Because I no longer shoot myself, due to health issues, I have cut back on the amount and type of shooting equipment that we own drastically – although we still have some gear that I am able to handle, like RED Komodo 6k cameras. This makes the following list wildly out of date. But it does show the commitment that I believe in making to whatever I and CLAi do, and the importance to knowing any gear that you work with intimately by having it available to practice with. So I left the thing just as it was a few years back – and yes, there is a special prize for anyone who can guess the year I stopped shooting from the equipment!

It can never be cutting edge or timeless enough, it can never be too high a quality, and you can never have too much of it.

Our philosophy is simple, gear up to do smaller budget production shoots and your passion projects 100% in-house, have the right equipment to integrate seamlessly with the additional rental items needed on larger budget projects to ensure the greatest flexibility, and then bring in the specialist equipment and specialist crew required on the most demanding projects.  Have the right horses for every course…

Needless to say, but I will anyway, technology changes constantly and so by the time you read this list we may have many other toys to play with… so please don’t assume that we don’t have the equipment that you want to specify on a project.

Arri Alexa Plus

When I first touched a RED camera nearly a decade ago I was thrilled at the quality and depth of the images it made, even more than I was horrified about how little worked! I bought two of them as some sort of self-punishment.  When I first shot on an Arri Alexa I was just as thrilled about the even better, and infinitely more filmic images it made were.

It took a while to get over the RED mindset and back into the Film mindset, but when I did I once again bought two of these fabulous, no-compromise cameras in place of my REDs. But the one thing about Alexas is that they are big and heavy – just like the 35mm film cameras they replaced – especially with the Odyssey 7Q+ recorder on board for recording ArriRAW. Now, in response to demand from our clients I’ve wandered back into the RED camp, and put together a RED Dragon 6k digital cinema system for projects needing high resolution or that very RED look.

I think that I’ve managed to find ways to make them more useful and adaptable, particularly with the use of C7 lens mounts to allow the Alexa camera to take PL, Leica and Sigma/Nikon lenses – letting us use the most effective glass for every shooting situation, with aperture control on the mounts – and the ability to shoot in 3k ArriRaw (4k after using Arri’s software interface) and 2k ProRes at the same time.  Of course on the RED we can provide Sigma/Nikon lenses, Leica lenses and PL lenses at the second, and aperture control is built into the camera. I also use a PL Motion Mount, which provides the option of using a global shutter, and the addition of in camera stepless ND.  I’ve also just jumped on Jarred’s next craziness and ordered a RED Komodo 6k unit…

RED Digital Cinema Camera

After not owning any RED cameras for a couple of years, but still renting them every few months, I decided to come back into the RED camp and bought a Dragon 6k brain along with all of the extra bits and pieces needed to actually shoot with it.  It was a difficult business decision, as the RED organization are still following the same path of throwing their owner group under the bus every few years.  But there is just something about the cameras and the image that is so right – it doesn’t have the sophistication of an Arri, but it is so flexible… and having come into the world of Digital Cinema with RED, then developed a very high level of expertise in every facet of the systems, I realize that RED is just in my blood! Now I am the owner of two RED Komodo 6k lightweight RED systems… great quality combined with realistically sized and weighted hardware.

Sony DSLR Cameras

Sometimes you need a camera system that is small, light and which can be relatively unseen as a professional recording device. For me the best of these beasties has been the Sony line for some time now – offering an awful lot of flexibility while remaining very useable, and they cut pretty well with the big boy cameras after color grading if exposure and color are well controlled. The down side is that, as with all DSLRs, the recording codecs are really fragile and break up very easily if you need to make changes to the image in post – especially any type of zooming or exposure balance. But horses for courses – if I want to shoot in a busy market without creating a reaction, then the Sony does the job.  The A7Sii is the camera for video, but has lousy image resolution for stills, so I added the very small original A7R for photography work (I also use the RED Dragon for this, as it is a terrific stills camera).

PL Mount Lenses (for Alexa, RED, Canon, Sony)

• 2 16×9 PL to Sony eMount Adapters
• RED Pro Prime 18mm f1.8
• RED Pro Prime 25mm f1.8
• RED Pro Prime 35mm f1.8
• RED Pro Prime 50mm f1.8
• RED Pro Prime 85mm f1.8
• RED Pro Prime 100mm f1.8
• RED Pro 18-50mm f3.5 Zoom
• AllStar 80-200mm f3 Compact Zoom
• Lensbaby Composer Tilt/Shift

Leica Mount Cinevised Lenses (for Alexa, RED, Sony)

• Leica 21mm f4
• Leica 24mm f2.8
• Leica 35mm f2.8
• Leica 60mm Macro f2.8
• Leica 90mm f2
• Leica 135mm f2.8
• Leica 28-70mm f3.5 Zoom
• Metabones T Leica R to Sony eMount Adapter
• Metabones Speed Booster Leica R to Sony eMount Adapter

Nikon Mount Lenses (for Alexa, RED, Sony)

• Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM Ultra-Wide Zoom Lens
• Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art Lens
• Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art Lens
• Sigma 24-105mm f/4.0 DG OS HSM Art Lens
• Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary Lens
• Sigma USB Focus Control Dock

Vintage Nikon Cinevised Lenses (for Alexa, RED, Sony)

• Nikon 20mm f3.5 AI
• Nikon 55mm f2.8 Macro AI
• Nikon 50mm f1.4 AI
• Nikon 35-70mm F3.5 Zoom AI
• Nikon 75-150mm f3.5 Zoom E AI
• Vizelex Nikon G to Sony E Mount with ND Throttle

DJI Mavic Air 4k Drone

• DJI Mavic Air Compact Quadcopter
• 4k Gimbal Stabilized Camera
• 22 Minutes Of Batteries
• Single Remote Control
• Fully Programmable Flight Paths

Movi M5 Gimbal Stabilizer

• Movi M5 Gimbal Stabilizer with Quick Release Plate
• 180 Minute Batteries

DJI Osmo+ 4k Stabilized Action Camera

• DJI Osmo+ Motorized Gimbal Grip
• DJI 4k Zoom Camera
• DJI Extension Arm
• 50 Minutes Of Batteries

Tripods & Fluid Heads

• O’Connor 1030 100mm Fluid Head
• Sachtler CF-100ENG HD 2CF 100mm Bowl Carbon Fibre Legs #1
• Miller 55 Arrow 100mm Fluid Head
• Sachtler CF-100ENG HD 2CF 100mm Bowl Carbon Fibre Legs #2
• Libec 100mm Bowl Carbon Fibre Legs
• AbelCine 100mm Bowl HiHat
• Libec 75mm Bowl Carbon Fibre Legs
• Sachtler Video 20 Head
• O’Connor 50 100mm Fluid Head
• Miller 75mm Fluid Head
• 2# Manfrotto Monopod

Camera Motion

• Edelkrone LargeX Integral Slider
• Edelkrone Programmable Motion Unit
• Edelkrone Programmable Tracker Unit
• Dana Dolly 100mm 16 Wheel Rolling Dolly
• 10ft, 8ft, 6ft & 4ft Dolly Speed Rail Pairs
• Various Shoulder Mounts

Location Audio Recording

• Zoom H8 8 Track Recorder/Mixer
• Zoom H8 Control External Control Unit
• Sound Devices PreD 3 Channel Location Mixer
• 2# PSC Power Barrels
• 2# Tram 10/97 Power Barrel
• 1# TAI Audio Power Barrel
• 4# Tram Lavalier Mics
• 2# PSC Lavalier Mics
• 2# Lectrosonic Wireless Receivers
• 2# Lectrosonic Wireless Body Packs
• Audio Technica Hand Mic C87 MkII
• 4# Sony Headphones
• Breakaway 3 Way XLR Snake
• AudioTechnica Pro4H Hand Mic
• Sony ECM-55B Lavalier Kit
• Sennheiser M216 Shotgun Mic with Zeppelin/Coat
• 10ft Carbon Fibre Boom Pole
• ElectroVoice RE20 Studio Mic
• Neumann TLM 103 Studio Mic
• Rode Stereo Camera Mic
• Senal SMS45 Short Shotgun Mic
• Sony Short Shotgun Mic
• Panasonic Short Shotgun Mic
• 4x Sony Wireless Microphone Body Packs
• 4x Sony Wireless Microphone Integral Receivers
• 2xSony Wireless Microphone Dual Channel Integral Receiver
• 4x Sony Wireless Lavalier Microphones
• Sony Camera Receiver Mount/Adapter

Grip Gear

• 1# Short C-Stand
• 6# C-Stands
• Avenger Double Knuckles
• 42” Avenger Arms
• 36” Avenger Arms
• 8# Low Boy Junior Stands
• Junior Knuckles
• 36″ Junior Extensions
• 6ft 6in Fast Collapse Butterfly/Overhead Frame and Rags
• Pop Up Chroma Green Screen
• Pop Up Chroma Blue Screen
• Pop Up Chroma Reversible Blue/Green Screen
• White Illuminator Background
• Goalpost 10ft Tripod Stand Combo
• Goalpost 18ft Overhead Post
• Grey Base Splotchy Studio Backgrounds
• Blue Base Splotchy Studio Backgrounds
• Brown Base Splotchy Studio Backgrounds
• 2# 4ft x 3ft White/Silver Reflectors
• 2# 4ft Circle Multi Surface Reflector/Diffusers
• 8ft x 8ft Scrim Frame and Rags
• 12ft x 5ft Overhead China Ball Frame
• 8# 18in × 24in Diffusion Open Frames
• 4# 9ft Wind Up Stands
• 8# 4ft Triangular Trussing Sections
• 6# Norman Lightweight Stands
• 6# Lowell Lightweight Stands
• 2# Lowell Middleweight Stands
• 4# Handheld Motorola Walkie Talkies

Lighting

• 1# Source 4 Gobo Spot 750w
• 1# Chimera 1000W Mogul Head
• 1# Chimera Large Soft Box
• 3# Chimera Medium Soft Boxes
• 3# 1K Equivalent CLAi Soft Box LED Heads
• 2# 500W Equivalent Bladelight Strip LED Dimmable Fixtures
  
• 1# Lowell ProLight Dimmable Fresnel Spot 500w
  
• 10# 1200W Florescent 30″ Globes
  
• 6# 800W Florescent 24″ Globes
• 10ft x 6ft Globe Hanging Frame
• 4# 500W Equivalent Bulb LED 12×9 Dimmable Spotlights – Battery And Mains Power
  
• 2# 500W Equivalent LED 12×9 Dimmable Floodlights – Battery And Mains Power
  
• 1# LED Round Lens Fill/Eye Light – Battery Power
• 2# 1500/2000W Equivalent CLAi LED Spotlight – Battery and Mains
• 3# 1200W Equivalent LED CLAi Dimmable Floodlights – Battery And Mains Power
• 2# 750W Equivalent LED Dimmable Soft Mat Lights – Battery And Mains
• 2# 1000W Equivalent LED Dimmable Soft Mat Lights – Battery And Mains
• 8# Chauvet DJ SlimPAR 56 LED RGB 87W Stage Fixtures
• MPro 16 Channel DMX-512 Controller for Stage Lights