Cutting Corners

[Yousuf Abbasi]

No twisted panties here, but the only thing I agree with above is not cheaping out on cables. Everything else is purely subjective in need, depending how you want your images to look and how you go about getting there.

+ 1

[Shane Kelly]

Rocket, nice to have but not absolutely necessary,
Cables: absolutely. You need backups - they will fail.
Lenses, pretty much your choice. Shoot on what is appropriate to the job. Not everything has to be super sharp.
I can't agree with you on a meter. I've been shooting for 25 years and my meter rarely comes out any more. Understand raw, your histogram, and most importantly, your eyes and you will get a good exposure.
Waveform? I have one on my monitor that I use to get an even greenscreen, otherwise I haven't used one on set in 15 years.

If you are trying to educate people "before their purchase" I'd go with: a good tripod and head, v-mount batteries, sliding baseplate and maybe a a 17"monitor. All of these and many other accessories I'd put before a waveform monitor or even a light meter.
So pretty much the only thing that I agree with you on is that you should have backup cables.

[Marc Wielage]

It is so disheartening to see folks paying for RED cameras and then cheaping out on the needed "right stuff" to complete their kits.

Don't forget sound.

I'm really amazed by the number of people who plunk down $40,000 for an Epic and then ask questions like "which $99 microphone is the best to stick on the top of my camera?"

[BRANDON JAMESON]

Don't forget sound.

I'm really amazed by the number of people who plunk down $40,000 for an Epic and then ask questions like "which $99 microphone is the best to stick on the top of my camera?"

AWESOME ADD, MARC...ANY PARTICULAR ITEMS YOU'DE LIKE TO INCLUDE?

[PatrickFaith]

Don't forget sound.
I'm really amazed by the number of people who plunk down $40,000 for an Epic and then ask questions like "which $99 microphone is the best to stick on the top of my camera?"

From the posts I see, I'm thinking a lot of the people are using the epic/scarlet primarily for photography, then a bunch of other stuff and as a motion picture camera as a distant third. Crap sound is a good example of this type of use case, another is not using PL lenses, also seems a ton of people are run&gun versus jib/tripod/dolly. Also seems a minimal interest in vfx and compositing, etc ...

I think it's great that such a wide group of people are using the camera, makes for this user group to be extremely dynamic. The discussions are coming from such different viewpoints, that it makes some of the threads a bit crazy. I think with red one, it was 90% indie with 10% major feature ... so it's a huge swing in the community. Another group that overlays with the "photography" click is people in the industry, like the finance and distribution guys, who are getting the camera's primarily to learn what the hell is going on in the industry - that in the past were not allowed to touch the camera and/or sound equipment. One clique though that I wounder about, are those that try to start a business by getting a single epic/scarlet ... it reminds me of the hopeless screenwriter cliques (a lot of screen writer scene is a massive scam, i.e. weekend seminars so you too can write a hit movie).