ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

11 years, 6 months ago - Tom Johnson

Buy the blackmagic 4k or 2.5 k and save yourself a fortune, and get a smaller camera which doesn't do slow motion but is comparable to the Alexa on the big screen,

11 years, 5 months ago - Tom Johnson

Sorry but you're wrong about that. The colour rendition of the 2.5K is amazing. Blackmagic make resolve, the best grading software in the world. Some production companies tested the skin tone capability of the BM vs the Epic vs the Sony F65 and there was not a lot in it: http://www.televisual.com/news-detail/Mytherapy-F65-v-Blackmagic-v-Red-Epic-test-results_nid-2164.html
The latitude has better roll of in the highlights than the Epic (but not Alexa) and it's only half a stop below that of the Alexa. http://nofilmschool.com/2013/03/blackmagic-cinema-camera-red-epic-arri-alexa-raw-test-part-3-overexposure/

11 years, 6 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Unless you have a very full shooting kit, it usually means a bunch of hires anyway, so camera body is just another party of the hire package. I wouldn't worry either way about getting/missing work because of the camera body you own, so it may be more a case of what you enjoy using for your own projects? And bear in mind co-ownership is going to bring difficulties like who uses it most, maintenance, availability etc. Frankly it'll be a nightmare.

11 years, 5 months ago - John Lubran

A very fair comment from Sandy about the cost effectiveness of renting versus owning . However the business and operational models of shooters are not at all the same. There can be very good reasons for a shooter to want to own their own kit. Clearly most people would want to use the very best kit available but cost issues are very often an overbearing factor. Where that is the case and one needs to have an instantly available camera, ready for use over an extended period of time, that's when low cost kit capable of producing sufficiently high quality results might be the only appropriate solution.

Concepts and options associated with other peoples capital investments and business models don't necessarily define the best options for everyone. I for one would never invest mega bucks on any kit other than renting but for between $3,000 and $25,000 one can own very effective broadcast HD and 4K systems without having to pander to the often awkward and limiting requirements of third party suppliers.

11 years, 5 months ago - Jake Gabbay

Not sure I can help with your decision as it is a tough one for sure, but if you decide to upgrade the fs700 I am selling all of the upgrade stuff for the 4k. I have 2 axs cards, the axs r5, HXR-IFR5, card reader, and I am selling the metabones speed boaster as well. Good luck with your decision.

Jake

11 years, 5 months ago - John Lubran

The best objective test tool is the Mark One Eyeball and after that, provided that the camera kit meets that objective test and any other third party technical requirements such as EBU specs, mostly to do with bit rates and/or theatrical screening, where big screen resolution is required, it's down to skill and content; which we all know is king. So far, at 5K and with huge latitude, s35 film is still the bench mark that digital can only better in terms of cost. Personally I'm drawn to the F55 as a high quality and cost effective solution but have also been impressed by the Blackmagic option for being able to nip very effectively at the heels of systems costing a zillion time more without any detriment to the perception of 99% of audiences.

11 years, 5 months ago - Sandy Chase

These cameras aren't even in the same class. The Arri Amira is a world class cinema/doc camera. It's in a different league from the FS700 and BMCC. The Amira starts at $40,000, and for the price of a couple of accessories, you could buy armloads of those other cameras.

I agree with the first answer: your shooting kit is just part of the rental. Let's say you invest in the Amira, and you get a couple of really high paying shooting gigs, but the clients are committed to a RED workflow because they like a certain post house. You're screwed, and have to end up renting a camera package anyway.

And next year when there's an ALEXA 4K, people are going to ask why you're shooting HD/2K.

I think it's good as a shooter to own a solid, versatile kit for pickup gigs, but the shooters I know who own that class of camera (F55, Epic, ALEXA) rent out their camera kit to make money and recoup their investment. It's a real challenge though. Camera tech changes really, really fast. And rentals are relatively cheap.

You can rent an ALEXA camera kit from Adorama (a $110,000 package of camera and accessories) for $750 a day. And when there's a new model, you can rent the new one.

11 years, 6 months ago - John McGrath

I'd hang on to your 700 and maybe consider the Convergent Design Odyssey 7Q as your external which also acts as a monitor.. Of course you'll need to buy various codecs considering your projects and data works out at a $1 per GB.. If you hire some good Glass say a set of Cooke s4i's you have yourself a serious camera package for any project..
I'm upgrading to the F5 soon from the FS100( I'll never sell it.. It's to good a cam) and investing in Glass and also good folters(tiffen mainly) never underestimate the old way of achieving your look in cam and never rely on achieving this in post.. You should always have the tools on set to help your director achieve her/his vision of their story...
Stay away from BMCC unless your a internet reviewer..

11 years, 6 months ago - Jamie Kennerley

What's the correlation between the two cameras? Your FS700 setup would be 4K RAW and the Alexa would be HD or 2K. These are massively different choices, and they're not strictly yours to make. The capacity for storage and post to shoot a feature at 4K RAW is massive, and if that's your only selling point with the the FS700 then you might mind it's not much of a selling point at all. Also, getting the raw recorder for the FS700 doesn't improve the quality of the sensor at all. It's still a 6K camera, compared to 20/30k you'd spend on an Amira.

If you want a truly versatile cinema camera then get an F55, which can shoot HD and 2K as well as the Alexa as well as stunning 4K and 4K raw. I'll declare an interest here though and say that I do have one myself, but I bought it for exactly that reason.

I totally agree with Paddy here. It's isn't kit that gets you the quality jobs, it's your skill and experience. And then once they have you on board you may be lucky enough to get your own kit on the job too. But the camera body is probably one of the cheapest bits of kit to hire, and is often essentially not even charged for once you factor in everything else you have to hire.

11 years, 6 months ago - Jamie Kennerley

Yes, I'd stay away from the BMCC. There's a reason it's the price it is and other cameras are the price they are, and it comes down to colour rendition and depth, processing power, genuine latitude etc etc. Again though, if you're aiming yourself at features, an F5 isn't good enough I'm afraid, even with Cooke S4's. You need to be in the F55/Alexa range for genuine project-able footage that looks like cinema as opposed to really nice TV.