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Here’s a HUGE issue that my contemporaries and I see all too often. Productions just know that they “need a drone” and lump all UAV’s into the same category. Now pay attention class because this is important: What you need is a skilled and licensed pilot/company that has the correct camera/drone/team combination for your production.

As a producer/director/shooter I’m always looking for the best way to maximize the investment of time and money. When it comes to purchasing and getting new gear into the production flow you need to do your homework. Listed below is but a few of the thousands of camera support products that are out there. But hey, that's why we’re here! The trick is to choose the right gear to stay within your budget and still come out with outstanding content. Easier said than done. But here is the good news. Getting new gear doesn't have to break the bank, and if you play your cards right, new gear can even pay for itself over time. So with that said lets’ check out some of the latest camera support gear and rigs that will take your production values to the next level.

From digital cameras to 8K workflows, video and sports production have been in a seemingly constant state of evolution. Veteran Steadicam operator and production specialist Alan Lennox has worked on everything from the Olympics to feature films and television episodes with new camera technology for decades.

Camera Operator/Cinematographer Jesse Feldman is well-known in the industry for many popular projects including Pose, American Crime Story: The People v OJ Simpson & The Assassination of Gianni Versace, Sons of Anarchy and American Horror Story... to name a few.

by featured blog contributor, Jeremy PinckertYou’ve collaborated on the storyboards, you've charmed on the conference call, you've nailed the pitch, and now you've won the job! It's Monday morning, and for once you're actually looking forward to making the harrowing commute...Starbucks is pulsing through your veins and you're ready - no you're stoked - to embark on that big-brand TV shoot. And then your phone interrupts your pump-up music on the BPM channel. Your apologetic producer is on the line and gently breaks the news: you don't have the money in the budget for that gorgeous steadicam shot you built into the boards. The steadicam shot that left you so inspired to direct this project in the first place. The buttery smooth eye-pleasing delicacy you were going to build your reel around. Options quickly flood into your brain: You could cash in the 401k, or even worse, call in favors from those famously curmudgeonly, hard-working steadicam operators just to get a shot like the famously long, intricate, and beautiful steadicam shot in Martin Scorcese's "Hugo" below:

Augmented graphics have come a long way in the past decade, from formerly rotund weatherman Al Roker obscuring the first two days of the seven-day forecast to reporter Jessica Yellin channeling a holographic Princess Leia while discussing results of the 2008 presidential campaign with Wolf Blitzer. Fast forward ten years and the real and virtual worlds are blending into one.

The polishing of a stone by a river takes many years. So, too, does the evolution from Camera Operator to Director of Photography. I have observed this metamorphosis occur over the past three decades with our own DP Mark Schulze, who is my partner and husband.

Over his 30 years in production, Alan Lennox has worked in many capacities leading up to camera operator and then specializing in Steadicam. He is currently an active member of the Society of Camera Operators, IATSE 667Toronto, IATSE 669 Vancouver and other industry associations. Alan was one of the first operators to adopt the ARRI Trinity -- the first hybrid camera stabilizer that combines classic mechanical stabilization with advanced active electronic stabilization. He then joined ARRI as the Camera Stabilization Systems (CSS) Specialist for the Americas. Currently, Alan shares his time between supporting CSS sales, demonstrations and tradeshows and also leads ARRI’s CSS workshops for the ARRI Academy for Maxima, artemis, Trinity and Stabilized Remote Heads.

“I feel empowered when I’m holding a camera,” Susu Hauser, adventurer, world-traveler, filmmaker, TV industry veteran, wife and cinematographer says with a gleam of pride in her eye. And she should feel proud. As one of the few female camera operators in the docu-reality TV world, she’s a groundbreaking trailblazer paving the way for more women to emerge in this extremely male-dominated field.

The Steadicam system was introduced by Garrett Brown in 1975, and since then, it has become a valuable tool in the motion picture and broadcasting industry.