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Shooting non-repeatable events: weddings, recitals, plays, performances...

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Old May 16th, 2016, 08:09 AM   #16
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Re: Health/Back Concerns

Damn! I sold off my spring rod and belt after I dropped the EA-50's ... Yes the FZ1000's even with a twin handle bracket under the camera and two grips either side of the camera and a shotgun mic on top make my whole handheld rig 1400 grams which has made life so much easier on my back ... holding the grips each side seem to make it lighter (but it's not of course) so a little rod and belt for things like the receiving line and first dance might be a good idea as I can feel the odd twinge in my lower back after 10 minutes of filming non stop. Still it is no where near the back pain I used to get with the EA-50 on my shoulder with a heavy lens up front .... lighter cameras are definitely the answer and a waist support is still a good idea .. I think I must look into that for longer shoots!!
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Old May 16th, 2016, 12:45 PM   #17
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Re: Health/Back Concerns

David,

First, please don't think about quitting. You can do this! I tore up my back over twenty five years ago when I was a firefighter/medic. I will spare the long story my life of back pain culminating in my lower back now being held together with glue, screws, and two steel rods. So I have been there and live with this and I am still a truck load of gear type shooter. I have to be for the kind of work I do.

So to try and be helpful I would say there is more to it than just cameras. I am a nut job when it comes to bags and cases. I have a ton of them. Most of my soft bags are backpacks. That helps distribute the weight where I want it instead of a single shoulder strap pulling down on one shoulder. All of my hard cases have wheels. I have two monstrous tripods. Even those live in PortaBrase cases with hidden backpack straps that zip out. So think about your kit from start to finish.

Paying an assistant $200.00 a day is a no brainier for me, I do it all the time. But get this, I learned the best assistants don't shoot, don't want to, and you don't want them to. There was a two year period when I was lucky enough to be able to hire a true Hollywood grip to assist me. It was amazing, he could and would do everything but shoot. He was worth his weight in gold. He was a professional assistant, he did not want to shoot. Unfortunately he moved back to Hollywood. So now most of the guys I hire do want to learn whatever I can help them with so I gladly mentor them.

BTY, tradition sit ups could quite possibly be the worst exercise you could do and just cause more damage. It depends on what your back condition is about. Be careful and hang in there!

Kind Regards,

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Old May 17th, 2016, 12:05 AM   #18
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Re: Health/Back Concerns

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Originally Posted by Dave Blackhurst View Post
The X70 is the "pro" version of the AX100, so you could possibly go one of each or two AX100's - but you could also consider the RX10M2 or M3 (similar sensor, but improved over the 1st generation sensor in the AX100), or one of the A7 series - the 30 minute clip limit has been hacked
I have obviously been out of the loop as this was news to me. The last few weddings I did before finally giving up the business I used a pair of Olympus OM-D EM-5s plus a Panasonic G6 without recording limit & it was amazingly liberating just to able to carry all my cameras, lenses & batteries in a single small shoulder bag. Three RX10M2s without recording limit would be a great solution for lightweight wedding gear with that 24mm-200mm F/2.8 equivalent lens & no lens swaps or even three RX10M3s with the 24mm-600mm F/2.8-4.0 equivalent lens.

Last edited by Nigel Barker; May 17th, 2016 at 01:12 AM.
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Old May 17th, 2016, 03:00 AM   #19
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Re: Health/Back Concerns

There is a group that has been working on reverse engineering the firmware for Sony cameras, this was reported on Sony Alpha Rumors not too long ago.

I've got several RX's sitting here I want to "hack" and test, and see how it goes. I've seen positive reports, but Peter is saying there were problems with his A7SII, so I'll definitely be taking a bit more testing time as I fiddle with the mod (it appears to use the Sony "app" interface to hack into the firmware, if I understand it correctly).

I've not found the 30 minute clip limit to be a big problem, but if the hack works reliably, it would be quite a nice upgrade to the Sony branded cameras.
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Old May 17th, 2016, 03:07 AM   #20
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Re: Health/Back Concerns

Yes it hacks the 'Play Memories' app but as mentioned my A7s II randomly stopped recording during the speeches at last weekend's wedding and freaked me out - I've rolled back my camera until I get time to test it properly and see what issues (if any) other users are having - TBH the 29 minute limit is no biggie for me

Last edited by Peter Rush; May 17th, 2016 at 05:03 AM.
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Old May 17th, 2016, 03:45 AM   #21
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Re: Health/Back Concerns

Can't understand why some of you aren't too bothered about the 29 min clip limit. To me it's a real issue and why I've invested in 2 GH4r. Do you have other cameras without the clip limit as additional cameras. The only camera I use with a clip limit is my original GH4 and whilst not an issue as I man this camera for the Ceremony and Speeches, retiring my GH3 that also had a clip limit has been done with a great relief.

I'm not sure what this Sony hack is like. The hack for my GH2 worked well and without issues. It's always a risk going against the standard firmware. Sony cameras always come across as a bit more buggy than other manufacturers as they push new releases quickly onto the market. I'm not sure if I'd be brave enough to rely on a hack for Sony cameras for professional work.
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Old May 17th, 2016, 04:45 AM   #22
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Re: Health/Back Concerns

To me the 29 min limit has never been an issue at all. Even when I had my Sony EA-50's no clip exceeded 30 minutes anyway ....I find it really tough to struggle with a huge clip in the timeline anyway!

Maybe the speeches in jolly ole England are long and boring ..Seriously ours average 6 minutes but I did have one of 17 minutes a few weeks ago because the FOG decided to sing a long and drawn out version of "Danny Boy" at the end of his speech. At Catholic weddings (which we rarely do any more) I still reset the camera after readings and homily so clips seldom exceed 15 minutes.

I supposed it's what you are used to... even at dance recitals I have started a new clip on every new song to make it easy to make up a DVD menu!
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Old May 17th, 2016, 05:01 AM   #23
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Re: Health/Back Concerns

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even at dance recitals I have started a new clip on every new song to make it easy to make up a DVD menu!
This really baffles me, a dancepeformance is usually in 2 parts with a half hour break inbetween meaning if you shoot with 2 camera's you end up with 4 clips to sync in post, lets say there are 20 performances so in your case you end up with 40 clips to sync in post, where is the advantage in that?

Also when you export you just export one file and in your dvdmenu software it's just a matter of marking the beginning of every part and add a name and that's it, as I see it you are making it more difficult on yourself.

If you are shooting a continues event, like a ceremony and you are shooting with multiple camera's that have no recording limit and you have big enough sd cards why would you even consider deliberately stopping and restarting a camera? That does not make any sense at all.
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Old May 17th, 2016, 05:52 AM   #24
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Re: Health/Back Concerns

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To me the 29 min limit has never been an issue at all. Even when I had my Sony EA-50's no clip exceeded 30 minutes anyway ....I find it really tough to struggle with a huge clip in the timeline anyway!

Maybe the speeches in jolly ole England are long and boring ..
I'm averaging about 30-45 mins for Speeches; been ages since I've had one less than 30 mins.

Like Noa, struggle to see your logic here. If a Ceremony is 45 mins long say, it doesn't matter if you're using individual clips of 15 mins rather than one long clip of 45 mins, the timeline would still be 45 mins. Syncing clips takes time; why add to your work.

Juggling 4 cameras, the clip limit has major impact for me; it limits camera placement and becomes one more thing to worry about when you're trying to focus on filming.
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Old May 17th, 2016, 08:00 AM   #25
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Re: Health/Back Concerns

I'm 49 and while active- I can't say I'm in perfect shape! I was having some back pain after working on weddings and using a Canon XF300 was too much! Even if using a Manfrotto monopod (a life saver!)...
I can survive a few minutes with the XF100 which is much lighter of course but the monopod gives better steady footage...I also used the Canon 70D but without a monopod the footage was not the way I like it...
and I have even used the C100 and that one is better but still heavy after a bit...
the manfrotto monopod is a back saver! and tripods of course...I don't do steadicam...
but I was feeling more discomfort a couple of years ago and I decided to start doing some weight training..nothing extreme...10lbs weights, some resistance bands etc and with some videos (P90X etc) I started exercising and stretching and strenghtening my back...seriously..lost some weight and put on some muscle...6 days a week..and I made sure I included exercises for the back and the core muscles. I even went to a physiotherapists who taught me some exercises...on line too...
I can honestly say that I feel better and I can handle the video work better-but i have to be smart and bring a dolly to carry equipment and the monopod! gosh..without it it would be a problem. DLSR or not...
just my opinion. If there's a medical issue with the back then a visit to the doctor/sport medicine would be a good idea...just my thoughts. Let's stay healthy guys! Good luck!
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Old May 17th, 2016, 08:50 AM   #26
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Re: Health/Back Concerns

Hi Noa

No sync issues at all. We get a feed from the theatre desk for each camera but these dance teachers seem to prefer to just have a wide angle view so they can see them perform as a group so more often that not it's already synced with the vision. Don't do many of these anyway ..just mainly weddings and no recorders in use either just two wireless setups so sync is never an issue!! The only minor sync I might have to do is on the cutaway cam which is simple and the shorter the clip the less likely it would be out anyway.
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Old May 17th, 2016, 11:32 PM   #27
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Re: Health/Back Concerns

Removing the 29'59" time limit shouldn't have any adverse effect on the Sony cameras as it is just removing what is purely an arbitrary limit as there is no technical reason like overheating or a file size limit.

The issue isn't so much whether a ceremony or speeches will exceed 30 minutes but just the peace of mind knowing that the unmanned cameras will keep on rolling even if there are delays. It's far less stressful to set your unmanned cameras recording early than be worried about rushing round at the last possible moment pressing record just before the bride arrives at the church. Even worse is clock watching & worrying about having to creep round discreetly to the unmanned cameras to hit record again to restart,
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Old May 19th, 2016, 01:14 PM   #28
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Re: Health/Back Concerns

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Originally Posted by Dave Blackhurst View Post
There is a group that has been working on reverse engineering the firmware for Sony cameras, this was reported on Sony Alpha Rumors not too long ago.

I've got several RX's sitting here I want to "hack" and test, and see how it goes. I've seen positive reports, but Peter is saying there were problems with his A7SII, so I'll definitely be taking a bit more testing time as I fiddle with the mod (it appears to use the Sony "app" interface to hack into the firmware, if I understand it correctly).

I've not found the 30 minute clip limit to be a big problem, but if the hack works reliably, it would be quite a nice upgrade to the Sony branded cameras.
I've tried it on a Sony RX100 IV and got about a hour and half each time, then the battery died. This was only 1080p, wouldn't risk an extended 4k clip on the Sony RX100 IV.
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Old September 2nd, 2016, 05:39 PM   #29
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Re: Health/Back Concerns

I've been meaning to follow up with everyone on this and thank everyone for their input & advice. I did do a pretty decent overhaul upgrading from the old Z5U to a little Sony X70. It's been a few months, and a few shoots, I sorta like the little thing. I was a bit delusional thinking my Z5U wasn't becoming a bit dated, although I did have the CF card adaptor, which extended its life about 2-3 years by ditching tape a while back. My only complaint about the X70 is I really dislike the shared zoom/focus control. I realized I never like shooting auto focus, as all it takes is someones elbow or a candle or something to get closer in and throw off the shot. So it's a cumbersome process to zoom in, switch it to focus, focus up (or auto focus then switch back to manual), then zoom back out. I really wish it had dual controls there, in fact I hate the concept of it altogether, but I suppose its a budget thing & at $2K its nicely priced. A bit of a struggle in low light but by the reception I goto the VG900 with Sigma 35mm 1.4 which is great in low light. And I have a 2 shoulder backpack which I previously had, the X70 & a few items like lights, mics etc fit in pockets just right.


Then, it came time to editing, I'll post pics if I can, but my (10 year old) Ikea computer station was a bit junk. Sorta kiddish or something, it had a nice look, but wasn't ergonomical to my needs. I think that was a bigger factor, so I said F it, and went all in. I went to Ikea and picked up a sit/stand desk and backless swivel chair. They are great. I've raised it to stand a few times, but just being able to control the desk height to the exact amount is great. I can adjust it and angle the monitor to suit my needs quickly, and it might change on a day to day basis (surfing the web vs editing etc). That imho was a better upgrade & more important one, tho the camera was due for an upgrade.

So I'm back, and looks like I might give this another go:) I had a double Sat/Sun at the end of July & edited them all of August & shot another wedding last week & I've felt alright pretty much throughout. Took an Advil here & there but never much of a serious issue, not as bad as it had been previously.
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Old September 3rd, 2016, 12:22 AM   #30
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Re: Health/Back Concerns

Good to hear you landed on your feet again. For me it also has been quite a struggle with my back but am happy I am able to do a handful of weddings every year now, at least, if my back continuous to allow it.

Can I ask what sit/stand desk you got from IKEA? I have been looking for something similar.
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