Needless to say:  the gear that has become available since the 5D MKII was launched has virtually exploded and created and entirely new market.   I’ve used most of it - and today I’m publishing a list of what I have come to rely on for all of my HDDSLR productions:  This is a list of gear that I USE on a regular basis - along with some more “specialized” items that I use once or twice a year but always yield incredibly unique results.

You can go to see this new section on the My Gear Section on the top left menu of this blog.

It’s a pretty extensive list and will continue to grow with time.  Right now we’re already put up over 100 items so far - it’s taken 3 of us more than a month to put this together for you.  My goal is to make this one of the the most comprehensive gear lists on any personal blog out there.  I also want to make sure that I do more than just publish a list gear.   I’m going to do my best to explain how and why I use each piece of gear, and to give visual examples whenever possible.

So here’s what I’ve done:

1. I’ve listed each piece of kit along with a photograph of it, and I’ve organized the gear within nine categories.

2.  I’ve listed the manufacturer’s specs from their sites - and linked directly to those sites so that you can find more out from them.

3. I’ve added a list of comments as to WHY I have come to choose each product - and I’ve done my best to speak to each piece of gear’s strengths and weaknesses (every piece of gear has BOTH!)

4. I’ve added links for you to purchase this gear from two popular retailers (Adorama and B&H.)

5. As I find more time - I will include more photographs and/or videos that demonstrate how each of these pieces of gear is used.  Expect the list to continue to grow as new products are released and I get a chance to work with them on future productions.

Here is a video that I put together recently that shows how I’ve come to include many of these pieces of gear in an actual production - this is something that I will be looking to as often as I can.  I think it’s the best way for me to discuss the uses of each piece of kit:

2010 Gear Video for Italy Trip / TV Pilot from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

One important note:  This past week - I was shooting the Phantom HD Gold camera at 600 fps, with Cooke s4 lenses, a J.L. Fisher Dolly, a Motion Control rig and 225,000 Watts of power - with close to 100 people on a series of commercial shoots in Vancouver.  The cost of gear we used was well into the millions of dollars.   Never lose sight of the fact that while some of the gear listed in the My Gear section is expensive  - it’s still a fraction of what the gear one needed to use with larger/heavier cameras just a few years ago (before HDDSLRs existed.)

As many of you know - I work on both large and small productions. The list I’m publishing is one that I have come to trust for my HDDSLR productions.   The idea here is to share with you the gear that is not only the “best of breed” - but also gear that is accessible to everyone. This is gear that you can invest in and use long term.

Also - just because this gear exists: doesn’t mean you NEED it.   You can do some pretty amazing things with a bare 5D and an old school still lens.  However as your expectations for a “higher production” value grow (and if they ever do… they don’t have to) you’ll find that some of this gear can become pretty essential.

Phantom Gold shooting at 600 fps with a 12X - 24mm~290mm Optimo lens during a recent shoot in Vancouver. The gear I am listing in the "My Gear" section won't include ANY of these things - just HDDSLR gear. (There will of course be some crossover.)

Another  very important point is that everyone out there has their unique budgets (big and small) and everyone has different needs.  Trying to put a list together of gear that works for EVERYONE is close to impossible as far as I am concerned.

So my goal is to put all of the gear that I use regularly - and not withhold some of the cooler/more expensive toys back, for fear of scaring people off.    Never forget that in still photography and especially in the world of film/video - the costs of things and the degree of sophistication varies INCREDIBLY.  The sky is literally the limit in terms of cost.  Most cinema gear is produced in significantly smaller quantities - at times still assembled by hand -  and as a result the cost of gear can skyrocket relative to still camera equipment which is relatively mass produced.

For example, the gear that we were using last week in Vancouver can only be rented for the most part - and a $40K lens or $200K camera is the norm.

You may also notice that some of the pieces of gear listed may at first appear to do very much the same thing.  While many are indeed somewhat redundant - is each unique in what it does (and how) and I’m going to do my best to flesh that out for you.

I use four different types of sliders for example - and I’ve made a point of not playing favorites and instead listed them all: I’ve listed them individually and explained why I use some at times and others for different jobs.

We needed 220,000 watts of lighting to shoot the Phantom Gold at 600 fps at f 2.0 on the Cookes. That's just a "little bit" of light! The fake snow helped us out with at least a good stop of light!

You should also expect another section soon: One that will have me put together different “packages” for different types of filmmakers with specific needs and/or budgets.

As you can imagine - these sections can take a lot of time to put together - so check back in a few weeks.

Lastly - you will notice that many of the pieces of gear are produced by this blog’s “supporters.”   As I mentioned earlier - this is quite a natural progression - as I only asked the companies who’s gear I use regularly to become supporters of this blog.

I hope you enjoy this new section of the blog - and look forward to hearing your comments.   Please keep in mind that this is the gear that I use - and that there may very well be “better” gear out there - or gear that “you prefer.”  Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment sections within each category so that we can all learn more from one another and share experiences.

Today marks the 5-year-anniversary of Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast and the New Orleans levee breaking and flooding one of the most beautiful communities of this country.

This was easily the single most difficult assignment of my career as a photojournalist.  I saw many fellow colleagues - and most surprisingly hardened war photographers - break down as they covered this story.

When you’re overseas, it’s easy to distance yourself and say: “This would never happen back home.”

But when it hits this hard - this close to home - no professional journalist/photojournalist/human being can build up a strong enough emotional wall or “professional distance.”

It took me well over a year to get over the experiences and things I witnessed during my 10 days there.  I was one of the first photographers to get images out from Katrina as most were not able to get images (let alone Television feeds) out during the first few days without significant difficulty as almost everything was knocked out in a huge geographical area.

No one was prepared for what happened - what we saw - what we heard - what we witnessed.

I saw the very worst of humanity - and the very best - all in the span of minutes, several times a day.

In fact when I was asked to go back one year later,  I pleaded to be sent to Iraq instead.  That’s how close to home this assignment hit and how terrified I was of returning.

It was one thing to witness the disaster - but somehow even harder to go back and witness how little progress had been made one full year later.

I did eventually go back on the anniversary date to work on an essay that documented the frighteningly small amount of progress that had been made.  I have to admit that I fell into a pretty deep depression as a result and had to leave after just 6 days.

But what we as journalists felts is absolutely irrelevant.  I just mention it because at that point I had been a journalist for close to 15 years and documented a lot of tragic events around the world as a staff photographer for The New York Times- and this event knocked me out cold.

Can you imagine how hard this was for “regular” people who were not just witnesses - but right in the middle of all of this?

I honestly can’t.

The people of New Orleans did not have that ejection cord to pull - to get out of this nightmare.   We journalists could get out of there an go home.

Their stories and futures are what matter here.

I won’t even begin to describe the stories of the hell people experienced the day the hurricane hit and the levee broke - not to mention the hell they lived through in the days, months and now years that have followed.

What I can do is to share some of the images from 5 years ago - and ask you not to forget that things are very far from “fixed” in New Orleans.   The BP Oil disaster is yet just another cruel joke that has been played on this community.

If you can help the people out there in any way - do.  By donating money, your time, or by visiting and contributing to the local economy,  or even by coming up with ideas to help the area to continue to rebuild.

If you’d like to read more about what it was like to witness this event five years ago - I was able to dig up a few articles from 5 years ago:

Here’s an article from 5 years ago that I wrote for the Digital Journalist and an accompanying slide show with captions. And another interview from PDN that gives you (and reminds me) of what it was like to be in the thick of things during that first hellish week.

For those who missed this little controversy from back in May please read this post. The issue was with the end user license agreement for H.264 which states that the format cannot be used for “professional” distribution.

This is something we could all have worried about as the Canon HDDSLRs all shoot their footage in the H.264 format.   But now:  we don’t.  So go back out and shoot - and always remember:  as awful as some of the language in contracts often sounds at first - most of the time you can go back and discuss it with the other party.   One of my favorite sayings is that “all contracts are meant to be negotiated.”

IMPORTANT NOTE (This applies to only footage that is put online for free - NOT FOR SALE.  See comments below for clarification and rates.)

I am SO buying this lens... it's a pretty extraordinary lens range - especially for filmmakers and 7D users. That being said - it's also an incredibly DANGEROUS lens in the wrong hands - use this one RESPONSIBLY No portraits please! (Unless you LOVE distortion!)

Today Canon announced a BEVY of new gear… Rob Galbraith did a great job of listing the features of the new lenses and Gizmodo had a great review of the Canon 60D.

I have to say I’ve rarely (if ever) seen this many products announced all at once.

For those of you who may not know - The “Canon Expo” is taking place at the end of next week - an event that Canon puts together every FIVE YEARS!!!! Basically it’s their Olympics…This is where one can expect BIG announcements.

It’s become the norm over the past few years for companies to make their big announcements well ahead of tradeshows (that way the big announcements don’t get lost amidst the hundreds of other announcements made DURING the expo…)

I’ll be there - as will many of my fellow Explorers of light.

BUT - they will have absolutely, unequivocally, NOTHING to do with Canon or a Canon product.

I just had to clarify this because several rumor sites have picked up on a quote I made (highlighted below) in a post I wrote last week and taken it out of context - even though I made it clear that these rumors were photography related not video related and would involve the iPad and iPhone.

Here’s the quote: “Then there’s a BIG announcement coming soon… something to do with Photography and iPads and iPhones… can’t wait to share that one - that too has been a 6 month project in the making… more to come soon!  The goal is for all of this to happen within the next 2-4 weeks!”

Now for a lighter side of things - for your viewing pleasure in case you missed it - a series of hilarious video - w/ a reference to “Nocturne” I believe… I happen to agree with the little guy for the most part - but for the record: we did have an armed security guard, and we shot with 1D MKIVs - not 7Ds

IMPORTANT: NSFW - a lot of explicit language and evident frustration within:

More and much funnier ones below… this one is a little bit “angry” if you will…

and one that has NOTHING to do w/ video/film - but one of my all time favorites - and goodie but a relative oldie (from 2009) - warning language even more explicit:

Steadicam +GoPro HD from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

I know it’s been a little quiet on this blog lately - my apologies.   The truth is we have more info and announcements coming in the next 2-4 weeks than I’ve probably ever had since Reverie or Nocturne… I’m pretty excited actually.

We just also wrapped a 2 week shoot in Tuscany and Naples - Italy.   I thought I’d throw this cool little ditty on Vimeo for you guys to share in - we mounted a GoPro HD camera w/ velcro onto our steadicam rig w/ the 1D MKIV and Zeiss CP.2s attached to it / w Preston and Boxx wireless transmiter and well a lot of stuff - all gear we’ll be discussing and listing on this site in the coming WEEK.

BTW -  I have an entirely new section going up that will list - EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF GEAR I USE on productions.   And as you can guess - it’s a long list.   That’s part of the reason we’ve been a little quiet.   Between the productions I’m working on (I’m in Vancouver right now shooting 3 commercials back to back until the 22nd during their 6-week “summer/gorgeous season”) and given the amount of gear I am planning on listing - we’ve been very very busy.

This is a video of one of my favorite allies in many of my productions - Director/DP and Steadicam operator Charles Papert (SOC) - we mounted a GoPro HD on his steadicam and let it rip.   You should be able to appreciate how smooth the motion is on the camera (he’s a 20+ year veteran- been operating the steadi since he was in his teens…) and also the fine control he has on the rig with his fingers… a lot more stuff like this to come… it was well over 100º F in Napoli when we shot this - not easy for most - but a walk in the park for Charles.  At one point we put the GoPro on conveyor belt - it was covered with chocolate and went through a dryer - all the time following chocolate candies … you’ll see a clip of Mike cleaning the lens after that successful experiment.  I’m in love with the chances you can take w/ these cameras!

Then there’s a BIG announcement coming soon… something to do with Photography and iPads and iPhones… can’t wait to share that one - that too has been a 6 month project in the making… more to come soon!  The goal is for all of this to happen within the next 2-4 weeks!

or another style you can use for your videos  or in the case below some of the channels I subscribe to on Vimeo:

Timelapse - Coast of Italy from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.

I just returned from a wonderful 2 week production in Italy.   The trip confirmed that I still want to retire in Tuscany and that I am still madly in love with the Mediterranean.  Seriously - this is the place for me.

We shared some unbelievable food, wine, and sites in the Chianti region of Tuscany.   The second half of our trip was spent in Naples.   Napoli is an amazing city on so many levels and a place that I will definitely return to -  I can’t wait to go diving along the Amalfi Coast as well.

We took a boat ride along the coast and it brought back so many wonderful childhood memories of mine.  I spent many summers along the mediterranean with my father, ranging from Perpignan in the south of France all the way down to Corsica.

I have a LOT to share with you on this blog regarding the gear we used on this 2 week production (for a TV pilot.)  That will keep me busy for sure in the upcoming weeks on this blog as we brought quite a few prototype pieces with us - definitely stay tuned.

For now, here is a quick time lapse video of a beautiful scene from Napoli.    I love time lapses as much as anyone out there - but I think that they take on an entirely new dimension once you are able to actually move the camera itself.

In this case we used a Kessler CineSlider which is basically a motorized dolly that can do some pretty remarkable things.   I fell in love with this setup not only for time lapse - but also for video moves when we combined the motorized slider with the Revolution Pan & Tilt System.   I’ll be sharing a lot of behind the scenes video as I mentioned above in the upcoming 1-2 weeks to show you how this was shot.  For now here’s a quick snapshot of this relatively straighforward setup.  

This time lapse was shot on a Canon 5D MKII, a Canon 24~70mm 2.8, a Canon TC-80N3 Timer Remote Controller Unit a B+W 77mm Circular Polarizer mounted on a Kessler CineSlider, an elektra DRIVE and ORACLE Controller with a Manfrotto 498RC4 Ballhead supported by two Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 Carbon Fiber tripods.

I also wanted to make sure to thank the Italian Crew members - they were fantastic professionals that were also an incredible pleasure to work with!

Alfonso Gallardo - Gaffer

Matteo Zanchi - Key Grip

Davide Mastropaolo - Audio

Marco Coppola - Production Manager

Francesca Faccilongo - Researcher

Pierluigi Inarta - PA

Raffaele Sciscia - PA

Piero - PA

Allesandra Sansone  - PA

Jolanda Varriale - Makeup

Cristina Fileni - Makeup

Allessandra Amabile - Makeup

One of the biggest challenges for on set production with HDDSLR’s (or really any camera for that matter) is recording sound.  Unfortunately, no camera has an onboard microphone capable of recording sound that’s up to professional standards - to achieve such results you have to use an external audio device (I use a Sound Devices 744t) with a boom mic, lavalier mic, or both.

This of course means that once you get into the editing bay you have to sync all of your dailies to your recorded audio.  Because HDDSLR’s do not record time code this can be tricky.  I usually use my digital slate (by DENECKE) to apply a synced time code to the audio recorder.  The digital slate displays a running time code that the camera can see.  When I get to the editing bay, I pick a frame from the beginning of a clip where the slate is showing.  Using the time code that is displayed on the slate, I assign the clip a matching time code at that frame.  I can then merge this clip to the corresponding audio clip based on the time code and theoretically my audio will be synced.  Sound tedious? IT IS.

However there is an elegant solution for this by Singular Software called PluralEyes.  The program allows you to drop everything (video and audio) into one timeline and then simply command PluralEyes to sync everything in that timeline.  The program analyzes the waveform of the audio attached to your video, as well as that of the audio you recorded separately, and syncs them together on your timeline.  This is incredibly convenient, a huge time saver, and very cool.

PluralEyes is especially helpful when shooting multi-camera events (such as a concert or interview) because it lines everything up so that all you have to do in the edit is cut between your different camera setups.  No more syncing your video files, or even having to set up a multi track video project, because PluralEyes does it all for you - just by pressing a button.  It’s also helpful when you’re shooting in a guerilla or documentary style and there’s no time to jam time code - much less slate a shot.  And of course its useful to anyone shooting on an HDDSLR given the absence of timecode…

You can learn more by visiting Singular Software’s website.

HDSLR Bootcamp, Shane Hurlbut, ASC from Shane Hurlbut, ASC on Vimeo.

I know that many of you who read this blog regularly are interested in learning opportunities and workshops, so I thought I would pass this along…

My friend and fellow Explorer of Light, Shane Hurlbut, ASC, is putting on an HDDSLR Bootcamp on August 28th and 29th in Los Angeles.  The two day course is pricey at $3250.00 - but you’ll get what you pay for. Shane has spent the last year and a half running around with these cameras and perfecting his technique and workflow.  During that time he even shot a feature film - “Act of Valor” - entirely on HDDSLRs.

The bootcamp is designed as a crash course in all things that Shane and his team have learned over the past year and a half of HDDSLR production.  It aims to educate others how to turn these prosumer cameras into something capable of shooting motion pictures.  Shane is a true believer in this technology (what he has coined as “digital film”), and its a rare opportunity to be able to learn from someone of his experience.

**UPDATE - Shane is graciously offering a discount of 40% on the bootcamp to all of my readers - bringing the price down to $1950.00!  If you are interested - email Lydia@hurlbutvisuals.com with the subject: BOOTCAMP - LAFORET DISCOUNT**

Check out more details on the bootcamp by CLICKING HERE.