Video
A Breakdown of Lighting Options Available for Photo and Video
A month or two ago, I wrote an article about the fundamentals of lighting and discussed core lighting techniques used for both photo and video to better understand artificial light both in a studio or on location. Continuing the trend, I wanted to answer the question that so many people will often…
Cine Lens Comparison: 35mm Full-Frame Primes
Good day! And welcome to our first Cine lens MTF comparison. If you aren’t familiar with what we do here, I suggest you take a glance at our previous post on why we’ve started testing Cine lenses. For those of you who haven’t been here before, let’s be clear about what this is not. It is not a lens…
A Videographer’s Take on Sony’s a99II and the Yet to be Antiquated A-Mount
As a videographer, it’s easy to forget about Sony’s A-Mount. Still, I recognize that I owe a great deal of respect to the previous Minolta line. In its prime, Minolta developed several revolutionary functions that are often taken for granted today. Minolta’s Single Lens Reflex (SLR) technology was…
The Biggest Product Announcements at NAB 2017
Every year the National Association of Broadcast (NAB) holds their conference in Las Vegas, netting over one hundred thousand attendees, and those lucky enough to attend, get an exclusive look into the upcoming gear and tech within the video market for the next year and beyond. In layman’s terms,…
RED Weapon Helium 8K S35 Hands-on or: DSMC2 and You
To be perfectly honest, this article started purely as an excuse for me to play with a carbon fiber 8K RED Weapon. I figured I’d take it out for a weekend, shoot some footage, melt my computer trying to edit it, write a hands-on review, and be done with it. Gradually, though, I realized that a…
What is Color Depth and Why Is It Important for Video?
One of the most common questions I get from video customers is, “What do 10-bit 4:2:2 and 8-bit 4:2:0 actually mean?” The explanation can get pretty technical, so it’s easy to default to the opinion that higher numbers equal better footage. That’s true in a sense, but following that logic leads to…
How to Use Interview Transcripts as an Editing Tool
I was introduced to the benefits of interview transcription a surprisingly long time after I’d started learning about documentary filmmaking. Tired of introductory-level film classes and spending hours discussing editing theory between screenings of Koyaanisqatsi, I decided to take a Journalism 101…
A Look at Sony’s Latest Camera System – The Sony a6300
The Sony a6300 is pretty stunning for what it can do within the limits of an APS-C sized sensor and at such a budget-friendly price. It’s supposed to be replacing Sony’s a6000, and it’s very well built toward both photo and video functionality; the trusty a6000, just upgraded. It’s light, it’s…
6 Things to Consider Before Finalizing Your Rental
Part of my job here at Lensrentals is reviewing and building large video-centric orders before they’re shipped. To understand why this is important, it’s important to first understand a little bit about how our equipment inspection process works. Upon receiving an order back from a rental customer,…
Shooting the Nashville Predators with the New Canon 1DX Mark II
Back in early February, Canon announced the Canon 1DX Mark II, the flagship sports camera, with added 4K video functionality and all of the premium bells and whistles you’d expect to come in Canon’s new top of the line camera system. As you can imagine, since the announcement, we’ve been getting…
Hands On With The Panasonic Varicam LT
Panasonic’s new Varicam LT is basically a lighter-weight, more compact version of their Varicam 35, which has seen relatively wide adoption since its introduction in 2014. Weighing in at 6 pounds (body only) the Panasonic Varicam LT is a capable alternative for applications such as gimbal work or…
Country Of Youth – Making A Documentary in Ethiopia With A Mirrorless Camera
There are times when the smallest decision can make a large impact. I do believe that we have the opportunity to change a life by simply making one small decision. When I’m given the chance to help through photography, I feel it’s my duty to pay it forward. Recently, I partnered with Nadus Films…