{"id":52466,"date":"2015-07-16T10:00:45","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T15:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/?p=52466"},"modified":"2015-07-15T18:28:08","modified_gmt":"2015-07-15T23:28:08","slug":"4-tools-every-dp-should-own-before-buying-their-first-camera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/4-tools-every-dp-should-own-before-buying-their-first-camera\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Tools Every DP Should Own Before Buying Their First Camera"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before you rush out to buy your first fancy camera, make sure you\u2019re prepared for battle with these four tools every DP should have in their kit.<\/h2>\n

Being a great DP involves a whole lot more than just buying a capable camera and a decent set of lenses.<\/strong> In fact, a lot of the tools you may not have even considered investing in will ultimately have a much bigger impact on your work than the camera itself.<\/p>\n

Anyone can go out and buy a RED camera<\/a> if they have enough money, but that doesn\u2019t mean the images they capture are going to look good. I\u2019ve seen many colleagues go out and buy an expensive cinema camera<\/strong> only to be let down with the results because they weren’t prepared to shoot with it. A huge\u00a0part of achieving a cinematic image<\/strong> involves understanding the fundamentals of cinematography<\/strong>, and having the right tools to put those fundamentals to use and create\u00a0images that look amazing no matter what camera you\u2019re shooting on.<\/p>\n

We all know that lights are a DP\u2019s best friend, and lighting itself warrants its own article<\/a>, as it is such a complex topic. But for the purpose of this<\/em> article, I won\u2019t be focusing on lights at all – or lenses for that matter. Instead we’ll touch on four of the most overlooked tools every DP should\u00a0own<\/strong> before stepping onto set.<\/p>\n

1. Light Meter<\/h3>\n

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\nImage from B&H<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Never make the mistake of believing that you don\u2019t need a light meter<\/strong> just because your camera has built in exposure tools (like zebras, or a histogram). The bottom line is that there is a reason why the most professional DPs in the industry use light meters<\/strong> on every project.<\/p>\n

They know that every lighting situation they will ever encounter will be different and, as such, want to be prepared for complete accuracy. Light meters<\/strong> are relatively cheap (at least some of them are) and are pretty easy to learn how to use, even if you\u2019ve never used one before. The small investment of your time it will take to understand the fundamentals of how a light meter works,<\/strong> and lighting ratios<\/strong> in general, will quickly pay off when you get to set and you are able to capture better results far more quickly.<\/p>\n

There are certain types of shooting situations where it\u2019s difficult to use a light meter<\/strong> (such as run and gun shoots or documentary projects), but for narrative films they are absolutely essential. I highly recommend them for anyone that wants to step up their game as a DP.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here’s a video from No Film School<\/a> that covers the ins and outs of using a light meter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n