Our clients expect the best bang for their buck without breaking their bank. Budgets are tight and the deadlines are near and somehow someway they still need to make things happen. So let’s take a deep dive into exactly which 4K cameras we use during our professional video production in Las Vegas Nevada and why those cameras exactly.
First off, let’s go ahead and differentiate the videographers of the world from directors of photography and cinematographers.
Most of the times the videographers would be running around a say convention or a trade show in Las Vegas, say at Las Vegas Convention Center or LVCC, or at a live event at a casino somewhere on the Strip and will be carrying their small DSLR camera such as Sony FX3 or Sony A7SIII. Now those are great cameras that offer a lot of flexibility, you definitely can do a lot with them, they do shoot in 4k and for a lot of smaller stuff they are great.
A videographer a lot of the times runs solo capturing video content for a client to go either onto their social media such as Instagram, or Twitter or X, or Linked In. So obviously for them it’s not really an option to have anything bigger than a DSLR.
But when it comes to production value and managing high client expectations a simple DSLR won’t do. No. You need to step up your video game.
Now currently on the market there are a couple of brands who offer professional grade video cameras that shoot 4K.
We will start on the bottom of the market with Blackmagic Cameras. Those are generally tossed onto shooting live events, they are inexpensive and our biggest problem with them is that they are pretty much empty boxes. They don’t offer a lot of flexibility so you max out their potential pretty quickly. So we usually rank them last and generally won’t come within a mile of them. Not our preference and doesn’t work for our needs. If you see someone shooting on a Blackmagic camera you should get get rid of them. They are not serious and you can’t expect a good return on investment from them. We don’t. So no to Blackmagic.
Next up is Canon series w/ their Canon C300 MK II and II and Canon C500 MK II. Those are solid cameras that produce great image quality and Canon skin tone color science is very good and pleasing to the eye.
Now in Las Vegas market, in terms of video productions we’d say that maybe 20% now use Canons only. It’s a step down of maybe 20% from a couple of years ago.
Las Vegas is definitely a SONY city and we pride ourselves on shooting on Sony.
Here at HUSTL Media Productions we carry a couple of Sony FX6 which are an upgrade from Sony FS7. Now there are also Sony FX9 on the market which have a 6k sensor but we did extensive testings and have come to the conclusion that in today’s market, where clients expect us to shoot a lot of run and gun stuff, do a lot of live event capture and still be able to produce commercial quality results and don’t really wanna compromise, Sony FX6 get the job done whether it being a Higher end production where we have to match to a Sony Venice or Arri 35 or Arri Mini.
Our Sony FX6 are truly workhorses and they shoot a ton of interviews. From corporate to business to entertainment interviews in the music industry, the Sony’s are everywhere.
For the client they also don’t break the bank. We especially love their low light capabilities which today are pretty much the best in the industry from across all cameras that are on the market, and that’s impressive.
What’s also interesting is that we have access to probably another 6-8 Sony FX6 in Las Vegas so if it’s a bigger production and we need the cameras to match exactly we have plenty of options.
Another great reason for going with Sony FX6 is for shooting documentaries or TV shows and shoulder rigging it. The Sony is designed for a shoulder rig, just the way it’s setup, which you won’t really get from a Canon or a Red.
Next up is Red Cameras. REDS such as a Comodo is a good little camera, however it’s Super 35 censor and usually you will see those on music video sets. Reds are not as dominant any more, however there are still a lot of cinematographers and directors of photography who like the workflow and are used to them. It’s like being a Mac or a PC guy.
Uptop is Arri with their flagship products. Arri 35 is currently the best professional cinema camera on the market offering superb video image.
We are not getting into the Sony Venice or Panavision category but the next big thing that has just shipped is the Sony Burano and we feel it’s going to be a game changer.
Sony Burano will be replacing a lot of high end cameras such as Venice and will be dominating the industry for years.
At HUSTL Media we probably will getting our Burano toward the end of the production year.
To book our services, kindly send us an email at Art@HUSTLMedia.com or directly call us at (702) 980 -9620. You may also learn more about us and our campaigns by visiting our website – HUSTL Media.
