Wildlife Setup - Advice Wanted!

[Matt Hutchings]

Hello fellow Redders,

I have had my Scarlet-W on order for a while now and it seems the moment is fast approaching.

First, let me explain that although I have worked in the broadcast industry for some time, I am no cameraman. I am however, very dedicated and have been trying to sort the best wildlife setup I can afford. I am intending on shooting both land and underwater and therefore some of my choices have been guided by these requirements.

I have a few concerns that I would love some advice on.

Lenses:

My current choice is:

1. Tokina 11-16 f/2.8 - Landscapes and wide for underwater housing.
2. Canon 24-70 f/2.8L II - General cover/underwater use. Not sure on this one.
3. Canon 60mm f/2.8 Macro - Macro and Underwater Macro
4. Sigma 150-600 f/5-6.3 Sport - Lens I am most interested in hearing advice on.

So much info I find is very dated and I would love to hear if there is a better option. In the UK the Sigma is £1200. Happy to invest a little more (£1000 MAX!) if it is really worth it. Perhaps the Canon 100-400 and a 1.4x if needed?


Focus:

I am purchasing the 4.7 Red monitor as it is required for the Nauticam housing I am buying. Do I need to think about focus aids ie. focus wheels? What will/won't work with the sigma.

Rail system 15 or 19mm? Thinking weight vs stability. Is my thinking correct here? Wooden Camera bits unless there is something wildly better.


ND Filters & Matte Box:

Tilta MB-T12 Light Weight Matte Box with Tiffen 4x5.45 ND.

Happy to purchase 3 maybe 4 ND filters. Which ones would be best? There are 3 filter slots on the Tilta matte box.


Tripod:

Very unsure on this area. Max £2000. I was thinking this...

http://cvp.com/index.php?t=product/sachtler_0750


At present I am trying to buy everything from new. I can claim back the VAT which is a big saving and also I just REALLY like clean shiny kit!

I would really appreciate any thoughts. This is a big investment for me, but I don't want it to be wasted because I didn't get the right bits or needed something extra to bring it all together.

Also any thoughts on things I may have missed.

Really appreciate any feedback at all!

Cheers,
Matt

 

[Shawn Richman]

Hey Matt,

Exciting stuff getting your setup together!

We shoot alot of wildlife down in Kenya with our Epic Dragon setup.

We just upgraded our Canon 100-400 I lens with the new II version. I have been very impressed with the improvement and find that the shots are nice and clean even with a 1.4x Canon extender on it. At some point I will get some rail support, but it is small enough to not need them and this is huge when your either on the roof of the Landy or jumping out to get a better shot.

I was looking into the sigma but decided to stay with canon as for the price I felt it was the best option. Really want a 200-400 with the built in 1.4 but definitely beyond our budget.

You also should consider what resolution you will be shooting. As you punch in you get alot closer to the animal in the frame. We are usually living at that 560mm mark but definitely been surprised just how far away you can still get quite a nice shot. If you think you will be alot closer then that to the animal then you might consider other lenses.

Also, the Canon fixed big lenses are super nice like the 400, 500, 600. But if your mainly shooting wildlife then your subject will be erratic and you never know where in the zoom you will be then go for the zoom lenses.

As for the tripod, we have been shooting a 13 episode reality farming show and we are using a couple Sachtler Carbon tripods with a similar head. I don't have the exact model numbers but will look tomorrow on set. We have been really enjoying these and they definitely hold the bigger camera very well. The carbon is lightweight enough to move around as well. Make sure the head can be leveled out on uneven ground, I think that one does but not certain.

For focus, we use the edge detect in the REDs settings and it is awesome to make sure your locked on the animal.

Our other lenses are the Canon 24-105 and the 16-35. I like both of these however don't have much research to compare them to anything. I do know that everyone seems to love the Sigma Art lenses, I am hoping to get one of them in the near future, maybe a new cinema series if I can afford it.

Hope that info helps a little. I am trying to decide if we upgrade to the Epic-W right now so also going through some decisions.

Cheers,
Shawn

 

[Jacek Zakowicz]

Matt I suggest you try our OptiTron2 for drive by wire precise focus control on long lenses. I have testimonies from our customers that swear by the touchless focus that keep long tele lenses steady,,,
http://optitek.org/products/optitron-for-red-scarlet-epic-weapon-cameras/
Plus remote start/stop, punch in for focus, etc....
for your consideration.....;-)