Beginner Sony A6000 Video Tips - Car Meet

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FJ1000

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Hey Guys

So, I'm meeting with some fellow Audi RS owners this Saturday for a meet, and drive down some nice roads to Goodwood. I'm planning to put together a video of the day. For reference, here is a vid I did of the last meet (at a car show):

View: https://youtu.be/YEDzW9M37dI


My camcorder has packed in though, so I decided to buy a Sony A6000 ahead of this weekend. It seems a very capable little camera, and it's small size should be handy for pics on family outings.

However, given I've not got much time ahead of Saturday to get used to it, I thought I'd ask here if you guys could give me some pointers!

What I plan to use it for are some close up shots of the cars, similar to those from 2:46 in the vid above. I'll have a slider with me, and a tripod with a fluid head. What I'd really like is to get some shots with a really shallow depth of field. Can I achieve this with the kit lens (F3.6) fully open, and perhaps a ND filter?

Shots on the move will be captured on my GoPro.

Thanks!
 
manuelfotografo said:
which cam do you use??
Click to expand...

So the video I posted was made using a combination of a blackvue DR650 HD dashcam (some of the motorway footage), a Panasonic HCV250 camcorder (close up shots and time lapse), and a GoPro (on track, and some of the motorway footage).

The camcorder is dead, and I've just bought a Sony A6000 instead which I plan to use for the close up shots of the cars.

Looking for tips so I get some decent shots with the Sony!

Thanks
 
Last edited:
Did you use a slider on a tripod to get the car shots?

Looks very smooth.
 
Angelboy said:
Did you use a slider on a tripod to get the car shots?

Looks very smooth.
Click to expand...

I did indeed, a cheap Amazon slider... using an elastic band to pull the dolly along.

So I've got 3.5hours of footage from the meet/drive yesterday (which was epic). Will post up the video once I get round to editing.
 
As promised, here it is:

View: https://youtu.be/MQXpfaK6edo


A few lessons learned:

1. My GoPro suction mounts (eBay jobbies) are crap! Comparing the stability of my cameras mounted on the front bumper and the inside of the passenger side window, to the footage shot from the blue RS4 behind me, the difference is quite remarkable. The GoPro on the rs4 used a proper GoPro suction mount and the image is a lot more stable, but most noticeable is the difference in audio- none of the rattling noises I got on my cameras!

2. For the picture in picture effect, I should use a couple of camera angles that give a more differentiated perspective

3. I definitely want to get a faster lens for the A6000. The video from it (all the car closeups at the start of the vid) was great, but I can see the potential for really nice shallow depth of field if I had something more like a f1.4 or f1.8 aperture rather than the max f3.5 setting I used on the kit lens.

4. I think I want to try an external mic for the audio whilst driving next time
 
A6000 is a cracking camera, I used it professionally for video use for the last year until only this week upgrading to the A6500.

Always get proper mounts, it's just not worth the risk, they're cheap anyway.

Faster lens can work, Sigma do some decent APS-C primes, their 30mm is pretty nice, but the standard lens at 55mm isn't too bad.

External recorder can make a big difference, something like a Zoom H1 either suction cupped on to the boot or a lavalier taped to the rear bumper works well.

Video wise, I skimmed through so might have missed it some good bits, but it's far too long IMO, I feel the only people who would watch the full length would be owners looking to see if their car is in it. Generally much more than 3-4 minutes and people just won't even bother watching it, or definitely won't get to the end unless it's extremely high quality, has dialogue etc. I'd also be careful about you showing people quite clearly driving dangerously on public roads.
 
I've just bought a used Sony 50mm F1.8 e-mount prime from the classifieds, looking forward to utilising that F1.8!

I'm torn now whether I keep the kit lens for wider angle stuff, or try the sigma.
 
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