Nikon D850 body available for rent $250.00 per day. First impressions: Images are Beautiful. PetaPixel gives it the first 100 rating making it the best DSLR ever! 45.7 Megapixels, 4K Video, moveable LCD screen, dedicated focus tracking button, Back-side Illuminated CMOS Sensor, wifi / bluetooth are all very good features. The EXPEED 5 Image Processor corrects moire / image defects allowing for the removal of the Anti Aliasing / Low Pass / IR filter, making sharp and breathtaking images. In house Tether test shows it working rather flawlessly with Capture One 10.2.0.105 / Startech active usb 3.0 extension / Tethertools right angle usb 3.0 cable. Capture One download speeds are on par with the D800 – 13.4 seconds for 13 image burst. Image buffer increased to 20 frames. These are just the highlights, more info to come soon! Full tech specs: NIKON D850. Try the D850 today! 
Author Archives: T.J. Crume
Shaun Fenn, Westin Hotels: Let’s Rise!
They say it takes a village… and in the world of commercial photography the village surrounding Shaun Fenn includes some of the best in the business. From the focused and fantastic production stylings of Paige Dorian, to the 24/7 resource wonderland that is SYNC, Shaun’s clients at Westin Hotels and Resorts and Venables Bell and Partners had a front row seat to how great advertising images are created.
Transforming locations and creating a mood that matches what the agency and client have established is what Shaun and his team does best. During the Redondo Beach location day, the challenges of cloudy weather and less than ideal location foreground turned out to be the inspiration for what happened next.
It started by shooting plates at an alternate location that had the wooden pier foreground that the client was after. Shaun used a Canon 5DS R with a panoramic head to create a precisely stitched pano that aligned the wooden planks for the image foreground. Then, as the weather took a turn for the worst, Shaun and Co were forced to find a new location to shoot, they were able to find a new place on www.spmtrianglerentals.com . came up with a lighting solution that involved a last minute trip to SYNC, 40 ft. of speedrail, Profoto head extensions and one carefully placed strobe head.
The final image below illustrates how all the pieces came together…
On the road with AMC’s new hit show, Preacher and Matthias Clamer!
AMC’s new hit series, based on the popular cult comic book franchise of the same name, Preacher is a supernatural, twisted and darkly comedic drama that follows a Texas preacher named Jesse Custer, who is inhabited by a mysterious entity that causes him to develop a highly unusual power: the ability to make people do his bidding with just a word.
The long road to Preacher started at SYNC with their Standard Cube Truck package. Then they added a massive gear and lighting order for Photographer, Matthias Clamer and his second shooter Rene Cervantes, flying in for the shoot from New York.
The guys in the shop did an amazing job organizing the gear so upon arrival, the SYNC Key Assistant/Driver and Matthias’s crew could hit the ground running.
Matthias was faced with many challenges on this shoot. There was a need for simultaneous still and motion setups, shooting in locations throughout the massive Preacher soundstage as well as in multiple exterior locations on the Santa Fe Studios backlot. So it was a necessity that everyone involved with the production stay on the same page throughout the entire shoot.
With a pre-pre dawn call time, it was finally time to hit the road to close the 845 mile gap between Hollywood and Albuquerque New Mexico where Preacher is filmed.
With the incredible number of exterior and interior setups on the shot list, 1 tech scout and 2 pre-light days where required to orchestrate 1 action packed shoot day! Cassia Hoffman and her crew at Bird + Stone tackled this ominous production task and kept everyone on their toes as the crew traversed the massive Stanta Fe Studios sound stages and backlot.
Without question this series of images showcases the strengths of everyone involved and SYNC is proud to be a continuing part of the Matthias Clamer success story!
Canon 1D X Mk II + Lexar CFast 2.0 Cards = 16 fps RAW!
The stage was set at the luxurious Thunder Studios in Long Beach to capture a stunt involving a shirtless stunt man, a large sheet of tempered plate glass, a special effects detonation charge by special EFX artist René Diamonte and a whole lot of high speed motion picture and still cameras.
SYNC’s high-speed stills tech equipped with 3 Canon 1D X MK II’s, Lexar’s CFast 2.0 cards and Pocket Wizard Plus III’s reached the desired result of 16 fps RAW (currently the world’s fastest RAW frame rate).
In order to bridge the gap from the default 14 fps, first a few menu settings need to be changed:
In the Drive menu, select Continuous shooting speed:
Then, select 14(16) shot’s:
Then, select the mirror lockup option in the Shoot menu:
Attach the Pocket Wizard Plus III’s with a Pocket Wizard CM-N3-ACC Canon remote camera trigger cable, set all units to receive with the appropriate channel selected…
Jon Miller, SYNC and Hive Lighting test the new Wasp 100-C!
Academy Award® nominated Hive Lighting’s new 100-Watt LED light with convenient controls and limitless colors for any budget, anywhere. On KICKSTARTER NOW!
Jon Miller is one of the owners of Hive Lighting and when he isn’t developing and testing new lighting products, he also works on set as a cinematographer, gaffer and photo assistant.
“I like to take any opportunity I can to work with lights out in the field” says Miller. “I first became familiar with SYNC when I was looking for a photo house with really deep resources for grip gear and light modifiers. I like to bring equipment to the photo world from my film and video background and this is why I knew the SYNC team would be perfect for this shoot. It was great working with them again.”
Hive Lighting has developed a brand new LED light the Wasp 100-C as a hybrid for both the photo and video world. Jon Miller and his team turned to SYNC rentals to provide the gear for producing the promotional video.
The Wasp 100-C is designed to work with both Chimera and all ProFoto accessories and Hive used SYNC for the gear to test and demonstrate when producing this video for their current Kickstarter campaign.
Shaun Fenn and Sealy Connect!
Stories are sometimes conveyed solely with images and great images bring parts of our world to life in a very special way. In the world of advertising, a good storyteller is worth their weight in gold…
Shaun Fenn is exactly that type of photographer. Shaun’s style of shooting always tells a very human story… the kind of experiences we can all relate to. This shoot for Sealy is a great example what Shaun does best.
With support from SYNC with crew, a great production team and a pre-loaded Sprinter (complete with custom pencil-light strobe heads), this shoot was primed for success!
NEW Canon 5D Mark IV is available now for rent at SYNC!!
In addition to being available right NOW for $250 per day or $750 per week at SYNC, here’s a closer look at all that is NEW with Canon’s latest 5D Mark IV release…
● Secondary rear thumb controller button
● Touch Screen
● All 61 AF points work at f/8 – 41 of these are cross-type
● GPS with tags for elevation
● Magnetic Compass
● WiFi for use with Canon Camera Connect App
● NFC
● 153,600 pixel (480 x 320) RGB + IR light meter
● AF rated to work down to LV -3, and to LV -4 in Live View
● 4,096 × 2,160 Digital Cinema Initiative 4K Video
● “Dual-Pixel RAW” an odd system Canon claims let’s us adjust focus after shooting
● IPTC metadata entry
With Canon’s flagship 1Dx Mark II, the 50 mega pixel 5DS R and the brand new 5D Mark IV all being released in less than 18 months of one another, it’s a great time to be a Canon shooter. If owning them all right now is not on your To-Do List, come and visit photo booth rentals nj and try one out, they will be happy to fill you in on all the details! Happy Shooting . . .
Mark Katzman Rocks Humana
Mark Katzman and SYNC go way back. Before SYNC, actually. And along that journey, the one element that has always resonated is how Mark connects with people. His crew, his clients, the talent and most of all, his viewing audience. That’s what keeps him in such high demand and what makes it such a pleasure to work with Mark on these projects.
This recent Humana job was no exception. Produced by Connie Conway Productions, this job traversed the greater Los Angeles area and produced a touching, heartfelt slice of real life that embodies what Humana is all about.
DSLR Follow Focus Shoulder Rig Outfit ready to go!
More and more Pro-Photographers are asked to shoot motion picture due to DSLR video integration and the great lighting skills they possess. SYNC felt this need and in response put together a complete Motion DSLR Rig! The Tilta TT-03-TL DSLR Shoulder Rig with Follow Focus & Counterweight is an off-set rig, making a camera mounted Zacuto feasible and comfortable! And if you have a Focus Puller, the Marshall-V-LCD70MD7′ Monitor, and Follow Focus Unit falls right into place! Pictured showing off our gear is friend and Photographer Casey Curry
Santas In The Barn Tru TV Shoot With Matthias Clamer!
In the heat of the summer, it’s always fun to look towards the cooler side of life… and what’s more fun than a Christmas reality show? Recently, Tru TV teamed up with one of SYNC’s first clients, photographer Matthias Clamer and BUSTER – Stun’s design and motion graphics studio to tackle this very ambitious project. The shot list was so intense, it took two fully loaded Sprinters and 20+ Profoto packs and a whole lot of Holiday magic. GMT Studios in Culver City hosted the event with photo production services handled by Seamless Productions. It was the type of photo shoot that shows us all just how much the tradition of Christmas means to so many people around the world. Good times…
