BAG CHECK | Jona Jahchan

Donovan
Yo. Are you still up in Massachusetts or something?

Jona
Yeah, I'm staying at my boy Matt's house right now, just kinda healing up from some shoulder shit, but it's been getting better. I feel like I can get back on the road here shortly.

Donovan
Damn dude, hate to hear that!

Jona
That’s just how it goes, man. I feel like whenever your guard’s down riding some simple shit, that's when you get the most worked.

Donovan
Yeah, that’s pretty much how it goes.
Alright, well to kick this off… What's the go-to fisheye setup? Because I know you got a couple camera bodies in there

Jona
Fisheye, Canon 8-15mm, what's that? L-series lens? Like the OG EF mount one.

Donovan
Nice, long lens? That's probably the one with the toggle zoom, I'd assume.

Jona
Yeah, I don't do much handheld long lens. I do have a Canon 70-200mm at home that I never use. I keep the 24-105mm in my bag, but that's more for static stuff. Any zooming kind of stuff is going on with that HC-X2000.

Donovan
That was another question I had, which Panasonic that was. That one can do 4K 60p, right?

Jona
Yeah, which I just started doing because I was filming 1080 60p for the longest time.

Donovan
I feel that.

Jona
Once I started cropping for Instagram, I realized I needed that extra 4K room.

Donovan
Yeah, the 1080 16:9 really falls apart cropping to 9:16.

Donovan
What brands of lenses you got in there?

Jona
I have all Canon glass essentially, just with an adapter.

Donovan
Oh, so you got like the MetaBones joint?

Jona
Yeah, not MetaBones, unfortunately. I got the Viltrox, which I would not recommend because it is a pain in my ass.

Donovan
Oh, I'm glad you said that because I've almost bought that for my A7 like multiple times, and then I just never check out with it.

Jona
Yeah, I mean if you're in a pinch, it'll work, you know. It does what it needs to do, just like any sort of autofocusing is a little finicky on that.

Donovan
What’s the biggest deal breaker for you with a camera bag? I feel like you've been running the shadow bag for forever.

Jona
Dude, I cannot rave enough about the shadow camera bags because it's the only camera bag that you can check into an airplane as a free item because it fits underneath the plane seat.

Donovan
Oh, shit.

Jona
Yeah, so it’s great for that reason. It's obviously not built as well as, like, a Lowepro. I have one of those as well. That's a solid bag, it’s just too bulky. So yeah. But as far as make-or-break. Two straps, obviously. Chest strap is pretty important.

Donovan
Oh true, when you said straps I was thinking about skateboard straps at first… What's up with the tuna?

Jona
Dude, the cheapest protein you can get.

Donovan
Yeah. Alright, fair enough. And I mean it's thin, so I guess there's always room for it, I just hadn't seen that before.

Jona
Dude, a sandwich costs fifteen dollars now. If I'm trying to stay on the road, I can't be buying sandwiches whenever I'm hungry.

Donovan
That is true.

Jona
Buy a pack of tuna, sixteen grams of protein, ninety calories. That's all you need.

Donovan
Damn. You fuck with sardines?

Jona
Dude, I don't even like fish. I honestly hate the taste of tuna. I don't eat it for pleasure. I eat it strictly for nutrition.

Donovan
Wow, damn, that's commitment. How often does your camera bag change up?

Jona
I'd say whenever I'm traveling, I try to make it as light as possible. Especially if I'm going on a plane somewhere. I try to limit the amount of batteries I have.

Donovan
Oh yeah.

Jona
And I'll probably just do a two-camera setup. But if I'm back home, I'll have all the gear I need.

Donovan
Makes sense. Do you use your external LCD little monitor guy much?

Jona
I do. I actually just had it die. I was filming a Monster Energy box jump show in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Was maybe like a month or two ago, and my monitor died, and then I realized how blind I am because I couldn't pull focus just like with the tiny screen anymore.

Donovan
Yeah. That would make it hard to pull focus.

Jona
It’s a blessing and a curse.

Donovan
The only way I can do that is with peaking on and set to the brightest color setting.

Jona
Dude, same. But luckily the Sony has a touch to focus feature which helps.

Donovan
Oh true. I see you still got a GH4 in the bag. Does that guy come out much? Or is that the main fisheye body?

Jona
Funny you mentioned the fisheye. That relates to my biggest gripe with the Sony A7C, the Ibis.

Donovan
Oh really?

Jona
You can't lock down the sensor. Even if you turn off Ibis, the sensor still floats around in there. And I didn't really notice it too much At first, but I just filmed some stuff in Japan with Matt and I noticed some of the shit was like shaky and I was like, huh, did I leave ibis on?

Donovan
Oh no.

Jona
So I tried it out again at the skate park and it just floats if you wiggle that thing too much. Drives me crazy. So yeah, I am switching back to the GH4 for fisheye for the time being.

Donovan
Damn, that makes sense.

Jona
Until I upgrade to like a A7S3 or FX3, whatever I can get.

Donovan
Gotcha. I’m a no vig guy personally. I'm usually trying to make a 4:3 ratio video, so I'm already cropping in anyway… So any potential ibis shake is usually cropped out.

Jona
Dude, I've actually been using an MK1 vig overlay to combat the little jiggle with the A7C, I'll slightly zoom in just so you can't see the Sony vignette moving around.

Donovan
I've done that!

Jona
And it's been working dude. I feel like maybe to a trained eye they could see it. Because I can definitely still notice it, but I'd like to think that most people can't really tell.

Donovan
I've never noticed it. Yeah, I think really the only thing to notice is with the natural vig you have some light changing like on the edges as you film, and then when you do the overlay you don’t have that. I've done that just to make different cameras match a little better, you know? But yeah, anyway. Have you ever had a MK1?

Jona
No, just MK twos.

Donovan
Sick. I’ve never even had a proper VX1000. Do you know where all those Japanese 1000’s came from that flooded the market?

Jona
It's a psyop.

Donovan
Probably.

Jona
But also, people just love that nostalgia too, you know.

Donovan
It's just like the most BMX looking thing ever.

Jona
Definitely dude. I miss my HMC150. I got two of them back home. They're both shot to hell, but Sometimes I just wish I could go back to using those things, honestly.

Donovan
Is that the 720p one that shoots to P2 cards or tape?

Jona
No, this is the one that shoots on SD cards.

Donovan
Oh, HMC, gotcha.

Jona
Yep. HMC. The HPX and the HVX are the ones that shoot to P2, which honestly those look better if you ask me. The HMC looks a bit plasticky almost

Donovan
Yeah.

Jona
You know what I mean? Like it doesn't have that natural look that the HVX/HPX has.

Donovan
Yeah, I don't know why, but those softer 720p videos just never really did it for me. I don't know. I went straight to 1080p/4k cameras.

Jona
Dude, I disagree, man. That's one of my favorite eras. I correlate that directly with the era of videos I love to watch, like Mastroni, Tony Ennis, all those dudes, Christian Rigal.

Donovan
Okay yeah, I can see that. I mean for sure some of my favorite edit are from that era as well… I’ve been looking at those Panasonics too, like the one you got. (HC-X1000)

Jona
Dude honestly I've got mixed reviews about the camera. I do love how small it is, but the zoom is very touchy.

Donovan
Oh yeah?

Jona
Also because the form factor is so small, there's not as many physical buttons. So if you want to quickly change some settings, it's a little tedious.

Donovan
Oh, true. Is the low light okay on those? I know they have a smaller sensor.

Jona
The low light is kind of iffy, but it literally comes with a damn light on the front!

Donovan
Oh Damn! It's so cool they do that. I had one of those on a different Panasonic camera. That's such a good idea for BMX/Skate videos. Have you ever had any close calls with your bag getting stolen?

Jona
Um no, I have way too much anxiety to ever even let that be an option. It's always with me.

Donovan
That's good.

Jona
Luckily.

Donovan
What about that film camera?

Jona
Film camera?

Donovan
I thought there was a film camera in there, in the photo.

Jona
Oh, I have a little digicam, Canon G11

Donovan
Oh shit.

Jona
It's a little trendy college kid cam.

Donovan
Oh I thought it might be like a point and shoot little 35mm thing.

Jona
It is a point and shoot. The reason why I got it, it's a CCD sensor. I prefer shooting with that over an Iphone.

Donovan
That’s sick. Is that handle guy on the front of your bag like a stabilizer setup?

Jona
Yeah, that's called a Tadashi T handle, it's the same company that made those fisheye filters a while back. I got it after a car accident, when my back was all messed up, because it telescopes out so it allows you to get really low without physically bending over all the time.

Donovan
Oh shit. That's good for bike filming too I imagine.

Jona
Dude, it's sick. But the build quality isn't the best, there's a little jiggle to it.



Donovan
what's in that LZ bag? Batteries or something?

Jona
That is wax. LZ made a fuck ton of skate wax And he dropped off like a hundred boxes of it at the bike shop I was working at at the time. So I've had LZ wax for like fucking five years. I've got a whole supply still. Shouts to LZ.

Donovan
Crazy. What about those DJI mics? You been using those much?

Jona
I bought them in 2023 to film a bunch of shit for YouTube with Matt Ray, and we used it probably for two weeks, realized we don't want to do YouTube, and then they sat on my shelf up until now. And this summer we've been using them a bunch.

Donovan
Nice, I have some RODE ones that I've been using for like, long lens setups if I am just not close to where the trick is happening.

Jona
Yeah, dude. Even for lines too, just to eliminate some of the ambient noise and just capture biking sounds, it's pretty dialed.

Donovan
Yeah. If I'm filming on a skateboard though, it's really nice too to throw in the riders pocket, because then there's basically no skateboard sound. But it can go wrong quick if something is rubbing or hitting the mic… Oh, do you have a hard time matching up Sony and Panasonic footage?

Jona
Yes, it drives me absolutely insane.

Donovan
I know what you mean.

Jona
And I'm hoping to find a solution soon. I thought about getting like a GH5S just to have for fisheye stuff, but Looking forward, I just I just want one or two cameras that can do everything. So I think I'm gonna go the Sony route, probably.

Donovan
Yeah. Makes sense. I struggle with that. Because I use the Sony every now and then, even though all my other cameras are Panasonics.

Jona
Yeah. I tried shooting with Sony’s S-Log too. Super flat, and for BMX I just don’t like it. I already hate editing. So I don't want to create more work, you know? I hate sitting there overanalyzing everything.

Donovan
I feel like I'm the opposite. lol

Jona
Oh really.

Donovan
I mean I do hate editing, but like, sometimes I'm so lazy when we're out filming. I just wanna set up as quick as possible so somebody can try something that if I fuck up my settings and I'm filming S-log, I might be able to save some highlights and shadows in post you know. so I kinda use it as a crutch a little bit.

Jona
Damn, that's a good point. I just prefer to just have a good image baked right into the camera, you know. That's why I missed the Panasonic scene files on the old camcorders.

Donovan
Oh yeah true.

Jona
Those were so sick.

Donovan
I'm sure nobody can tell though.

Jona
Dude, yeah, only the people that film videos care about this shit.

Donovan
Yeah.

Jona
I feel like the average BMX rider could care less.

Donovan
Yeah. Well shit man thanks for chatting for a bit!


Jona
Dude, yeah, of course. Hopefully you can get something usable out of this. If you need to run it back, let me know.

Donovan
Sick. I appreciate you being a part of the first one for this Streetwatch thing.

Jona
Yeah, no worries, This was fun.