The list of candidate upgrades this year was pretty long, but in the end, we opted to add just a few key elements to the mix. What didn’t change is our base setup: Sony FX3 and the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art lens.

There was serious consideration around adding lens options below 24mm (12-16) and above 70mm (85 or 135), but in the end, it was hard to justify adding Sigma Art lenses versus changing over to some cinema glass. But then that option offered too many choices (I had at least six on my consideration list) plus adding follow-focus, etc. It was just going to be too much.

Our audio is good but not great. By this I mean that we get really solid results, when everything works. Our weakness is the 2.4GHz-based Sennheiser wireless lavs that sometimes get interference. Here, too, the price point to really do something worth the upgrade was just too high. So, we’ll work with what we’ve got for another year.

On the bright side, the decision to not add a lens or update our wireless mic setup opened up room in the budget for other things, not the least of which was a drone.

Here is what we have added for 2025:

Drone

Let’s start with the most exciting bit of kit: The DJI Mini 4 Pro. Last year’s addition of the RS4 Pro gimbal finally got our shots off the sticks, but a drone opens up a whole new world of camera movement.

In the midst of the tariff wars of Spring 2025, we grabbed our drone before prices could do anything crazy. One of our preferred sources for gear like this is Best Buy, but they quickly sold out of this drone in all its forms. WE managed to get one from DJI directly and as I write this, the package is on its way from Hong Kong and should be here soon (the last week of April). However, this is 100% a birthday present for me, so I don’t get to see it (or play with it!) for about three weeks.

My birthday wishlist reads like a person who got a new drone and needs a ton of accessories.

Lighting Addition & Upgrade

Two new bits of lighting were added for this year. The first is a projector, the Nanlite Forza 60C with 19° and 36°  spotlight attachment. The projector lets us add some spot lighting, which we haven’t really had before. The projector also supports gobos, which are cutouts that project shapes, like window panes or tree branches. We can also shape the spot from round to rectangular and adjust the color from various temperatures of white to a full color spectrum.

The second new light is kind of a combination upgrade/addition. We previously had two tube lights from GVM that were a little over a foot long. They were quite bright and had several effects, which we used in Instant Camera (cop car lights) and in Ripe for the Pickin’ (club/disco lights). For 2025, we secured a set of four Nanlite PavoTube II 15C 2-Foot RGBWW LED Tube Lights. That added two lights, but also gave us far more light from each tube. The light has roughly the same effects, too, so we’re not giving anything up there. The only advantage the old lights have is that they use replaceable NPF batteries whereas the new lights have a built-in rechargeable battery. 

You can see that we’ve settled on Nanlite for our recent lighting purchases. That started with our set of four Pavobulb 10C lights, which we also used for the club scenes of Ripe for the Pickin’ to supplement the disco lights. They were also used in the fire pit scene to simulating light from the fire. Having lights from the same manufacturer means being able to use one app to set and control the lights. Our GVM panels and tubes served us well, but they weren’t controllable remotely. And while GVM makes decent, affordable lighting, the Nanlite selections are a step up.

Remote Monitoring Improvements

Last year we added the Accsoon Cine View Nano Wireless Video Monitoring Transmitter and it worked great. We used an iPad to monitor and that worked well, too, though the iPad mount was a little sketchy. This year we have added a universal cage for the iPad from Smallrig. It will hold the larger-size iPad we now have, can supply power to the iPad from NP-F batteries, and has a sunshade for shooting outdoors. It also mounts to a light stand or tripod more easily and will be more stable.

That also leaves our previous iPad available to use as a slate, which will really help speed up post-production.  

Misc. Other Stuff

Last year we had our eye on a black mist filter. This year Urth released one in the magnetic mount format we use for our ND filters. Trigger pulled on that!

Our venerable Zoom F6 sound recorder will have a new home inside a KTek Stingray Bag for the F6. We were just carrying it around naked before, so this will project the unit better and provide a way to wear it like a belt for the boom operator.

While we didn’t add or replace any lenses this year, I did snag an Urth FD to FE adapter. I can now use my old (very old) Canon FD-mount lenses on the Sony. It’s an easy way to get a very different look in-camera, which we did for the binocular view in Instant Camera.

For our DJI RS4 Pro gimbal, we secured a second, higher-capacity battery grip. Also on the way (on my birthday wish list!) is a gimbal support belt. That takes some of the weight off the operator’s arms, so filming isn’t so tiring. Our gimbal operators will thank us for that.

Post-Production

Headlining this section is an upgraded MacBook Pro. The new M3 Mx chip and 36GB of memory should speed rendering, especially when we add effects to a clip.

Speaking of effect, I am trying out a demo version of filmconvert’s ColorMatch and Nitrate plugins. Colormatch will let us match the DJI drone and GoPro Hero Black footage to our FX3. The Nitrate plugin is an easy way to mimic film stocks for different looks. This is sometimes viewed as a crutch to avoid learning how to do proper grading, but in a 48-hour film race, this plug-and-play way to get results lets us do more in less time. And that’s big.

Future Upgrade Plans

Our next big gains will be had with cinema lenses and better wireless microphone systems. But those are big-ticket items and may have to wait. There are always lights on my wishlist and having more powerful light sources would be welcome. But we’re still pretty thin on lighting skill, so we have more to pull out of our existing setup before more lights would provide a huge benefit.

What’s Next…

Next up is the Cincinnati 48 Hour Film Project for 2025. It’s about a month away, so we’re already making preparations for that long weekend. The day before the event will be our load-In day and drone pilot school. The Mini 4 Pro is supposed to be pretty easy to fly and we have a lot of open space at our filming location, so hopefully we’ll be solid enough for the craziness that is making a film in 48 hours.