Rig Out Your Camera!

Even to those who prefer shooting with DSLRs or mirrorless, I’d still recommend rigging your camera out – I mean, get yourself a cage and a monitor, not a hunking 7″ one, but a 5″ screen. You’ll be able to compose better, the color and contrast will be much more accurate than the lousy 3″ LCD on your camera, you can throw in a LUT so you can preview how your work will look in post, the audio level meter will be a whole lot more usable than the toy one provided in your camera, and it’ll allow you to monitor audio. That’s right – if you’re not monitoring your audio, you’re just leaving everything up to chance. If you’re not convinced, just have a look at any one of Chris Cory’s short films and tell me that audio isn’t important! If you’re struggling with focus like I was with my Panasonic, well, with the BMD Video Assist, the focus peaking lights up like a Christmas tree, even when for the life of me, I can’t see any peaking on the G85. And while I’m not yet at the point where I don’t need any exposure aids like Andrew Reid, it’s a whole lot easier gauging exposure with a larger screen. In addition to these benefits, you have peace of mind knowing that your media is backed up on a second SD card. Finally, by recording in an edit-ready codec, you’ll save hours transcoding footage on your computer. You say you want discrete? Well, I’ve been able to walk right up to subjects shooting with the Zhiyun Crane without anyone suspecting I was shooting them, and with six pounds of magnesium alloy, plastic, glass and faux fur sitting in my lap, I’ve been able to capture people without them having a clue what I was up to. In fact, if people notice me at all, they’re probably thinking no way am I using such an elaborate setup just to shoot candids out on the street.

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