I knew that the camera was capable of telling the story, thanks to a firmware upgrade from Canon, and that Canon lenses offer fantastic quality, but how was I going to fit a Matte Box to the front of the lens? What about focus pulling? How was all this going to fit onto a fluid tripod? If I needed to shoot hand-held was this possible? It is very hard to hold a DSLR camera out in front of you and keep it steady without any means of support.
At the time of shooting I was not aware who was making the correct accessories to actually fit this camera, so what I did was use my full size equipment and I managed to make it work with a bit of gaffer tape here and a clamp there. Luckily it all worked out, but it would have been a lot easier and looked more professional if I had been using the correct equipment. I know my crew would have definitely appreciated it, especially the Focus Puller.
There are now a number of manufacturers out there making accessories for the Canon EOS 5Dmk2, but being a UK based cameraman I don’t like buying equipment from companies that don’t support or make their own products. I don’t want to have to ship broken kit half way around the world just to get it fixed, especially “cheap” equipment sold on internet auction sites, where you have no come back whatsoever. I like to know that the gear I buy is supported by its manufacturer, and if something goes wrong they will look after me.
When shooting with a HD DSLR camera I think the following accessories are essential.
* Matte Box and Bars (complete with French Flag & donuts)
* Follow focus unit
* A set of ND grads or fader ND’s
* Hand-held support system
* Fluid tripod
It came as a pleasant surprise to me then, when I discovered that I could get all of this from PAG. I have used PAG batteries, chargers and camera lights for many years. PAG equipment is good quality and their service support has never let me down. When I suggested that they may like to address this new market I found that they already had the accessories to do the job.
PAG manufactures a camera support
called the Orbitor. It was designed
for hand-held video camcorders
but works equally as
successfully with DSLRs.
PAG is also the official
distributor in Europe for the
Genus Matte Box and adaptor
bar system. In fact, Genus has
introduced a whole range of
accessories specifically for DSLR
cameras, including screw-in ND filters
and a prism viewfinder.
PAG is also the UK distributor of Cartoni
fluid-head tripods, a high-end range
of film, broadcast and DV tripods from an
Italian company with a 100 year history of
manufacturing quality production equipment.
It is convenient for me that PAG is based in South London, but their products are widely available throughout the UK via a network of dealers. I recommend that you take a close look at the DSLR accessories PAG has to offer.
Mark Moreve
PAG would like to thank Mark Moreve for kindly letting us show Love/Loss via this website.
