Shooters Gallery | HFMP KIT Passes a Major Test of Strength with Heat and Dust in South Sudan
HFMP KIT Passes a Major Test of Strength with Heat and Dust in South Sudan
South Sudan
Producer, Filmmaker
Feature Documentaries, TV, Activism & Education, Impact Marketing
HFMP KIT with Sony α6300, Sony FS7
- About the shooter
- Timothy Wolfer is an Emmy award winning documentary filmmaker who specializes in providing compelling and credible coverage of humanitarian issues and international development. His travels have allowed him to produce in 25 countries such as: Ghana, South Sudan, Haiti, Cuba, Kenya, Bangladesh, and the Philippines to name a few. His work has been viewed on PBS, CNN online, NBC, and hulu.com.
- Name and content of the work piece
- Documentary (Subject & Content is Confidential until release)
- Place of filming
- South Sudan
- How did Libec product help your work?
- Since this trip is for a specific job, I packed my trusty Sony FS7 and still brought along my Sony a6300 for B-roll. I normally just bring my Sachtler Sticks to reduce my amount of luggage. However, knowing that I was going to be doing a good amount of B-roll with a smaller camera, I figured I could bring a monopod along to see if I could speed up my shooting set-ups.
There are multiple brands of monopods on the market today that have small feet to help with stability, and I wanted to try one out because I knew I’d need to utilize that kind of stability. Libec HFMP (hands free monopod) with a speedy and stable self-standing solution in the field dramatically enhanced mobility in all shooting environments.
- For what kind of scene effect did you choose Libec product?
- We first mounted a Sony a6300 to the HFMP. The device stands well on its own, has a nice fluid head, and works great for swinging shots or slight movements using the feet. We tried dropping the monopod a few times and it didn’t seem to break, despite the fact all the knobs seem a to be made out of a light plastic. We were using the HFMP and Sony a6300 to get b-roll of new temporary housing units. We took it around as we walked through narrow paths, tons of people, and very dusty conditions. For this kind of environment, a tripod would have been less than ideal but the monopod worked well as a happy medium. It was very practical being able to lock the camera in place and walk away from it when we needed to head off somewhere.
- How do you feel about Libec product?
- The cool, unique feature on this monopod is the foot pedal that allows you to release the monopod to move around freely on three large rubber feet and lock it in place and balance on its own.
The pedal seems to be built out of a quality aluminum so it can handle some serious kicking. Additionally, the rubber feet look and feel like a large, durable door stopper. They are grippy and long enough that when you lock the camera and place a human foot on the tripod foot, you can feel confident and secure that it will not fall over. It would be great for interviews to simply lock it in place and stand left or right of camera to give eye line to your subjects and protect your gear.
The other thing these three feet get you for video is what I call rotation vibration. I've had issues with monopods having a little rotational vibration as you hold them. Being that most cameras now have rolling shutter issues, this shows up in your image as little waves. Having the three feet insures that your monopod is not twisting from side to side.
