Equipment tryouts

[Afton Grant]

Greetings,

 

I've noticed many of the replies to questions regarding equipment preferences include a suggestion to try out different equipment and see what works best for you. I'm certainly not the first to admit, that's very simple and very good advice.

 

I was wondering what advice I could be given regarding how and where one would be able to test the different types of gear. I imagine the workshops only use Tiffen. Is that correct? And these aren't the type of products that are sold over-the-counter where someone could just walk in and try something out. Even if I were to find a local operator, I wouldn't really expect him or her to freely allow me to give it a fly. That'd be like asking someone with a Maserati if I could drive it around town for a weekend.

 

I'm sure as you gain more experience and relationships in the business, more doors start to open for you. As for myself, someone that has a long way to go before reaching that level, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks very much,

Afton

[RobVanGelder]

Afton, you have the solution to your question already:

"as you gain more experience and relationships in the business, more doors start to open for you"

 

This is really the most important thing, experience and building relations. Nowadays, people give themselve only a limited amount of time to get somewhere. But things like this relationship-stuff are not build overnight.

 

The best way is to work as a camera-assistant, that way you are close to the camera and operators and DoP´s. You need people to trust you before they will give that Maserati in your hands, even if it is only for a few minutes.

 

Another option but only for a brief introduction is to visit one of the big equipment shows, like the IBC in september. There you can try many stuff, without any knowledge of it or the people behind it.