Sony intros new lenses, issues updates and drops the F3 S-log upgrade price
By Matt Allard Big news from Sony USA this week. You can now purchase the S-log upgrade for your F3 for a mere $899 US. This is no doubt a direct response to the launch of the Canon C300. The S-log upgrade was $3800 and came on a SxS card. The $899 price lasts until...
A Cameraman’s New Year message
By Matt Allard It’s an all-out battle in the DSLR world: 2011 saw a plethora of new camera gear and announcements. The major manufacturers are now engaged in a real fight, which can only be a good thing for the end user. That said…while all this new gear is great, I feel we are becoming...
Saltwater – A short doc film on shot on the Sony F3
By Matt Allard I was pretty much sold on the Sony F3 before it had even been launched at NAB. After seeing a film called “Compulsion” by Jason Wingrove on Vimeo it was a done deal in my mind to go and purchase. Jason had shot this piece down at one of Sydney’s sea pools...
No One Is An Expert
By Matt Allard I recently read a very good article by Mike Jones where he talks about the digital age of film making and how every man and his dog are now calling themselves a professional film maker. Mike is a lecturer in screen studies at the Australian Film TV and Radio School where he...
Sony’s S-log For Dummies – Matt Allard explains how it works with his PMW-F3
By Matt Allard Like me you probably hadn’t heard of Sony S-log or even had the faintest idea about what it is or what it does. S-log was originally only available on super high end Cine cameras like the Sony F35. Now that it’s available for the Sony F3 I thought I’d do some research...
Covering the continuing story in Japan – six months after the Tsunami
By Matt Allard I have spent more than 100 days so far this year in Japan covering a range of stories. Most of them have been related to the Earthquake and Tsunami that devastated the country on the 11th March. I’ve already posted some of the stories from there but wanted to take the opportunity...
Shooting with the Basics
By Matt Allard Villa 9 from Matthew Allard on Vimeo. I spent a week in Bali on a break recently and decided to make a short little film. I didn’t plan to do this beforehand and had only taken equipment to take photographs, so this is a good example of what you can do with...
Choosing your lens – which stills lenses for video?
By Matt Allard Lenses should be the most important part of your kit. Camera bodies come and go, but good glass can be used for a lifetime. Testament to this is that 20- to 30-year-old lenses can still look fantastic on your camera. Over time they have been refined – auto focus and stabilization may...
New Sony F3 Firmware Released
By Matt Allard Two new firmware updates have become available for the Sony PMW-F3. The first is the free version 1.1 – available to download here. It enables the following features on the camera: 1. Simultaneous live HD-SDI and HDMI output – This is great for anyone wanting to use an external viewfinder like the...
Filming Japan’s robot ancestors using the Sony F3 – for Aljazeera’s Frames
By Matthew Allard Karakuri from Matthew Allard on Vimeo. I shot this short film for Aljazeera’s Frames four days before the devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. This is one of the first things I shot on my Sony F3. It had arrived for me in Tokyo on the first of February but I was...
Al Jazeera’s Matt Allard – Covering The Disaster In Japan
On March 11th at 14:46 local time, a huge magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck Japan. It was the biggest to strike Japan in its history and the fifth largest quake recorded worldwide since 1900. The death toll is now nearly 15,000 and 12,000 people are still missing. Japan is built to withstand earthquakes, but what ultimately caused...
Using the new Sony F3 – by Matthew Allard of Al Jazeera
I have been shooting a lot over the last two years with Canon DSLRs. They have definitely changed the way I shoot and I’ve been able to use them in situations and conditions where I could never have used a HD broadcast camera. I have been addicted to the brilliant image and low light capabilities...
