Motorcycle Adventure in Italy - 5 Days with the a6300

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Here's a video I shot about a week after the a6300 was released. We went to Sardignia, Italy for a week to review a Ducati and film a separate motorcycle adventure on an enduro bike. Here's a short review. If you have any questions, let me know and I'll do my best to answer.

 

Gear

Aside from a few GoPro shots, the entire video was shot with the a6300. The Sony 18-105 G OSS PZ lens was primarily used, with a few shots on the 35mm 1.8 OSS. Had a Ritz variable ND filter for both. Mostly shot in 4k, with a few shots at 120fps at 1080. For audio, I used the Rode Videomic Pro and Sennheiser ME2 lavs into a Zoom H4N.

 

Heating

I probably shot around 3-4 hours of footage each day, in 4k at 24p. I never had any overheating issues. Aside from a few speak-to-camera shots, I never recorded clips that were over 2 or 3 minutes, and outdoor temperature was mostly in the 70s.

 

Stabilization

All shots were handheld and having the OSS was a huge help. For panning shots, warp stabilizer effect in Premiere really made some of these shots shine. No way I could have done it that smoothly. For me personally I think it's better to have the compactness over IBIS, especially since there are some great OSS lenses available for apsc e mount. 

 

Battery

Yes, the a6300 has awful battery life. It was inconvenient to have to swap batteries so often and interrupt shooting. I went through about 4 batteries each day, which meant I also had to charge 4 batteries each night. What I love about the a6300 battery though? II knew that I could charge the battery via a USB charger. What I found out way later was that you can actually power the camera with a USB charger while it's in use as well. It won't charge, but it will run power off of a portable USB charger. I definitely would have done this if I had known at the time. Much more peace of mind having a 5000mah run power to my camera than the 3... maybe 4 mah that the sony battery has. (at least it feels that low). 

 

Audio

WHO FORGOT TO PUT IN THE HEADPHONE JACK!??!?! It's by far the biggest shortcoming of this camera for me. I had great luck with the Rode Videomic Pro, but monitoring would have helped so much to make sure I knew I was getting what I needed. My experience with Sony's is that even if the audio bars don't go to red, if they get close the audio might still clip. Just make sure to test your mics, and maybe shoot closer to the audio bars being in the middle than closer to the red.

 

Overall

Such a great video camera. When on motorcycles for 12 hours a day, having something this light does wonders for the back. It's really awesome to travel this light while still being able to shoot 4k with an apsc sensor. It also doesn't attract much attention, especially good in public areas and restaurants. I've heard slow mo not get a great rap, but I thought the 120fps 1080 footage came out well for what I shot. It was also nice to be able to set one of the memory dials for a photography mode so I could quickly take photos as well. If anyone is interested I can post a few stills as well. 

 

Anyways, that's just a quick overview. I'd be happy to go in depth on any details if anyone has any questions. 

 

My question to you audio guys

I shot a lot footage of Jamie, the rider, whizzing by on his motorcycle. Would something like this be better shot with a stereo mic than a shotgun mic? I'm considering picking one up, as I think it could really add some vibrance to the scenes that aren't speak-to-camera.