A Discussion On Camera Equipment
Reading time: 5 – 8 minutes
I had a discussion recently with one of the guys whom I was filming with at Ilm Fest 2009 on the subject of camera equipment and building an adequate camera system.
He and others had seen the system that I put together here and were curious as to what I’d recommend for their specific needs.
The specific system that I’ve shown here:
Canon HFS100 + Generic .4x Wide-angle lens + Beachtek DXA-2S + Azden SGM 2X + XLR Extender Cable + Steadicam Merlin
In order to respect my friend and his wish to not use his name, I’ll refer to him as “Mr. Suit” – I’ll cut to the chase of the discussion.
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MR. SUIT:
Have you tried a DIY camera stabilizer before?
BELAL KHAN:
MR. SUIT:
Cool. What was the downside to it? It’s just not as good as a professional one?
BELAL KHAN:
Yea. The performance difference is night and day. Not just in the physics, but when filming people. With the home made stabilizer people felt uncomfortable and even scared when they see you with it, but with the professional it was much easier to have people be at ease.
Tthe pro one is easy to transport and fold up as well. No way I could take the home made stabilizer with me on air planes without raising a few flags. There are other benefits too.
As they say, “You get what you pay for.” So long as you’re resourceful too.
MR. SUIT:
I was actually going to ask how does the look of it make people feel when they see it. None of the DIY look that nice or work that well. There are a few that break down in a few pieces but still not very pretty.
Anyways, so I guess it’s worth investing in a pro one. JazzakAllah khayr!
BELAL KHAN:
Just know the learning curve is steep for the Steadicam Merlin. I’ve gone through the educational material – dvd, website, exercises – numerous times and I still fumble with this thing, and I’ve had it for over a year.
MR. SUIT:
What’s the most difficult aspect of it?
BELAL KHAN:
Doing the math and adjustments to get it to balance right. After that simply practicing with the Merlin so you can get it to move correctly.
MR. SUIT:
Did you ever look into the GlideCam vs the Merlin? I know how compact and nice the Merlin is but just wondering what benefits you may have seen with this over the GlideCam set ups?
BELAL KHAN:
I don’t think the semi-pro GlideCam had been out at the time I bought the Steadicam Merlin.
MR. SUIT:
Gotcha. I might check it out. A lot of reviews said it was easier to learn than the Merlin. Manfrotto came out with one too (3 in 1 haha) for $99.
The Beachtek DXA 2S, Is this the model Beachtek that you use? Just wondering if that’s sufficient.
BELAL KHAN:
Yea, it’s perfect for our type of consumer cameras. All it does is allow for XLR audio inputs and levels control on the surface, which is great.
The only downside is how it blocks the memory card bay on the Canon HFS100, which may be solved by a makeshift spacer to place between the camera and audio adapter.
MR. SUIT:
What about the BeachTek Mix-2 model?
BELAL KHAN:
I Haven’t looked into that specific model, but from what I understand of the 2-port XLR adapters from Beachtek is that they’re all the same.
They’re shaped a lil different to fit the different form factors of different size cameras.
MR. SUIT:
How did you mount the mic to the side? does the sled on the merlin accommodate that?
BELAL KHAN:
That’s something I jimmy rigged myself with some crazy glue and tape.
You can find out more about that here: http://www.leechon.com/final-thouhts-fs100-546.htm
MR. SUIT:
Nice! I got a cold shoe universal adapter that I’ll prob use for the Canon HFS100.
I know you got the non-canon brand wide angle lens. How wide is it? I found a Canon 0.7x for $163 and a generic 0.5x for $149 – but i’ve heard this may cause barrel distortion.
What’s good in your opinion?
BELAL KHAN:
The wide angle that I got is a .4x – but there is slight barrel distortion – I like it.
I bought it for $300 because it was a last min purchase. Needed it for Ilm Fest 2009 filming and was running out of time. I’d recommend getting it off of eBay for cheaper.
MR. SUIT:
JazzakAllah khayr!
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SOME ADVICE BEFORE YOU PLOP DOWN YOUR CASH
A Steadicam Merlin goes for about $800 via Amazon.com. I bought mine a little over a year ago and it was definitely worth the purchase for me.
Purchase this ONLY if it’ll prove to be an asset to you. Meaning it’ll help secure better jobs/contracts for what you’re doing.
No sense spending money on equipment if it wont pay for itself quickly – relatively speaking.
Category: Public
MashAllah great stuff. I was looking into all of this a couple of weeks ago- awesome resource!
Ya good stuff mashaAllah, I’ll be referring back to it when I’m checking these things out inshaAllah