Signal Transmission over Fiber: Camera to Trailer (Budget Video Production)

How I get video from cameras into my trailer over long distances using fiber optics. Also, a summary of how each camera is setup.
Products referenced:
BMD Studio Converter - djp.li/bmdsc
BMD Camera Converter - djp.li/bmdcc
200M Fiber Trunk - djp.li/200mtrunk
Sony PXW-Z150 Camera - djp.li/z150
Sony FDR-X3000 Action Cam - djp.li/x3000
Sachtler FSB10 Tripod Head - djp.li/fsb10
This video was shot using:
Camera: Sony FDR-AX53 - djp.li/ax53
Microphone: AKG CK 77 WR-L
Wireless System: AKG PT4500 transmitter / PT4500 receiver

[@bouffant-girl]

This Is Very Interesting. You Are Obviously A Skilled, Experienced Professional Broadcast Technolgist!!

[@atlbike]

Thx for sharing what you've learned. Appreciate that you've taken the time to do this.

[@HackingHollywood]

I am a subscriber because of your great informational videos about Multicam setups. I was hooked on your trailer build out, and didn’t realize you had that playlist until after 6 months of me being a sub. I have a multipurpose toy hauler/cargo trailer with living quarters for film/commercial style shoots and now considering a cart based system for Multicam since I’m doing that more often. Fiber and comtechs are missing from my system currently, and I enjoy you taking the time to explain all of what you’re doing. I also signed up for your crew list, but don’t expect a southern Californian to be on a Utah show any time soon :) Thanks Doug and keep up the good work!

[@lancepelenato]

Thanks for sharing bro, always good to learn something new from your channel.

[@PaulDGreen]

Always love operating with that camera setup. The Z150 is so clean in dark situations with grain. Love being able to bump the gain up and not worrying about that. And yes I have come around to that push button zoom controller. I know every time that I am going to be getting a smooth consistent zoom. Of course I’m a huge fan of Sachtler, those newer Manfrottos can be smooth once you get the settings just right and then you’re set.

[@djp_video]

I'm always impressed by how clean the Z150 is in low light. It's nice knowing I can pump the gain up to +12dB, +15dB, or even +18dB and still get a really clean image. First camcorder I've owned that can do that.

[@2cul8tr]

Great video, thanks Doug, Also thanks for the emailed advice sent earlier.

[@djlworldwide2012]

Thank you for sharing. Best regards and continued success with your business!

[@computerjantje]

Love your videos. Thank you for this one as well.

[@daveg659]

I’m not even in video production, but your videos and information are absolute gold. Very informative and interesting! I could watch and learn all day. Thank you!

[@crooker2]

Nice looking trailer for video producers on a budget. :) I'm just at the beginning of my video production journey. Hope to get where you are someday.

[@joshuamars-downunderputtin3428]

Doug, thanks for the video. great information. Just having issues trying to find the ProLanc controller. Thanks mate.

[@djp_video]

The zoom controller is the Zoom Commander II. These days it can be ordered from signvideo.com. I'll be doing a video about zoom controllers in the coming weeks.

[@leyaproductiontv1]

Hey Doug thanks for your time.... can you do more in-depth video on the complete fiber hookup including equipment listing... thank you.

[@djp_video]

Please check the following videos, then feel free to ask me any questions after viewing: Fiber equipment: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZmrCXp5rptKXZ5Y Camera connections: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aIa2aaiJlLFsbNk Networking: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJmzao1uopeVp8U

[@SegaleMabiletsa]

Hi Doug, great video as always. Very detailed explanations. Can you share details of that fiber patch panel? The gig switch on your breakout box, is that setup in a master and slave relation with the switch on your trailer rack?

[@djp_video]

The fiber patch panel in the breakout box is completely passive -- most signals are just wired from one jack to another, with the exception of the two return video feeds, which are each split four ways using optical splitters -- camera connections 1-4 get video from Return 1, and 5-9 from Return 2. (Channels 8/9 also go through an additional 2-way splitter) The network switches are essentially just peers on the network -- neither acts as a master nor a slave. They're both setup similarly in terms of the ports I'm plugging into -- both trunk ports are assigned to all applicable VLANs (egress packets tagged) to share traffic between the two. Nothing too special. Inside the trailer there is a Ubiquiti Edgerouter X that provides the main routing capabilities, so the switches themselves are mostly just acting as switches.

[@avalonvideo327]

Nice video I have watched a few of them now since you started building your trailer My questions is how did you get the multiview feed into the studio converter. I have the same sort of set up over fiber You did mention getting camera control over the same fiber as the video in your duplex. Can you please explain how to do that Are you using a multiplexer How did you do you runs from your smart video hub to your me2. I had an idea of running a sdi camera in the hub and then the output of the hub into a up down cross converter back into the hub to match resolution from mixed video signals

[@djp_video]

Well, I run all signals through my Videohub, so in the case of the Multiview output going to the Studio Converter, the output of the Multiview just goes to one of the inputs on the Videohub, then one of the outputs of the Videohub goes to the Studio Converter. Then the Videohub is configured to route the Multiview to the Studio Converter. Considering that Blackmagic uses SDI ancillary data for camera control, passing video through the Multiview has a serious disadvantage, though, because the Multiview doesn't currently pass that ancillary data from its SDI inputs to the SDI output. So if I need camera control (including tally), I can't have the Multiview in the path. That's one of the reasons I send program video on a second fiber, since it does contain the camera control data. I'll use one of those channels (with program only and no Multiview for those cameras) if I need camera control or tally at the camera. I'm still hoping BMD will fix this and pass that ancillary data through in a firmware update. The outputs of the Studio Converter go directly to the Videohub (inputs 1-4), and then the first 13 outputs of the Videohub go to the same numbered inputs on my ATEM switcher. This allows me to send video not just from cameras but from any other source to the switcher. (Technically the first three outputs of the Videohub go to the Multiview, then the loop outputs of the Multiview go to the switcher.)

[@FreewayCup]

Would it be possible to see the backside of your breakoutbox with the fibre connectors? Great piece of equipment!

[@djp_video]

There's nothing to see. All that's back there is the power inlet for the network switch. The rest is just passive connections from the right side of the optical panel to the left.

[@luminussproductionsllc2774]

Hey Doug, any chance you ever got a chance to do an explanation of how you do your PTZ cameras over fiber? I'm very interested in this, but couldn't find it in your library. Thanks!

[@djp_video]

Not fully. I split the two strands on an LC duplex cable. One goes to a media converter with a bi-directional SFP for the Ethernet connection. The other goes to the output side of a BMD Optical Fiber converter. I'll have to do a quick video on it.

[@mherscheid]

Doug, sorry for My bad english. How du you Split the Video-Return (PGM) which goes with the secound cable of the Duplex cable to the Kamera. You take 1-8 Fibre for the Kamerasignals and two fibres for the return(pgm). But you Need ist 8 Times for 8 Kameras. Thanks

[@djp_video]

The return signals going to the cameras are identical, so I use an optical splitter to split a single fiber strand to four cameras. That way I only need two strands for eight cameras.

[@drive0241]

Hi Doug, just came across your videos, love them! Question about framerates and resolutions. Since the ATEM doesn't have a scaler, do your run them through Decimators to upconvert them? My problem is that we will be getting Ursa 4.6Ks soon and I want to get the most out of the 6/12G capabilities. If we set the output at 4K60, would we have to convert all our equipment to that resolution/framerate? Since the Decimators don't support 6G would the only choice be to buy a ton of Blackmagic converters to get everything to match? Would we also have to do an extra down convert at each monitor/display since all the micro converters and Smartview Duos only support 3G and also scale up the computer output of a Decklink 3G card?

[@djp_video]

I almost always set the camera and switcher framerates to match. The one exception is when I'm shooting 1080p29.97. Several of my cameras might shoot but won't output at 29.97fps to SDI/HDMI natively (they'll send 1080p59.94 with frames doubled instead), so I have to run those through the Decimators to bring the framerate back down. Getting 4K60 signals to your switcher from the cameras could be an issue if there's any kind of distance involved. Not a lot of cable can support 12G over very long runs. There are a few options becoming available, but they are still few. You can go fiber, but converting 4K60 to fiber isn't trivial either. BMD doesn't currently sell any products to do that. Take a look at www.blackmagicdesign.com/support/faq/59012 to see what cable BMD recommends for 12G-SDI. Doing any sort of conversion involving 4K would require a bunch of Teranex devices. And while their newest AV version of the product is much better about latency than the older versions, it's still there. If you're doing IMAG I'd think long and hard about whether you really want to try to switch 4K, especially if the projector doesn't support 4K and would involve another conversion. 4K60 is possible, but it is still somewhat difficult (and much more expensive than 4K30) to pull off. And for display on monitors, you'd need 12G capable converters and probably want to go with 4K displays where you can so you can avoid latency-inducing conversions. If you do 4K30 you can go with the SmartScope Duo instead of the SmartView Duo -- it will accept a 6G-SDI signal. The image quality on both of those monitors is pretty poor, FYI. Bottom line is that doing 12G is still kind of difficult and I'd ask myself if you really want to go that direction. 6G is a lot easier, so if you don't really need 60fps in 4K it's a lot easier (and far, far cheaper) to build a system. You could also do what I'm doing until BMD creates a 4K version of their Camera Converter -- record 4K in camera, but output 1080 on SDI.

[@drive0241]

Thank you for replying! So it looks like I'll have to scale back my plans and go with 6G. Even then I'm guessing all our SD cameras will need to be run through an upconverter? What about computers output? Do you run CG at 1080p29.97?

[@djp_video]

You'll want to do an up-conversion on SD material. If it's already digital (SDI) that's easy enough with the Decimators. If it's analog you'll need to make that conversion first. Finding computers that will do 1080p29.97 is hit or miss. The Intel NUCs I have in my trailer do, as will my Windows laptops. Macs can be made to do it, but it often requires third-party software to expose those video modes. It depends a lot on what video card the computer has, and whether the driver supports that particular mode. It hasn't been much of a problem for me.

[@LawrenceKaneshiro]

Pretty interesting. Good job. Question: When doing multi-cam shoots, how do you balance and match image between the four cameras?

[@djp_video]

To start with, I use cameras in the same family from the same manufacturer. My main cameras are all Sony PXW-Z150s. So I can just get one camera setup exactly the way I want and then copy its settings to the others using an SD card.

[@VincentRozenberg]

Nice rundown! Do you have any form of genlock between all those devices?

[@djp_video]

These cameras don't have that capability. And the only return signal on the fiber lines is Program, though I guess you could genlock to that if you had to.

[@MRBaumX]

Hi Doug, the Link to the 200m Trunk does not work any more. I am looking for an afforable fiber solution, so would be interesting to hear what items would you recommend. Do you think the offers from China are good to go with? Thanks, Martin

[@provideodk]

Hey Doug, thanks for some great videos. I've been looking for a large digital clock, and couldn't help noticing yours hanging in the top right corner. Is it radio-syncronized and where did you get yours?

[@djp_video]

It uses NTP to get time from over the Internet. It's made by Masterclock (www.masterclock.com) and the particular model I have is the NTDS26. They do make models that use GPS if that's what you need.

[@JulienDeon]

have you ever seen the website: onlineclock.net

[@vomKuckucksfelsen]

You can get really cool gps synchronized or radio syncronized clocks that can output timecode as well here: www.die-funkuhr.de/html/_typ_3a________________.html The Site is in german but the products are very good and the pricing is fantastic for clocks with timecode ;)

[@rob-fischer]

Hey Doug, thanks for this video. Are you having issues in louder environments like concerts with the gaming headsets (and their mics) regarding understandability?

[@djp_video]

Sometimes. Mostly only when an operator is really near one of the speakers. I'm not sure many headsets would hold up well in that scenario, though.

[@rob-fischer]

Well you could use tradional intercom headsets that have better isolation and better mics, could you?

[@djp_video]

That's one of the reasons I have the Beyerdynamics you can see sitting on the right side of the front desk of the trailer. It's kind of a pain to adapt to 3.5mm plugs instead of XLR and 1/4" TRS, but it does work.

[@AmauryJacquot]

if you need to send more signals in/out certain fibers, you should look into using colored sfps and prisms, see fs.com for more details

[@scottfindley1345]

Doug! love the videos! If I had one critique, - I think its time to paint / sound deaden those plywood walls perhaps :) everything else it top notch :)

[@djp_video]

This video is from almost 5 years ago; the walls were carpeted a few months after this video was published.

[@scottfindley1345]

@@djp_video Oh, I was just joking around anyways. Again very informative videos. cheers!

[@ryanpflumm9344]

You have the fiber trunk on here but what about the snake. What is the deal with the snake?

[@juanm.aguayo-leal9795]

Could you name the LANC controller you are using for the camera? I didn’t find it in your list above. Thank you.

[@djp_video]

There’s a whole video about LANC controllers here on the channel

[@satinderdhindsa835]

I think the link for your Trunk cable is directing to another page. It shows a normal patch cable. Is this something that you made or was it bought with the 12 fiber strands inside?

[@djp_video]

It was an eBay sale, and it isn’t available any longer

[@bhwhprods]

Hi Doug. I’m investigating options for extending video runs beyond my current SDI limitations. Is optical still the way to go? What type of rugged connections do you use eg. opticalCON looks good. Thanks

[@djp_video]

For long runs fiber is really the only viable option. If you can fit opticalCON into your budget that's indeed what you should use.

[@bhwhprods]

@@djp_video thanks - I’ve seen a few other options out there (I’m based in the U.K.) but suspected Neutrik would have it sorted 👍🏼

[@michaelcummings3701]

Hi , Can you create a new link for the fiber cables ? or share your recommended fiber cable per length

[@djp_video]

Cables: Armored: www.fs.com/products/40384.html, or Unarmored: www.fs.com/products/40191.html I don't currently have a recommendation for the trunk cable; the one I originally got was off of eBay, and the one I'm using now has had some reliability issues.

[@matthewrichards5454]

Hi, Doug, I was wondering where a could watch some of you productions.thanks

[@djp_video]

I wish I had the type of answer you'd like to hear, but I don't. 95% or more of the productions we've done are private and there are intellectual property issues preventing me from sharing our work. We actually shoot stuff almost weekly, but there's very little I can share. Either there is copyrighted material involved, or trade secrets, or other restrictions preventing that material from being made public. There are also other issues that cause me to not want to share many of the ones that I could, because of low quality content, low quality lighting, or poor audio, which we had no control over, as it was other people or companies in charge of those aspects of the production. Of those few that I could potentially share, many are unpaid events where we used inexperienced, volunteer crew members so they don't represent our best work from our top talent. There are a few bits and pieces out there, but nothing that I feel like represents the level of quality that we actually bring to the table. That said, here are a few pieces that, while they aren't typical, are things we've shot. We had no control over content, audio, or lighting in any of these samples: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m6WcaaKffMp1eLM (shot on older equipment which has all since been replaced) kzbin.info/www/bejne/pmmskmyddr-iiaM (strange post-production editing at the request of the client -- the original video, which I can't share, was better) kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJKWqX1tps6Ebqc (the client actually re-edited this one later and destroyed the quality, unfortunately) kzbin.info/www/bejne/jp2vaqSonr1qqdU (unpaid event -- volunteer crew, poor audio, and poor lighting)

[@matthewrichards5454]

Thanks, Doug was wondering if that was the case. my school recently finish our first live stream and we were pleased with the results kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4G3qnmGetNrhsk thanks for your response and I look forward to your next video.

[@tatehipps2523]

Really simple question. What clock above monitors do you recommend purchasing?

[@djp_video]

That's the NTDS26 from Masterclock.com. And it's a great product that I highly recommend.

[@GetMyPhotoCanada]

What’s the model of the zoom controller you were referencing?

[@djp_video]

I've seen them with different names and different manufacturers. But the only source I see consistently now is Sign Video, Zoom Commander: www.signvideo.com/zoom-commander-digital-zoom-controller_II_pro.htm.

[@EVGENIFOH]

Hello sir! How do you run 4 picture signal to every monitor? Is it just regular multiview output or something else. Thank you a lot!

[@djp_video]

I use several Blackmagic Design Multiview 4s to achieve that.

[@28timm]

@@djp_video Do you use a router to select the signals that go to the Multi-view and then use multi-view out into the Talkback converter PGM in? Doesn't the PGM in send the tally signal to the Cam Converter? How do you maintain the tally to cameras and, also, maintain the program tally in the multi view video signal you send back to the camera op? I just can't visualise it, but it is a great idea!

[@djp_video]

@@28timm That's a pretty astute observation. I do lose tally/camera control at the Camera Converter if the signal is sent through the Multiview 4. (I've been bugging Blackmagic to fix this for a long time). What does work, though, is putting the green/red tally boxes around the sources at the Multiview itself. Input 4 of the Multiview is the program feed, and the Multiview knows how to use the tally information from that source to add its own tally markers. If I really do need tally at the camera, I simply route the program signal to the camera instead of the Multiview. For most productions fiber outputs 1-4 on my breakout box feature the Multiview, and 5-13 are just the program output. So I can just move that camera to a different fiber input/output. Or, if we really need tally on all cameras, I'l just use my routing switcher to send the program to cameras 1-4 as well.

[@michaelrempel9025]

I was going to get a Sachler, but decided to give Benro a try.

[@djp_video]

What do you think?

[@michaelrempel9025]

They are not in yet. The fluid head sets up well. Fewer stops to balance with, but it has 7 inches of slide as well, so it should work to balance the lighter cameras I want to use. Lots of models to choose from. I decided to try the BV8. They also have a 10 which would be closer to what you have. My dealer doesnt stock any of them, but said all I would risk is shipping it back. I will let you know in a week or so what I think.

[@meegoheng3897]

benro is good price and stable product that i use before till today

[@lizandrobalcorr]

hello, excellent video can anyone help me know how I can connect a remote camera wirelessly to a cabin without using cables? just as reporters do when they go to events and send the signal to the studio

[@djp_video]

Multiple different technologies are used. At first it was via satellite, then via microwave relay, but these days a lot of it is done with cellular streaming.

[@lizandrobalcorr]

@@djp_video Two last questions: how would the cellular transmission work to connect it to a software or video mixer? Is there any BlackMagic solution for this? thank you for your reply

[@djp_video]

Streaming into a mobile production trailer/truck/van over cellular is going to be a little tricky. Mobile carriers usually don't let you have a publicly-accessible IP address, so setting up a device to stream is going to be difficult. There are solutions, though. You could have your own RTMP server in the cloud somewhere, and then pull the video down to your production vehicle. Or, there are some mobile cellular radios that offer services to give them a public IP via a proxy server; my MoFi 4500 has this option. Latency for these solutions is going to be really high, and inconsistent if you had multiple cameras syncing them up would be very difficult to do. If you can figure out a way to use a wireless SDI/HDMI transmitter/receiver you'd get more consistent results.

[@lizandrobalcorr]

@@djp_video Thanks a lot. Your information has been of great help to me.

[@grasworxTTGameplan]

me again here on this vid... i'm seeing here you use 12-strand fibre, and on the other video the setup used a 12-duplex-to-MTP/MTO. Is there any specific use for either setup, or has this setup evolved in some way? If it's different usage, can you explain the differences?

[@djp_video]

There are two primary reasons that I use the black fiber reel: (1) It's armored, so it's at least partially protected from damage from foot traffic, being kinked in doorways, etc. (the yellow cable is not), and (2) It's longer than my MTP cables (200m vs 150m). Ultimately I will be moving BACK to MPO/MTP, as setup time can be faster since I'll only have to connect one plug on each end of the cable rather than the 12 I'm dealing with now. I just need to find, budget for, and invest in a 200+ meter, 24-strand, armored cable. It's a better way to go in the long term.

[@grasworxTTGameplan]

ahhhhhh. gotcha. so the planning stage should look at the possibility of: 1x strand for video IN 1x strand for video OUT 1x strand for data (for PZT cams) 1x strand for aux/just in case PER camera

[@djp_video]

If your return video to multiple cameras is the same, you can use a simple optical splitter (1x4 has worked fine for me, but 1x8 was problematic) to reduce the number of strands needed. Also, if you happen to be running IP-based PTZs, you only need a single connection over fiber and can distribute from there using a simple Ethernet switch.

[@grasworxTTGameplan]

ohhhhhh. the power of hands-on experience! thanks for walking me through it Doug!

[@russspeiser4540]

@@djp_video I had this exact question. Thanks for the response as it seemed to me as well that the MPO/MTP+cassette solution was better. However I'm having trouble sourcing 200M armored MTP cable. Any suggestions? I do wonder slightly about redundancy with MTP. If my understanding is correct, if a pair in your black fiber reel gets damaged you have options to re-patch, etc. If the MTP cable is damaged, ALL pairs are non-functional, no?

[@ians.4284]

Have you found inexpensive LC to SMPTE converters?

[@djp_video]

No, but I haven't really tried.

[@ians.4284]

@@djp_video Yea the only one's I've been able to find are like $500 per end, which in our case SMPTE cables might be the same exact price.

[@jayhouslander3969]

What is the LANC you like using, ty

[@djp_video]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/i2nKhpWXg616bdU

[@ians.4284]

So Tally does get into the Multiview somehow? Does the Camera Converter do that?

[@djp_video]

The ATEM switcher sends tally information as part of all of its SDI outputs, and their Multiview products know how to decode that information. So as long as I feed one of the switcher's outputs into one of the Multiview's inputs they can display the tally boxes. (It's a bit of an incomplete implementation, though -- it only works for the first four channels and can't be reconfigured. It also doesn't pass that tally information through to the SDI output, which is unfortunate.)

[@ians.4284]

Sigh. Blackmagic's always 95% complete and then there's that 5%. :D

[@djp_video]

I agree. It's especially frustrating when it is something that can be fixed easily in software.

[@vomKuckucksfelsen]

So how do you get the tally information into the camera converter if the multiviewer doesn´t pass it? And another question - did I miss the video about the one-fiber connection to your ptz cameras? Could you explain how you are doing that? Thanks a lot Doug, I really like your content!!!

[@lukewalker3905]

I also have the PXW-Z150 but they don't put 4k out the SDI. Am I wrong?

[@djp_video]

You are correct. If you want 4K you have to use HDMI.

[@lukewalker3905]

@@djp_video That's what I thought. Then to do 4k over fibre BM only has SDI to optical so you would need to go Camera -> HDMI -> HDMI to SDI converter -> SDI to Optical. Ultimately we just need a 4K version of the BM camera converter.

[@djp_video]

I've been asking for a 4K Camera Converter for years. It doesn't seem to be on BMD's roadmap.

[@bouffant-girl]

What is your level of Certification With The SBE, And The FCC?

[@djp_video]

I've never paid attention to or sought out any kinds of certifications in any area that I work.

[@satinderdhindsa835]

Hey Doug, do you have the model number for the zoom remote?

[@djp_video]

It's the Zoom Commander II, most recently sold by Sign Video or Sound Excellence.

[@satinderdhindsa835]

Doug Johnson Productions Thanks! I’m going to try it out. I don’t have good luck with the varizoom rockers.

[@djp_video]

Most of the rocker-style controllers don't work that well, to be honest.

[@satinderdhindsa835]

Doug Johnson Productions I agree. I get jerks and stops when trying to do super slow zooms. Does this have a latch function or do you have to hold the button?

[@benmug201]

what system would you recommend for the talk back system

[@djp_video]

There are so many factors that can go into that decision that it's really hard to make a recommendation that is going to fit your specific needs

[@benmug201]

@@djp_video Dose black magic fiber to SDI take any SFP

[@djp_video]

@@benmug201 Most SFPs will physically plug in, but you really should use SFPs specifically made for video. The Ethernet SFPs can technically work, until they don't. When given a long string of identical data, like some specific solid colors, Ethernet SFPs will not pass the signal correctly and you'll experience dropouts or corruption of the video data. Video SFPs know how to handle that correctly.

[@benmug201]

@@djp_video Ok thank you so Is it ok we talk on mail I have a church function coming up next month and I have some cameras in about 200mt that am planning for. Am in Uganda and I don't have access to most of these accessories I actually need your help on this

[@boober7270]

Looks good. Where are your ccu’s located?? You can simplify your system. If you’re using hdx s or lunchboxes. What kind of tv production are you doing?? Small sports shows? Another tip paint the plywood in your trailer. It will look much more professional. If you are looking for help I can stream line your setup. I also have a way to eliminate hdx s. I also rent and sell TACTICAL fiber. Not that crap u have on a spool.

[@djp_video]

My cameras don’t support CCUs. It isn’t in the budget. We do live events of all kinds. Within a couple weeks of shooting this we covered the walls in carpet.

[@EdgerRel]

This channel is absolutely dreadful. You are doing all the things I want to do and I'm going to spend so much money on new solutions. I can't tell if I should be thrilled or upset. :-D

[@allout_fun]

Don't you like Black magic cameras?

[@djp_video]

It's entirely dependent on the situation. In a studio setting they can work well (which is why they're called "Studio" cameras). For the type of work that DJP does they're not a good match, mostly due to the lack of proper lenses for MFT and EF for live video and the types of events we shoot. We shoot a lot of events where we need a super wide zoom range. It's very common for us to have to place cameras far away from the subjects we're shooting -- back of the room for business conferences or concerts, or far away for sporting events, etc. -- so having a long zoom is essential. But I also like to be able to get wide shots for context as well, and do so with a minimal number of cameras, operators, and reduced setup time to keep budgets low for customers. Being able to capture both a wide shot and a tight shot with a single camera is a big deal to me. The ability to control color and other settings of the camera remotely is a cool feature, but it's less useful to me than having a wide zoom range with a smooth electronic zoom. I'd rather talk a camera operator through the process of making camera adjustments than not be able to get the proper shot I need at all because a lens to cover an event properly is either unaffordable or not even manufactured. In the case of most Blackmagic cameras, there either aren't proper lenses to do that, or well outside the budget of the types of clients we work with. And we certainly aren't going to be swapping lenses in the middle of an event. In an ideal world it would be nice to have a mix of cameras from different manufacturers based on the particular strengths that different models have. But in the real world, getting cameras from two different manufacturers (or even different product lines or vintage within a single manufacturer) to match visually is next to impossible, so we're kind of forced into a situation where we choose one product line that is the closest match for our general needs and live with the fact that there might be other options out there that might fit one particular niche need better in one scenario, but in the general sense aren't versatile enough to cover the situations we encounter the majority of the time. So, bottom line is, because of the poor choices of lenses available for the Blackmagic cameras, they just aren't very well suited to the type of work that we do and the compromises we'd be force to make are too much of a problem.

[@allout_fun]

@@djp_video wooow, this is the answer I have been yearning in any review or video production I watch, Honestly. I been thinking about it a lot. I am trying to get into live streaming, from both church and sports events. This answer has actually narrowed me down on what to look out for. Their studio cameras as you mentioned is great option for the studio. Thanks Doug, I am very grateful. I be very glad to be part of your crew and learn more in the real world... I've been watching videos a lot and I've got soo many questions

[@mrtanatip]

Intercom is too quiet.

[@djp_video]

That isn't a problem we have. Ours is plenty loud.