Last year Adorama took a chance on a documentary series titled “Through The Lens,” where an episode would focus on a specific New York City photographer. Often showcasing colorful personalities, each artist was singled out for their popularity on the social platform Instagram. “Through The Lens” – “TTL” for short — has turned out to be one of the more popular web series on Adorama’s YouTube channel.
In conjunction with the recent premiere of Season 2, we asked TTL’s creator and director Sal D’Alia to give us a run down on the gear he used while in production.
SONY a7s Mark II (+ 6 batteries)
Sal: “Small, lightweight, good compression, great in low light, internal 4k on sd card, slow motion at 120fps… the a7s mark II is the only camera in the market that carries all those features in one package, I also use other cameras for work but for this type of run and gun in every weather condition and climbing up mountains it’s a perfect fit for me. I also love the S-LOG3 that gives me that dynamic range and cinematic look I need for the show.”
Sal: “422 10 bit ProRes, The 4K in the a7s is great but you can’t beat the quality and the range of that compression – I used the Shogun in season 1 but Atomos made the Assassin specifically for mirrorless and dslr users. The SSD drives also allowed me to focus on the content without thinking of cards or running out of memory. In Chicago I was able to shoot 3 episodes in one 480gb card, so I never switched it. I also installed the 3 LUTs I often use for TTL so I’m able to check it in real time while I’m on set.”
MeFOTO C1350 Carbon Fiber Tripod and Manfrotto Head 496rc2
Sal: “At first I was looking at very expensive tripods but the only need I had was for it to be lightweight, small enough for a backpack and tall enough for standing interviews … that’s actually harder than it sounds! The MeFOTO carbon fiber is the only one I found that fits those features and I decided to make it a bit sturdier adding the Manfrotto head.”
Sal: “A workhorse lens. When in doubt you know you can’t go wrong with this.”
Sony 28mm f2 Lens and IKAN MS1 3-Axis Gimbal Stabilizer
Sal: “The IKAN MS1 is great because it’s like having a professional steady cam but it fits in your backpack! The only downside is that the a7s mark II hits the limit of the weight it can carry so the 28mm f2 its a perfect fit when I use the MS1. The 28mm is basically weightless but sharp and fast enough for my needs and I can use the automatic focus with no problem!”
Metabones EF to E Mount Adapter and Canon 50mm f1.2 Lens
Sal: “That’s my go to lens, always been since my Canon DSLR days … the perfect eye candy shots are taken with that lens and for night shooting is the only lens I use.”
Sony Wireless Lavalier System with the Sony Smart Hot Shoe Adapter
Sal: “This changed my life as run and gun filmmaker. Sony invented this intelligent hot shoe that records the signal directly from the receiver into my camera with professional quality… no more cables, no more batteries (you can drain directly from the camera or add AA if you want to) and no more syncing in post! Love it!”
Sal: “I’ve been working with this for now a while now. I cut the entire first season on it, everything shot on 4K. It’s great, fast, responsive and tough! Highly recommended!”
Sal is an experienced NY based filmmaker and has worked for many corporate clients including Citroen, Unilever, Nike, Food Network, Conde Nast, Machinima plus much more. His short film “The Word Trader” was selected for both the Cannes and Big Apple Film Festivals of 2013 and received an honorable mention at the Manhattan Film Festival. According to Sal, TTL was created to raise brand awareness for Adorama by being a “community builder.” That is, to initiate engagement among photographers and fans of photography within the Instagram community.
The big difference between this season and the last is in how viewers will be introduced to photographers working outside of the state of New York. Sal’s travels took him to places like Chicago, Toledo, Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. And while last season’s artists were more fashion photography specific, the new season’s selection of subjects cover different styles and techniques such as iPhone, landscape, food and travel photography.
“Through The Lens: Season 2” will premiere on AdoramaTV on Wednesday, January 6. A new episode is scheduled to appear on every Wednesday after that.
