Keeping up with the technology

[Gerad Savides]

Hey Group

I just want to vent my frustration. Its so hard to keep up with the technology of this field that we love. Just as you buy one camera another one comes and blows it out the water. It's difficult and expensive to keep up with the times. I remember i owned the dvx 100 and bought a anamorphic adaptor for it to get 16x9, only for an hvx 200 that shot native 1080 at that aspect ratio a year later. The point I am making is, at what point do you just wave the white flag and say f-it (excuse my language)

 

[Justin McAleece]

You don't have to always keep up with the Jones's I know plenty of people that still use outdated technology (HVX's as a matter of fact) and still do quite well with their businesses and make great videos. Your skills last forever, spend time on those and the gear will be essentially interchangeable at a certain level. Most people will hire you for you, not for what camera you have. Most corporate clients have no idea what you are using anyway. If you are spending time worrying about the technology for your film then remember that there were a number of movies in the theaters last year shot on 3 year old DSLR's. Did they look a little less than stellar to me? Maybe, but did the audience notice much of a difference? The chances are very slim. Leave the bleeding edge to someone else. The fact is that the camera and the lenses will never be any more important to a scene than the Actors, Wardrobe, Makeup, Production Design, Set Decoration etc... Not to mention the story which will trump all of that EVERY time.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Justin is spot on. It's easy to get caught up in the tech race, but if you are able to step outside of it for a moment and assess what you actually need to accomplish your goals creatively and from a business perspective you can often catch yourself before making decisions that don't reflect the best interest of those goals.

 

[Matthew Scott]

The way I look at it is, if I can't get repeatable results as good or better than the best did with the same camera, then I'm not ready for an upgrade.

 

[Mark Toia]

You don't have to always keep up with the Jones's I know plenty of people that still use outdated technology (HVX's as a matter of fact) and still do quite well with their businesses and make great videos. Your skills last forever, spend time on those and the gear will be essentially interchangeable at a certain level. Most people will hire you for you, not for what camera you have. Most corporate clients have no idea what you are using anyway. If you are spending time worrying about the technology for your film then remember that there were a number of movies in the theaters last year shot on 3 year old DSLR's. Did they look a little less than stellar to me? Maybe, but did the audience notice much of a difference? The chances are very slim. Leave the bleeding edge to someone else. The fact is that the camera and the lenses will never be any more important to a scene than the Actors, Wardrobe, Makeup, Production Design, Set Decoration etc... Not to mention the story which will trump all of that EVERY time.

Yes... What Justin said.

14 years ago I won best cinematographer of the year shooting a DV camera. Every other format entered was 35mm.

Remember... Content is king. Not resolution or dynamic range.

 

[Ivan Kovax]

Hey Group

I just want to vent my frustration. Its so hard to keep up with the technology of this field that we love. Just as you buy one camera another one comes and blows it out the water. It's difficult and expensive to keep up with the times. I remember i owned the dvx 100 and bought a anamorphic adaptor for it to get 16x9, only for an hvx 200 that shot native 1080 at that aspect ratio a year later. The point I am making is, at what point do you just wave the white flag and say f-it (excuse my language)

The choice in what equipment is valid for you will depend on your ability to make use of it and monetize it making it a worthwhile expense, be it a dvx100 or a Red Dragon. The equipment will never make you, your skillset and ability will.

 

[Thomas Koba]

....oooooor youcouldjustbuythecameratoendallcamerasthereddragon :lol:

 

[Paul Russell]

What's really needed is a camera manufacturer with the philosophy of 'obsolescence obsolete'.

 

[Ivan Kovax]

....oooooor youcouldjustbuythecameratoendallcamerasthereddragon :lol:

Until somebody releases an 8k camera with 17+ stops of DR...

 

[Glen Powell]

There was a time, not so long ago..... (here we are swirling back through time) When *Most* professional working D.P.'s didn't own a camera - they rented the right camera for the job they were doing. Sometimes camera A, sometimes camera B. Sometimes it was 16mm, sometimes it was 35mm. Then you hired the AC that knew how to operate that particular cam well - though all the AC's knew the ins and outs of the ARRI's / Panavision's / MovieCam models.
It started to change when the HD Vid cams started showing up on Commercial shoots ( I remember a Mercedes shoot in '04 when hiring the wrong AC dragged the day into overtime, because he couldn't find the right menu options on the Sony camera).

This idea of buying a camera that will suit all of your needs is fairly new, and I still don't fully get it. There may be one cam that fits most of your needs, but not all.

To me building skill is more important than building a huge equipment list - learn the craft, and rent the tools to suit each job.

 

[George Butterfield]

at what point do you just wave the white flag and say f-it (excuse my language)

If you're in the rental business you just keep buying the "latest and greatest", ignoring the fact that you'd make much more money buying backhoes to rent to construction sites. If you're a Cinematographer, you just take whatever you got and make a movie.