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Danny_Schmidt

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  1. @julienjarry thanks for putting this together. As a fellow FX6 owner I am always psyched to see what little bits other cinematographers are using on their rigs.
  2. I'd love to know! It seems like we are one firmware update away from unlocking the full potential of the FX9. I often find myself defaulting to my FX6 purely because of the frame rate options in full frame - especially when shooting wildlife. I understand no camera is perfect, and we can't have it all, but it really would be nice to see FF 4K60 at the very least. Obviously I'd be stoked with anything beyond that, but at a minimum I think we need some kind of slow motion capabilities utilizing the full sensor. Thoughts? Ideas? Anyone out there with a crystal ball?
  3. Nice @julienjarry! This is a perfect use for something like the Prism Lens FX Dream filter - love the vibe for this kind of thing. How was it cutting in Davinci for the first time? The amount of times Premiere has crashed on me over the years has me thinking it's probably time to find a new program.
  4. Understandable ... there are so many platforms competing for our subscription dollars these days.
  5. Thanks, Oakley! I'll be sure to post here when it finally goes live this spring.
  6. @DougJensen Thank you! I know you appreciate wild Florida as much as I do. It should also be broadcast on National Geographic Channel eventually as well as Disney+. I'll keep posted when I know more.
  7. Hey All -- Thought I'd share a new feature doc that I had the pleasure of DP'ing that debuts soon on Disney+. It's called Path of the Panther and it's close to my heart. We worked for nearly 5 years to get this film across the finish line and I am so psyched to finally share it. You can watch the trailer below. Drawn in by the haunting specter of the Florida panther, National Geographic Explorer Carlton Ward Jr. and a coalition of biologists, ranchers, conservationists, and Indigenous Peoples find themselves on the front lines of an accelerating battle between forces of renewal and destruction that have pushed the Everglades to the brink of ecological collapse. This odyssey of hope and heartbreak is the culmination of more than five years of field research, 500,000 still images, and over 800 hours of ultra high definition camera trap footage. Against all odds, wild panthers have been stunningly captured in their native ecosystem, as they've never been filmed before. The film is the cornerstone of the ‘Path of the Panther' project, supported by the National Geographic Society and many other partners that inspired the passage of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act – the first legislation of its kind and a blueprint for addressing habitat fragmentation and species extinction across the globe.This film was shot largely with the Sony FS7 using a variety of Sigma primes and Canon L-series zooms. The (stunning) camera trap footage was all shot on Sony mirrorless cameras (A7R and A7S variations). There are some RED and Phantom VEO clips sprinkled throughout, as well as some drone aerials from the Inspire 2. This film is part of a larger campaign to not only save the Florida panther, but to preserve what's left of wild Florida for years to come. I'd love to hear what you think! Feel free to drop your feedback/questions/etc below and we can chat. Thanks!
  8. I recently joined the world of Apple AirTags, further cementing the death grip Apple tech has over my life. I am resigned to embracing technology when it works for me and these have been pretty handy. I put them on all of the normal things: my keys, my dog’s collar, my bike. But I am wondering how I can use them to better keep track of my gear. I saw this article recently on NoFilmSchool.com that goes through the recent releases from some well-know camera accessory makers that attempt to embed the little AirTag on your camera. For my purposes, I think the SmallRig version could be pretty helpful. It’d blend in well with the rest of the camera cage and seems pretty bomber. The Pelican AirTag Holders are also cool, but I’d want to make sure the whole contraption was hidden well in my case because these don’t disguise the AirTag at all from a would-be tamperer. Is this being overly paranoid? Or is it a good way to protect your camera investment? Anyone already doing this?
  9. @DougJensen I love seeing the pix of the camera / lens build out. There are just so many accessories that we all need to do this job so it's helpful to see how other people kit out their rigs!
  10. One of my favorite docs of the year is The Territory by Alex Pritz. This brilliant film depicts the conflict between Indigenous inhabitants of the Brazilian Amazon and pioneering settlers hoping to profit from the land. If you haven’t seen it, I’d recommend watching now on Disney+. It’s in the running for an Oscar this year and has cleaned up across major festivals, including Sundance. Intentional Filmmaking As a DP and director, I am of course fascinated by the making of a film of this scope. Alex Pritz did double duty on this film - directing and shooting The Territory and crafting an incredibly well-thought out narrative along the way. I wasn’t too surprised to learn that Pritz shot the film on Sony cameras, starting production with the FS7 and then switching to FX6 and FX9 when they came available. Many people assume that all docs are shot in a run/gun way, but I appreciated hearing how Pritz was intentional with his cinematography to reflect the different perspectives that each character had for the land. “Understanding these perspective differences and illustrating them through the film’s cinematography was the central creative challenge in shooting this film. For scenes involving Indigenous participants, we often shot handheld and employed a loose and fluid aesthetic on wider focal lengths. When shooting with the farmer/settlers, we would frequently switch to a tripod with a longer zoom lens to build a more mechanical feeling to our cinematography.” - Alex Pritz The film was shot over several years, but always recorded in Sony slog3. This allowed Pritz and his colorist to further distinguish the characters by creating specific looks for each so audiences could be more deeply immersed in the worlds of the protagonists and antagonists. Decolonizing the Documentary Another thing to point out (spoiler alert!) is that this film was a collaboration between Pritz and the indigenous community. Indigenous cinematographers were trained and empowered to shoot much of the film themselves, lending an intimacy, authenticity, and sense of ownership of their story. I personally would like to see this mode of storytelling and collaboration far more often. It is an effort to decolonize the documentary process and use our skills as filmmakers in the service of collaboration and facilitation of telling other people’s stories. There is a lot more to learn from Pritz in this great article from Filmmaker Magazine. Definitely worth a read. And please go watch this important film!
  11. Well, it’s that time of the year when the ‘Best of 2022’ lists start rolling out and the purveyors of gear start ranking their favorite pieces of kit. I personally love these kind of lists. I love the research and thought that generally goes into the process, but I also can appreciate that much of this stuff is entirely subjective. One of my personal go-to’s for information about the latest and greatest gear for my job, is NewsShooter.com. Although I don’t shoot ‘news’ per se, this site caters to folks working in the nonfiction/factual/doc space and they do a very thorough job. Their ‘Best of 2022’ rankings just came out and the FX30 stole the show in the Favorite Budget Digital Cinema Camera category According to NewsShooter’s Matt Allard, “The new FX30 is Sony’s entry-level digital cinema camera and essentially it is a baby FX3 with an APS-C sensor.” What do you all think? Is the sub-$2000 FX30 your entry level ticket to digital cinema? Are there other contenders this year? Will we see more new cameras in 2023 sporting a S35 sensor?
  12. If you’re like me, and you’re constantly browsing the internet for camera gear, it’s nice to know of a few good used market places for this stuff. I’ve bought and sold used cameras and lenses and accessories in the past and it always feels good to breathe new life into some used piece of gear, or part with something I no longer use. Aside from the obvious Ebay and Craigslist (both of which can be less than desirable...), I wanted to share a few places that I regularly check for used stuff. Feel free to share your experience here as well. BorrowLenses.com LensRentals.com These two well-know online rental houses sell their used gear and have big sales several times a year where things are just plain cheap. I bought an FS7 from BL and used it for 4 years. Definitely made my money back! Another place I look is RedUser.net. This is a forum site based around RED cameras, but if you scroll down you’ll find a handy little thread called “Marketplace: 3rd Party Gear”. This is a treasure trove of high end stuff for sale that gets updated daily. You have to make an account to buy/sell here. Sharegrid.com is another place that I’d feel confident shopping. For those unfamiliar, ShareGrid is a local peer-to-peer rental site. If for instance you live in Miami and need to rent an FX6, you can go to ShareGrid, plug in your location and the camera, and it’ll show you a host of people ready to rent to you directly. Well, you can also list stuff for sale here! I’ve never bought from here directly but I see lots of good deals. Some other well-known spots: Adorama.com BHphotovideo.com Both of these mega retailers also sell used gear. A couple of others that seem promising but I’ve never used: MPB.com is an online buy/sell/trade marketplace that claims to “recirculate more than 300,000 items of used kit every year.” Another thing I like about it is that they photograph every item individually, so the pix you see are of the camera that you’ll actually receive. KEH.com - 180 day warranty sounds pretty sweet …
  13. @julienjarryCongrats! That is a big level-up, stoked to see what you create!
  14. Yep, I think it all depends on the scenario. But shooting on a single prime does offer a fun challenge and perhaps encourages the cinematographer to move around more to shoot a scene.
  15. I agree! When I walk into a doc scenario for the first time, it is nice to have something akin to the 24-105mm. However, I am quick to switch to the 35mm prime once I have a lay of the land. On a full frame sensor, I think it's the best prime focal length for indoor and outdoor scenes with people. This is, of course, completely subjective ... so I'd be happy to hear from someone that prefers the 50mm or something totally different. 28mm?
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