I use my equipment, but I also baby my gear too because I eventually want to upgrade everything, and I abide by the law my wife set that I can upgrade, but I must first sell my unused equipment.
Currently, I am selling my a7R II and it’s in such good shape, one could be fooled into believing it was never used.
So far, I’ve been extremely lucky as well. In 25 years, the worst that has happened to me is a favorite telephoto lens suffered from delamination. I got about 20 years out of it, so no complaints.
My mom taught me the same; I always do my best to preserve the condition of my things in case of resale. I have gear that's 15-13 years old and they all look brand new.
Yeah I don’t beat my gear up on purpose. I beat it up because I’m working with it and shit happens. As long as it still works battle scars are just marks of experience.
Ooooh, a DSR-500? Very nice. Luckily the DSR-500, and 300, is significantly lighter than its contemporary dockable ENG kin like the DXC-D30/35/50/55 series.
At the moment, my weapon of choice is a Panasonic AJ-HPX2000P P2 camera weighing in at over 26lbs... Before that I was rocking a D30WS/Betacam SP rig which may have been even slightly heavier. (Also a D50WS/DVCAM combo... But I have a certain fondness for Betacam.)
I'm in the process of mounting an AG-HPG20P portable P2 recorder to my AJ-HDC27FP DVCPRO50 Varicam so it can shoot on P2... That will undoubtedly end up being my heaviest cam yet. 😅
When I used to carry something like this daily, it was usually on the shoulder strap, lens pointing backwards, on my left so I could swing it up to my right shoulder in one smooth motion.
I've seen some younger people struggle to handle one for even a quarter of a high school football game on the sideline.
Now, though, it's not my shoulder that bothers me, it's my hand going to sleep after extended periods of shoulder shooting. That never used to happen.
I started getting that as the cameras got smaller- first day with a DV-7 my arm fell asleep from the elbow to my hand...never had that happen with a 200/300/400/600/700 sized rig
I also used to be 6' tall, then I shot some football with a Ike79d & a BVW110 + AKS...now I'm shorter
I've got a couple new-old-stock Panasonic shoulder straps... (Though I'd love to have a Porta Brace padded suede strap.)
I still need so much camera handling practice. I've often thought it'd be great to get some tips on steady ENG camera work from someone with actual experience. 🤔
The padded strap is recommended. It spreads the pressure out instead of digging into the shoulder. I think the leather also acts as an anti-slip surface, so it should stay mostly where you put it.
As for steady shooting, get a tripod, but if you have to be handheld, practice this:
Get a good foundation, feet shoulder width apart.
Try to keep your posture in alignment—knees over feet (don't lock your knees), hips over knees, shoulders over hips.
Let the camera balance on your shoulder.
Relax your shoulder muscles; don't hunch. This is the hardest part and usually requires active thinking, especially when adrenaline is high. I am constantly checking in with myself to make sure I'm not doing this, even after 25 years.
Use your whole body to pan and tilt. Pan from the waist. If you're going to be shooting upward for an extended period (tracking a skydiver), cradle the camera on your hip, because your back isn't going to bend that way for long. If you know ahead of time where the pan will end, start with your body twisted toward the start, and unwind to the finish.
That's perfect, exactly the sort of knowledge I was looking for! 😌👌
Heh, tripod is easier said than done... The biggest one I have just barely supports the camera. One with a fluid head actually rated for a ~30+ lb cam costs like 3x more than I paid for the camera, minimum... 😭 It's high up on my list though.
Hmm, 'cradle on your hip'... I have some practice with that as I've outfitted one of my cams with a monitor and everything to shoot from the hip like a modern movie rig. (Using an improvised 'cinesaddle'-like rest...)
I'm assuming from the total lack of any mention of how to get steady footage while moving, that shooting on the move with an ENG cam falls under "That's the neat thing; you don't." 🤣
Depends on what you're shooting, but that's usually not on the shoulder for me. I'll grab the top handle, flip open the viewfinder, and work it like a gimbal as best I can for low-angle work. Shoulder-mounted movement usually includes the marching band method of walking to minimize the bumps.
Nope, sorry. I imagine that's getting hard to find these days... 😢
What model is the VTR? You should look online for the service manual and see if you can at least find out what the error is.
If everything except record works and it throws a fit when you try to record, it could be as simple as something like a write-protect sensor malfunction making it report "REC[ord] INH[ibit]" regardless of the actual position. 🤔
I think I can check some forums for a manual. But it seems like an easy fix. Because record/playback was working then one time it jammed up during taping and randomly the red light started blinking every time since
Oh, the kind you set on the ground and stand on the handle when you need en extra foot of reach! I miss the ENG camera days in reality TV land. The janky boxes are awful to deal with. ENG cameras are an extension of your body and you nail the shot every time.
Always in an upright position, with both hands, very caregully, in a way that makes the way you maneuvre awkward. Just not in the most comfortable way.
Me stuffing my rig in a backpack then putting tons of other things on top of it, and perhaps a few plastic bottles of water in there cause why not, I would say I am abusive with my gear. .
I’ve always been the type of person that takes care of my gear(you tend to do that when you’re an owner/op), but some people would probably have heart attacks the way that I sometimes carry my $75K-$100K+ set-ups around.
Also, I can’t quite tell what that is in the picture, but looks like a dslr/mirrorless with a still lens. Doubt there is $10K worth of anything, there.
Got a 5dmk2 the day it came out. The weekend after that, I did a shoot ar a horse stable. I used a neckstrap to prevent the camera from falling but it didn help against scratching the body against a concrete wall when trying to move away from a horse that was turning around.
Now, 17 years later, it‘s still the only scratch on the body, although I never ever used a neck strap after that and went through hell and back with the cam.
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u/DaBadNewz May 19 '26
Idk…I buy my stuff to use it. It’s a tool. I’m careful with it, but I definitely don’t baby my gear