After owning BMPCC 4k for 2 years and then ZCAM E2 S6 for another 2 years and then finally buying a used RED Komodo OG last year, I don't think I can financially justify any more upgrades. With the constantly decreasing budgets and increasing competition in commercial video production, anything more expensive will be close to impossible to break even for me as a DP/owner-op in my market. Komodo X is extremely tempting because of 6k80p and 4k120p that many directors/producers want, but will require twice the amount of $$$ with the media and battery breakout, while not really increasing my kit fee, so it's really hard to justify for me. The last thing I'm willing to spend money on this year is the DJI RS3 Pro successor, since a good gimbal is always handy on under budgeted productions, but that's it.
Yeah man it’s aweOme to geek on these amazing new cameras etc but we at the end of the day are spending the dollars and we need to make sure we’re not spreading our selves thin for what other people want and won’t pay for.
I dumped so much gear over the last two years and its been for the better. My biggest switch was dumping my RF primes and working primarily with the 24-70 when I came to accept the social and commercial projects I'm working on don't notice or require the technical difference. Now I don't spend time worrying about lenses, save weight and space, and pack more complimentary lighting which has been a way better bump in the quality of my work. The folks I'm working with understand adding and adjusting light and can see the immediate difference but don't always visualize how more DOF or compression plays out in the edit.
Good video! I've been asking myself "do I really need this?" more often this year and so many times it turned out I didn't and I was able to do my work without that new piece of gear. Something else I've been doing is checking local rentals if they have it and checking how many times it gets rented out.
That’s why I truly believe filmmakers should invest in business classes. I had the option to get an arri amira but I went to university. Major was EMF (electronic media and film) and minor was business management. It made a lot of sense, I was able to capitalize on investments, and see trends to avoid bricks or take certain risks because the rewards paid off.
I’m fortunate enough to work for a major television network in Los Angeles. Even a billion dollar company doesn’t buy new gear every year. We’ve been using the same camera for 8 years with amazing images and they are just now upgrading to a new camera and sensor. That’s only because of wear and tear. It amazes me how folks without clientele go out and buy new camera and gear every year based on hype. Rent your gear from rental houses or use the one you have. Focus on story telling, lighting, sound and composition.
I think the #1 thing to think about when purchasing camera gear is how wrapped up in the purchase are your emotions? If you're not shooting with the equipment now, you're not all of a sudden going to get the jobs that require that gear because you have it in hand. Gear always has to be a strictly business decision for me. Personally, I just spent $40,000 buying a new V-Raptor X setup and I financed it, which I've never done; I bought my C300 mark iii and C500 mark ii outright, never financed gear, ever. But I looked at how much I spent renting the regular V raptor last year and I spent $13000 renting the V raptor in 2023: My loan payments on my new Raptor are going to be $6700. On top of that, I've got more jobs lined up between now and May than I shot all last year that paid the kit fee for my rentals. These are signed contracts in hand already that already paid for the rental fee of the V raptor. That's how you make the math make sense and justify these purchases, the scales need to be tipped so far on the conservative side of spending that it doesn't make sense NOT to buy. I STILL didn't want to spend the money and wanted to just keep renting because it's 100% a non emotional decision, it's just business and I like not having debt. But the better business move is to spend $6700 on my camera this year than $13000. So I spent the money. People get in trouble when they irrationally justify buying something and don't have the work to support the decision
Hey appreciate the feedback. Totally agree and thats one of the biggest things to consider is not making emotional gear lust decisions but making decisions that are appropriate for your line of work, client basis and making calculated investments. Not a plead to NOT buy gear or TO buy gear just a message to wisely consider all the variables.
@@SeanFBoydfor sure. The human ability to irrationally justify bad decisions because they lack objectivity is pretty crazy. Knowing ourselves well enough to pump the brakes when we’re using emotions to rationalize our decisions is a a skill… one that I unfortunately learned through a lot of failure 😂 Great video, by the way, man! Got a good conversation going 🤘🏼
You need a good camera, not new. Not fancy. HD is all you need. Don't buy more. Buy software. Be able to upscale, record externally, and edit. Get a 32 bit float audio recorder. Not new, used. Get three GOOD light stands. Get three COMPACT light stands. Get a old led or led bulb kit for the big stands. Get small on camera LED's for the compact ones. Get a sony xlr lav. Trust me. Get a sennheiser md46. then get a shotgun mic LAST. Get a boom pole, used. Get a timecode box for syncing audio before you ever get wireless. Most IMPORTANT. Get CAMERA SUPPORT. Your health is NUMBER ONE. You need a tripod like the schatler flow tech. Not want. You NEED THAT. Theres a pinta peak version for 500 bucks. Your back will thank you. Use a monopod when handheld, or a shoulder harness when on a shoulder. Then after all of that. Then you can get a 45k camera. You spend more than 1,000 on a camera.... Thats sad. this gear needs to last you years.
Great points made Sean, seriously people think a huge camera will change their careers, but often it doesn't change anything. It comes down to connections, your network, sales, and business. And cameras tend to depreciate like crazy.
After owning BMPCC 4k for 2 years and then ZCAM E2 S6 for another 2 years and then finally buying a used RED Komodo OG last year, I don't think I can financially justify any more upgrades.
With the constantly decreasing budgets and increasing competition in commercial video production, anything more expensive will be close to impossible to break even for me as a DP/owner-op in my market.
Komodo X is extremely tempting because of 6k80p and 4k120p that many directors/producers want, but will require twice the amount of $$$ with the media and battery breakout, while not really increasing my kit fee, so it's really hard to justify for me.
The last thing I'm willing to spend money on this year is the DJI RS3 Pro successor, since a good gimbal is always handy on under budgeted productions, but that's it.
Yeah man it’s aweOme to geek on these amazing new cameras etc but we at the end of the day are spending the dollars and we need to make sure we’re not spreading our selves thin for what other people want and won’t pay for.
I dumped so much gear over the last two years and its been for the better. My biggest switch was dumping my RF primes and working primarily with the 24-70 when I came to accept the social and commercial projects I'm working on don't notice or require the technical difference. Now I don't spend time worrying about lenses, save weight and space, and pack more complimentary lighting which has been a way better bump in the quality of my work. The folks I'm working with understand adding and adjusting light and can see the immediate difference but don't always visualize how more DOF or compression plays out in the edit.
Good video! I've been asking myself "do I really need this?" more often this year and so many times it turned out I didn't and I was able to do my work without that new piece of gear. Something else I've been doing is checking local rentals if they have it and checking how many times it gets rented out.
That’s why I truly believe filmmakers should invest in business classes. I had the option to get an arri amira but I went to university. Major was EMF (electronic media and film) and minor was business management. It made a lot of sense, I was able to capitalize on investments, and see trends to avoid bricks or take certain risks because the rewards paid off.
Absolutely! Thank you for watching and appreciate you sharing your experience
Wise words that might fall on deaf ears.
I’m fortunate enough to work for a major television network in Los Angeles. Even a billion dollar company doesn’t buy new gear every year. We’ve been using the same camera for 8 years with amazing images and they are just now upgrading to a new camera and sensor. That’s only because of wear and tear. It amazes me how folks without clientele go out and buy new camera and gear every year based on hype. Rent your gear from rental houses or use the one you have. Focus on story telling, lighting, sound and composition.
I think the #1 thing to think about when purchasing camera gear is how wrapped up in the purchase are your emotions?
If you're not shooting with the equipment now, you're not all of a sudden going to get the jobs that require that gear because you have it in hand. Gear always has to be a strictly business decision for me.
Personally, I just spent $40,000 buying a new V-Raptor X setup and I financed it, which I've never done; I bought my C300 mark iii and C500 mark ii outright, never financed gear, ever. But I looked at how much I spent renting the regular V raptor last year and I spent $13000 renting the V raptor in 2023: My loan payments on my new Raptor are going to be $6700. On top of that, I've got more jobs lined up between now and May than I shot all last year that paid the kit fee for my rentals. These are signed contracts in hand already that already paid for the rental fee of the V raptor.
That's how you make the math make sense and justify these purchases, the scales need to be tipped so far on the conservative side of spending that it doesn't make sense NOT to buy. I STILL didn't want to spend the money and wanted to just keep renting because it's 100% a non emotional decision, it's just business and I like not having debt. But the better business move is to spend $6700 on my camera this year than $13000. So I spent the money.
People get in trouble when they irrationally justify buying something and don't have the work to support the decision
Hey appreciate the feedback. Totally agree and thats one of the biggest things to consider is not making emotional gear lust decisions but making decisions that are appropriate for your line of work, client basis and making calculated investments. Not a plead to NOT buy gear or TO buy gear just a message to wisely consider all the variables.
@@SeanFBoydfor sure. The human ability to irrationally justify bad decisions because they lack objectivity is pretty crazy.
Knowing ourselves well enough to pump the brakes when we’re using emotions to rationalize our decisions is a a skill… one that I unfortunately learned through a lot of failure 😂
Great video, by the way, man! Got a good conversation going 🤘🏼
You need a good camera, not new. Not fancy. HD is all you need. Don't buy more. Buy software. Be able to upscale, record externally, and edit. Get a 32 bit float audio recorder. Not new, used. Get three GOOD light stands. Get three COMPACT light stands. Get a old led or led bulb kit for the big stands. Get small on camera LED's for the compact ones. Get a sony xlr lav. Trust me. Get a sennheiser md46. then get a shotgun mic LAST. Get a boom pole, used. Get a timecode box for syncing audio before you ever get wireless.
Most IMPORTANT. Get CAMERA SUPPORT. Your health is NUMBER ONE. You need a tripod like the schatler flow tech. Not want. You NEED THAT. Theres a pinta peak version for 500 bucks. Your back will thank you. Use a monopod when handheld, or a shoulder harness when on a shoulder.
Then after all of that. Then you can get a 45k camera. You spend more than 1,000 on a camera.... Thats sad. this gear needs to last you years.
Great points made Sean, seriously people think a huge camera will change their careers, but often it doesn't change anything. It comes down to connections, your network, sales, and business. And cameras tend to depreciate like crazy.
Yep! Exactly man. It’s just something we need to use but is not the whole picture to our success appreciate the waych
Excellent input, thank you for the video!
Highly Agree!
Thanks for watching always
GREAT video, thank you Sean
Keep posting! Fantastic content and advice.
Right? Sean gives the BEST advices! Because he learned first hand 😂
Appreciate it John!
Rent, don’t buy 👍🏻 it’s a depreciating asset
Thanks boob
Or used cheap gear.