What’s In Your Gear Bag: Arturo Marinho

Guest Post by Arturo Marinho, DFilms

Once upon a time I was a child living in small countryside town, with just 5,000 people. No AC/DC till I was thirteen years old. Just weekly entertainment: an old cinema with 2 movies on Saturdays and 2 movies on Sundays.

Year by year, four movies each week, I built an extremely deep sense of visuals, unconsciously. My last two years studying Psychology in college, I found a job as a junior writer at an advertisement agency. And I fell in love with shooting tasks.

Twenty years ago I chose a way to earn money while having a lot of fun: to be a camera operator. 

I won prizes worldwide, and gathered a lot of knowledge along the way, mainly in documentaries.

Presently I'm mainly a one man crew, shooting corporate videos and documentaries.​

After careful search, trial and error, reading tons of reviews, charts and shootouts, I've arrived at this current gear kit

Arturo's documentary and art channel: www.vimeo.com/arturomarinho

Arturo's corporate channel: www.vimeo.com/dfilm​

My main camera is the Sony PMW-F3, using S-log with Element Technica armour. For my second camera, after a long journey through Panasonic GHxx and Sony A7xx cameras, I'm back to Canon. Six months ago I got a 1DX mkII.

With my Sony F3 I focus on short feature films and commercials. I use my 1DX to shoot corporate and web videos.​

The F3 gives me an extremely silky image, along with SDI, a 10bit RGB 422 S-log​ image feeding a Video Devices PIX-E5H or a Video Devices PIX 240. The images are a joy to grade, with plenty of subtle gradations, highlight roll off, and strong ProRes files, all with an unparalleled film look.

I think the Sony F3 is the most underrated camera in recent history.

​The Canon 1DX mkII is a beast. The DPAF gives me peace of mind during corporate interviews, the well established Canon color science provides great media directly out of the camera, it's weather sealed, and there are lots of L lens choices. Unfortnately, transcoding from the MJpeg codec to ProRes is time consuming.

In essence, the 1DX mkII is a perfect tool when traveling light, especially when paired with the PIX-E5H. It is very helpful when properly exposing the image, and together with the PIX-E, the 1DX recording, transcoding, and editing workflow is nearly flawless, with minimal color grading necessary.

Digital Filmmaker comment

We are glad to hear of a videographer who has successfully created a gear bag that features a Sony pro cinema camera, and a Canon DSLR. You don't need to stick with just one camera manufacturer anymore.

The F3 is definitely underrated, and it's still a bargain for HD shooters. But Arturo is right in that some clients require 4k, and so we all need to consider a 4k option when choosing our next camera.

In fact, we just recently bought into the Canon 1DX mkII as well, for precisely that reason. Our A-cam is the Canon C300 mkII, but our gimbal and B-cam has been the HD-only Canon C100. We wanted a 4k gimbal camera that matched our A cam. 1DXmkII is a beast for a DSLR, and as Arturo points out, it can definitely be an A cam as well.

As a one man crew, it's mission critical to get gear that is as reliable as possible. The PIX-240 is a pristine exteneral recorder with two XLR inputs, it uses CF and SSD media, it has SDI and HDMI inputs/outputs, and it can be powered by Sony NP-F batteries. Most of all, it's built like a tank. The limitation is that it can only record in 1080p.

The Video Devices PIX-E5H, however, records 4k, it's lightweight, has plenty of scopes and video assist tools, and it's more friendly to mounting on a DSLR. Paired with the PIX-LR XLR module, it also gives me another option when shooting corporate or low budget short feature films.

Digital Filmmaker comment

We first heard from Arturo when he contacted us about our Video Devices PIX-E5 review, as he was considering the PIX-LR XLR accessory, vs a separate Video Devices Mix-Pre 3 audio unit.

We believe the PIX-LR unit is so perfectly matched for the PIX-E5 and PIX-E5H, that it's a must have, even if you have a dedicated audio recorder for other uses.

With this video/audio record unit, Arturo has a fully capable 4K camera system with his Canon 1DX mkII.

My Canon 24-105mm is my all terrain partner. I use the Canon 16-35mm for architecture and landscape shots. And the Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro is a must have for shooting incredibly detailed products for corporate clients, especially in 4k.

I also use the Leica R 28mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2.0, and 90mm f/2.0 Cinevised Kit to be able to shoot a vintage look, with a low-contrast, film-like feel. I like the manual focus, and the Leico flares and microcontrast details give the image that Leica "look".

Digital Filmmaker comment

It's interesting how Arturo has several different sensibilities in order to maximize his marketability as a video shooter. He puts on his documentary, corporate, commercial, or narrative hat on, depending on the gig. And he has a great set of lenses for any of those scenarios.

That he has both a cinema prime kit, as well as a standard Canon zoom kit for practical shoots, is very smart for a videographer. You don't have to pick sides.

We're glad to see that the Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS has become a favorite for Arturo, because it has for us too. We picked it up last year, expecting to use it for occasional specialty shots, but we now end up using the 100mm on every shoot, for both B-roll and interviews. And of course, it's the perfect lens for product or gear shots.

Twenty years ago I got a Miller 30 series II 100mm bowl fluid head, along with three-stage carbon fiber legs. It cost a lot, $3500 or so. But at an annual cost of $175 so far, it's a bargain.

The Miller sticks are rugged, very fluid and smooth, and the payload is more than enough, from Betacam-era cameras until now.

In the DSLR and small form factor era, I bought a used, pristine Miller DS 75mm bowl fluid head, along with Solo VJ carbon legs. It's a reliable piece of gear, and I really enjoy it.

I also use the Miller 311 carbon monopod.​

Digital Filmmaker comment

Wow, Arturo is definitely a loyal Miller user! We hear that a lot in the tripod department. Once you find a brand and system you like and can depend on, you feel you can trust all their other gear as well.

While we can appreciate having a super solid tripod system that can handle very heavy payloads, we really like the Miller Air Carbon Fiber system for DSLRs and small cinema cameras. Check out our miller tripod article.

Everyone has a different opinion about which tripod serves which needs better, but ​the one thing to remember is with tripods you get what you pay for. We really like Arturo's breakdown of the annual cost. While $3500 is a lot for a piece of gear, a reliable piece of gear can last a long time.

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The Sennheiser AVX system, along with the MKE-2 lav, is very tiny and portable, but is trustworthy. Be smart and buy additional battery packs for the receiver, since the batteries are a proprietary format.

The Sennheiser ME-67, along with a Rycote softie and Rycote PG-2 pistol grip, is a good solution for recording directionally in a variety of scenarios.​

Digital Filmmaker comment

Arturo has a simple and reliable audio kit here - you don't need to complicate it much more than this!

Pretty much every kit needs to have a shotgun and a lavaliere. The beauty of using the Sennheiser MKE-2 lav is that it can be used in this wireless kit, as well as connected to a Sennheiser MZE-900P and turned into a wired lav.

​We recommend the upgraded MKE-2 kit over the standard ME2 lav that comes in the cheaper AVX kit. The MKE-2 is a workhorse, and it sounds really, really good. It's worth it.

My light kit serves me well, with a reasonable cost-benefit ratio. The three panels fit into a customized Pelican 1640 with wheels.

They have a high CRI of 95, and they are powerful enough to use for interviews. Plus, they are bi-color, dimmable, and have Gold Mount brackets.

I also like to bounce natural light, trying to avoid intimidating people with a ton of wires and gear, plus the long setup. My secret recipe is to be as invisible as possible, in order to capture authentic moments.