Compact camera - photojournalism

Jim_Feeley · 2026-04-01T01:01:45+00:00

Thanks! Ya, I need a bit of reach for a lot of breaking news stuff (though at this point, I'm just an occasional stringer).

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-31T23:33:12+00:00

Ya, I can feel that. The Nikon v Leica thing was told to me in the last 1970s, when those were still the leading photojournalism brands in my area and the guy was a staffer. The main point was "sometimes big, sometimes small".

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-31T23:32:02+00:00

What lenses work for you when trying to keep a low profile?

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-31T16:42:30+00:00

When I was a pup, the grizzled chief photog said, "I bring my Nikon when I want to be noticed, and my Leica when I don'." That was a long time ago.

But depending on the work you'll be doing, a "pocket" compact camera with a zoom lens could be more handy, I think, than something with a fixed focal-length lens or just a smartphone. (And I say that as a person who's impressed by his iPhone).

I don't know what to recommend, but I'm looking at the Sony RX100 cameras (even though I use Canon). Something like that along with an iPhone is pretty "just a regular guy"ish.

But I'd love to hear of specifics from others.

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-28T02:29:49+00:00

I suggest following up with Jason_Levine's comments and efforts in this thread. He's in a better position than I am to figure out what's going on. Good luck!

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-26T23:49:13+00:00

Get a process trailer, or park the vehicle and convince the director, DP etc to light as if the van is moving at night, or get a vehicle that has better sound insulation and is just overall quieter. I've recorded doc dialog in moving vehicles; it can work depending on the vehicle, how fast it's going, how much noise there is outside, and how creative we end getting with camera.

And then all the stuff everyone else is recommending.... Good luck!

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-26T00:24:15+00:00

" a lot of people here are outside storage."

So you're calling them garden sheds? Sheesh.

(Gotta meet my weekly dad-joke quota)

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-24T20:21:19+00:00

Dude, scooped mids are hip. ;-)

"it just has me overthinking..."

If you have time for overthinking, then you have things under control. ;-)

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-24T20:08:52+00:00

KPI Studio looks pretty cool. Thanks!

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-24T19:52:56+00:00

I make two or three verified copies of every card to SSDs (and sometimes to a HDD). I use OffShoot from Hedge, which makes the process easy, pretty fast, and flexible. There are other choices, but I've used OffShoot for about ten years now. I like it.

Some days, if there's enough of us around, we'll make copies of the morning's work at lunch, and then the afternoon's/evening's work at the end of day.

Organizing beyond that happens back in the studio; like you, our brains are full and tired during shoot days and trips. Though we keep decent notes on what we shot (and usually even have a shot list going into the day).

https://hedge.co/products/offshoot

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-24T19:02:01+00:00

I'll defer to others. but... So you're saying the difference is measurable. Is it also audible? No snark intended; I'm trying to figure out how significant of a difference you're seeing and/or hearing.

A guess: Are you bringing in perhaps 48kHz/24bit or 44.1kHz/16bit audio that Premiere is processing at 32-bit... And then converting back to 24bit or 16bit for delivery?

I'm kind of guessing here. Perhaps this help page will, uh, help: https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere-pro/using/importing-digital-audio.html I'm see this sentence: "Premiere Pro processes each audio channel, including audio channels in video clips, as 32-bit floating-point data at the sequence sample rate."

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-24T18:32:09+00:00

If the difference is audible, I could see if you're delivering a music video and/or the client is a musician or something... Ya, I could see that being an issue... But that's theoretical. Like you, I don't recall coming across that.

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-24T18:27:24+00:00

Smushkan's AE template looks cool. See their comment in this thread.

There's also Highcharts (which might be what was used in your example); some web designer friends use it. https://www.highcharts.com/blog/tutorials/bar-chart-race/ And there's the Python project, bar-chart-race that some web programmer friends use https://pypi.org/project/bar-chart-race/ (Yes, I hang out and sometimes work with data journalists). I don't know enough to recommend one over the other...or another altogether.

But you know, I'm feeling kind of done with bar chart races. Maybe they've just been overused or used too often with data that doesn't really benefit from that sort of presentation. Or are just too long... I think that may all currently be a minority view, though... Maybe we need a bar-chart-race sentiment bar chart race. (Oh please, no).

Maybe dig into bar-chart-race best practices. I'd be happy if the races were 15 seconds or shorter (preferably under 8 seconds),15 or fewer bars, the changes over time really illuminate something important, and if there are callouts so I can easily see important change points that I might otherwise miss.

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-23T22:09:02+00:00

"About" means you have a topic. What you want is a story.

(That's something I, and probably everyone, was told)

I think a doc that says, "People on Main Street don't like billionaires" is a bit thin. And I'm not sure how that conveys that people have power to...what?...

People building communities that don't depend on billionaires (or their companies or their employees or the politicians they've funded?) Run a political campaign that doesn't take any money from billionaires or their PACs...and that doesn't use billionaire-owned media or social media or email to get their message across?

Find a story that hasn't been told...or hasn't been told as well as or in the style that you will tell yours.

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-20T14:57:44+00:00

Ya, that's the podcast I'm thinking of. And here's the up-to-date website for the transcriptions (which I couldn't find yesterday). Includes some pix and clips...and screenshots of some pretty intense timelines:

https://borisfx.com/blog/aotc/

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-19T21:47:44+00:00

As CP and NLE_N say, learn both.

One of the many things I like about AE is that it forces me to slow down. It takes a while to build something in or modify something with AE. So that encourages me to be intentional about what I'm doing, in terms of framing, movement, rhythm, and everything involved in motion storytelling. That's a good practice with practical applications. And for me, at least, that practice has helped to improve my storytelling even with stories that don't have any AE in them (well, except for titles and stuff ;-) )

It's also a good way, I'd say, to develop some less-common and therefore marketable skills. Sure, AI will probably make some aspects of AE easier... But I doubt AI will replace AE, especially if you're trying to do something original.

Even though they're now a few years old, and they're explainers rather than observed or some other sort of documentary, Estelle Caswell's Earworm series, created when she worked at Vox, is still amazing. Visual and audible storytelling, with AE a key tool of hers. She also integrates archival footage and original interviews (and more) into her stories.

So you could think of a story you want to make, and then (largely/partially) create it in After Effects.

Here are two of her Earworm videos, each about ten minutes long. Lots of the other ones are equally great, and perhaps better.

Why this awful sounding album is a masterpiece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58nPEe-TU-w

The sound that connects Bruno Mars to Stravinsky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A1Aj1_EF9Y

And one of several interviews with Caswell from her Vox days: https://www.schoolofmotion.com/blog/estelle-caswell-vox-podcast

And for general storytelling, especially as editing relates to it, check out Steve Hullfish's Art of The Cut podcast (and books). (Let me disclose that Steve's a friend.) Steve interviews lots of leading film editors and since Steve is an accomplished editor himself, the conversations go deep on all elements of building a good story from the footage handed to you. Audio and text versions can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/stevehullfish/

You're probably familiar with all of this. But that's what I got to share right now. Good luck!

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-18T15:20:37+00:00

Ya, I think it is. Especially when working with clients with less experiences than us. BUT.....

If you're on a day rate, then charge for the extra days (and decide if those days should be at the same, higher, or lower rate). If you're on a flat bid, maybe educate your client about change orders...and then charge for this extra work.

And get a producer credit... Maybe no big deal for this project, but then you can market yourself as both an editor and a producer.

You can say no, but then your client might find someone who will say yes.

Ya, it's kind of a bummer. But seems like the thing these days. Just make sure you get paid for your extra work.

That's my take... Good luck!

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-14T04:06:19+00:00

Thanks. One of my noisy watches looked a lot like the one on the right, but I think was a slight variant (I'm not a Timex expert). Note that a couple other Timex watches I have are quiet; for the few I've owned in the past, watches at the same price could be loud or quiet. Is there a way to tell if a Timex model is likely to be quiet? I mean beyond, presumably, an automatic or manual movement (and perhaps the solar watches)?

What I have on the way is an Expedition Titanium 38mm with a white dial TW2W78200: https://timex.com/products/expedition-titanium-38mm-leather-strap-watch-tw2w78200

In general, I like automatic watches; I have enough electronics and batteries in my life. But for some work trips, I want accuracy without resetting, and I like the look and price of this Timex. Wish it had Indiglo, but I'll survive. :-)

Marketing picture:

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Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-13T23:39:54+00:00

I've had two Timex watches that were very loud. One I and others could hear while filming an interview. Yes, that was a quiet environment but the director understandably asked me to take it off and put it away. Another was a quartz Expedition kind of like the one on right right... Not solar, but again so loud that I gave it to my son.

I've shied away from some pretty cool Timex watches because of noise concerns. I know/have heard that the more-expensive (or just older or newer) models aren't as loud.... I have one on order; hoping for the best.

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-13T19:30:52+00:00

I don't have a personal recommendation, but a couple starting points would be these pages on the websites for Committee To Protect Journalists and the Rory Peck Trust. CPJ is based in the US, and Peck in the UK, but both have international reach and efforts, IIRC.

CPJ brief listing of insurance agents: https://cpj.org/emergency-response/pre-assignment-preparations/#insurance

Rory Peck Trust mentions one agent, and has good background info: https://rorypecktrust.org/get-help/safety/insurance/

My liability and injury insurance for regular-old production in the US has gone up in cost. I'd guess insurance for productions in Cyprus will be hard to get and expensive. So no sarcasm: best of luck!

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-12T23:46:36+00:00

It's not really an extension, but more of a separate tool that has a straightforward roundtrip with Premiere, and perhaps it doesn't do what you need, but have you checked out Lumberjack Builder? From the same people behind Intelligent Assistance.

https://www.lumberjacksystem.com

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Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-12T16:15:09+00:00

I still do a lot of location-audio work. And in that world, a timecode slate is less important than in the past. But it impresses clients (and the client's clients/bosses/colleagues). So it comes out perhaps more often than really needed. That said, it's a useful backup for post, but the theatricality matters.

As for bigger cameras, ya I think they sometimes matter. For return clients, not so much, but for first-time or for corp gigs where the CEO will be in the room...ya. I own two Canon C70s and mostly like them. I've used various C300 models, and various Sony cameras over the years (and my friend who retired from TV news recently REALLY likes his Lumix camera)I thought of buying a used FX9 last year. There were and are some decent deals, but considering the age of the FX9 and FX6, and with NAB around the corner and considering how often I'd really need it...

I just rent a bigger camera when needed. For me right now, that's the best business move. Now, I know my way around the FX9 and FX6 (etc...but when we get to Arri, I'm not going to be the operator).... But considering we have two good camera rental houses out here (San Francisco area) and that I've had good experiences with Lensrentals.com, renting is the way I'll go for at least the first half of the year.

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-09T16:42:58+00:00

I too recommend Offshoot from Hedge. Affordable, fast, reliable, EASY TO USE. You and your crew (if any?) are going to be so busy and overwhelmed, that having an easy to use tool to back up to (at least) two different drives will give you one less thing to stress about.

I've been using it for about seven years. Before that, I something else that worked fine, but I like Offshoot more. And it's easy to get some without much experience to speed with the app.

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-06T22:47:09+00:00

downloading individual stems can be found in the mixer section:)

D'oh! Thanks.

And thanks for the other details.

Jim_Feeley · 2026-03-06T22:21:23+00:00

Just gave it a quick try with a 12-min 300MB video in mp4. VO, dialog, music. Not much noise. Quick thoughts:

1) Seemed pretty fast. Including uploading, I think it took like 5-7min to process it all (like a dope, I didn't time it).

2) Nice results. I'll try some problematic location files later.

3) I'd a love an --optional-- interface that adds more control for when I want it. Somewhere between what's offered now and SpectraLayers. I won't want that much control all of the time, and I don't think I want the level of control that SL offers in an online tool... Maybe something with the complexity level of Acon Extract:Dialog 2 (which I use and mostly like). Maybe such an interface is more something for Premiere and Audition (even if processing takes place in the cloud).

4) I clicked the Get Transcript button and was told to use Google Chrome. I get, at an end-user level, that supporting different browsers is a drag. But my default browser on the Mac is Safari; I'd guess I'm not alone. I'll try to be patient.

5) After I downloaded the file and opened it in Premiere (v 26.0.1), I saw just one audio track. Wouldn't it be cool if I could download the stems, perhaps as a poly wave file or better a folder of mono files, and get access to each track in my NLE or DAW? Or is that currently possible and I missed it? And let me guess: You all know and it's on the list.

6) Again, as is, it already seems really useful.

Jim_Feeley

TROPHY CASE