Kicking off the year, I jumped straight into real-world production work and used it as an excuse to start testing new gear for the channel. The month started with a political campaign shoot at South Coast Film Studio where we built out a full green screen setup—hung a 20x, got our references dialed, and knocked out a lot of work early. I’m not gonna lie, I was tired, but it felt good to start the year with momentum and actual set days. Right after that, I locked in a new home base at downtown Studio Cup so we can keep the content consistent all year—sitdowns, comparisons, and all the different tests you guys keep asking for. Magnanimus Rentals (they’re based in Chicago but ship fast—even to us in Houston) sent over a Canon C400 for me to try, and I was honestly surprised because I didn’t even know this camera existed. I learned it’s full-frame, has triple ISO, and it’s supposed to be getting open gate (my unit didn’t have it yet). I also tested the DZO Vespid 2 primes, compared them to the Air35, and did camera comparisons against the Air35 and my FX3—those videos are coming this month. On top of that, I consulted and shot a small trailer snippet with In Color Productions at the Deluxe Theater, and I plan to push the C400 footage hard in the grade to see how filmic and gritty I can make it.