/photographer and have a lot of equipment that I cannot gate-check because of the batteries and expensive cameras. They usually let me on the plane earlier than my ticket allows.

I can confirm the new Sony FX3 TimeCode cable works wonderfully with my Tentacle Sync timecode generator. I've used some dual-lock to fasten the cable to the top of my cage and the Tentacle Sync mount to hold the generator nicely in place. Separately, I've added a few small SmallRig accessories to the top handle that make it a bit more robust and add some mounting points. Great additions that will certainly make it more enjoyable as a tool to use on set.

Unless I am shooting an interview where I need to dial in a very specific audio level and babysit the knob, I am almost always running my audio gains on AUTO. For doc work capturing ambient, scratch, and environmental in-camera audio, it simply works - really well. Give it a shot sometime. What do you think?

One of my favorite places in the world. Absolutely wonderful imagery you captured! Do you sell stock through your site or through other avenues? I have been thinking about getting some of my natural history up somewhere.

I completely agree Danny. Keep at it!

I personally always shoot in SLOG3 and monitor the LUT I intend to use in post. What I see is what I get and I love Sony's current lineup of cameras including the FX3 which allows me to do just this.

If you would, please go check out this piece 'Seng Wah' shot about a year ago on the Sony FX6, Tamron 17-28mm f2.8 (gimbal shots), Leica R 35mm f2 (handheld shots), and Mamiya 645 110mm f2.8 (static across the lake shot). We're hoping for a Staff Pick on Indigenous People's Day so your views, comments, likes, and shares are all super appreciated and make a huge difference! Thank you!A young dancer from San Ildefonso Pueblo shares her journey of self-reflection and gathering ancestral strength to discover her voice and confidence as an artist.'Sèng Wah' is the first in a short-film series for a program called Azhish. In Diné Bizaad “Azhish!” means to move with tenacity and passion. We harness the spirit of azhish in our native youth program, which seeks to connect indigenous performance artists to their cultural roots while infusing contemporary techniques that are relevant to their present-day lived experience.Huge thank you to the talented crew, our board of advisors, First People's Fund who supported this film & the companion workshops, and all the local community support in our home in Dinétah and neighboring unceded Tiwa land where this project was produced. https://vimeo.com/758502575

Below are a few dailies from a feature doc I am currently DP'ing. These are from Boston which was the first of three legs that will take us through Boston, Peru, and New Mexico. These were shot on Sony FX9 and FX9 on Tokina Vista Prime lenses. I'm really pleased with the images. Let me know what you think and feel free to ask any questions in the comments below. Thanks!

While preparing to travel into a remote part of the Peruvian Andes to shoot the second of three parts of a feature doc I’m currently DP’ing I weighed my options for what gear to bring and not bring and ultimately decided on bringing less, which turned out to be the right decision. While in Peru, I never second-guessed myself as to what lens to use in any given situation, which is something I’ve done a lot in the past. I’ve brought way too much stuff to too many places over the years that just ended up slowing me down. Not this time. I brought the following: Sony FX6, FX3, and A1 Tamron 17-28mm f2.8, 35-150mm f2-2.8, and 150-500mm Zeiss Loxia 35mm f2 Sachtler Aktiv 8 + Flowtech 75 Manfrotto Carbon Tripod Ronin RS3 SmallHD Focus 5 NISI TruColor VND I think 75% of my time in Peru was spent on the FX6 and 17-28mm. We shot WIDE! I haven’t spent much time on the 16-35mm type zoom lens in quite a few years and have a new found appreciation for spectacular wides if and when they help tell the story. I primarily used the FX3 on the Ronin RS3 with the same 17-28mm but also used the FX3 and 35-150mm on sticks for B camera type interview and b-roll angles. The 150-500mm was used for long lens landscapes, which is something I really love. The A1 was used by my wife and I for stills and BTS and the Loxia wasn’t really necessary. My thought on the Loxia was that is resembled the Vista Primes we used in part one of filming but like I said, I lived on the 17-28mm. Movement has to be motivated by action in this film per our director on this project - Therefore, we’re static on sticks a lot. The Ronin comes into play if we’re following some sort of action where it applies. I’ll be sharing a ton more from this trip and about this doc as time goes on. I hope you were able to catch the stories on Instagram. Can’t wait and am super thankful!

This is great and the examples you captured are awesome. To answer your question, for me, I shoot in slog3 because it's an essential part of my workflow. It allows me to add a blanket lut and grade across an entire project and I really like it. I love the image. Of course, noise has been a hot topic for a long time. My consensus from your tests and the fact that most of the industry captures Log no matter the scene is that we're not punching in 200% to gauge noise levels while viewing a film and a certain amount of noise is acceptable. For really important work where this conversation comes up in pre-production and healthy noise levels are important, I think being intentional about how you rate your camera at one of it's two base ISO's is what is really important. I think if you give your examples a big vibe and then take PP Off and try to pull that over to match the others you may see how PP Off has it's limitations. Well done with these and it's always great to see.

Yea, great reminder. I use 2x T7 and usually don't format the cards until days or weeks later.

Hey @IamOakley - we should be shooting in Peru for 5-7 days. Simple dump of cards on a Samsung T7 SSD and we're good to go. We shouldn't have to shoot more than one card per camera per day.

@DougJensen I agree with all of your top 5 reasons. It's truly a beautiful camera in so many ways. It really feels like we've finally arrived in a place where we're content with what we have, hasn't it? I love how clean the image is even when I underexpose by a stop. The dynamic range is awesome and the image is lovely. I wish I had more wildlife work - I think you've inspired me to get out there more. I have a trip to Peru later in the week and will certainly be focusing on getting some long lens landscapes. We'll see if animals show themselves. Thanks for posting!