Camera Choice?

[markm]

I have a GH2 and an Arri BL In the past I have hired cameras and equipment. I haven't bought a BMC and don't need to as I'm not making a film yet. Although I have two features in pre production.

 

I have done a lot of grading and work on short films and think I have earned the right to hold an opinion from my past experience on picture quality. I know the best digital quality is RAW which in my opinion is not up to the standard of film yet and still has a way to go in how it renders colour.

 

Here is my advice.

1) Hire a DP who knows what he is doing. This is by far the best way to get a good picture. Anyone can make a crap picture on the very best cameras . Not everyone can paint with light.

2) Shoot the highest quality you can. You dont want compression on your master until the film is graded and in a delivery format.

3)Shoot 35mm film if you have the budget because film renders colours much better and has the film look as well as being future proofed for new digital formats it will last a very long time.  but it is costly. Although maybe not much more than shooting on an Alexa or Sony F65. I believe digital is best suited to pop videos and the like.

 

WORKFLOW

A workflow is a way to overcome all the problems thrown up by the camera you use But also to maximise quality. Often this used to mean it was complicated to use RAW. It's a lot simpler now. All you really need is to get what you shot on your computer make proxies and be able to colour correct. Most of us know how to do it or can easily learn. You dont need to edit in Avid or final cut Pro to be professional OR have huge amounts of expensive gear.

 

Sony Canon etc would love you to conform to their so called peripherals or sometimes bandied about as workflow that are built around their camera sales. The cameras attract a lot of peripheral manufacturers. You could end up with a huge unweildy contraption that adult kids who used to love lego meccano.

 

The Sony F55 for example you need to get an outboard £5000 recorder with Special recording media that can simultaneously record a compressed version. This is handy for proxies But you stil have to transfer it to a hard drive and you can easily enough render a proxy out. One thing though If the Sony recorder doesnt record at the same point as its card version you will need to render a proxy anyway.

 

Sony have added bells and whistles to their F55 like 16 bit Global shutter and a new Colour filter Array in order to charge a massive amount of money and divide the market to Pro and consumer again. Something that works for them as they make shed loads of money. As do the peripheral manufacturers. What you get is to colour grade in 16 bit or the 16bit may be squeezed to 12 bit by the time it hits the recorder. Regardless, I've never seen a 10 bit monitor let alone 16 bit. editing. However you will end up with 8 bit 4.2.2 for broadcast in the end. Just that extra colour information can give you extra leeway in extreme grading . After all the canon C300 is a £12000 camera and works in 8 bit 4.2.2. I really can't see any advantage over 10 bit colour grading and the BMC offers 12 bit SO Surely overkill and job done.

 

SOME THOUGHTS.

 

BMC = RAW 12 Bit NO global shutter 2.5k smaller sensor. Hey Do you really need to worry about bokeh when you can let your lenses do that?

 

SONY F55 = RAW 16 bit Global shutter Need a recorder to record RAW. 2 or 4k

 

You need to decide what is the best way to get your Master transferred to a theatrical print . Red did a resolution test a few years back to prove digital had better resolution than film. They reckon that what you see projected is less than a thousand lines.

 

If you record Sony 2K then the BMC beats it with 2.5k

If you record in Sony 4K you will have even more huge amounts of data. 4K is great for reframing but really if your going 4K then to pull this off everything else will cost lots more.  

 

Lets be honest Isn't much of this just plain overkill even with the BMC.

 

The Alexa is now old and needs replacing. There is a new Aaton digital camera that looks very promising in my opinion. But as for the Sony or Alexa or canon You're looking at overpriced cameras that YES have global shutters. Most though will never know the difference unless extreme hard panning. It's another thing that so called film makers shout loudly they cant live without. But anyway, are still no match for film. If you dont need a global shutter because your secure enough in your own mind then surely a BMC is all you need.

 

But hold on. it could make sense to attract a talented crew to have a high priced professional looking camera. In this case you have to look professional . So shoot 35mm FILM!

 

In my opinion a BMC will give you top quality RAW. That takes care of your picture quality. However Only a Quality DP can make a movie look a million dollars.

 

No camera technology in the world can do that.