Video for Photographers

A professional photographer is likely to have an array of pro-quality gear. When a pro is going to shoot photographs the type of gear that he or she selects plays in important role for the production of the photograph(s.). It’s not uncommon for there to be lots of gear in place for a project.

The advent of intelligent cell phones, the ones with cameras built in, has made it possible to have a camera handy pretty much everywhere you go. I have an iPhone. I’ve taken a handful of photos with the camera on my iPhone. I can throw any of them into Photoshop and make them look like some kind of an artistic and worthy effort. I have not found the camera on my cell phone to be worthy of producing professional quality work. I certainly wouldn’t use it for a client assignment. Yet I am enthralled with the idea of having a camera handy everywhere I go.

When I shoot an event there are always attendees around me with their point and shoot cameras. Here I am with my high end camera rig (and it is a rig) doing what I do best as a pro capturing an event. When the event is over my gear gets put away I’m done caring around my cumbersome camera. I’m not always done being a photographer. In fact, in reality I’m never done being a photographer. It seems that I spend more time looking at things with a creative eye than not.

I keep thinking about people and events and all those point-and-shoot cameras so small and inconspicuous. I keep thinking that I’d like to use one of these small handy cameras. I’d like to keep one with me all the time in fact. Then, I consider the quality of the images they yield which leads me to abandon my desire.

I decided to investigate if there were some higher end point and shoot cameras available that would be convenient to carry all the time and provide me with the opportunity to capture images that would meet my standards. In this case my standards would demand that the images I could produce would be sharp, contain a balanced tonality, yield photos with good-quality contrast and deliver an image in a raw file format allowing me to take full advantage of the captured information in that file with my postproduction tools. I use Adobe Photoshop and plug in filters by NIK, Topaz Labs, PictoColor and Imagenomic.

Surprise! I found there to b a number of cameras available that would fall under the category of higher-end point-and-shoot cameras.

I did my online research and due diligence. I looked closely at canon’s G11, some Panasonic units that were very impressive in the same price range and even took Nikon’s website for a spin. Then I did something I rarely do which was read some online reviews. It didn’t surprise me a bit to find that everything I looked at had any variety of reviews tagged to the various model numbers I was investigating. Mostly, I determined, any of these cameras would be quite fine.

When I was younger and new to photography “flimmidy frump” years ago the next consideration after a camera and lens combination was film choice. Today, we don’t really face that choice (of film). There was a camera company that made the most quiet operating camera I was aware of and, even more important, the slam dunk best lenses in the world! Any of you in the photographic know already can tell where I’m headed.

While looking at some reviews online the name Leica crossed my eyes. I wondered if they made any point-and-shoot cameras. So I further investigated my curiosity and learned that indeed they do. I wanted to budget my choices to stay within a range that would not push any purchases to a level of costs equivalent to my pro gear. When shopping for Leica brand camera that would likely not be a very easy thing to do.

My decision-making process led me to a Leica D-Lux 4. This camera is relatively small yet provides me with the features that I need in order to produce professional quality images. I can carry this camera around with me anywhere I go. In fact, anyone who’s not a professional photographer will recognize me as just another event attendee with their point-and-shoot camera. How cool is that? I can be incognito.

The camera also shoots video. I intend to really push this camera to its limits by creating numerous stock images and stock video clips. I’m actually very excited to own my first Leica. It will be extremely interesting to compare the quality of images that come off this simple little high-qulaity baby with the “high-end work” that I can achieve when using my studio pro gear.

Stand by… the results are in yet but I expect some great fun from this Leica camera.

I got a call today from a buddy today while in transit to a shoot in Marina Del Rey, CA. He told me that the local camera shop called him to let him know they just received a Nikon D3s ($5,000 for the body only) camera and he’s first in line to purchase it. I told him that I already knew they had the camera. You see, they actually called me first. No, not because I am more special [to that camera shop]. They called me first to get his phone number. I gave them his number – no problem.

I told him not to buy it. I told him to wait for the next Nikon release. That is going to be a Nikon 25 megapixel camera with video ability. Hopefully, it will have full 1080p resolution video capabilities as compared to the D3s’ 720p capability.

I had the opportunity to use a Canon 5D Mark II – which is a 21 megapixel 1080p video DSLR(V). When Nikon first introduced the D3x – a 25 megapixel DSLR many dissed the camera claiming that you just don’t need that many pixels and spending eight grand on a camera body is absurd. I don’t agree. Hasselblad sent me their 50 megapixel camera and I loved having all those pixels in post production. It was actually overwhelmingly glorious and produced some of my nicest work ever.

Plus, when I shot with the Canon’s 21 megapixel camera, post production was awesome. More pixels “is” a good thing. Well… the jury is in and size does matter – sort of!

I’m prepared to pull the trigger (spend the money) when Nikon’s next camera arrives and althought there is no indication of what that will be, I propose that it will be a 25 megapixel 1080p DSLRV camera. … and I’m going to get one – whatever it takes, I’m going to get me one.

There will be an ongoing presentation of information that will help you to marry together the newest of digital technology. You’ll learn how to migrate your work as a photographer so that you can include video. This is where the digital capturing image has gone and anyone not following suit will be left in the ruble of old technology, techniques and creative offerings.

I’ll be reviewing lots of cool new innovative products and showing you how to put them to work to embellish your creative efforts and provide you with great tools to bring to your client-base.

I encourage questions, comments and challenges and want you to know that my door is always open to your feedback. I’ll make every effort (time permitting) to respond to your queries.

Now, let’s get our shutters popping and start playing on the field of “Videotography.”