News and links from around the internet focussing on cameras, camera kit and more. Curated by @ukcameraman
This week I had the pleasure of heading in to ARRI HQ in Uxbridge to test their latest camera, the Amira.
Unveiled at last years IBC show in Amsterdam, the ARRI Amira is seen primarily as a documentary camera, aimed at productions such as Natural World, Sports and high-end Ob-Docs. It's also been suggested it'll be a great B-Camera when shooting primarily on the ARRI Alexa.
After spending a week with the GH4, I had to fly to Georgia in the Caucasus to direct a documentary for France 5, one of the French national TV channels. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to test the GH4 in a real production environment and see how it could match our C300 and C100 in the field. Here is a quick edit of the results.
Note that I am not a colorist nor a pixel peeper but a director and DP who is trying to understand his tools and share what he learned. All shots were only slightly graded in Premiere CS6 using the basic color correction tools to match exposure and roughly set the black/white/saturation levels.
Sony's Alpha 7S, with its outstanding low light performance and full-frame, full-sensor video readout, is now right at the top of the list for those looking for an alternative to the "convientional" video DSLRs.
Belfast based Photographer and DoP, Alasdair McBroom talks about his experience of the Rotolight ANOVA V2 that he used to light his latest projects working along side Director / Writer Stuart Drennan (Hollyoaks, BBC, Channel 4) for their TV and Film Production Company, Wolfhound Media.
"The Rotolight Anova V2's came to me quite by accident, and in hindsight it's one of those accidents that you end up really appreciating."
I have used Sachtler's professional tripods for more than 20 years. For news and documentary work you cannot beat them. At NAB earlier this year I stumbled across the company's newSpeed Level Clamp. Replacing the regular twist lock clamp it is designed with squeeze handles that let you accurately and easily level your fluid head, No more twisting and untwisting, simply squeeze the handles, position the head and then release to set it in place. It takes a moment.
The Canon C300 is probably the single most popular camera for mid level production right now. Broadcasters like the BBC and Al Jazeera use them for much of their factual programming – in large part due to their lighter weight, 50Mb/s internal recording and moderate price.
It is interesting therefore to see that B&H have just dropped the price of the C300 from $13,999 to $11,999 (via a $2000 instant saving at checkout) and applies to both EF and PL versions. Last year B+H made a similar reduction dropping the camera from $15,999 to $13,999.
