**The Art of Cinematography: Tips from a Professional**

As a professional cinematographer and sometimes vlogger, I've found that the way we do our craft can completely throw people off. When I film myself vlogging, it's not uncommon for others to be like, "What are you doing? This isn't how you do it." And I say, "Oh, no no no, this is how we do it. Maybe not how you do it." It's all about understanding our own workflow and what works best for us.

**The Importance of Audio Quality**

One of the problems I've always run into when filming is battery life with my RODE microphones. I'd leave them on and forget to turn them off, or vice versa - forgetting to turn them on would result in no audio at all. Having a hotshoe microphone has been a lifesaver for me. It's small, lightweight, and uses the Sony hotshoe system, eliminating the need for batteries. This is especially important when you're always on the go and can't afford to worry about dead batteries.

**Lens Recommendations**

When it comes to lenses, I always get asked what one I recommend most. And my answer is this 16-50 lens. It's incredibly light, making it perfect for vloggers who are always on the move. However, there is a downside - the lens uses power zoom, which can be loud when manually adjusting. To alleviate this issue, I use the little power zoom button on the camera body. This makes filming much smoother and quieter.

**Lens Testing: A Slow-Mo Montage**

I recently took my lenses out for a test drive on a hike, where we were joined by Nick, who was also testing some new cameras. The first lens I tested was the 16-50. I'm really excited about this lens because it's so light and portable - perfect for when you're in a hurry. However, one of the downsides is that the power zoom can be quite loud. To avoid this, I use the power zoom button on the camera body.

**Lens Change: A Vlogger's Perspective**

Next up was the 18-105 lens. This is what it looks like when I'm vlogging with it - much heavier than my little 16-50 lens, but still light enough to handle for long filming sessions. I have to say, this lens has been a game-changer for me as a vlogger. With a full-frame sensor in comparison to my Sony A6500 or A7III, I can use smaller lenses and keep the overall weight of the kit much lower.

**Lens Testing: Beachside Fun**

For our final test, we headed to the beach, where it was sunny but not too bright. I wanted to show you guys what these lenses look like in a brighter condition. And let me tell you, they perform beautifully! The 16-50 lens is still one of my favorites - it's so light and easy to use. But the 18-105 lens has its own charm, especially when paired with a camera body that's not too heavy.

**Conclusion**

Filming is all about experimentation and finding what works best for you. Whether you're a professional cinematographer or just starting out as a vlogger, there's no one-size-fits-all solution. But by understanding your own workflow and the tools at your disposal, you can create stunning footage that showcases your unique style.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Hey guys, how's it going, it's Justine.And today we're going tobe doing an updated lookat what I've been recentlyusing to vlog with.Anytime I post vlogs I seeyou guys in the commentsasking the same questionsover and over again.What am I filming with?What kind of lenses am I using?What microphone?What tripod?All of those questions I willanswer today in this video.A huge thank you to Skillsharefor sponsoring today's video.If you guys haven'theard about Skillshare,definitely check it out.If you're like me, I have pretty muchlearned everything I know when it comes tovideo production andediting and taking photos,any time I have a question or anything,I'm always going to theinternet to look up stuff.So Skillshare has over17,000 classes and coursesthat you guys can take, rangingfrom a variety of subjects.Creative, business,technology, I was so excitedbecause one of the things that I've alwayswanted to learn is how totake better photos at night.This was one of the firstcourses that I came across.They have so manythings, so whatever it isthat you're looking to learn, I guaranteethat they will havesomething there for you.If you guys wanna check it out,the first 500 people to click my linkand sign up in the description belowwill get premium membershipfor $0.99 for two months.And then after that, it's $10 a monthif you choose to continue.All of the courses are taught by peoplewho are experts in their field,and this is also pretty awesome too.I travel a lot andsometimes I don't alwayshave an internet connection.You can download them on youriPhone or your Android phone.So if you are offline, youcan still view the courses.So I don't want to overwhelm you guys,but let me go through all ofthe stuff that I have here.First, starting with the camera.I have two cameras thatare my go-to for vlogging.This one is a little point and shoot,and this is the Sony RX100 Mark V.I've talked about thiscamera many, many times.I love this little thing.But the only downfall is itdoesn't have an audio input.So that's where this one comes in.This is the Sony a6500.So what I'm filming this video withis the Sony a7S II, you, and you.The biggest difference is the Sony a6500is not a full-frame sensor, so with this,I can use smaller lenses,it's much lighter.Whereas the a7S II, whichI used to vlog with,is a full-frame, thelenses are so much heavier.And it's also much more expensive,so when I'm traveling and I'mcarrying around this camera,a lot of bad things happen.I've dropped it so many times.It's always hitting off of things.So I definitely feel a little bit betterabout carrying this around, because it isway less expensive than the a7S IIand all of the lenses that go with it.So I just recently got thislens, and it's a kit lens.It's also a power zoom lens,so it has this littlezoom button right here.So it'll allow you to get somevery steady, smooth zooms.Where all of the lenses that I wasusing before to vlog withwere the manual kind,so you have to actually turn it to zoom.So what I love about this current setupis this camera is now super light.The 16mm, it gives you enough wide angleof a lens so that if you are vloggingand filming yourself youcan entirely be in frame,but it also has the 50 mm zoom,so if there's somethinghappening in the distanceyou'll be able to actuallysee it and zoom in on it.The two lenses that I wasusing previously was this one,I still really likethis lens but I do likethe look of this one a lot morebecause it is a lot clearer and I can zooma little bit more,because this is the 10-18.It gives you a much wider field of viewwhen you're filmingyourself, so if you do wantthat kind of wide angle lens view,then this is the lens for you.I've been using this lensfor the past couple of years,so any of the vlogs thatI've shot with the a6500,there's a really good chance thatthis is the one that I was using.And the zoom lens that Iwas using before is a 16-70.I recently went to Austria,so I'm gonna show youa little bit of footage that I shotusing this lens and this lens.I had the absolute best time in Austria.Everyone was so nice and it was so lovelyto meet so many of you guys.So here's an example ofusing the wide angle lens.As you can see, you canget a little bit of zoombut not very much.But the wide angle isso perfect for vlogging.And here we have an exampleof what the 16-70 looks like.I'm able to really zoom in on the animals,and it looks pretty good.So you may be questioning right now,Justine, why don't you juststick with these two lenses?And that's a very, very valid question.I love these lenses, there is absolutelynothing wrong with these, but I was tryingto find something that was smallerand lighter and a littlebit more versatile.Which leads me to thenext lens that I got.I watched so many reviews onthese lenses before I got them.This is an 18-105, which means the 18is a little bit zoomedin, but if you hold it outfar enough you can still getyour full self in the frame.To go from an 18 to a 105 ina single lens is incredible.So I feel like the nexttime I go to the zoo,this is gonna be the winner.It's just so hard to be able to beprepared for any situation.A lot of times you'regonna be filming yourselfbut a lot of times something isgonna be happening off in the distanceand you're gonna wanna capture that.So let's pop this lens back on.So this lens is also a power zoomand I'm getting reallyinto the power zoom,especially for vlogging.Maybe if you're afilmmaker or I don't know,I've read a lot of reviews where peopleare not power zoom fans.But I am now a huge fan of it.So you're able to zoomin and out like this.So as you can see, all of the zoomis happening internally,inside of this lens.Vlogging is its own sortof strange art form,because you have to be ready for anything.You don't have time to sometimesset up specific settings.So when you're shooting a movie or a filmor a documentary or whateverit is that you're filming,if you're a professional cinematographer,sometimes vlogging, the way that we do,it completely throws people off,because they're like, what are you doing,this isn't how you do it.And I say, oh, no no no,this is how we do it.Maybe not how you do it.I also get a lot of questionsabout this little microphone,I'll put a link in the descriptionto everything that I talk about,all of the cameras and the lenses.But this microphone I really like as well.It's very small and itsounds really great.It uses the Sony hotshoes so you don'tneed to power it with anything,the camera itself powers the microphone.That's one of the problemsthat I always ran into,is I would use the RODE microphonesand the batteries would always be dead,because I would leave it on andalways forget to turn it off.And then sometimes Iwould forget to turn it onand then I'd have no audio in my video.So having this hotshoe microphonehas been such a lifesaver.Honestly, if there is onelens that you're gonna get,I do recommend this one so much.It's so small, it lookslike a tiny little pancake.It's also a very inexpensive lensand some of the reviews that I readsaid it's not the best quality lens,but for what it is, it's pretty greatfor exactly what I need it for.Now I'm gonna take you guys out on a hike,where I tested out these two new lenses.I would love to hear whatyou guys think of them.So, let's go outside.We're now out on a hike,testing out these lenses.Nick is over there,he's got another camera,so he's basically gonna befilming me filming myselfand then filming other things.So the first lens that I'mtesting out is the 16-50.I'm really excited about this lens,'cause it's really light,so if you're kind ofon the go, in a hurry,this lens is perfect.But there is one downfall that I've seen.Because this lens is oneof the power zoom lenses,if you try to manually zoom in and out,you can hear the grinding of the motors.So you guys can hearhow loud this lens is.(lens grinds)So instead, you can use thislittle power zoom button,and it alleviates a lot of that sound.This is really riveting content.How far have we gone?- 0.2 miles.- 0.2 miles?Oh, I guess it's time for aslow-mo montage with this lens.(upbeat music)Okay.So should we do a lens change?- Yeah.- Alright, let's put on the 18-105.So this is what the lens lookslike if I'm vlogging with it.It is much heavier thanthe little 16-50 lens,but this is definitely lighter thanwhen I used to vlog with my a7S II,because that camera incomparison to the 6500is a little bit heavier, and the lensesare much heavier becauseit is a full-frame sensor.So with this one, I can use smaller lensesand really make it as light as possible,which is key for vlogging.I would love to vlog withthe a7S II or the a7 III,but man, these lenses get so heavy.- I can't do it.- Mm-mm.- Can't do it.- Even this is heavy.- It looks heavy.- You look good.So here's what it lookslike zoomed all the way out.Now let's zoom all theway into that tower.I feel like we're playingFar Cry right now.♪ I don't really care if you are mine ♪♪ I don't need another sign ♪♪ I'm wearing you down to the ground ♪♪ We're done for the night ♪♪ I really don't care if you are mine ♪♪ But I'm keeping you in the line ♪♪ You really don't knowwhich way to turn ♪♪ You're always one step behind ♪♪ Going down this road again ♪♪ I don't want to explain myself ♪♪ Myself ♪♪ Myself ♪♪ You grasp for every crumb of hope ♪♪ Although you've reachedthe end of my rope ♪♪ The glimpse that you think you see ♪♪ Ain't nothing that I'll ever be ♪♪ That's the last I'll ever be ♪So now I'm at the beach.I wanted to test these lenses outin a little bit of a brighter condition,because the hike that Idid was a little overcast.So I wanted to show youguys what it looks likeon a beautiful sunny day at the beach.And it is sunny, but don't be deceived.It's actually freezing.(\"Awkward\" by Janet Jones)♪ Freezing outside ♪♪ A little bit high on the feeling ♪♪ Can't seem to focus ♪♪ In the corner of my best friend's sofa ♪♪ You walk in and bust a rum and cola ♪♪ Wasn't brave and I'veyet just to talk to you ♪Popped back on the 18-105 so let's seehow much I can get with this zoom lens.♪ Something 'bout you feels so special ♪♪ Prettier from theminute that I met you ♪And one last thing, thisis the tripod that I use.It is a tiny little tripod, I also lovethat this little mount here is moveable,although I think I mighthave got some sand in it.(tripod grinds)It's not moving as well as it used to.You can just attach it on, just like so.There we go, ready to vlog.Thank you guys so much for watching,I hope you guys enjoyed this videoand I hope that you foundsomething helpful here.Even if you don't make videos,this is how I make videos.I'm so excited though,because I just got the a7 IIIso I will be testingthat out very shortly,so stay tuned for a full video review.And with that, I will seeyou guys in my next video.Bye!♪ Prettier from theminute that I met you. ♪\n"