If you're working with a variety of Canon EF Auto Focus lenses with your Sony A7s, Sony A7sII or Sony A7RII cameras, you'll need a good lens adapter that can communicate to the lens so that you can at least change aperture values. Otherwise your lens will be stuck at one Aperture. At the same time, you'll probably need a variety of ND Filters to fit the different lenses - or at least a bunch of step up filters.
Or you can simplify your workflow and check out the new FotoDiox ND Throttle Fusion Adapter that has a built in Variable ND Filter (inside the lens adapter) while still allowing full communication to your Canon EF Auto Focus Lens and to adjust aperture settings from the camera's dials.
The FotoDiox ND Throttle Auto Lens Adapter is especially handy for people who love shooting in SLOG and wide open apertures. As the base ISO with SLOG on an A7s is 3200 (or 1600 on A7sII) normally your way overexposed. Adding an ND Filter as part of your Sony shooting kit is going to really help you control that SLOG exposure while keeping your super shallow DOF look.
Of course there are times when you need every bit of light you can get, so I can't say it's going to be the only Lens Adapters in your bag. Once you have this ND Throttle mounted you'll get a bit of light loss even at it's minimum setting ND. But I generally like shooting 'with' light and always try to add creative lighting to our scenes, so I could say this would probably tackle more than 80% of what we shoot with the Sony A7sII. It's definitely an adapter I think i'll use more over my Metabones.
If you're not a fan of the new BlackMagic Design Micro Cinema Camera, this video is most likely going to bore you. So you may want to skip this post. But if you're currently shooting with the BMMCC (and as obsessed as I am), i'm pretty sure you'll find this post super helpful - especially the part where I share a little of my DIY Remote Handle setup.
First let's talk a little about 'Why this BlackMagic Design Micro Cinema Camera?'. Simply put, it's under $1K and offers RAW video up to 60p. And it's incredibly tiny! No other camera offers this, and I love the color science. But it's not an easy camera to operate handheld as there is no screen and the menu is deep for changing small settings.
Originally frustrated with the handling and controls of this camera - my combination of parts and custom button mapping has allowed me to just grab this camera and shoot. It's now a camera I can enjoy shooting with. There's obviously no right way to rig a camera, and this is just how i've assembled it for my personal taste. For those asking, the 15mm rod above my BMMCC is held in place with a Pico Plate (below).
If you're looking to really run small, you can opt for using native Micro Four-Thirds lenses (instead of my Full Frame Rokinon Cinema lenses) or even the Veydra MFT Cinema Primes. You can also shrink your monitor down with something lighter, thinner, and smaller like the SmallHD 501. That would really make this BlackMagic Design Micro Cinema Camera a super portable system.
Rigged BMMCC size compared to Panasonic DVX100a
There are some benefits to using the BlackMagic Design Video Assist as a monitor though. I can set the internal recording to RAW, but if I decide to shoot in a lower format like ProRes, I can do that from the BMVA (without having to change in camera). Or I can record simultaneously RAW (in camera) and ProRes LT (in BMVA) for some quick proxy files to share or have a backup.
By the way, the Video Assist monitor doesn't add any controls with it's touch screen. It simply works as a Monitor and an HDMI Recorder. You can't communicate with the BMMCC.
Obviously they wanted to use small batteries on this camera to minimize the weight for Drone use, but I'm very happy with my Sony to Canon LP-E6 mod. It's a great way to add extra run time without adding an external battery system like a V-Mount. And I would hate to have to use their breakout cable which is a mess, and then have to input a 12V source. With my mod, it feels like i'm just using a bigger Canon battery, and i'm still using 7V.
The battery mod also allows me to power both camera and one extra accessory at 7.4V using my SWIT battery. Instead of using the 12V input on the Video Assist monitor, i'm using a Canon LP-E6 dummy battery to use basic 7V. (I really did put a lot of thought into this setup).
Hopefully the video explained how i'm creating changes in the camera in a way you can understand. When you join the two wires together from the analog PWM input, it sends a signal to change a setting. This works on many of the options, but not everything. For some items (like iris, focus) you'll need true PWM. The other 'con' if you will is that you can't go backwards. Not really a big deal as it's still much easier than diving into the menu for every small change.
I really wish BlackMagic Design would expand these PWM options to include changing FrameRates and changing from RAW to ProRes. That would really complete this camera, and many companies can create simple remote handles to control almost every aspect. They allow the use of S.Bus which means you can expand even further from the 4 basic analog inputs and control up to 18 more settings through a single channel input.
In any case, i'll stop rambling and hopefully this post has been helpful to other BMMCC shooters. If you're thinking about picking one up, it would be great if you consider DVEStore.com as they were the ones who put this camera into my hands to study, spend countless hours on, and share this information with you guys.
Oh and BTW, i'm far from done. I'm already designing an entire rig around this camera based on my setup, including a remote handle to operate some of the settings i've show in this video. A complete rig that will allow other BMMCC shooters to just add a camera + monitor and start shooting with similar ergonomics as a camcorder. So if this is something you're interested in seeing, simply like or share this post. It will let me know if it's something I should spend some time on.
Fotodiox ND Throttle Auto Adapter Canon EF to Sony E-Mount
BlackMagic Design Micro Cinema Camera RAW ProRes 60p
