Starter kit

Why not sell the Batis 25mm and 85mm lenses, which may yield upwards of $1,800, buy a used Tamron 28-200 for under $600, and save yourself $1,200?

If your initial goal is to shoot video of events, the versatility of the Tamron 28-200 is to be preferred.  Success or happiness with your results will hinge mainly on time and energies dedicated to getting appointments, plus growth in skills at composition, editing, and the quality of audio and story.  A vast and expensive lens kit won't matter at all.

All the other prime, fast, or long zoom lenses you mention involve redundancy and would not be relevant to live events, where a solo videographer cannot call "time out" to swap lenses.  Besides, they would represent several additional thousands of dollars sunk into unlikely hypotheticals for something to be, in your words, on the side.

Hey John,

The second hand market around me is not looking good. Batis 25 is under 500, and the 85 is under 700.

I do agree that the Tamron should cover a lot of bases. Yet I do wish to build up my portfolio a bit as well. I accidentally purchased the Sigma 40 at a pretty good price and would be using it to make some video in the mean time.

Cheers.

The Sony E PZ 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 has a servo for powered zooms, if that feature is important to you.

Skip the super telephoto, and rent one if a project requires it.

Do you already have a tripod with a fluid head, microphones, and a lighting kit?

Andrew S10 wrote:

The Sony E PZ 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 has a servo for powered zooms, if that feature is important to you.

Skip the super telephoto, and rent one if a project requires it.

Do you already have a tripod with a fluid head, microphones, and a lighting kit?

Hello Andrew,

Interesting lens, I will be looking into it. I agree that the super tele is not a frequently used item.

I have a couple "shabby" tripod like the classic Manfrotto 502 head on an obscure Ricoh leg that would be perfect for stationary setup, and a surprisingly good Sirui entry leg. However said I do plan to grab a Aktiv 8/Flowtech 75.

I have some LDC and SDC but they are mostly for indoor use. Would be grabbing a NTG3 or maybe a Deity S-mic 2, with either a Zoom F3 first or just jump straight into a MixPre-6 or 10. Personally I have a Tascam DR10L, and still looking into wireless. If DJI fix the static issue, then their wireless set would be perfect.

For lighting kit I am dumbfounded. Right now it seems that the Aputure/Amaran 60x/100x/200x is where I am looking at. However I am also interested in LED mat F22x and the T4c. Also what kind of diffuser or dome to go with. Would be grateful if you could shed some light in this. Thanks.

Off The Mark wrote:

What, exactly, do you plan on shooting video of???

"Event" is a vague term. Weddings? Parties? Sports? Poetry slams? Funerals?

And as Andrew asked (and I will repeat), do you have lights and audio gear? You will probably need to own them if you are doing smaller jobs and they aren't hiring a gaffer.

Also, is well controlled focus breathing important to you? If so, you will need to stick to select Sony lenses if you want to use the automatic focus breathing control function.

Hello Mark,

I mostly shoot "corporate event" at work, stuff like seminar, announcement, live broadcast (with Atem/mini), and "talking head" at times. I haven't shoot any wedding/party/funeral and would love to volunteer for experience and connection.

Indeed I mostly work alone, with questionable mics and lights which I often subsidize some of my personal kit.

Focus breathing is a headache. It's either the "cheap" Sony lenses or going way up to the best of the cine lenses. Old mate now working in a small studio and they do everything with 12-24/24-70/70-200 Sony GMs + FX3/FX6. So that is definitely doable (will they even be upgrading that to the FX3 and A1?).

But considering the cost and actual usage, I think the 3rd party lenses are still the way to go atm. From what I expect, quite a number of shots could be compensated in post, if not using some tricks to make them not obvious in the first place.

AZMario wrote:

I do corporate "events" typically panel discussions, interviews, announcements (usually talking heads talking to them troops. Sometimes live streamed sometimes not. I've worked in some awesome venues and some crap venues.

My kit includes 3 cameras, 1 tripod with a fluid head and 2 tripods that are typically locked down and just need to be stable. I own 6 channels of wireless audio and rent if i need more. 4 channels of a/c powered and 2 channels of battery operated for walk and talks. I use my own sound board wherever i can. I own a pair of powered speakers for venues that don't have sound reinforcement.

I have a set of apurture 120d's. Haven't needed anything bigger yet. I also have lithium ion based power generators so if the power is noisy all audio runs on the batteries.

I also have backdrops to hide what are sometimes really ugly walls.

I rarely have to go wide. A 24-70 and 70-200 would cover pretty much all the work I've done in the past 8 years.

And then there are backups for every piece of equipment.

Hey Mario,

Very awesome. I wonder what wireless audio you use? At work I have a pair of Sennheiser G3 then 4 Sony. Still gotta say there are interference at random. I only got a Zoom F8 and wonder what is your own board?

Aputure is love, Aputure is live.

They never really fix the lav on G4, as that was with G3. I use mine for around a year and some and the crazy statics appeared. Turns out it was the connector - soldered a new one and it was good as new, or even better. Shame to Sennheiser. But having used Sony, I would say I would still purchase a Sennheiser for myself if it comes to that.

Sometimes I got to get the audio from the panel at the venue, and sometimes not. Whatever that works. Good to know about the Shure a/c wireless.

Zoom definitely works, ever less noise than Tascam. The reason why I would like to go Sound Devices is that there are still some weird problem here and there, for example random noise in the monitor which may or may not show up in the recording.

Cheers.

What are the polar patterns of your SDC mics?

I've read some good things about the Synco Mic-D2, but you're probably better off getting a used NTG3 for around $300.

I'd be pretty hesitant to use a wireless mic kit with built-in batteries, it might be fine for YouTubers, but not for production work.

I have a Sennheiser AVX, and absolutely love it. The 19ms latency is annoying, and I wish they offered a higher capacity receiver Li-ion battery, but I consider it the best option for a one-man-band shoot.

Kit lavs are generally mediocre, and good ones start around $350, but I've read good things about Oscar SoundTech lavs, and will give them a try in the future.

Don't bother with a deep parabolic softbox, just get 3' or 4' octagon softbox; see this DVXUser thread.

COB LEDs with a flimsy single knob yoke are fine for YouTubers, but not for production work. Look for lights with aluminum construction and dual knob yoke.

All my SDC should be cardoiod. The cheap Lewitt 040/140, and 3U Audio 127s (pretty obscure, but good stuff). Testing side by side with Sennheiser MKE 600 indoor, the Lewitt is just another way of good, and the 3U 127s won hands down. I remember reading somewhere that Synco Mic-D2 has some hidden issue that few youtube talked about. Let me check.

I actually thought of daisy-chaining some Zoom F2 with the DJI mics. Granted, it could be a bit cumbersome, but that's probably the best jerryrig without grabbing some really expensive pro stuff.

I have read about the AVX indeed. Interesting equipment. I do have a Sony shotgun butt at work, but if I really have to bet, maybe I will grab the Sennheiser G4 butt now.

Good tip with the softbox. Will most probably grab Amaran P60c/COB60x/100x/200x with regular Aputure modifiers.

Hi Mark.

For the UUWA, I incline towards the 14 because it has decent correction and with active stable and breathing compensation on together it should be around 16. Another choice I have in mind would be either the Sony PZ 12-24 f4, or the Sigma 14-24.

What lens you use for interior? Cheers.