jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I've mentioned before that I like standardization. Yesterday, I videotaped a musical event using four camcorders and two GoPros. I brought six or seven tripods, and each one was different. At least they all had Manfrotto QR plates. If I had it to do all over again, I would buy the same kind of large tripods and the same kind of medium ones. Attaching the cameras and adjusting the angles required different actions for each tripod, and it took a moment to figure out what to do. Extending the legs was also different, but obvious.

My favorite tripod is the Vantage Tracker 4, which is big, heavy, and tough. Unfortunately, it's no longer being made. All the tripods worked fine, so it's not like there were good ones and bad ones, but having identical equipment makes things easier. It's the same with cameras. I generally shoot with Nikons. My fingers know just where to go, and I'm familiar with the menus. When I use a different brand, I have to think about the menu, and I prefer not to do too much thinking. My brain is getting old.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

How are you editing the footage from six cameras? Were the four camcorders "standardized"?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

The four camcorders were from Sony, and the GoPros were GoPros. One of the GP recorded at 60fps, while the others recorded at 30fps. My editing program told me to make changes, so I converted the 60 to 30, a time-consuming process. One of the Sony cameras is from 2008, and the touch screen doesn't work, so that's tricky to use. That's one bad thing about touch screens. When that goes, you lose a lot of functionality.