I learned a valuable lesson almost 10 years when I bought the Canon C300.
Stop buying cameras based on YouTube videos and the spec sheet. Start buying cameras that you think can make you more money.
I broke my own rule two times. I bought a Blackmagic URSA when it came out. I lost money on that because I didn’t fit into my workflow.
And I bought a Blackmagic Cinema 6k and I haven’t made any money with that either.
Outside of those two, every camera I’ve bought has made me at least 10 times what it cost. So I wanted to share five lessons in this video that I learned when buying cameras.
Let me break down exactly how that works.
First, I made sure to also separate my gear from my labor when I’m creating estimates or invoices.
You should 100% of the time do this as a freelancer and even if you have a production company. This is exactly how I know what my return on investment is for every piece of gear.
For example, if I got hired as a freelance DP for a corporate job, my rate would be $1000. My FX9 camera package would be $550.
If you did the same, the only thing that should change should be your labor rate. The gear should be what the industry rate is. You can find that out from local rental houses around you that rent video gear.
Second, when it comes to buying gear, I only think about it from a business standpoint.
In my DP career, I made plenty of camera choices that were all from a creative standpoint. What is the best camera for the job?
But in those cases, I rented what I needed.
When it came to buying a camera, I also thought about the most versatile camera for the type of clients I have.
I knew the Red and Alexa cameras were for specialized jobs. They couldn’t do a lot of run-and-gun, corporate shoots.
So that became something I would rent.
Cameras like FS7, FX9, Sony A7S3, and Canon C300 were a lot more flexible for a variety of jobs. So I knew they would work more.
Third, I never bought a camera up on release. I waited a year or so. Then I looked around to see what the most dominant camera was in my market. When I was doing B cam, I would see what other DPs were using, so I can get on their job if I owned the same camera.
Fourth, I would do the math to see how many days it would take to pay off a piece of gear. In most cases, it would be in the 20-40 shoot range.
Sometimes, a big job would come up and I knew I would pay off 25% of the camera if I bought it vs renting. That’s essentially a 25% discount. So I would pull the trigger.
Fifth, taxes. Towards the end of the year, if I was in the top tax bracket, I would do the math. It wouldn’t be the only decision, but an important one. If a camera was in demand and I knew it would save me time and money the following year, I would do the math to see how much tax the write-off would save me.
If I’m going to pay 37% tax on that income and the camera makes sense to own, it was a really good reason to buy.
And one last thing. I only bought cameras when I thought the last one was obsolete. The transition from C300 to Sony FS7 is a good example. I knew I needed to shoot 4k.
I upgraded from FS7 to FX9, because I knew the full-frame, useable autofocus, and S-Cinetone would really level up my production and save me money in post.
Learn the exact blueprint I used to go from a struggling videographer, to running a profitable video production business, in this one-hour free training.
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