Even though I knew every single detail he was teaching (except for the awesome Kessler Crane equipment), and having already incorporated HD DSLR motion picture as a part of my business, I could not help watching a good portion of their live show. And even though I have spent a good five years of my life on the sets of film productions and television commercial productions, it was fun to see Vincent’s students bumbling around in their given roles in their live shoot.

Why was this event so awesome?

•    It was the first of its kind – a full 3-day workshop streamed live on Ustream for free. (You can pay for the recorded and edited version here)
•    It was great to see how Vincent clearly communicated all that goes into shooting motion picture. This is HUGE as I know a few people who have purchased a HD DLSR camera and have this misguided perception that they are all of a sudden filmmakers.
•    It was educational as Vincent went through the limitations of HD DLSR cameras – so important for those folks mistakenly thinking that these cameras can do everything.
•    It was hugely entertaining, especially at one point seeing Chase Jarvis and Vincent Laforet playing the role of Production Assistants, helping their students on the set of their project film.
•    It was refreshing and satisfying for me to see the information about HD DSLR Cinema being distributed so widely and freely. In the long run this will help in convincing old-school film folks stuck in the traditional ways of film making to perhaps start exploring this new technology.
•    It was multi-generational as some of my assistants were watching the whole thing. This means their skills and abilities will be improving and they will perhaps be camera operators on future shoots with me.
•    It was thought provoking. It helped me think about efficiently articulating to my editors and post-peeps who are unfamiliar with the H.264 footage from HD DSLR’s, what to do and how to handle these file formats.

Vincent summed it up in the first hour of the show: Filmmakers are more collaborative than Photographers, or their business model operates in a more collaborative environment than a photographers’ does. I agree for the most part with this and I could pull it apart further, but I will reserve that for future blog posts. I resisted the urge to blog or tweet about this earlier as I want others to purchase the workshop – these guys need to make a profit on this to continue producing these fantastic workshops.

The takeaway? It was awesome and heart-warming to see a large group of people passionate about HD DSLR Cinema, collaborating, sleep deprived and working so hard to make it happen. In my opinion, the viewers felt an unspoken connection or kinship for those who go way above and beyond following our passion for making images.

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My own opinion on the D90? I certainly want to shoot with one – for fun. Especially to try out some of the video functions with some of my lenses. I don’t think it will be my “primary camera”. But things are changing and perhaps in the not too distant future, the high-end SLR’s and digital medium format cameras may not be the only gear for every shoot. In the past, I have had photo shoots where I shot film & video along with the photography for a campaign. Maybe the the D90 is the beginning of new trend of all-in-one cameras of the future.

More comparisons here.

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Almost forgot – Nikon had some professionals test out the camera first. See Chase Jarvis in this video testing the D90 prior to its release. I think this is awesome – the marketing vision, the video, everything! (YouTube Link)

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