Category: Edu


Canon C300 or RED Scarlet X?

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November 4, 2011

What a day! Canon VS Bazooka? So we now have 2 awesome new cameras in the S35 arena. R we one step closer to making movie quality wedding videos? Hmm not really as the price of SGD 20K (by the time it is usable) will put everyone off. Most wedding videographers here have caught on the DSLR bug and one could start with as low as SGD1500, why pay so much more? The specs are really sexy (in particular the Scarlet X which allows us to shoot in 4K > imagine a cinema size wedding video???). Anyway until I get a hands on I would be inclined to wait out for a short while more. All I would confirm is our investment in EF lens is very worth it. We now have 2 options.

How does it concern U, the wedding couple. Well the reality is DSLRs have limitations and they need skilled folks to operate to ensure everything goes well. Cameras like this need even higher skilled operators BUT, you wouldnt worry about recording halts, etc. It can get a little technical but anyway, story telling remains no 1 and gear is to support that.

While I was still thinking about the way ahead, lucky me got a call tonight and got to try the lovely 1Dx. Sorry no footages for u but I would say you would think that the 5D2 is a little basic after fiddling with the 1Dx. Everything looks and feel good, not to mention the superb ISO performance. F2.8 lens suddenly got a lot more viable in dark ballrooms.

Conclusion:
Should it be:
2 x 1Dx 
1 x RED Scarlet X + 5D2
1 x Canon C300 + 5D2

Whatever it turns out to be, U the wedding couple would be the one to benefit =)

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Mayad Academy Camero

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July 12, 2011

This is the summary video of the Mayad Academy that was wrapped up in Singapore last week. The video is really humourous! Check out my quick camero in the first part ^^

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Mayad Academy Singapore 2011

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April 3, 2011

WCG presents ” Mayad Academy SINGAPORE 2011″. Since my last trip to the Phillipines last year,  friendship have strengthen and it is a great pleasure to be part of the activities. The event is a lot bigger this time (more slots) while remaining focused on sharing the Mayad Way. We would be seeing more international selection of speakers this year for the event to give a variety of flavours. Need some inspiration? Come join us!

Registration Link
http://www.mayadstudios.com/blog/workshop

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Sony NEX FS-100 Review

Filed under: Edu — 2 Comments
April 2, 2011

Hey hey surprise surprise! I got my hands on this out of the blue. Check it out…

Update: 040411
I messed up on the comparison of the sensor size. It is actually 2.6x bigger than a micro 4/3 !! Now that is earthbreaking huh???

No 2: At 180mm the F stop was F6.5 instead.

It DOES have internal speakers. My BAD.

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RED EpiC

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January 7, 2011

NOW this sexy baby is what all weddings should be shot on… ok just kidding. I mean for the price of our weddings, i think Firewerkz would be the only ones crazy enuf to do it. What is so cool about this? This baby can shoot stuff that can look sharp on LIDO cineplex.. imagine watching your wedding video in that size!!! Ok I’m nuts but i would really love to own one to shoot a pre wed video in 4K resolution. It has this HDRx feature which enhances the dynamic range to 18 stops!! (that means the tones would be more detail. You know, like the different shades of blacks in the hair can be seen clearly?) Whats the damage? I think its around SGD30-40k. Not something we could ever afford but i could dream about it at least!

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2011 Here we come!

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January 1, 2011

With a bat of an eyelid, 2010 is over. It has been a BLAST.
WE:
1. Transited to DSLR fully (comfortably but heavy $$$$)
2. Developed our Pre Wed and Condensed Pre Wed video approach
3. Met and shot with the greatest fello wedding cinematographers from all over ASIA
4. Attended Mayad Academy in PH
5. Shot our 1st overseas pre wed in HK
6. Sorted out the music copyright mess
7. Presented for Canon and Expandore events
8. Completed professional Steadicam Training in US
9. Made even more friends from the photography world and customers
10. Had new additions to our families!!!

2011 would be another interesting year for the industry. Technology is evolving and better cameras would be out this year, pushing the industry to gear up towards better quality videos. It is a trend to see more production values in wedding videos (means u get to see more variety in a typical wed video). Although Singapore has been slower to catch up, we are slowly getting there. Do expect prices going up since more gear and manpower is required for good work.

Business wise 2011 is really positive. Gone with the TIGER in comes the RABBIT and BOOMZ!! Hotels are fully booked and loads will get married this year. What are we up to? Hmm we will see. Having new additions to the families means more time is needed at home for all of us. We remain committed to deliver top notch videos and our philosophy to limit the number of weddings to ensure quality remains the same.

A big THANK YOU to all the couples that supported us in 2010. It has been an honour to have been entrusted to cover your big day. We look forward to “Capturing more sparkles” this year.

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Sony PWM-F3 Video

Filed under: Edu — 1 Comment
November 19, 2010
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35mm NXCAM

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November 18, 2010

Sony finally announces their solution to the entry level 35mm market… the NXCAM at 35mm. Means that this baby is going to do 24Mbps stuff with the awesomeness of 35mm. Interesting! Now we have Panasonic and Sony with their solutions. I wonder why Sony has placed the F3 so high up the food chain?? I think this NXCAM is going to be SGD8-10k  range against the AF100. The game is getting hotter.. with NAB2011 in 5mths time, what will the other 2 players offer?? Word of advice for those wating to upgrade… WAIT. Those already on HD do not worry, your lens and EX1, XF300 will still be needed with the new wave. You really cannot afford to have shallow DOF all the time =)

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Announcing the Sony PMW-F3L

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November 9, 2010

This is pure AWESOMENESS… finally something from the mainstream manufacters vs the Epic RED cameras. Full 35mm sensor with PL mount, nice 35Mbps Mpeg2 codec and great audio. No more crop factor that will make your wide lens look tele.

This camera will bring the coverted film look closer to indies. Unfortunately i am almost certain it would not appear in the wedding industry here. USD17,000 without lens.. thaz a whopping SGD22k!!! Dream on… dream away.. expandore pls get me a chance to caress it at least will ya?

Great write up by Paul Joy
http://www.pauljoy.com/2010/11/sony-announces-the-pmw-f3k-pmw-f3l/

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Copyright SAGA II

Filed under: Edu, Video — 8 Comments
September 21, 2010

I received an update today to the long standing copyright issue and… the grand total is a whopping $4710 per annum!! Now this is not the only thing, it would cost a couple $303 to do their own montage. This is really PAINFUL. I am supportive of licencing but I find the prices hard to swallow. Oh yes, if you wish to put 10videos online (10 songs) you need to pay a total of $5566.

A 15-25 wedding videographer would have to spend about $236 per job plus the labour hours of filming + editing. So a videographer charges $2000 on your big day, he spends 10 hrs shooting, 5hrs for the same day edit, 10hrs post editing, some transport cost, equipment depreciation cost, royalty music cost, DVD material cost, electricity, overhead cost  .. how much does it work out per hr? Does he really make good $ like everyone thinks so? Worst still a lot of people would pay a lot of everything else and ask for big discounts for their video as it is the last thing on their list. The video guy is basically doing a job for free. So you see, that is how people come and go. The industry standard doesn’t climb quickly.

The Breakdown (for videographers):
1. RIPS = 2000 x 1.07 (Record company + Singer)
2. MPS = 1500 (Lyrics + Composer)
3. COMPASS* = 1000 x 1.07 (Performance)

I have no issues about RIPS + MPS but I’m puzzled how COMPASS comes into the picture. I have reason to believe only a certain scope of songs fall under the scope of COMPASS. In any case, this would translate to a lot higher cost per wedding video. Our margains are already below other countries and now we get slapped harder. I will find out more from COMPASS when I have the chance but I am certainly happy to pay RIPS+MPS. In fact, MPS has done better than I thought at $500 less than MPS. I’m grateful. I will be happy to talk to COMPASS further.

The Breakdown (for couples):
1. RIPS = 90 x 1.07
2. MPS = 100
3. COMPASS = 100 x 1.07
Total = $303.3

This is a no brainer. I highly encourage couples to get yr videographer to do it. Pay them $500, they are really not making much and save yourself some trouble. I hear the freelancers wanting to use this one time licence. If you do 10 jobs a year, share the cost with your client. Get the full year licence. If you do more, you equalize more. This is something the client would have to pay. If you find yourself left with no margin, you are probably charging too low then.  Otherwise find some royalty free songs. The client would decide if they want to pay for a high quality production with popular songs or a low quality production with other songs. This is a free market.

Good luck everyone!

PS: The licenced list of videographers would be online at RIPS very soon.

Contact Info:
http://www.mps.org.sg/
http://www.rips.com.sg/
http://www.compass.org.sg/

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