The Best Light Stand Bag isn't from Manfrotto or Neewer

You’ve got gear. How do you lug it around? As a one-man operation who often brings five folding light stands, two backdrops, a heavy-duty C-Stand, a crossbar, boom, large reflectors, extension rods, and a tripod… along with two camera bodies, four lenses, and four lights, this question has plagued me. The real solution would be to stop bringing so much stuff and learn to work my surroundings better. But sometimes you have to bring a full studio with you to get the look you want, and the tall stuff—light stands, booms, and sticks—are the most difficult.

I’ve already shared a review of the fantastic F.64 large format bag. This is great for all of my camera and sound equipment. That left my light stands, tripod, and umbrella in a mismatch of bags.

So I started thinking outside the box. Vidography equipment is expensive, and that goes for good quality cases as well. I wanted something big enough to house my 50" C-stand bar, have wheels for rolling, handles for carrying, sturdy enough to hold 70 pounds of odd shaped equipment without ripping, and yet be somewhat compact for storage. The answer came, strangely enough, in the form of a golf bag cover. I chose the CaddyDaddy Constrictor 2 Golf Bag Travel Cover.

Despite its name, it's not so much a cover as a full bag. I can fit my smaller light stand bag (with 4 light stands), plus two additional light stands, my big tripod, two collapsible light boxes, two 6-9 backdrops with cross bar, three umbrellas, a travel bag of equipment doodads is the side pockets, and still have room for a extension cords. Filled, it's huge and heavy, but it has rollers. I only wish it had a shoulder strap... but then again maybe not. It's really heavy. For $85 it does more and costs less than traditional photography bags from Manfrotto, Neewer, and others. I call it George, my dead body. 

Z Cam E2 In-Depth Review Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of our in-depth review of the Z Cam E2.  You can read the first part here!

In our second installment we're looking at Flexibility and Ease of Use.  I define these terms a little differently than most cinematographers.  Flexibility is the ability of the camera to take on different tasks-- it's technical adaptability; ease of use is how easy it is to work with in the field (i.e., does it set up quickly, screen functionality, app, etc.). Flexibility is physics, Ease of Use is workflow.

Flexibility

One of the great things about the E2 is how well it can work with your existing gear.  Being a modular camera, you’ll need a monitor, but an Android or Apple phone does just fine; you can connect via USB C or Wifi.  The batteries are super cheap Sony NPs, and there’s a good chance you already own some.  I had ten lying around.  If you have other NATO rail attachments, those will work for handles and monitor holders. 

But you’ll still need to buy some stuff you if come from the mirrorless world. CFAST cards are darn expensive.  A 128GB card starts around $120, and you use up space quickly with those high Mbps.  You can attach an SSD via the USB-C port. I discovered that the SSD’s I use for my Atamos recorder work well with a $15 case.  Between a 128GB card and 500GB SSD, my memory needs are set for both wireless hand held work and longer tripod setups.  I may buy an external hard drive with automatic backup that can transfer my CFAST cards on the road.  That way I can keep clearing out a single card, rather than have multiple cards.

With all of the quarter inch holes, you don’t need a cage, but you’re going to want one.   The Smallrig cage starts at $90, but it comes with a few quirks.  I love that it hugs the E2 so closely that it barely increases its size.  There are two NATO rails built into either side, keeping the unit small, but they also bring problems.  With the cage attached, it’s almost impossible to open the CFAST slot without a key or thin object.  And tightening NATO rail attachments is a fiddly process because there’s not enough room between the camera and the cage.  But these shortcomings are well worth the reduced size in my opinion.  

The other accessory you don’t need but you’ll want is a speed booster.  I originally bought a Viltrox for my Nikon lenses.  At $85 it was a fifth of the cost of the Metabones, and I’d heard good things about them.  After I bought it, I read a couple of reviews that claimed the Viltrox isn’t quite as sharp.  When mine arrived, I found that it was sharp but not snug; it wiggled on the camera.  So I found a used Metabones adapter for Nikon on Ebay for $150.  But while superior in fit, the Metabones speedbooster is actually inferior in other ways.   You can find a more detailed review/comparison of the Viltrox and Metabones here.

Having shot full frame exclusively for the last few years, the one thing I didn’t realize is that Speed Boosters don’t allow your Micro Four Thirds sensor to capture a full frame image from your lens.  It captures a Super 35 sized image.  While I’ve seen and heard numerous explanations as to why a Micro Four Thirds sensor with a speed booster is just as good as a full-sized sensor, it’s more complicated in real life.  My favorite focal length is 28mm.  It just looks right to me.  With the speed booster I need to use a 20mm lens to get the same angle of view, and these wider lenses often don’t have the same speed, compact form, image quality, and lack of barrel distortion.  And a fast wide lens is often pricier. As a Nikon user, I’ve got a solid option with the 20mm f/2.8, but I miss the “character” that comes with narrower lenses.  A lens shouldn’t just be wide or narrow, it should have a character that supports your visual aesthetics, and wide angle lenses tend to be pretty flat.

Another claim of speed boosters that doesn't hold true in my set-up, is that you get increased speed.  In other words, that your f/2.8 lens will act like an f/1.4.  When I compare the E2 setup to my Sony a7iii with a "dumb" adapter I get more than a stop less light.

Both images were captured using the same lens (the Sony is cropped in post) and settings.  I used the widest and narrowest apertures in order to make sure the adapter settings were consistent.  The only difference is the speed booster and sensor.  What's more, if you use a light meter, the Z Cam under-exposes the image.  Though to my surprise this image is less than 1 stop under.

Z Cam (top) Sony (bottom) exposure set by light meter

The loss of light is a bit of a mixed bag.  The Z Cam's lowest ISO is 500 (currently), and that's pretty high for daylight use; it actually helps that there's less light hitting the sensor.  But if you're shooting in low light, you want every stop you can get.

The E2 has HDMI out for a monitor, USB-C out for SSD or phone monitor, Wifi for phone/tablet monitoring, a mini XLR in, an Ethernet for live broadcast, and a LEMO port for tethering multiple cameras together.  The HDMI 2.0 Type A port outputs up to C4K @60fps 10 bit 4:2:2.  You can build up you camera into a full cinema rig with monitors, support, matte boxes, follow focus, etc.,  or strip it down to just a small battery and wireless phone-monitor to balance on a lightweight gimbal.

I give the camera a flexibility rating of 9/10.

Ease of Use

There are some clear differences from a use standpoint when compared to a mirrorless camera or DSLR.  While this modular camera can be quickly set up, it’s not a run-and-gun unit.  The menu is well laid out, but for gunning purposes, the buttons are too difficult to access, making things like changing your ISO a lengthier process.  You have to re-grip the camera and then slowly click up or down.  This works fine when you’re on set (and with a bigger crew), but as a one-man band with a client waiting, or on the street, or in harsh weather, these adjustments have to be quicker and easier.  And you probably won’t just pull it out of your bag fully assembled and ready to shoot.  Anytime you have to assemble your camera in public, attaching handles and monitor, you attract attention.  This is doubly true with such an unusual looking camera like the E2.  There’s nothing stealth about the Z Cam.  

If you want to speed up your ability to adjust your exposure parameters, the only option I’ve found is a beautiful but very expensive handle from RVLVR.   I bought it because I realized that I really needed a DSLR functionality to be fluid.  With it, the ease of use becomes a lot closer to that of a DSLR (which in my opinion is the high water mark).  I’ll have a separate review on the RVLR soon.

So while the E2 isn’t intrinsically easy to use from a physical standpoint, it’s really designed for “build up” ease of use.  Adding a handle, control grip, and monitor makes the Z Cam much easier to use.

The tiny screen is surprisingly clear, even for someone with my mediocre eyesight.  People say you can’t use it for focusing, and that’s mostly true.  At least, you wouldn’t want to.  But in a pinch, it can work.  My first trip out with the camera I forgot to charge the phone I was using as a monitor, and it died after 20 minutes.  I switched the Z Cam screen to black and white and turned on peaking because a Black and White image with red focus peaking makes it easy to quickly check and adjust your focus.  In this setup, I couldn’t evaluate the aesthetics of the image on the tiny screen, but I could see the framing and what’s in focus easily.  I’ve left it in this setup since then, even when using a real monitor.

So far, I’m very pleased with how the Wifi system works.  There’s generally low latency, though, it is variable.   I was surprised that I saw the biggest lag when in the woods, away from other signals. You can’t connect multiple phones or tablets to wifi, which is a bit of a bummer, but you can use both Wifi and HDMI out so your client can watch on their own screen.  I use a 13 dollar magnetic phone holder for my monitor that’s super convenient.  I can pull the screen off and walk on set to make an adjustment while seeing the change on screen.  It snaps back on in less than a second, and I’m ready to go.  And while it seems like unscrewing a monitor is no big deal, I’m surprised by how often that little act prevents me from doing something. Honestly, I live by these little time savers.

The newest version of the app is great.  You can not only monitor over wifi, but control the camera.  Monitoring includes all of the essential tools like Zebra, false color, wave forms, peaking, and de-squeeze display for anamorphic lens users.

There are some odd quirks that I hope get ironed out in future firmware updates, things like unwieldy file names that can’t be re-named, and the inability to see the file name while recording.

On the whole, I give the E2’s Ease of Use an 8/10.  The loss of two points is really due to the form factor, and this would be true of any brick-brain camera.  I’d rate the Blackmagic 4k about the same, even though it comes with a built-in grip.

Tomorrow: Reliability and Conclusion.

Z Cam E2 In-Depth Review

Z Cam has leapt deep into the cinema camera field with the E2.  In many respects, it’s remarkable that this Micro Four Thirds camera is as polished and ready for prime time as it is… after all, the E1 is its only predecessor.  In this review, I’ll be giving my general impressions of the camera, as well as a comparison with mirrorless and DSLR cameras, since many prospective buyers will be coming from this world.  I’m going to look at some of the questions I couldn’t find answers to before I bought the E2, how it might change your workflow, and some of the quirks you should keep in mind before you buy it.  It’s a camera with a ton of features, so we’re going to divide this review into three posts that will appear daily.

There are four basic areas that I believe a video camera should be evaluated:  image quality, flexibility, ease of use, and dependability.  Let’s dive right in.

Overview

The Z Cam E2 is a budget priced camera that packs a surprising amount of features and capabilities.  It has a MFT sensor with an ASIC chip that’s designed to run cool—an important characteristic in the tiny body of the E2.  The body is indeed very compact, coming in 3.59″ x 3.90″ x 3.50″, and the chip doesn’t need a fan to keep things cool.  It’s a “brick brain” form factor, which means no monitor, no internal battery, and no real place to grip the camera.  All of these need to be built on.  It does come with a 1”x1” preview screen that’s surprisingly useful.  (More on that in a bit.)  The price point is $1999 as of this post.

Form Factor

The camera brain – brick form is something you have to be ready to embrace.  It’s a much different workflow than a mirrorless system or a ENG camera like the FS5.  Unless you’ve got a weird shaped bag to pack it in fully kitted, it’ll take a couple of minutes of setup time.  It’s a pretty quick process, maybe 2 minutes, but that’s a big difference from a mirrorless that is up and running in 5 seconds.  The camera is more challenging to hold while making adjustments; it’s even more difficult to fish it out of your pack without a handle.  And I expect this awkwardness will translate into more scratches on the body.  It has an impressive plethora of ports, though please, Z Cam, make port covers for this thing.  You couldn’t possibly take it out into the desert like this.

The E2 has 4 programmable buttons, and that’s really enough.  You can quickly access the settings you change most frequently.  The menu organization is about average for a camera like this.  In some respects it’s organized more clearly than a DSLR or mirrorless, but there are so many options—some of which are dependent on specific settings— that it’s really a different kind of “lost in the menu” that happens.  For example, proxy files are possible in some resolutions and not others, so if want to have a proxy file you need to adjust the other parameters first.    

People say it, but it bears repeating that the E2 is a dense little brick, weighing in at 1.67 lbs.  It’s surprisingly heavy, and this can affect your gimbal use.  And because it’s not as wide as DSLR, mirrorless, or Blackmagic camera, it makes balancing the tilt angle a challenge.  With the Zhiyune Crane V2, I added a counter weight to make it possible.  A little Velcro makes it easy to take the weight on and off, but it also ads to the overall weight that the gimbal can support.   While I can do most of the basic moves without straining the gimbal motors, I hesitate to push the motors to far.  For smaller gimbal users, this is a definite consideration. 

The E2 can auto-focus native lenses, but, well… all reports so far have been that it’s not useable for continuous focus.  I don’t have any native lenses, so I can’t test for myself.  The short answer is don’t expect to take any selfies.

Image Quality

If you read the user reviews for the E2, people are almost unanimously happy with the build, functionality, and image quality.  There’s always someone who prefers the features or look of another camera, but that’s just people.  And truthfully there are some issues with ZRAW, their proprietary raw format, that I’ll get into, as well as some limitations with the image quality at 240 frames per second.  But if you want an overall assessment, I have to agree the other users. 

Without getting into the specs, I’ll say that it’s both impressive and comforting that the E2 can produce video files that are both higher and lower in bit rate and quality than most cameras, including the Blackmagic 4k. There’s huge amount of flexibility in file types.  You’ve got H.264, H.265, ProRes 422, and ZRAW which Z Cam claims is 12 bit, 4:4:4.  You can drop down to 10 megabytes per second in h.624 if you really want to save space, or push out 300Mbps in ProRes.  It also shoots 160 fps in 4K, and 240 fps in full HD, 10 bit, h.265 format.  There are over 100 fps/codec variations (check them out here) And unlike most cameras, it records audio at every frame rate. 

Out of the box, the 709 colors are quite beautiful.  They’re similar to Nikon DSLRs, which are slightly muted in comparison to Canon, but still true to their original hues and very easy to tweak in post.  Green is a slight exception here—those hues tend to be more saturated. 

Skin tones are exceptional.  By comparison, the colors on the Sony a7 series are a total pain.  I’ve begun to understand that image quality has two major characteristics: color rendition and roll-off.  A beautifully rendered scene can still appear harsh and 2-dimensional if the roll-off in the highlights and shadows is abrupt.  The E2 handles both color and roll-off exceptionally well. The images are sharp, too. You can see the image profiles and dynamic range chart for more info on the E2 setup.

Z Cam also has a 4K Low Noise Resolution option that I’ve yet to explore.  More on that, possibly, later.

ZLOG2 is a solid flat profile that’s easy to grade.   ZRAW is their proprietary raw format.  It’s 10 bit, 4-4-4, with a constant bitrate of 1.2Gps-- which in theory is great.  But Z Cam says it’s tweaked for maximum detail rather than dynamic range, so it’s not great for wide dynamic range scenes with a lot of shadows that need to be pulled up.  You’ll get noise.  This is a bit problematic, because one of the main uses of raw footage is heavy grading.  And being a new file format, none of the software editors can work with the footage. You have to convert it with Z Cam’s software.  This isn’t surprising, and I’m sure it will soon be possible to edit directly in your software as Z Cam develops relationships with Adobe, Davinci Resolve, and Final Cut.  Blackmagic went through the same process with BRAW, after all.  But in general it feels like ZRAW isn’t quite ready for general consumption.  It’s more for a niche use when you’ve got a well balanced scene and you want to get the best quality image.

Frame rates up to 160fps are consistently beautiful.  At 240fps, however, the image quality becomes inconsistent.  The camera is capable of gorgeous footage, but becomes noisy if under exposed, and it can have difficulty with high-detailed scenes.  Some users blame pixel-binning, but I’m not sure what’s going on.  I plan to do more testing.

Being a heavier camera, you experience less micro jitters when going handheld.  Rolling shutter exists, but its better controlled than my Sony a7 cameras and most DSLRs.

I give the image quality of the Z Cam E2 a 9/10, with the loss of a point being for those challenges at 240fps and ZRAW.  This is a bit unfair, because many similar cameras don’t offer either, so 240 is really a perk.

Tomorrow: Flexibility and Ease of Use.

How to Save 14% over Your Amazon.com Prime

If you’re in the photography/videography business, you probably spend a lot of money on gear… too much money.  And there’s a good chance you buy a lot of it on Amazon.com (and if not gear, well, then other stuff there).  And you’re probably an Amazon Prime user-- because who isn't?  This post is for you.

For the past couple of years I’ve been feeling like maybe, just maybe, Amazon Prime isn’t giving me the best deal.  And after some careful investigation, I’ve discovered that I can save about 14% using basically one simple trick: don’t join Amazon Prime.

If you’re skeptical, hear me out.  The first month I let my Prime account lapse, I tracked my spending. I monitored Amazon's Prime price, their non-Prime price, and how long shipping took for the items I bought.  In one month I purchased $565 of goods. On Amazon Prime it would have cost me $639.  That's roughly a 13% savings.  Add another $10/month savings from not paying for Prime and I've gotten a 14% discount on my purchases. I saved $95 in my first month.  Moreover, I didn't pay for shipping on any of the items.

The first item on this list is a pair of Moman LED lights.  Not only were they $14 less on Ebay, if I had bought them on Amazon I would have saved a dollar over their Non-Prime price, but paid $10 for my Prime membership. I did buy items 2 and 4 on Amazon, using their free shipping on purchases over $25 without Prime.  For these items, Amazon had the best deal.

To understand why Amazon Prime generally ends up costing you more, you need to understand Amazon’s business model. 

Obviously, the real goal of Amazon Prime isn’t to give you/me/the-consumer the best deal possible.  It’s to maximize their profit and dominance in the retail environment.  They do this a number of ways—but first let me point out their biggest deception:  they lead customers to believe that they have the lowest prices because they buy in huge quantities and don’t have a brick and mortar store with all the incumbent expenses.  While this is a factor, there are other more important techniques they use to separate you from the best deal. 

Amazon tells you what to buy.  When you search Amazon, you get a list of products that (weirdly) isn’t automatically ordered by price or customer reviews.  The order almost appears random… but of course it’s not.  Amazon knows exactly how far down the page most customers will scroll, so this top portion becomes prime real estate.  In this zone, you’ll find their own branded product (if they have one), and they also sell ranking spots—much like a Google search—to other retailers.  Add in a couple of the actual top selling/reviewed products and you’ve got their first two pages of search results.  If you're an Amazon retailer, you know the deal, but most consumers don't.  Amazon's  criteria for product order guides you to which products they want you to buy, and we—the consumer—pretty much go along with them.  If you want proof that there’s a whole separate eco-system of products on Amazon.com, search laterally, not vertically.  In other words, click on a product, then click on the recommendations/alternatives that are shown on that product page.  Do it again, and you’ll start seeing products that don’t appear in your initial search… unless you scroll six or seven pages in.  These buried products are often cheaper.  For example, I discovered the Moman LED lights, which are a clone of the popular Sokani x21 lamps.

Amazon Prime isn’t the cheapest Amazon Prime.  Another trick up their sleeve is that the Amazon Prime price on the product page isn’t always the cheapest Prime price.  If you consistently review the other buying options, you'll occasionally find another Amazon Prime dealer selling it for cheaper.

Amazon Prime products aren’t always the cheapest to begin with.  Somehow, I got it in my head that Amazon Prime was also the cheapest option.  Okay, Amazon put that thought there.  Remember, they control what products you see. Amazon.com tends to surround its products with more expensive and lower reviewed items.  Cheaper versions of, say, that can opener, exist much lower on the list.  

Amazon.com branded products are cheaper because they're killing off the competition.  If you search for a common tech product, like a USB cable, you often find that Amazon’s product is significantly cheaper than the competition.  Amazon.com's practice is to identify which products are selling best and then contract the manufacturer of the leading company and have them make an identical product.  They can sell these items cheaper because they have all the data, control the list order, and know that they’ll eventually force the competition out of that segment of the market.  And many of their competitors have higher prices because their forced to pay for ranking.

But let’s get back to how you can save 14% on your purchases.  If you don’t have Amazon Prime you’re not forced into the same product list (you’re forced into another one, but it doesn’t appear to be quite as rigorously controlled).  And without the easy convenience of Prime to lull me into sleep-buying, I found that I researched products better.  This not only meant I chose my items more wisely, but that I found cheaper prices.  I tended to do my product research on Amazon, but roughly 2/3rds of my buying elsewhere.  It's not that I buy nothing from them, I just look elsewhere first. It's also important to note that Amazon.com charges tax, now.  Adorama , on the other hand, offers free doesn’t charge tax to out of state buyers and shipping on most items.  B&H Photo will give you the tax amount back if you enroll in their program.  And Ebay only charges tax for purchases where the seller also resides in your state.  In the tech realm, those are three competitors that often have better deals.

So, the process in 5 easy steps:

1. Let my Prime membership expire without renewing
2. Think a week ahead on my purchases
3. Research my item on Amazon, YouTube, DuckDuckGo, and elsewhere
4. Compare the price at B&H, Adorama, Ebay, Newegg, and Google Shopping
5. Buy what's actually cheapest

One of the great things about this approach is that it doesn't rely on discounts, Black Friday, Cyber Monday or any other sale to work.  It an every day discount.

With Prime, what you’re really paying for (other than being brainwashed into buying the products Amazon wants to sell), is 2-day shipping.  Shipping isn't free because you paid $120 upfront.  Some folks would argue that they use way more than $120 worth of shipping in a year, so there is free shipping involved.  But for my purchases above, I never paid for shipping.  And on Prime items, you can get free shipping if your total sale is more than $25.  So the real question is, is it worth a 14% tax to have your item in 2 days?  I’ve found that the answer is usually “no.”  And if I want to feel better about my decision to cancel Prime, I can remember how poorly Amazon.com treats its workers, how many businesses it's bankrupted, and how it steals as much personal information on me and my family as they can.

Tips for Creating Addictive Content

The good fellas at Hurricane Images Inc. have posted a banger post on how to create addictive video content.  If you're part of the small business revolution, or an entrepreneur looking for video marketing strategies, it offers some starter insights into how to reach new clients, build brand equity, and generally get your stuff out there.

The major focus of the article is how to create a hook, break your content down into chunks, and find your "hero."  What stood out for me was how few companies create videos based on their tag line.  Your tag shouldn't come at the end of the video, it can be your video. 

Create Addictive Content is a short piece full of insights and worth the read.

Be Brave

There are a lot of tools we use as photographers and filmmakers, but the most common one-- regardless of whether you're a Canon, Nikon, Sony, or Pentax shooter-- is definitely the web.  So if this feels a little off-topic to you, consider what you're staring at right now.

That's right.  A browser.  Unfortunately, Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer all track and sell your user data.  And to add insult to the injury, this process slows down your browsing experience.  So I switched to Brave, the browser with the motto: "You Are Not a Product."

Amen, brother. 

They do not track your usage.  They do not allow other companies to track your usage.  And they block ads that slow you down. They even keep a tally of how many ads and trackers they've blocked, as well as how much time you've saved by not loading ads. Find them at: https://brave.com.

This has been one of the most painless switches I could have imagined.  If you use a lot of add ons and plugins, Brave may not be for you.  In order to keep your browser secure, they don't have any.  I also still use one of those other crappy browsers for YouTube and Google searches, just to make sure they can't someone infiltrate the system.  But since we're on the topic, stop Googling stuff.  Use DuckDuckGo.  They don't track your searches.

Yes, your email company is still tracking you, as are Facebook, Instagram and others, but at least this cuts down on the sheer volume of data you're handing over to marketers.

Still don't believe that this is a topic for a photography blog? Look at the photo credit (lower left hand corner) for the top image.  If you don't know Serge Ramelli, you should.

How to Evaluate A Video Proposal

You’ve committed to making a video, estimated the cost of your production, and posted a request for proposals.  Within the hour a handful appear in your Inbox… the question is... how to choose?  You may like the videos that the company produces, but you still need to know the cost.  The numbers seem... squishy.

Unfortunately, there’s no standard format for production proposals; quotes can come in different forms and formats.  All of them have strengths and weaknesses, but some are riskier than others.  A good video proposal should give you either a precise cost or a specific range of costs based on preferences you control, as well as information that describes the video in a way that's consistent with your vision. 

There are three main types of production proposals:

The first is  a Rate Card.  Rate cards provide the hourly rate for an activity, sometimes with an estimate of how long the activity will take.  Unfortunately, they’re often a poor estimate of the final cost, and they present the greatest financial risk to the client.  Worse, they can signal that the production company doesn’t stand by the quality of their work.  Not only are time overruns frequent on every project, but edits and changes based on your feedback will come at a price.  However, there are times when a rate proposal is the best choice. If both you and the vendor agree that there will be a lot of back and forth on the project, than an hourly rate may be the most reasonable approach.

In most cases, though, I recommend one of the two other proposal types.  For the skinny on these, jump on over to our main blog at Hurricane Images Inc. and read our guide to evaluating proposals. 

What Does a Corporate Video Cost?

What's it going to be? A Yugo or a Lexus?

This is the most pressing question most companies have when it comes to producing a video.  Frustratingly, that question is roughly the same as:  "What's it going to be? A Yugo or a Lexus?"

That's probably an overly judgmental comparison.  In truth, though, the car buying comparison is one you hear a lot when it comes to the question of "how much will this video cost?"  A not-so-practical friend says, "I've saved some money-- what kind of car should I get?"  The answer, of course, is impossible without knowing how much money they've saved.  And what kind of car they want.  A $500 beater may be exactly what they need; or a $50,000 Tesla might be the only car that suffices.

Even though you can't answer that oh-so-common question, there are six factors that go into the cost of your video.  The most predictable of which is the cost of filming.

#1:  Filming

Your  filming costs depends on two things: the number of days and the size of the crew.  If the production elements are well planned or coordinated in advance by you—or the shoot only involves one person on camera—you may well get away with a single videographer setting the lights, recording audio, and doing the camera work.  For a mid-range production, a one-person shoot will cost between $125-$200 an hour, or $500-$1,000 a day.  This includes all of your equipment costs.  As the shoot becomes more complicated, more crew is added to organize the day.  Each crew member will range from $350/day to $700/day for a corporate video shoot.  A mistake companies sometimes make is trying to estimate the number of hours by the amount of time they anticipate filming.  Not only are the filming hour usually underestimated, but the cost of prep, travel, setup, and break-down are typically forgotten.  Most shoots will include not just the main subject, but 2-4 hours of B-roll as well.

But filming may not be the biggest cost you face when you hire a production company.  Read up on the other five factors on our company blog, Hurricane Images Inc. Blog, as well as tips and tricks for reducing your costs and getting the best deal possible.

Making Powerful, Credible Testimonial Videos

Testimonials are one of the most powerful marketing tools available to businesses, but they're often lacking in the "trust" department.  Rather than appearing as an honest review, viewers too often see them as paid advertisements.  So how do you create video testimonials that are compelling and believable?  Over at Hurricane Images we've created three vital guidelines for creating your video.  Rule One?  Make the client real.  Give them time to tell their story-- for the audience to understand the obstacles they faced.  Then take it deeper.

How to prepare for being on camera-- beyond the outfit

Sitting down with a client last week I was asked a question I hadn't heard in a while.... It surprised me because it seemed based on an antiquated notion of technology.  And at the same time it made me realize that it was one of the most common questions I get-- even if it was only every couple of months.

What should I wear?

Well, concerns about "fine patterns and checkers" have disappeared with the advent of HD and 4K, but our expectations about what makes for a strong interview, presentation, or pitch has increased immensely.  Seeing people on camera is so common place, that we instantly recognize shortcomings... white shirts, haggard eyes, rambling sentences.  How to prepare for being on camera has evolved beyond what to wear. I've compiled a list of my best advice over at Hurricane Images Inc Blog.  Head over and check it out....

Going Pro: It's a wrap

Ian Robin Walker

Okay, clearly it's been a long time since I posted to this series, and the reason is largely about success.  While I do hope/plan/aspire to continue with the odd post on videography/photography business, product reviews, and technique, for now I'm putting a peg in this topic.  You can also check my other (even slower moving) blog at Hurricane Images Inc.  This is a client facing blog-- rather than this peer facing blog-- and there's a lot you can borrow from that.

I wrote that the end of this series is due to the success of my own process of turning pro.  I mean this in an "in progress" kind of way.  Since jettisoning my regular employment four months ago, I've been working continuously.  I've not consistently earned what I need each month-- I don't expect that to happen for another eight months-- but earnings have exceeded expectations this first trimester... even as turn-around times have proved painfully longer than expected.  My projects have included small jobs for big companies like BitDefender, Silicon Valley Air Experts, and The California Department of Public Health, and large jobs for small outfits like Davis Properties and Rocket Interview.  Balancing 45 hour work weeks with raising an infant (and keeping my sanity) has pushed writing projects like this to the side.

I started this post with a picture of yours truly, though, which is pretty unlike me.  Why?  It's a reminder that ultimately you  are your brand.  If you look at some of the most successful media producers out there-- from Philip Bloom to Casey Neistat to (one of my personal favorites) Brandon Li-- you realize how distinctive their personal style is.  Not just their artwork, but their personalities and how they put themselves forward.  Everyone, regardless of where they are in their career, should reevaluate their online presence and branding every six months.  This includes cleaning up the website, checking that you're still appearing on other sites and searches, and retooling your communications.  So if you're bored right now, get to it.

Going Pro: Client Journeys - The Unexpected Call

One of the best-- though unnerving-- pieces of advice for new videographers/photographers is to make a pitch to your day job or a current associate, be that a hobby or a related businesses.  The bottom line is that every organization can benefit from a video, and people who know you will (hopefully) trust you.

I was lucky.  I didn't have to pitch my day job; they approached me to create a video and it was no small project.  They wanted a 4 part series on the statewide program, complete with a mini-narrative (or extended role play).  It took months to plan, weeks to shoot, and I'm still working on translations for them.  It didn't pay well by an independent contractor standard, but it did by a regular employment scale.

But that wasn't the Unexpected Call.  That call came from Hilton Worldwide.  They didn't want a commercial or even an in-house industrial; a senior Vice President was celebrating his 50th anniversary (and likely retirement due to illness), and they wanted a "thank-you" video from his colleagues and staff who were spread out across the U.S.  The video wasn't something they had planned on, either; it was a last minute addition, and it needed to be organized and edited in three weeks.  They wanted staff to film themselves-- using phones or cameras or whatever was available.  They also wanted it to be clever, humorous, and heartfelt.

I had no idea why an international company based outside of LA would cold-call me in the SF Bay.  He said he liked my website (really? the one with five videos?) and I didn't ask any questions.  He also said there wasn't a budget for this, but he wanted to see what it would cost to edit the staff contributions.  We talked about how many staff would contribute; I asked about general themes he thought we should cover; he told me a little about the Vice President, Greg.  I quoted him $1200.  It wasn't a living wage, really, but it wasn't embarrassingly cheap, either.

The next day I sent him filming guidelines for the staff, and based on our discussion, eight questions for them to answer, based on themes about Greg's personal style, computer style, driving technique, etc.  Everyone was to answer three of the eight questions, plus a statement about "one thing they appreciated about Greg."  I set up a Dropbox account for the incoming footage.  A week later, the files started to arrive.

As you can imagine, it was a hot mess.  Footage was shot on iPhones, in offices, in hotel lobbies, conference centers, vertical for Christ sake.  Airplanes roared in the background.  The President of Hilton Worldwide had his professionally done.  The 15 on-camera interviews ballooned to over 20.  Everyone had to be included.

Greg had started as a valet, and I found some archival footage of the Hilton where he worked; I organized the clips around the three major "questions."  And then I edited to the bone. Instead of fighting the bad and inconsistent quality of the footage, I went with it... allowing it to help shape the flow of the video.  

Rather than share the draft video with my client, I shared how I was structuring the piece.  After 10 days, I produced a draft for his review.  It was rough-hewn, a visual jumble tied together with playfulness, and audio earache to the refined.  He loved it.  I don't recall a single suggestion.  They played it at the 50th Anniversary, and the audience fell out; Greg and his family were deeply touched.

My client sent an email, introducing me to four new Hilton owners in the SF Bay (Hilton is a franchise), recommending me.  New businesses hasn't come from that-- at least not yet-- but I appreciated it as a sincere compliment.

Five months later I received an email from my client.  Greg has passed away from the illness that forced his retirement.  They played the video at his memorial.

Going Pro: Conversations about taking it to the next level

Photographer Ming Thein recently posted a discussion on his blog about the process of turning pro.  If you don't know him, his architectural photography is quietly phenomenal, with a subtle Miksang influence and flawless post production technique.  He writes a good blog, too.

www.HurricaneImagesInc.com

For a unique perspective he shares this post with Robin Wong, a photog who's mid-stream in his journey of turning pro, and together they reflect on both the pitfalls and the tricks to being successful.  On point that can't be emphasized enough is how to think about and manage cash flow. 

"The reality is that most material work tends to be planned anywhere from one to six months in advance, and some clients may not pay for a month or two after that – which means your cash flow cycle should really be six months to a year once everything is stable."

An even bigger take-away in the piece is using smaller short-term jobs with quicker turnaround with the larger "meat" of your work.  This can sometimes mean taking on jobs that don't typify your work.  Ming may take the job, but he doesn't add it to his portfolio.

"Everything I’ve done up to this point has that question at the heart of it: is it core to what I want to shoot and what I want to be as a photographer? If no, unless I really, really need the money, I don’t do the job – and even then, I don’t tell anybody about it. So the answer is – let’s call it ‘identity building’ – must happen directly or indirectly, all the time. In practical terms, this means 3-4 hours a day answering email, making content for the site, maintaining the other social media channels (FB, IG, Twitter) etc. And that’s of course on top of the actual shooting and admin and logistics."

It's a long read, but a good one for anyone thinking about the leap.

Going Pro: Facebook or Twitter? Or Instagram? Or Tumblr?

The only social media tool I advocate for one hundred percent is blogging.  Which, of course, isn’t really a social media platform at all.  Which is probably why it's so useful.  It allows you to target your audience and craft a detailed message and a precise brand over time.  So even if you only post monthly, write a blog.

But what about the rest?  What follows is just my opinion and anyone who tells you they know the right answer is just a dingbat.  And take everything I write with a grain of salt because I’m not a social media type of person.  On a personal level I shy away from these services, engaging with them as little as possible even as I use them as a professional. 

For business purposes, I am not a fan of Facebook.  Yes, Facebook is by far the most popular social media platform;  according to the PEW Research Center, nearly 70% of Americans have a Facebook page with higher earners being more likely to participate.  Yes, Facebook is second only to Google in advertising buys.  But it’s really social, and that's a problem for businesses.  It’s for your friends, and it’s a clumsy tool for getting out a brand or message.  You may have "Liked" a business of Facebook, but do you really visit their page on a weekly or even monthly basis?  I visit my favorite blogs daily.  That's engagement.  Facebook will also filter out posts that are targeted to potential clients; unless you pay for a boosted post, they’ll never see them.  Because you don’t have a relationship with them.  To me, this is a bad communication model, dependent on paid advertising which is exactly the opposite of what people engage on Facebook to see.  Facebook is a good tool for events.  This is because you're reaching out to your friends and distant friends and really not a friend but somehow you got connected friends.  My theatre production company has a page and we use it for every production, posting rehearsal notes, images, and events.  Hurricane Images Inc. has a page and I completely ignore it. 

Instagram is the next most popular medium, trailing at roughly 30% of Americans.  I like Instagram for its quick engagement and because it is a visual medium.  It’s one of the tools I use, though I don’t dedicate much time to it.  That’s because you can’t really control who you’re talking to, and you can’t provide a whole lot of information about yourself or your service.  You can generate a feel about your company, but you can’t direct it to you customers or be specific about who you are.  If you use it, have fun, and curate your posts/images ruthlessly to make sure they are your finest.  As with many things, there are a rare number of individuals who have managed to parlay Instagram activity into business success, but unless you love using Instagram it's a poor investment.

 

Twitter.  Twitter's numbers are surprisingly low given its status as a social media tool.  Roughly 20% of Americans use it, with the highest engagement being among 18-29 year olds.  Which may or may not be your client.  Twitter should be a better tool than it is (and perhaps I'll figure out how to use it more effectively).  It allows you to post images, link to video, and deliver a pithy message.  The problem is that you can't control your geographic target, and most production companies end up tweeting about things that only interest other production companies... not their clients.  Twitter distills one of the essential problems of social media as a marketing tool:  you end up posting about your activities and your interests.  Your reader is "you."

 

LinkedIn is not one of the social media platforms people talk about when discussing social media marketing, but you absolutely should be engaged here.  Twenty-five percent of adults use LinkedIn, making it a rival of Instagram in terms of reach, and they use it specifically for businesses.  The challenge is figuring out how to be social on LinkedIn.  It takes more work.  You should participate in groups, be sparing (as in monthly) with your updates, praise and highlight your clients, and write carefully crafted articles and responses.  No one wants to hear about you every day, which is its own type of blessing.

 

My bottom line is this:  Blog and use LinkedIn.  Look for ways to link the two.  Use one other type of social media largely for fun.  Don't try to engage on all of the platforms, it's too time-consuming.  Pick 2-3 and do it well.

Going Pro: Client Journeys - Promotional Video

As a part of this series I’m describing a few of my early client journeys in time-condensed form. Clients arrive at your doorstep in different ways—and when you’re just starting out, that’s give you time to develop your approach, and hone your skills.

Going Pro: Client Journeys

Clients arrive at your doorstep in unexpected ways—when you’re just starting out, the variance is even greater.  The professionalism of your clients, the types of products, and the trajectory of the process varies wildly.  As a new company, that’s a good thing.  You need to develop your approach to working with clients, as well as define your strengths and weaknesses.  But the arrival-- and sometimes departure-- of clients can be mystifying and stressful.  We expect the process to unfold a certain way, and it often doesn't.

 

So as a part of this series I’ll present a few of my early client journeys in time-condensed form, from initial contact to conclusion. 

If you’ve been following these posts, you’ll notice that I’ve already included a couple client journeys: my first “client” was imaginary… a promotional video for Schools for Africa that still features prominently in my portfolio.  My second client was a pro bono piece for a non-profit.

Going Pro: Unapologetic Construction

Some time ago I read  that you should never apologize for inactivity on your blog.  You don't owe your readers a post; there's no invisible contract.  And I agree, though it's awfully hard to do sometimes.  Like not returning a phone call from a friend, you feel guilty.

So what's up with the last three weeks?  In a word: crazytown.  I've been creating a sound design for a theatre festival, shooting and editing a commercial for one client and a Kickstarter video for another, wrapping up that other pesky job, and building a small production studio in our yard.  The last was a job that was supposed to take 3-4 days but took two weeks.  Two weeks in which I couldn't efficiently set up my equipment; two weeks where everything outside my home was covered in dust.

The interior floors and paint still need to be don; plus whatever small photo/video studio elements need to be built it.

It's been 90 hour weeks.  With the studio unavailable to me I missed my Kickstarter video deadline by two days and the still images for the video commercial by five days.  It's the first time I've ever missed a deadline.  So when do you apologize for inactivity?  I sure apologized to them for missing the deadlines.  I provided an encouraging update on what had been accomplished thus far, explained my situation clearly without annoying details, set a new deadline for the final delivery.

Hopefully I'm back on track now.

Going Pro: Ceci N'est Pas Mon Blog

This is not my blog.  Not Hurricane Images’s blog.  The blog belongs to Hurricane Images, but it is not our blog, which you can find here in its nascent form.

Why isn’t this my blog?  Because you are not my client.  My number one rule for posting on Hurricane Images’s blog is that the content is for my clients and potential clients.  So many photographers and videographers post info for their peers—which is great, and often more enjoyable for the writer… and it can even help with raising your website’s SEO.  But it’s not an effective marketing approach.  If you want your blog to be a marketing tool, write for your clients.

Blogs aren’t simply a marketing tool, though.  They are the product that needs to be marketed.  There are tens of thousands of photographer-bloggers.  Maybe thirty of the top writers are easily discovered via search engines and the like.  The bottom thirty-thousand writers feel like they’re toiling in obscure darkness, read only by trolling bots.  If you’re going to go to the trouble of writing, promote your work.  Cross market your blog.  Announce it on your website, Facebook page, Twitter, or whatever other social media platforms you use.  Visit forums and (when appropriate) let people know you’ve talked about that issue on your blog.  List your blog on your email signature. 

Keep track of which posts get the most visits (almost all blogging platforms offer this).  Let the most popular items guide your blog, but not dictate its direction.  Gear review is often the most read posts on this blog, but I use them sparingly because that's not what I want to be known for.  From time to time, re-publish your top posts.

A few tips to keep in mind.

• Content is king; make good content
• Reference and link to your web pages often
• Link to other folks good works, too.  You can summarize if you credit and link.  
• Don't have your image right at the top of your page.  It looks great but search engines can't read them.  
• When you link, use the title of the page as the link (rather than writing “here”); it’s better SEO optimization
• Optimize your images; they should have titles and company name
• Post frequently – twice weekly or more in the beginning
• If you post infrequently (less than weekly) disable the auto date function. 
• Never apologize for not posting frequently; you don’t owe your reader anything beyond good content
• If someone engages/comments, engage back.  Immediately.