Of course this doesn't apply to "safe", professional situations where accidents can be avoided. This is a cautionary tale for indie filmmakers who often film these types of shots on regular city streets with no process trailer or safety equipment. Your DP laying their head against the console could get seriously injured, to say nothing of the talent in the driver's seat when a camera flies loose. Even an iPhone can become a dangerous projectile in an accident.

I've shot with both. The C300 is a workhorse, but it's 8-bit HD and not as good as the image quality of the A7Sii especially in low light. Ergonomics-wise it's a little better, but keep in mind you'll still need to drop $$$ on a shoulder mount, handles, grip offset etc. if you want to do handheld work. We've used the C300 extensively for Reality TV and short projects, and while the image at 24p is nice I don't consider it very filmic. And with so much being shot at 4K we miss the ability to enlarge or reframe the shots in post. At the end of the day, you need to pick a camera based on what you think you'll be shooting and how you want it to look.

As far as outputs (like SDI), yes the C300 has a lot of options. But you could also get a Shogun or Ninja outboard recorder and get those taps. That's how I did it on my last short film and it doubled as my director's monitor. Just something to consider.

And as far as what you charge for your services, I would enforce a strict kit fee for yourself with no exceptions. When you get a call for work, mention that you have a camera you can bring "for an extra $$" so that they know up front you expect money for the camera rental. Don't give that away for free just cuz they hired you.

Most likely your sequence settings are incorrect. Use the DSLR presets (I assume you shot 1080p 24) or else just drag a clip over the new sequence icon at the bottom right of the Project panel and it will create a sequence that matches your footage.

Ahhh, memories. Thanks for writing this, totally brought me back to my first filmmaking classes with Moviolas and Steenbecks. I did my short film on 16mm – silent, b&w reversal stock – and cut it with a Moviola and a razor. It was nerve-wracking to slice into my ONLY print, knowing that a wrong decision would mean painstakingly reassembling it while trying not to scratch it. Not to mention the trauma of hearing your assembled edit snap in the projector while reviewing a cut because you didn't tape it together well enough.

I only got to work on a Steenbeck a little bit; I found the process of threading the film to be too laborious and after I synced up all my footage with the recorded sound I was exhausted and decided to not edit the film at all. Within a few months I had a copy of FCP and never looked back. But I'm glad I had the chance to touch film and learn those techniques; it gives you an appreciation of the craft that you wouldn't otherwise get from just working on a computer.

THANK YOU.

I'd love to hear about ANY of these VFX-heavy shorts that were optioned by major studios that have actually started production. The Raven? R'ha? The Prototype? Hate to be a Debbie Downer but I'm getting tired of hearing about shorts getting optioned without any follow-up or analysis of what good comes out of the process. Are the directors at least getting representation? Pitching other scripts? Getting other directing work? Are they seeing any money?

Ever since shorts started getting optioned off the web, I can only point to a handful of success stories. Blomkamp was one of the first and was fortunate to get hooked up with Peter Jackson, with Halo's failure leading directly to District 9 getting made. Alvarez got a shot at directing the Evil Dead remake. Rinsch got The Gift optioned and was pushed for Prometheus, ultimately winding up with the disastrous 47 Ronin -- and he was most certainly aided by having Ridley Scott as his boss and father-in-law. If Ruiari's Leviathan actually gets made in spite of Hollywood's recent cold feet over anything original (or without comic book-based source material) then it will be a minor miracle, and a victory for short film directors with a vision. Until then though, the actual success stories are few and far between.