Gadgetory

what's up guys today I'm gonna be sharing with you some of my new camera gear that I recently picked up the channel no I didn't get a red camera no it's not an fs7 yes I have standards now while I'm sure my new Arsenal won't Wow all of you the upgrade brings about some quality improvements that I felt were necessary in order to keep the channel relevant while hopefully bringing a more enjoyable viewing experience to you guys as well so jumping right in let's kick it off with my brand new camera the wildly acclaimed and attractively priced Panasonic Lumix gh4 not only is this camera just a few hundred bucks more than my Canon 70d it packs a wider range of features and technologies like 4k video recording and capturing 1080 at 60 fps these were really the two biggest selling points that I despised my 70d for not having and ultimately what convinced me to make the switch apart from that the gh4 also has a fantastic sensor good low-light performance and too familiar flip around screen that says I'm lonely so I film myself one characteristic I didn't expect to love so much when purchasing the camera is the body size it's small and compact but still feels great in the hand which makes it even easier to take with me to events like CES granted what's a good camera body without a solid lens up until this point I was using my 24 and 35 millimeter Rokinon cinah lenses almost exclusively and while I don't plan on retiring them anytime soon because they're kind of amazing the fact that they're both prime lenses left me wanting a well rounded lens with a tad more flexibility so I picked up the 18 to 35 millimeter from Sigma this fine piece of glass has been dubbed the you tube lens by content creators everywhere for its versatility when it comes to shooting a range of different subjects in a limited space not to mention having a shorter lens than everyone else really affects your self-esteem for starters the aperture goes down to a generous 1.8 which gives a nice shallow depth of field and bokeh the focal range is perfect for the environment I use it in and the focus ring is so smooth it feels like butta since the lens does use an EFS mount however it would be pretty useless with my new Micro Four Thirds camera so among my upgrades is the meta bones speed booster not only does it serve as an active after between the two mounting standards this brilliant piece of hardware increases your maximum aperture by one full stop making your camera awesome and low-light the speed booster also makes your lens appear 0.71 times wider which makes shots look so cinematic you'll think Michael Bay directed my tech reviews and hired better writers when used with the gh4 in Sigma lens this small but powerful adapter helps produce some incredibly crisp and breathtaking shots that are leaps and bounds better than what my old set up could achieve now although I now have a camera that shoots 4k it doesn't mean I'll be recording at that resolution 24/7 because let's face it not everything needs to be shot at Ultra HD hey does this look infected shooting everything at 4k also means a lot more storage needed and rendering time required so chances are I'll be recording 1080 video at 60fps 90% of the time because I personally value the higher frame rate over resolution that being said there will be special videos where I'll need or want to shoot in 4k so in preparation for those shoots I snagged two of these 256 gig SD cards from PNY the cards are rated at class 10 up to 95 megabytes per second and should be more than enough storage for when I'm shooting at 4k now while having a kickass body and lens combo is nice all the CES planning I've done lately made me really determined to create a flexible setup that's ready to handle on location events so here we have the 515 cage from D focused systems apart from making the camera look like a block of Swiss cheese which granted was really important to me a DSLR cage such as this one lets you expand your camera's functionality by mounting a number of different accessories to the cage like microphones recorders or lighting the 515 is specifically designed to house the gh4 in a compact fit with 58 threaded holes for flexible mounting and the open frame leaves access to all the buttons dials and slot covers on the camera for streamlined operation although I purchased this new arrival with off-site shooting in mind I didn't realize how much I'd love using the cage at home as well the cage changed my life and it can change yours too thanks Kate being able to mount and swap out accessories on the fly is absolutely awesome and it's helped speed up my film process on a daily basis one such accessory that I'll be mounting to the 5:15 on occasion is my new Sennheiser MKH 416 gun mic all too often I see the audio get put on the back burner in online videos but I think it's about time I dr-40 received some help with recording all the dialogue you hear on awesomesauce network the mkh 416 was the most praised shotgun mic i could find on the interwebs from amateurs and professionals alike so I had to give it a shot gun as good as my dr 40 was for the price the 416 is on a whole other level and the directional pickup pattern makes it just as useful at noisy events as it is in my office from the mics XLR output I have a line going into my dr 44 phantom power and then directly into the gh4 for recording it's a beautiful combination that's also streamlined my workflow immensely now for shooting exclusively at events or on the go I grabbed this aluminium monopod for Manfrotto that I'll be using around CES and I put the model number in the description after having to surgically remove my old crappy monopod from my shoulder rig with a pair of pliers last month I vowed to never buy a cheap monopod ever again funny enough this model was only fifty bucks but nonetheless the build quality is excellent all around from the wide mounting base to the sturdy leg warmers to the black shaft that feels great in my hands and finally winding down my list of new gear is this heavy duty rubber carrying handle from small rig that attaches to the top of the camera cage this makes carrying the entire rig from A to B so much easier than grabbing it by the monopod or tripod it's mounted too though I do like that black shaft overall it's a small and affordable addition to my setup that makes a world of difference in a variety of shooting environments that promotes equipment security and mobility and that is all the new hardware I'll be using to make videos from here on out guys now that I have most of the things I need I'm really looking forward to familiarizing myself with the new gear and start making some killer looking videos for y'all but let me know