Dennis Thorpe - Videography

Gear

Cameras

Nikon D850 x 1, Nikon Z7 II, Nikon Z6 II, Nikon Z6

Pros:

  • 4K resolution
  • Large sensor – great in low light
  • Shallow depth of field for a more cinematic look

Cons:

  • Need to be tripod-mounted (not good for hand-held)
  • Less responsive to colour grading than a triple sensor video-only camera.

I normally man one or two cameras and stop and operate the others by radio remote.

I use these cameras as I had decades of experience using them for stills prior to branching into video.

Lenses

A selection of large-aperture pro lenses.

Sound

Tascam DR-40 (2 channel), Zoom H6 (6 channel) digital recorders.

4 x CAD179 Condenser mics.

If I can get a desk feed for one recorder, I’ll use that, but a front-of-house line feed may not sound great. I will place the mics in the room center/rear as backup.

Camera sound is generally only used for syncing.

Editing

All videos are edited in Adobe Premier Pro (CS6). The usual output is 4K 2160p 25/30 fps .mp4 for YouTube, but PP will export practically any format.