Some of you may have seen some of my recent YouTube videos that have been promotional pieces for upcoming workshops (For example, the Mike and Misty promo, for a forthcoming Stretch Teacher workshop) or explanation pieces, so background to the work that I do (like the What is stretching, really?).
What I want to discuss today is what equipment I use for this. On the hardware side, I use a NEX 6 body, with either the Sigma 30/2.8 lens, or the Sigma 19/2.8 lens (these have an “EFOV” (equivalent field of view) as 45mm and 28mm lenses, respectively.
I set the camera up on the tiny–mighty Benro MeFoto travel tripod (silly name; great tripod), and then fit the amazing ikan 5″ field monitor (this runs out of the HDMI port on the NEX 6), and the ikan sits in the camera’s hot shoe. It is powered by one of the many small Panasonic batteries I have for the HMC-152s we used for our “real” videos.
And last but very definitely not least, I record ‘second system sound‘, which has been how film has had its sound recorded for the majority of its existence (and this is what the slate or clapper board is for: to sync the sound to the vision). I use a hand clap in vision for this; more on editing below. To record sound, I use either a Roland R-05 or a Sony PCM-M10 recorder. Both are tiny and excellent. This is an image of the setup:
2 Kg video kit, including tripod
The coins are there for scale: this setup is tiny! (The coins are loonies and toonies, the Canadian one and two dollar coins, smaller than our 20¢ coins).
I set the Sony NEX 6 up to auto focus, Manual shutter and aperture, and get the exposure I want via the ISO control. This latter only allows single stop exposure changes, so I refine exposure for the look I want by making 1/3 EV changes to shutter speed, usually. I record in 1080p/24 AVCHD format. I have ordered the Sony remote control which will mean I can lock focus and start recording from where ever I am sitting to make the video and that will make the process even simpler.
After I have finished shooting I ingest the files onto the Macbook Air (and LaCie ‘Rugged’ USB3 HDD) and then convert to Apple priories 422 LT using an excellent program called ClipWrap.
Editing is done in the excellent Final Cut Studio suite. This is where I make any colour or exposure changes, add the typewriter effects at the beginning and the end-title effects at the end, and any titling in between. FCS is overkill for this kind of work but I know the program fairly well now and I am simply disinclined to learn a new software.
When I am travelling, I usually pack the sound recorder in the check-in bag, and carry the NEX 6 with one or two lenses in a very small pack that I take on board with me as hand-carry. The tripod which packs up into an extremely small bag fits in the same carry on bag.
What this all means is that I now have the capacity to do broadcast standard video and sound where ever I am in the world and the entire equipment including the tripod only weighs a couple of kilograms. Compare this to the Panasonic professional video camera I used to own which weighed 9 kg and needed to be packed in a Pelican hardcase—the whole thing weighed over 24 kg. This single case alone made travelling difficult and more expensive than it needed to be—imagine wheeling the 24 kg hardcase and my checked-in bag (with clothes, etc.) at the same time through a busy airport like Miami. This has more than a whiff of dukkha about it!
Setting this tiny kit up the first time did take half an hour, and I still need to calibrate te ikan field monitor, but I am now confident that I can get excellent results and as I become more familiar with the rig it will be very fast to deploy.
I do have a second NEX 6, too, and will write about the elegance of two-camera shoots another time.
Pingback: Revisiting the Sony NEX 6 as a dual function (stills and video) device | kitlaughlin
I/We use “duk” in everyday (Fiji) Hindi to mean suffering (noun); dukka is accident; and interestingly, as a verb, it applies only to a re-injury of a physical abrasion, the re-opening of a wound or scab, say.
Interesting; thanks.
Hey Kit, what settings do you use on the Sony PCM M10 recorder? I purchased one for my religious nonprofit to record audio for lectures and other things; however, I have found that the audio is quite horrible, especially compared to the audio in your Master series.
For example, these audio clips (http://www.qalamproject.com/library/audio/downloads/Tafseer,%20Reminders/) were recorded by placing the Sony PCM M10 about 3.5 feet away from the speaker, rec level set to auto, and rec mode set to LPCM 96kHz/24bit
As you can hear, the audio is pretty bad. Any advice you have would be great.
OK; audio basics. The inverse square law governs the recording of audio: the closer the mic is to the source, the louder the signal (the thing you want to record) is, in relation to the surrounding “noise floor” (the sound of everything that is background to our ears). The recorder can’t filter, as our ears/brain can; we have to organise the best levels. 3.5′ is too far away. This is why levalier mics are used in studio audio recording, or why singers literally have their mouths millimetres away from the mic, while singing at high volume. So: get closer (mount the recorder on a tripod) or get an inexpensive levalier. Put that next to lapel or throat.
Then check the actual recording level; you want it to move but roughly average around the -12dB level (so that louder passages do not exceed the max. recording level; this is called clipping, and sounds dreadful in the digital world). Do not use Auto.
Rec. mode: 44KHz 16bit is CD quality, and you are not mixing or mastering; for voice alone, 192Kb/sec mp3 quality will be excellent. HTH.
Thank you SO much for your advice. It definitely helped! The quality is much better now and people were grateful for the improvement.
As a follow up, is there any levalier mic you would recommend? We have a two day seminar coming up wherein I will have much more time for setup, so based on your advice, I’d like to get a lav mic to further improve the audio quality for the end product
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Lavalier/ci/8535/N/4291086006?origSearch=lapel%20mics
Even the least expensive one here will improve the audio noticeably. Read the reviews and specs; some are meant for a phone (the Shure); you want one for your Sony, so contact the BH Help desk to make sure.
Any way to use an accessory mic with the NEX 6 to avoid syncing sound? I used to be a film editor and I hate post production! I’ve seen neat little Rodes sitting on top of some mirrorless rigs. I realize I have to do something about sound quality.
There is, but they are not satisfactory solutions: two problems. One is the quality of the Analogue–Digital conversion chips in the camera itself, and the other is that any camera-mounted mic picks up iris and focussing noise from the camera. Off-camera second system sound, recording via decent pre-amps, is the only way to go, I feel.
Thanks-S$%t! I was afraid of that. Does the recorder and camera have to run off the same power source? I remember back to panavision cameras and Nagras-there was some power source deal so once the slate was lined up with the sound, the tracks would STAY in sync.
Now, on the other hand, if I’m willing to accept what I get from the chip and accept some noise as part of the deal, what would be the best way to record sound directly in the NEX 6? Let’s say for a doing simple interviews, and 2 for doing street stuff on the fly?
Laurence, it’s a but of a read, but see here; an article I was asked to write for a photography forum:
http://www.getdpi.com/wp/2014/09/a-brief-introduction-to-video-for-the-stills-photographer/
An on-camera mic will do for “atmos” (atmosphere, for the street stuff) but micing voices has to be close; the article explains why. Second system recorders all have their own power. Any hand clap (assuming the cameras in-camera mics can hear it) will do for a slate (and that can happen after an interview, just as well as before).
Interviews are tricky, so most commonly a lav mic will be used on the interviewee; and a hand-held for you. Or, if you accept the sound compromises, point the hand-held mic at the interviewee when she/he talks, and point it back to you when you talk.
Thanks