Over the last few months, for whatever reason, I’ve started to receive emails and calls from fellow videographers inquiring about some of the equipment, software or process I use to produce our videos. After typing a few long emails and talking cross country a few times I thought it would be a lot easier to just make a few blog posts about that very topic.
My disclaimer 
The equipment I use is not necessarily the best nor have I tested a variety of products. What I use simply works for me.
Camera: Canon XH-A1
With the recent exception of the 5D MarkII, everything I’ve shot is on the XH-A1. In the right conditions it has served me very well. I especially love the 20X zoom. The long telephoto allows me to squeeze some shallow depth of field out of the camera (I do not use a 35mm lens adapter). You’ll often see me shooting from a distance because of it. The truth is, most cameras on the market right now are awesome and have the ability to capture great footage.
Wide angle adapter: Century Optics .6x
On the opposite end of the telephoto spectrum I use a wide angle converter. In my opinion you can never have a wide enough shot in some locations. The Century optics adapter I use unfortunately is not a zoom through however I save some weight because of it and I love the bayonet mount.
Stabilizer: Glidecam 4000
I use the Glidecam 4000 without the vest and arm which means I hand hold the the camera and sled. The Glidecam, my camera and wide angle adapter produce very acceptable traveling shots(when balanced correctly). I shoot on the Glidecam in very short bursts, usually 10 seconds or less which is why I’m able to hold it by hand. I found the vest and arm too limiting for my typical run and gun style of shooting where I’m constantly moving between the stabilizer, a tripod (Manfrotto sticks with 503 head) and going completely hand held.
Camera: Canon 5D MarkII
We are just starting to produce videos using the MarkII. There are tons of write ups on the video capability so I won’t reinvent that wheel. I will say that along with the stunning image quality, it will give us the shallow depth of field that’s so hard to obtain with the camcorder. So far, it’s a great supplement to the XH-A1 and as a primary camera.
That’s a quick run down of some of the major equipment I use to capture footage.
Of course, to produce a finished product there are many more tools involved, perhaps I will blog about them in the near future.
