I would like to pass along some information on my tripod systems of choice for my 2/3” XDCAM PMW-350 camera. First off I need a tripod that is very stiff and as light as possible.  There are times when I have to walk miles with my gear to get the shot.  So lightweight is very important.  And of course stiffness and stability is also very important so yes I want everything.  Well I came close. The PMW-350 is a light camera with stock lens and battery it weights 14.8lbs.  Loaded with my studio gear comes it comes in at a…

Convergent Design Nano w/camera mounting options Wow, am I happy with my PMW-350 camera.  A large part of that is the ability to use my Convergent Design Nano to up the recording bit rate and color spacing.  Without the Nano I would not own this camera I would have purchased the F800. The Nano is a small Compact Flash card recorder (4 7/8” x 3 ¾” x 1 3/8”) and light 0.85 pounds.  But packs a punch when it comes to delivering exactly what CD states, and the results I have found over the last 5 months more then prove…

Sony EX350 First Impressions I received my Sony XDCAM PMW-350 2/3” HD Broadcast camera last week Dec 23 2009. It turned out to be an early Christmas gift for my company since I was expecting the camera mid Jan 2010. Sony has two 350 cameras so from this point forward I will call this camera the EX350. It is the big brother to the EX1, EX1R (new), EX3, which are all great. I have been using the EX1 in my business for two years with excellent results. I pre-ordered my EX350 after it was announced by Sony in October. The…

HELMET CAMERAS POV (point of view) cameras are great to grab certain shots in hard to reach or dangerous shots.  I have been using them for years. When I first started using POV it was from www.helmetcamera.com back when I had a tape DV camera hooked up to their very tough little lens.   This was used mostly for windsurfing videos.  The lens was mounted on the visor of a hat and the waterproof box was in a camel back pack.  Lots of batteries back then and a lot of cumbersome weight. Here is a clip from that setup. The next…

Here is a short Promo for the local helicopter company I spend many days through out the year flying and shooting with over the last 6 years.  This was one of the first jobs where I used the Convergent Design Nano Flash Recorder.  This is a wonderful piece of kit.  I will do a review of the Nano over the holidays. Bird’s Eye View Promo

Posted in Tech Talk 14 Dec 2008 My point with this Tech Talk is to show the advantage of using gyro system while shooting from a helicopter.  The system can also be used in cars, planes, on boats, and a lot of other applications.  But for now I am going to stick with shooting out the side door of helicopters.  I have used the system in three different helicopters for the last 6 years a R44, Hughes 500, and EC120 Euro copter.  The system worked great in all machines.  I will also give a video example of shooting in a…

This shows an R44 helicopter doing a practice autorotation. What is a autorotation?  If you loose power in a helicopter a autorotation is when the machine glides to the ground without power to the blades. I am not a helicopter pilot yet.  I am a professional videographer who has shot for a lot of years from helicopters as part of my job.  This was a practice autorotation in a very controlled environment over our normal airport.  So yes helicopters can fly without power as long as you still have blades rotating, altitude, and a skilled pilot. Here is the clip…

The wait is over, southern New England now has their own fishing show. Last winter we were hired to shoot aerial footage for a new show from Discovery call “Lobstermen”.   So along with my pilot Jeff Codman (Bird’s Eye View Helicopters) we shot all of the aerial footage for the show. Shot in the winter December through February we were very pleased that our gear worked flawlessly in the cold conditions.  While shooting out of the helicopter I take up one of the back seats and the gyro system with my camera/gear is in the seat next to me…