Upcoming Photo/Video Trip

sanj

sanj

Jan 22, 2012
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1,383
#1
Friends.

I have been hired by a company in Africa to make promotional films and take promotional photos for their lodges.

They have asked me to cover four lodges over a period of two weeks.

I am very excited and very nervous at the same time. There are so many choices to be made! I am going to list things that are going through my mind here and earnestly request you to please correct me and advise me on anything that will help me with this project.

I am breaking up the equipment and questions in different posts for clarity and will keep updating it based on your thoughts.

I am thanking you all for your help in advance.
 
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#2
Cameras:

R5 (2) Bodies with 3 batteries, two chargers.
R3 – with one battery and charger. (I do not own this; a rental company will lend it to me.)
Sony A1 with battery grip, one charger.
Go Pro 9
Drone Mavic 3
 
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#3
Lenses:

Canon Lenses:
RF 15-35 [Landscapes, Lodge interiors]
RF 100-500 [Fixed on Video camera A]
RF 100-400 [Fixed on Video camera B]
RF 70-200 2.8 [Wildlife, portraits]
RF 35mm macro (For food/drinks and personal photos after work.)
RF 50 (For interviews)
EF 100-400 II (I do not own this; a rental company will lend it to me.)
EF 100 macro (Food + Side camera on interviews. I do not own this; a rental company will lend it to me.)
RF 800mm (Standby lens for very distant objects)
Sony Lenses:
Sony FE 12-24mm 2.8
Sony 200-600mm 5.6-6.3
Sony 400 FE 2.8

Venus Optics 24 mm Probe lens (I do not own this; a rental company will lend it to me.)

Filters:
Set of ND filters for the 50mm
 
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#4
Still Photography Equipment:
Canon Speedlite 600EX II (2)
One lightweight stand of the flash
One slightly better stand for flash with an umbrella.
Umbrella – Make/model undecided. Am thinking of Elinchrom Deep Umbrella 33” with some diffusion.
Yongnuo: Speedlite Transmitter.
 
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#6
General Plan/Crew:
It will be three of us. (Me, my helper and a person from the company to help.)

I will do the still photography when we are on safari.
I will do the sill photography of lodges, food and people.

The assistant will do drone and video work while on safari.

The company person will be given the second video camera.

Wildlife Still Photography:
R5 with RF 70-200 mm
Sony with the 400 and 200-600 for most of the wildlife stills.

Lodge Stills/Video:
Sony with 12-25 for lodges videos/photos. (12mm is better than the Canon's 15mm.)

Wildlife Video Equipment:
Cam A: Canon R3 4k 120 fps with 100-500
Cam B: Canon R5 4k 120 fps with 100-400
 
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#7
Tripods, Slider, Head
Tripods: Gitzo Tripods (3): I have three tripods. Two are heavy duty which I intend to use for video, the smaller one will be used as a monopod for still photography.
Gimbal: Zhiyun Crane 2
Heads: I have two good Manfrotto heads which I will use for video.
Slider: I have an older Rhino slider I will use for lodge exterior shots, timelapse and lodge interior video.
 
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#8
Storage, Cards:
Sandisk CF 512 (2)
Sandisk CF 256 (1)
Pergear CF 1TB (1) (I saw this on CR two days ago and bought it.)
Lexar 128 gb (2) (This will be used to make simultaneous proxy files while making videos on RF)

HDD:
WD 5tb (4) (I want to duplicate save everything.) Is this enough?!?
 
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#9
I know I will stand exposed to my lack of knowledge here, but I will man up and list things that I need to learn and any knowledge/leads you kind people provide for me to up my skills, I will be grateful. It seems like I am starting from scratch. This list will keep increasing as I keep preparing for the trip:

TO LEARN:
1. Star Trail Photography (while keeping the lodges in the foreground)
2. Night star Videography (while keeping the lodges in the foreground)
3. Off-camera flash techniques.
4. Which umbrella to buy that can fit in my suitcase with a diagonal width of 32"
5. How to quickly change video settings? I want to have video settings available at a) 8k RAW b) 4k log 120 fps and be able to quickly change between them.
6. Which colour space BT.709 or Bt.2020 or Cinema Gamut be the best? (I do not even know what is 'colour space'
7. How to level cameras quickly while filming videos? The HUGE problem with my Gitzo legs is that the only way to level the camera is by raising or lowering legs and not from the head. This is a big big problem when chasing action constantly.
8. Can the Done remain steady enough to do exposure bracketing while shooting stills? The DR on the drone is low and it would be good for me to be able to bracket exposure. I wonder if the unit even allows for this, let alone be steady enough..
9. I need to properly learn masking for me to be able to make my landscapes look better. (Exposure Bracketing.)
10. Learn the Sony for still photography. UGGGG
11. Have I made the wise decision to shoot video on R3 and not R5? My reasoning is: High MP on stills (R5) may prove helpful and the 4k 120fps may be better on R3.
12. Is it ok to shoot the Sony 12-24 at f8 without worrying about diffraction?
13. Will I get video jitter if I speed up 120fps to 25fps in post? I know that slowing down 25fps to 120fps is not the best idea.
 
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#10
Things to perhaps reduce:
1. Canon RF 15-35 mm. ---> The sony wide zoom should work better.
2. Canon EF 100-400 mm ----> This range is (better) covered in the Sony 200-600. I checked TDP and they both have comparable IQ. Both are heavy lenses and one must be reduced.
3. Canon R5 plus 2 batteries/charger. I think one R5, one R3 and the Sony A1 is enough. Three cameras are enough.
 
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#11
BLOGGING:
I am not super articulate, nor do I have any special knowledge to share. But I can share my experiences of the trip which may be useful to some. I will use my iPhone for that in the field and R5 when back at the lodge. If you have any suggestions, for this, please educate me. I am nervous about it. :)
 
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#12
The Sony Story:
I was at my friend's rental house and Sony India's marketing head dropped by. He heard me talking about the Africa trip. He said he will give me the above-listed stuff for me to 'try out'. How could I refuse? :) I know I will have to learn a new camera, but they will give it two days before my departure...
 
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#15
sanj said:
Still Photography Plan:
I am thinking of using R5 with EF 100-400 and 800 for stills and
Click to expand...
I'd take a RF 100-500mm and an RF 2x. At 1000mm, it outresolves the 800/11, allows some zooming out to 600mm, takes up far less space and weighs less. That's my experience with my lenses.
 
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#17
AlanF said:
I'd take a RF 100-500mm and an RF 2x. At 1000mm, it outresolves the 800/11, allows some zooming out to 600mm, takes up far less space and weighs less. That's my experience with my lenses.
Click to expand...
Contemplation over. I am selling the 800 and buying a 1.5x teleconverter. 700mm is good enough for me! Thank you AlanF. I hope the focusing speed of 1.5x matches the 800mm!!!
 
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#18
sanj said:
Contemplation over. I am selling the 800 and buying a 1.5x teleconverter. 700mm is good enough for me! Thank you AlanF. I hope the focusing speed of 1.5x matches the 800mm!!!
Click to expand...
The RF 1.4x on the 100-500mm focusses very fast, and the AF area in the EVF is much larger than for the 800 f/11. It's also more shower proof. Glad to be of help.
 
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