5D3 - what's the minimum setup to film interviews?

LongLensPhotography

LongLensPhotography

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5D3 is coming and I plan to step beyond my comfort zone with it. I want to expand my business into short interview videos, and perhaps beyond as I think there may be market for it.

So that will be a tripod + 410 gear head, 5DIII with 24-70mm or 85mm prime (I really hate typical wideangle interview videos). For static posed interviews/presentations this should be enough.

I am thinking about some off camera continuous LED lighting (softbox like, 50cmx50cm or larger, maybe also barndoor type lights) and proper sound recording. The mic should be ideally off camera, and cordless (hate the idea of gear flying on the floor). Maybe mic can be pinned on their shirt? It could either plug in to 5D, my android phone, ipad, or an old mac as a last resort. What is best?
I am not looking to spend a tone on it for the start but rather wait till there is some profit to spend on more advanced gear.
 
For interviews just a typical 2 or 3 point lighting set up is fine, I've managed an interview with two portable LED lights before, just get something decent as some of the cheaper options give strange blueish casts that even gels don't seem to completely fix. Best economical sound set up I've achieved is with a Zoom H1 and a wired clip mic. You should be able to get both for under £100. You could record sound straight onto the camera but it's not the best quality IMO.
 
I don't know what counts as a tonne of money these days.

I'd probably go for a set of 3 Dedo lights and a small softbox and maybe a brolly. That will give you lots of options and change out of £2K. For sound I'd get a Zoom H1 or Tascam and your choice of shotgun mic.

For less money, the F&V light panels get really good reviews (somebody will be along in a minute to accuse me of a financial interest in them but I really don't have one).
 
£2k is not what I am looking to spend right now, but if this becomes a huge success then I certainly will put even more.

Has anyone got any idea about Yongnuo 300, possibly put through a brolly? Are they decent enough for a start, considering may total lack of experience with video?

I suppose LED lights may come very useful for some portrait shoots too
 
Dunno about the Yongnuos. But usually the stuff they make is good.

What I do know about LEDs is that there are a lot of lights that look similar that perform very differently. E.g. Lite Panels really are better than the 6 quid knock offs both in terms of flicker, colour consistency and CRI. Cheesy Cam have some decent reviews of budget/homebrew kit.

But really, go big or go home ;)
 
Agree with Jonathan on the CRI of some cheaper lights. The Z96 is good but a bit small unless you get a few of them to make a bigger panel. I've been looking at the Yongnuo 300 and it is meant to be quite good but not bought one yet. Don't forget to factor in the cost of batteries for the YN 300, it doesn't have a dc input.
 
I am going to bring this thread back to life, and ideally do some shopping the next few weeks.

I am looking at Yongnuo 300 ii vs 160 ii and the new 600 LED panels. Probably x2.
160 are smallest, but take AA; 600 are big and take DC in, and 300 is in between in size. There is no way I will use them bare for the main light, but more than happy to do so for the kicker. Umbrella or some special softbox?
I have also seen people use very large fluorescent bulbs - is that a good option at all? Dedo's and similar would be fantastic, but really can't afford them now.
I have no idea what power I really need, so some pointers would be helpful. I guess I will use something like 85mm f/2.8 for static interviews, or maybe longer at f/4. ISO is not an issue with 5D, but it is all about getting 1/50s speed.

Audio - what do you think is better Zoom h4n or Tascam DR-40 vs something else? Which lav and shotgun mics would you get for the start? I would rather start with smaller budget and invest as it picks up, rather than spend big and see it fail.

Slider - what is good and what is bad?

Monopod. 561B seems to be the top, but can you just get full proper 701 head (to share with tripod - really important), and add foot to a normal monopod?
 
I don't know if this might be useful to you, but the cinematographer/director of photography Roger Deakins (Skyfall, No Country for Old Men, The Shawshank Redemption amongst his many films) has a forum for discussing lighting, lenses etc and he and other members (including some other quite well known cinematographers/DP's) are usually quite happy to give input into lighting choices etc

http://www.rogerdeakins.com/forum2/

There was a lot more until a few weeks ago, but unfortunately some idiot hacked it and a lot of stuff got lost. Anyway, don't know if it might be of help.
 
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