The wait is over! Last week, AdoramaTV premiered Season 3 of its original hit series, “Through The Lens.” This season, TTL travels across the globe to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hong Kong to explore the inspirational stories behind some of the region’s most popular photographers.
The documentary series is the brainchild of Sal D’Alia, a New York-based filmmaker and Senior Video Producer at Adorama, and it has quickly grown to be one of the most popular web series on Adorama’s YouTube channel.
In conjunction with the recent premiere of Season 3, we asked Sal, who directs and shoots every episode, to give us a run down on the gear he uses.
(Best of all every item in Sal’s gear bag is available for purchase at Adorama!)
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 01, the Assassin on Season 02 so I had to upgrade to the new Flame. The SSD drives also allowed me to focus on the content without thinking of cards or running out of memory. In Tokyo, 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. Atomos also added the new HDR feature which gives you a crazy dynamic range.”
Sal traveled with several members of the Adorama TV crew to create season 3. Every week a new international Instagram photographer and social media influencer is highlighted.
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 listened and gave us this amazing lens, no more adapters for me
Sal: “In some tight spaces in Hong Kong and Tokyo, this lens saved the day giving me amazing wide angle shots on the a7s full frame sensor.”
Sal: “I call this lens the ‘spyglass’ because I use it to ‘spy’ on the photographers while they’re working so I won’t disturb them and get the most natural reaction of what they do on the job. I decided to use this instead of the f2.8 because of the size. When in low light I tend to use prime lenses instead of zooms.
Sal: “It’s my go to E-mount prime lens: fast, sharp, great glass! All the beauty shots and night shots are made with this lens.”
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 for 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: “It’s not easy to find a stabilizer for dslr/mirrorless camera that is both reliable and portable, I needed something that could fit in my backpack and could be ready to go in minutes and the Nebula was an excellent surprise for me. The Nebula is very easy to set up and the movement are very clean, I used it with the a7s and the 16-35mm Lens and the shots came out great!”
Viewers will get a true feel for all of the amazing locations in Hong Kong and Japan, and can look forward to topics ranging from culture, architecture, history, landscapes, abstract and more.
New episodes of “Through the Lens: Season 3” will premiere on AdoramaTV, every Friday at 11am EST.
Tune in this Friday and let us know what you think in the comments below!
