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Purchase advice for setting up a channel

Hello all,

I am planning to purchase equipment for setting up a channel about food and household stuff, and would need help finalizing the list. The filming will mostly be done indoor, although I may need to move the equipment to one room or another from time to time depend on need.

I have some knowledge in still photography, but a complete noob in filming.

 

I need:
a. Good video quality, 4k would be nice (output to 1080p).
b. Need line-in and mic-in on the camera. To record nice audio? (Complete noob sorry)
c. Lighting equipment? Wireless mic? Condenser? What would I need also?

1. Choice of body - which one should I get?
a. Sony FS700 (The Linus trusty camera - can upgrade to 4k)
b. Sony A7 ii (Yes there is the 30 minutes limit, but the FF sensor is a real deal. I am a bit confused about connecting 3rd party mic to this - is that possible? Hope to use Sennheiser or Beyerdynamic!)
c. Blackmagic URSA mini 4.6k EF mount
d. Blackmagic Cinema Camera 4k EF mount

 

What if I can get two? Please advise.

2. Lens - please pick the zoom for me!
If Sony E-mount, I think I will be getting the 55mm/1.8 Sonnar and a zoom,

a. Vario-Tessar T* FE 24-70mm F4 

b. SELP28135G FE PZ 28-135mm F4 G

c. SEL24240 FE 24-240mm F3.5-6.3

 

If EF mount, I think I will be getting the 50mm/1.8 and a zoom,

a. 24-105mm f4.0L

b. 24-70mm f/4L

c. 24-70mm f2.8L (Is that one stop / quality improvement really worth the price tag?)

 

Please tell me if there are other great choice,

 

I think getting autofocus lenses will be most convenient, but I cannot help wondering if the old cinema lens will be good for fixed distance shot? Like the Arri Standard Mount lenses.

 

3. Other equipment

Aside from some studio lighting equipment, I really need to know what kind of audio recording device would I need.

I could only think of a wireless mic, or probably a condenser; please tell me what I need to get.

 

If there are resources you would recommend me to read please tell me too. Thanks!

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That's quite a bit of money you're investing into a start-up channel. 

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Forget about 4K for now. Do a decent 1080p @ 60 FPS. Don't spend a lot of money on this to begin with, it could not work out (I'm not saying it won't) and you're left with a bunch of kit that you can only sell.

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Thanks mate. The purchase is made with some joint interest party that... I get to use them but no need to pay the bill. They will be using it to film other indoor stuff.

 

So I just need to make a reasonable list and they would pay for it.

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SNIP

 

If you go with the A7s you need an external recorder to shoot 4k, and this will bypass the 30 minute limit anyway - yes you can connect a 3rd party mic to its mic-in port, or sony do an XLR accessory shoe - dont forget you can adapt any lenses to this, canon, nikon, sony A mount, leica M mount, voightlander etc etc - so not restricted to expensive limited and slow FE lenses

 

or get a proper audio recorder like a tascam DR60 or something!!! audio is MORE important than video

 

Honestly all of those cameras will do a great job, maybe its worth renting them to see what they are like to use in real life, dont buy off a spec sheet

 

Also F2.8 is 100% worth it over f4 especially if you are shooting indoors or in low light

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If you go with the A7s you need an external recorder to shoot 4k, and this will bypass the 30 minute limit anyway - yes you can connect a 3rd party mic to its mic-in port, or sony do an XLR accessory shoe - dont forget you can adapt any lenses to this, canon, nikon, sony A mount, leica M mount, voightlander etc etc - so not restricted to expensive limited and slow FE lenses

 

 

Hi Captain,

 

Your comment on external recorder is very interesting, I am really noob on this and would like to know how this could be done on the Sony A7s - as I see others are using SDI connection.

 

Thanks!!!

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Hi Captain,

 

Your comment on external recorder is very interesting, I am really noob on this and would like to know how this could be done on the Sony A7s - as I see others are using SDI connection.

 

Thanks!!!

 

Clean HDMI out, the A7s does NOT record 4k internally, its only 1080p, you need an Atomos Shogun or similar to record 4k externally

 

I currently shoot video with an A7 and have been using a Atomos Ninja Blade 2 to record Prores HQ from my A7

 

(lots of cameras can do this, and there are tons of external video capture solutions)

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Clean HDMI out, the A7s does NOT record 4k internally, its only 1080p, you need an Atomos Shogun or similar to record 4k externally

 

I currently shoot video with an A7 and have been using a Atomos Ninja Blade 2 to record Prores HQ from my A7

 

(lots of cameras can do this, and there are tons of external video capture solutions)

 

In fact only now I know the true use of external recorder...

 

I have an old Olympus EP3 and the Leica G 25mm, I wonder if this could play with any external recording solution?

 

If so that would be fun to experiment with.

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In fact only now I know the true use of external recorder... in fact I have an old Olympus EP3 and the Leica G 25mm, I wonder if this could play with any external recording solution?

 

If so that would be fun to experiment with.

 

I don't believe the EP3 has clean HDMI recording so I dont think it will work

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I don't believe the EP3 has clean HDMI recording so I dont think it will work

 

Now I get it, thanks for the terms.

 

http://blog.planet5d.com/2015/01/its-the-port-stupid-brilliant-atomos-shogunsony-a7s-combo-marred-by-micro-hdmi/

 

So from this link, I see that the A7s is capable to output 4k to external recorder - and A7ii can't do that (greedy me!).

 

Seems I need to grab A7s for video and A7ii for photo or some simple B-roll. Am I understanding it correctly?

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Now I get it, thanks for the terms.

 

http://blog.planet5d.com/2015/01/its-the-port-stupid-brilliant-atomos-shogunsony-a7s-combo-marred-by-micro-hdmi/

 

So from this link, I see that the A7s is capable to output 4k to external recorder - and A7ii can't do that (greedy me!).

 

Seems I need to grab A7s for video and A7ii for photo or some simple B-roll. Am I understanding it correctly?

 

 

Correct the A7s can output 4k to an external recorder, the A7ii only records 1080p (uses line skipping and suffers from aliasing and moire more than the A7s which has a full sensor read out)

 

The A7s is still a cable photo shooter, just only at like 12mp (see Philip Bloom - actually his A7s review is fantastic) could also just pick up a cheap A7 body only its an impressive still camera  and its capable of decent video (i filmed a review using one as its my current main gamera)

 

 

There are lots of other camreas for video, a C100 for example or GH4 or URSA 4k etc , it really depends what you are looking for, if it needs to be portable, shooting in low light, available daylight or a lit studio , what lens options are 

 

etc etc etc welcome to my brain haha

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etc etc etc welcome to my brain haha

 

Hello Captain,

 

Regardless of the video set up, I am going to get a A 7 ii for myself because it is so awesome, and maybe I can use it for B-roll too!

 

Think about getting the 55/1.8 and 16-35/4, would you think they are okay?

 

Or are there any other awesome lens you would recommend?

 

Thanks!

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Hello Captain,

 

Regardless of the video set up, I am going to get a A 7 ii for myself because it is so awesome, and maybe I can use it for B-roll too!

 

Think about getting the 55/1.8 and 16-35/4, would you think they are okay?

 

Or are there any other awesome lens you would recommend?

 

Thanks!

 

A72 is a great all purpose FF camera, and still takes good video too!

 

The 55 f1.8 is good, so is the 35 f2.8 or the 28 f2.0 (cheap too) 

 

My main lens is a tamron 24-70 f2.8 using the LEA4 A mount adapter

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Assuming you have the budget for it, I say go with a true cinema grade camera (FS700, C100m2, URSA Mini). These cameras will save you a lot of time in pure ergonomics. 

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First of all good luck on your channel. Second I have to make sure you've thought this through. 

 

You're investing a lot of money on this and it seems like you have little to no experience in videography. Before thinking about camera body + lenses have you thought of the effort and support equipment needed? 

 

Scripting and shot planning takes hours, shooting takes hours, editing / rendering takes hours, community interaction takes a lot of effort. For regular content a set is needed, filming by yourself is hard and working as a team is even worse, what's your editing workflow like.  

 

You said you're a photographer. Punch the camera you have into video mode and make 2-3 video to see what you need. You can start with the basics like a lav for on camera talent and a good continuous lighting set up. Start slow and then ramp it up, you have to develop your own style and workflow. Get the gear you need when you actually know you need it, not the gear you 'think' you're going to need. 

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get a sony a7s. you wont get the in camera stabilization like you do with the new one, but the a7s can do 4k with an external recorder which the a7 II cant. Also, your looking at quite a huge difference in price between the fs700 and the other cameras. i wouldent get an fs700 to start with as it is quite big and bulky and probably wont add much benefit when compared to the a7s for a starting youtube channel

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