How Much Gear Should You Take?

Posted March 07, 2017

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There was a time when you had little choice as to how much gear to take with you into the field.

Giant betacams, or even worse, U-Matic cameras that required a separate record deck that was connected by an umbilical cord. The big cameras meant big batteries, big tripods and big people to carry them around. It also meant pelican cases and automobiles. Television and video were complicated.

Of course, going to shoot with all the gear (and we have not even begun to talk about light kits), meant that shoots were far from spontaneous events. They required a lot of planning, and of course, they were expensive.

When you are spending that much money, you are going to be very careful about where you commit your resources, and so 99% of the things you might have shot, just to see what might happen… never happened.

The gear now, of course, is much smaller and with the advent of iPhone and Smartphone video, smaller still.

This week, on TheVJ.com we are going to do a side by side comparison what what gear you need to take with you in the field based on the camera or phone that you are using.

The important thing here is that the gear that you take has to match the kind of story you are shooting and producing. Don’t 'over gear' yourself. Taking too much equipment will only slow you down and kill your creativity and spontaneity. The lighter the equipment you are carrying, the more mobile you will be and the more intimate your story will become.

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