How I Only Buy Video Cameras That 10x My Investment

[@IanConnel]

How many KZbinrs are this candid and authentic? You are great. Thank you for helping me grow.

[@muturikanini9176]

Your videos are very educational and inspirational..i have been binge feeding on them the last few hours...i love that every few sentences i learn something new. From Nairobi ,Kenya

[@MarioCastillion]

This video made me a subscriber!!! I haven't even watched the rest of your channel yet, but this video has such great truth to it, that I immediately agree and embrace your way of explaining thing! My sincerest thanks, man.

[@danielbranam8503]

Great advice. I've had cameras that have made tons of money for me and others that barely made any return. I agree you really must look at what the market is demanding rather than your personal dream camera. Love the content.

[@raksh9]

My most cost effective purchases were the Panasonic GH3 and GH4. Along with a handful of lenses, that kit paid for itself within a couple of months and continued to generate money for years and years. Now I've moved to the Panasonic S5 and am starting the process again. Image quality is way up and it gives my footage a look that is competitive with larger production companies. To maximize economy, I'm using vintage SLR lenses and a few Canon EF lenses leftover from the old days. At my current production tier, it simply isn't worth spending the money on a Komodo or C70. If a job which needs that kind of gear comes up, I'll rent it and build it into the budget. Edited to add: many people in this industry love gear, and it can be so difficult to see past the desire for gear and focus on the financial return that the gear will bring. We can go on and on about how image quality will be better or whether something is Netflix certified, but at the end of the day, is the gear going to provide a substantial return on investment? How fast is the gear going to pay for itself and start making money? The more expensive the gear, the more it needs to provide good return if we are using it for work. There's no point shooting $500 online videos with a RED Dragon 6k if a sub-$2000 mirrorless will do a similar job. Hobbyists have different priorities, but if this is your job, it has to be a primary consideration.

[@keith-knittel]

Buying tools that you can produce better or faster products with is a great way to think about things. It's so easy to get caught up in the latest cameras and justify purchases, only to find out it doesn't really fit your needs. Glad KZbin recommended me your channel!

[@sambrandner]

You don’t hear people talking about this when talking about productions. Thanks for the insights. Added a new row on my production spreadsheet for how long each piece of gear should be usable. C-stands will last your lifetime +

[@Filmmakingmentor]

Oh yea c-stands are king in the gear world

[@wheatworkspro]

I love your approach!!!!👍🏾

[@ashhabashi8453]

Very sound advice. Always down-to-earth content I expect from you.

[@piusgyagenda]

This videos has great points to learn from for any person who is hoping to upgrade their gear

[@FlorianLand]

This makes so much sense! Two years ago I switched from line-item-pricing to value-based pricing where the client never even gets to see what gear etc. costs. But since then I havent kept track of that myself either, so if you asked me straight up to calculate if any of my gear pieces paid themselves off, I would certainly guess so, but for sure couldnt tell that in numbers 😄

[@ErikPelyukhno]

Huge helpful tips, thank you. I’m often craving the new gear and need a system to make a rational decision on whether o should purchase it or not.

[@thisisfilmatic]

Great advice! I’ll put one up on how to do it with the higher end cameras. 🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@louielondonmedia4819]

There is also the potential rental value for renting out your own gear to other film makers / production companies

[@petponderings9]

I checked - everything is clean

[@JonackFilm]

Renting out gear and getting payd with it is a great idea. I like your channel very much. I am a Fulltime Freelancer from Germany :) some great content here. My Lumix S5 pays all my bills. I agree with a lot things you say :)

[@SoundSpeeding]

Great advice! People do need to think a lot more about their ROI

[@avdpost]

This was one reason I love Quick Books Project Feature, without projects I found it challenging to keep track of gear costs vs labour costs etc etc. Love having that database at the end of the day. In my camera buying experience, I have felt that most owner operators will likely land find the most return on their investment with cameras in that 10-15K investment level (depending on the package) IE the FX9, C300 MIII, previous generation was the FS7, etc. That camera level can be paid off in a year through rentals generally for an owner operator and fit well within many productions flows. I agree , picking a camera that also works within the production flows of production companies that are local to you. Sony is more popular, and maybe you prefer a blackmagic camera, but Sony will definitely be the better investment right now. I went Canon for my camera package personally, since I work with such a massive mix of companies and producers, it made more sense for me. But I think it's definitely something a lot of freelancers don't think enough about.

[@yakwithaquad]

how to you track that in Quick Books?

[@avdpost]

@@yakwithaquad I mean basically you can apply expenses to your projects or if you are invoicing producers, just include line items for project expenses that are equipment costs that they pay you. Creating service items that are different than your personal costs.

[@yakwithaquad]

@@avdpost oh i see, but this way you cant export a list where you see how many times you have make an invoice for the fx9 or so…only doin it manually…?

[@avdpost]

@@yakwithaquad You can export a recort and those tagged correctly will tell you exactly how much you were paid for that service or line item. So you can track all your business expenses year over year.

[@yakwithaquad]

@@avdpost oh thats nice

[@manuelpolitis7123]

Good advice from a real pro

[@joshdiditt]

Great video. One question. When a client says "You can use our gear, we have some Canon C100's " or whatever. What do we say in response when they try to save money like that?

[@Filmmakingmentor]

I used to do it when I really needed the work and only charge for labor. But so many things could go wrong when you can prep the gear before hand and test it out. So now I just have a policy where I don’t work without gear through my production company and I simply communicate that with the client.

[@lightingvideotv]

Good advice as the business side of this industry is often overlooked and as you say the hype of the latest equipment specs can make people gloss over the financial practicality of purchasing equipment. Does a purchase of equipment benefit your businesses bottom line or does it only benefit the equipment manufacturers bottom line. Also some equipment is designed for the rental house market as the pricing of advanced equipment often makes no economic sense for an individual to purchase. Looking at the number of rental houses that exist you have to understand the manufacturer may not be targeting you as an individual to be their market. Also good that you included actual rental and labour cost examples in your video as references to give a perspective. Best camera review without being a spec oriented camera review, well done.

[@Filmmakingmentor]

Really great point about cameras designed for rental houses only.

[@pankajphotography]

Namaste from India ! What is the difference using a good Dslr or a good Eng camera like fx9. Apart from size difference in film results ? I use Fuji Dslr as it is compact and can be used on Gimbal and is multi tasking. I mostly shoot factories business presentation and corporate interview with b-roll and events. Pls share your opinions

[@joshtavernier]

Your videos are so insightful. I am interested in know who your mentor is?

[@Filmmakingmentor]

He is not in the biz anymore. But his name is Mike and he had a production company in Chicago

[@joshtavernier]

Thanks for getting back to me. Is there anyone you would recommend as a video production mentor? @@Filmmakingmentor

[@Nqrgaard]

How do you set your gear rental price when you own the equipment your self

[@Filmmakingmentor]

I look at rental house prices around me and what they charge

[@MouktikJoshi]

Very helpful!

[@snowguy2006]

How do you come up with a rental rate? Like, if my gear is worrth X, what percent of X is the rental fee for a day? I know it fluctuates depending on factors, but whats a general idea. For instance the Fs7.. Whats a day rate for the gear? I can do the math from that number. I think maybe I heard you say 450 as an example but I wasn't sure I heard you right.

[@Filmmakingmentor]

I usually just use what the rental houses around me are doing for a similar package. So 450 is about the average per day. It’s usually the total price of the package divided by 20-40 depending on your area and type of gear. So 450x20 is about a 9k camera package. 18k package is you use 40 as the multiplier

[@Filmmakingmentor]

For camera bodies, I usually go with 20 multiplier. For lenses, lights and gear that has a long shelf life, I use 40

[@brandenmurphy1837]

Is depreciation not a thing in the states? You keep mentioning expensing purchases fully in the year they're made... In Canada you depreciate things over their useful lifespan. So a camera might be expensed over 5 years. There are rules around this. Its also a great system because you don't have to expense in any given year you can carry it forward until it makes sense.

[@Filmmakingmentor]

You can do both here. I do long term on more high end items. But not a 8k camera

[@brandenmurphy1837]

@@Filmmakingmentorinteresting how our systems differ. if it has long term value its a Capital Asset and has to be depreciated for us thanks for the videos!

[@CO8848_2]

Using this method, it' hard to justify buying more expensive gear than a7siii, right?

[@Filmmakingmentor]

That’s one of the cameras I own but it doesn’t do a lot of the things the big cameras do. It’s a nightmare for multi cam shoots for example. So it doesn’t fit my workflow. But it’s a great camera overall and checks lot of the boxes for most people to own

[@elitefamilyparkour]

As an operator owner not a fan of renting my gear.

[@Filmmakingmentor]

yea it's not for everyone.

[@takoflame4948]

Sadly people never invest in gear. They rather cheap out and give subpar work

[@luxurybuzz3681]

One should invest in other things first before gear. Marketing, editing, etc...

[@JeffBourke]

Edit: question already answered in the video. 😂😂😂

[@sbh_nft7587]

Hey from dubai , how can i contact you for some questions

[@Filmmakingmentor]

[e-mail]

[@rumorscameras]

fx7 ? ogh

[@Filmmakingmentor]

Two fs7s and one fx9 in the shot