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Hey man, love the videos! I was back-and-forth on whether I should get the flow tech tripod as well, but I ended up getting the Sirui SQ75 VHS-10 and I’d say it’s probably 90% Of the flow tech and it’s only 400 bucks on their website and you get a free accessory with it. But it addresses all the problems you have with your current tripod. Might be worth looking into if you want to save some cash!

Ahh you're back to gear talk - love it, thx

Really good vid - thanks! More content like this appreciated

I absolutely love this journey of bts one man band filmmaking you're taking us on. It's tremendously valueable and i'm rooting for your success. keep it up!

You’re videos lately about slimming down have been intriguing. Appreciate the effort. I’m my experience the Arri lightweight stands are just better quality than their competitors. I’ve got some that are super beat up after years of use but they still work perfectly, I can’t say the same about cheaper stands. I’ve been considering the bigger Pelicase to store stands, lights and accessories as I only want to carry Camerabag, tripod and pelicase, I think it’s a winner. Are you still going to use your Adicam for load ins or is that now gone too?

70 comments! This is the content I crave lol. I love seeing how folks organize their setups and optimize it for what they do. I need to make a video for my kit, we have a few similarities for sure. For the lantern, take a look at the Geekoto Y36. It's basically the same as the smallrig softbox you have (and a few others), except it has the translucent fabric on the sides like a lantern. I need to stop being cheap and get one as there aren't too many review for it surprisingly. Can't wait to see how this new kit works for you in the near future 👍🏿👍🏿

I would say after finishing the video, you might like the air tube light modifiers from mito I haven't had much personal experience with them but they seem to be dope when ive ran into them. After I get some stronger stands those will be my next purchase

I love your vidoes man I feel like I'm watching myself but the step up in my career. It is crazy how similar our thoughts are and how we similar equipment etc.. even to that boom pole method and our bags lolol an complaining about the aputure lantern. I'm personally getting burned out after all these years of filming though and trying to make the switch to fulltime somewhere. I hope for nothing but the best for you man.

the 60x is such a high quality piece of kit. so solidly built.

I still like OEM batteries. It's too bad that the monitor aint great. But OEM means you get battery indicator and accurate time remaining. Also because of this, it will do a proper shutdown when the battery almost runs out. It will close the file and save it, no curruption, yay. E-Image looks like a great value. Having good counter balance adjustment makes all the difference when operating camera on sticks and being able to properly balance your camera.

Take a peek at the Amaran 25c. It’s significantly brighter than the MT pro. It uses Sidus link, it’s cheaper at half the price and more compact.

I agree it’s a good idea to trim the unnecessary and lighten the load for travel but not at the expense of safety. Those Arri and Lowel stands may travel, pack, and set up more efficiently but they are undersized for most of your lighting (except MC Pro) especially if you are booming a light or mic. I own them and I speak from decades of experience. The boom pole holder is cool, but as you can see on B&H link, the grayed out (not included) grip head is a Matthew’s Mini. The grip head you demonstrated goes against lightening the load as it’s heavier than most standard 2 1/2” grip heads. Not a problem on standard stands or c-stands but looks oversized for the lighter duty stands you want to go with. I recommend getting a rolling case that’s long enough to travel with your tripod/head assembled and can accomadate your Impact folding boom. The Kupo stackers really don’t need a case for car travel as they bind together. I use the Manfrotto stackers and they have removeable 5/8” studs. For a couple of my set of six, I remove the stud and drop in a Matthew’s gobo arm down the tube. When I need to boom a light, I remove it and go through the set of holes on the side… all without using a grip head.

I have both the Light Dome SE and the Lantern and the dome is so annoying to put together haha! But like you pointed out the lantern isn’t easy to pack. I’ve had my eye on the Pelican 1615 because it’ll fit my tripod. Do you plan on taking that case with you when you fly? If so, do you have an idea of how much it weighs with all your gear in it?

really cannot praise the almost fully de-rigged FX6 setup enough. It's SO good just running it minimal like how you have it here. It just folds up nice and compact, can fit in a peli or backpack fully assembled w/o side handle... It's been paying itself off for me on that alone as I need like 20 seconds to be up and shooting. I keep the fold-up screen guard on the LCD to keep it safe in transport. I also have the Tilta V-Mount plate as I have a bunch of batteries and I like having the longer run-times vs the (expensive) sony batteries. Your body, back and arms will thank you for doing that lol

Matthews makes a “maxi steel kit stand” they pack down pretty small and can handle 20-25lbs If the arri stands dont treat you well

I have four of the original Arri Kit stands. They ARE much better than the ones you bought and I've owned them for decades and use them on most shoots. All metal, they fold down narrower than the plastic sleeved ones too and they just go forever.

This guy has a great video on downsizing gear. He doesn't do the type of jobs you do, but the video is well done and he has some good ideas. th-cam.com/video/lF_dKv9DX3w/w-d-xo.htmlsi=jtHS_TYcjLhB4ptf

The amaran Ace 25s with a usb powerbank instead of battery, especially on a quick detach mounts(something like hawk lock)

Just going thru the same process for my wedding video kit. I need to get everything into 2x rollover bags. Tiny light stands, tripods to be slung on the out side of the bag. Using Tenba cineluxe bags. One 21 inch, one 24 inch. Miniature light stands with extensions and 2x Nanlite 60w with fresnel and barn doors. Powered by NP sony batteries. 4 cameras and 6 lenses, gimbal and monopod.

14:27 one thing that not many people mentioned for the Sony PXW-Z200 is that it has a high brightness LCD screen which is supposedly quite the bit better. So it's a good indicator that at the very least any new fx6/9 would have it too. Hopefully you can buy it separately.

The dream. It's always in flux.

What if you get a reflector eliminating screen protector and cut it down to size?

For monitor reflection outdoors, try wearing a dark shirt and a large-brimmed hat-which also provides much needed sun-protection on extended shoots. You don’t need a bulky, professional fluid head unless you need to pan/tilt WHILE you’re filming. A gimbal can also do smooth pans/tilts. Carry-on luggage is best used for expensive gear and batteries. Check-in luggage is best for your less-costly, large/long equipment. You don’t need heavyweight grip gear unless you’ll be outdoors where the wind can whip up, or you need to make a “heavyweight impression”. Consider buying bulk-bottled-water on site in lieu of sandbags, or bring sandbags with freezer bag liners then buy sand from a local home improvement store.

Dude this video came at just the right time.. i’m so sick of using c stands and want to get rid of them as a solo shooter/small crew.

Now this is my realm, ive wasted toooooo much $$$ in testing and trying. I call it my C gear, as long as you arent fighting the sun it works

Thanks for sharing! I saw that someone finally released an extension cable for that FX6 monitor, so you can probably do your shoulder mount setup. I won't link it, but it's by MID49. I haven't tested it, but it may work for you.

Check out the LightBank Mito Air. It's an inflatable tube shaped diffusion. I just got one after seeing another big production filmmaker get it and love it and I've used it twice. Great key light, all the weight stays right over the stand because it's weighs barely anything, and it has a good fall off.

Recommend adding a little bit of padding to your light stand case. It could be some off cuts of foam, old black towel, or some black duvatine 'film' fabric depending on your budget. Mostly to protect your tripod legs and head. The tubes on legs are finely finished to work smoothly and it doesn't take much of a burr or scatch for the slides to start catching and binding at the slight scratched section. Very nice going on minimizing the size and bulk of your travel kit. The before and after shots showed just how effectively you did it. 😊👍

8' Cheetah stands are around $110 and seem much better for mobility than the ARRI stands. Are you familiar with Cheetah Stands?

Very nice. I would recommend using a quick release like a SmallRig hawklock so you don’t have to be threading that hair light and risk the thread from wearing off and it’s also faster to lock it in.

Minimalizing is satisfying!! :)

Zhiyun has a lot of high power small package lights, way better light output per pound than Aputure/Amaran. If you wanna keep your package light that could help. Shoot them a DM, maybe they can hook you up with one of their 100 watts tubes, awesome hair lights.

The frustrating part to me is the trial and error process. I spend a lot of money and time optimizing setups. I'm currently deciding how to downsize my light bag, which is huge. Anyway, congrats on your smaller setup, brother. / DANAMI

I’ve noticed the trend of having a more "minimalistic" camera rig, with stripped-down setups becoming popular. I was curious-what ever happened to the idea of building out a full rig with a matte box, cage, rails, and an external monitor to make your gear look more expensive so you could charge more?

Great video! I'm in the same boat as you, going super light weight and reducing gear. I also do corporate stills alongside video work and I've been in the process of reducing that footprint with flash photography as well. I like your new setup, except I'm a little concerned about the weight of that pelican air with the tripod and the stands. How much does that case weigh? Wouldn't it be better in dividing that into two soft bags when not having to fly? Remember that even though you're young, all the stresses you put on your body are cumulative. You won't feel now but as you get older it hits you all of the sudden. I'm an old dude and I wish I was smarter when carrying gear when I was younger. You gotta use every dolly and every tool to save your back and your body.

Get a z finder for the built in screen. Turns it into a viewfinder then you can actually see what your shooting.

Man the zhiyun g300 lights are a dream for travel at 500 watts

For portable, small sandbags consider 3-5kg ankle weights. Works great on smaller stands!

Hey David, I’m in the process of doing the same, if you want to chat about it just let me know, would love to

7:40 - Same ! I love see these ! And just like you I don’t care about the product quality I care more about the content quality/ knowledge shared / information exchange ! S/O ( ShoutOut) to you bro , you were actually the first person I found doing this

To comment on your note about accidentally setting the hair light/kicker coming from the key side. That is actually a very naturalistic approach in lighting. I've Gaffed for multiple DP's that prefer to set the kicker on key side as it feels more natural. So I wouldn't sweat it too much, great video as always.

Love just running my C70 with a BPA60 battery, can get a good five or more hours out of it. Perfect for long interviews etc.

I just started selling a bunch of lenses I was hoarding. Most of my paying gigs involve 2 lenses, 3 maximum. Now I need to sell all my half working wireless mics and just buy the damn DJI mic 2

Ha, I'm working towards shooting my first feature film in Daytona Beach. I'm using an FS5ii. It's a solid camera, especially paired with a shogun inferno. Mermaids are coming.

Lighting from outside 🔥

With the Sony UMP Lavs, you can power off the Sony Batteries through the hot shoe too. It's amazing for ditching v-mounts. I would rather just run a sony batts all day. Even if it means using the worse monitor. With a loupe on it, it's not so bad. But it's anothe reason I really like Canon C300, the 4" monitor is bright and detailed!

Definitely too far for the lav, it's worth just testing it before hand if it's new kit. Sanken COS11D is my favourite still overall. And tiny and easy to hide. Good that you are using a boom too. If you can spring for an MHK50 from Sennheiser down the road, it's amazing for interior interviews, much better than the 416 Sennheiser (better for outdoors). Once you buy this mic you are essentially done for the rest of your career on boom mics haha.

Hahaha, having so many mics happens. I have way too many too. Its a slippery slope buying specific equipment per client need. Not a bad thing at all for repeat clients, just you end up with a lot of gear. The Lowell light stands are great, I have used a set of Selens clones of them for 3 years now. They are great for a light weight interior kit. A different brand even makes Carbon Fiber versions nowadays which I really want to try. Ditching the Vmount is a good call for that type of shoot. literally the only reason I use V mount these days is for the counter weight to balance my rig. A BPU with a dtap out would fullfill my needs just as well asside from the weight offset. Nice lighting setup for the client, looks bright and trendy 😊👌

I am dual recording all the time now too, Got some large 1tb anglebird CF express type A cards and have over 500 min in 4k 24fps.

If you tell me what one lens and one camera body u would use for the rest of time I’ll sub ❤😊