12-12-2020, 03:26 AM
I was shooting some pictures for the instagram account of an alcoholic drink "V-Beirut vodka" to be launched on the market next month
I learnt some valuable things I'd like to share
From gear side:
High FPS rate is not needed but the camera must be able to take 2-3 frames per second however most important important is the buffer, a full buffer and unresponsive camera is a true disaster.
Fast autofocus, face recognition, eye autofocus are essential, can't imagine shooting without them, tough and drag autofocus was of a major help
Tilt and Swivel screen helped a lot when shooting from above for instance no other way to frame correctly
Good high ISO performance is life saving
Gear weight and size is irrelevant you won't be carrying it for long distances
For the lenses side having fast lenses is essential, for the first time I found a need to shoot at f2.8 with my Tokina 16-28f2.8 that performed very well, however didn't need to go wider than 20mm
Fast primes for shallow DOF are a must mainly in the 50 to 100mm range sometimes I missed having a 35mm prime, anyway my 50f1.4 (used at f2.0) and 85f1.8 did the job
For the lighting I think flashes and strobes are outdated, LED lights are by far more practical, having an assistant here would save a lot of time and helps you concentrate on what's essential
one last thing: using adapted micro SD cards instead of SD is fine, however keep in mind an adapter might fail leaving you with temporarily inaccessible pictures luckily I had a replacement card.
I learnt some valuable things I'd like to share
From gear side:
High FPS rate is not needed but the camera must be able to take 2-3 frames per second however most important important is the buffer, a full buffer and unresponsive camera is a true disaster.
Fast autofocus, face recognition, eye autofocus are essential, can't imagine shooting without them, tough and drag autofocus was of a major help
Tilt and Swivel screen helped a lot when shooting from above for instance no other way to frame correctly
Good high ISO performance is life saving
Gear weight and size is irrelevant you won't be carrying it for long distances
For the lenses side having fast lenses is essential, for the first time I found a need to shoot at f2.8 with my Tokina 16-28f2.8 that performed very well, however didn't need to go wider than 20mm
Fast primes for shallow DOF are a must mainly in the 50 to 100mm range sometimes I missed having a 35mm prime, anyway my 50f1.4 (used at f2.0) and 85f1.8 did the job
For the lighting I think flashes and strobes are outdated, LED lights are by far more practical, having an assistant here would save a lot of time and helps you concentrate on what's essential
one last thing: using adapted micro SD cards instead of SD is fine, however keep in mind an adapter might fail leaving you with temporarily inaccessible pictures luckily I had a replacement card.