The Most Popular Cinema Cameras (Part 2): Arri, Red, Panavision, Sony

INTRO

Over the years cinematographers have chosen different cameras to dictate the medium and influence the look and capabilities of how footage is shot.

In the second part of this video I’ll go over a few of the most popular cinema cameras which have been used in the film and commercials industry. I’ll look at a variety of formats and go over their ergonomics as well as the look which each can generate.  

ARRI ALEXA MINI LF (2019)

In recent times there’s been a boom in the use of LF, or large format, digital cameras. The Mini LF from Arri is probably the most popular camera used to capture this format. 

So what makes large format cinema cameras different? 

Back when film was the default medium these cameras were designed around the 35mm sized film gauge. When cameras transitioned to digital, most manufacturers created sensors matching the size of Super 35 film which was already an industry standard. These cameras had similar visual characteristics to 35mm film, such as the field of view, depth of field and selection of lenses which covered the sensor.

Large format cameras use a sensor larger than the traditional Super 35 sensors. The Mini LF has a sensor size which is in between the regular Alexa’s Super 35 sensor and the Alexa 65.

The look that is produced by large format can be difficult to describe. The larger sensor means that lenses can record more surface area. This means that when using the same lens on a Super 35 sensor and an LF sensor, the field of view of the LF will be wider.

Also, a larger sensor combined with DPs typically using longer focal lengths means that the depth of field on the LF is very shallow, even in wide shots.This results in a ‘larger than life’ look which is great for capturing expansive vistas or showing more background information in a frame.

The Mini LF uses a bigger version of the highly regarded Alev 3 sensor which is found in other Arri cameras. It produces beautiful, organic colour with a base ISO of 800 at up to 4.5K Arriraw.

The maximum frames per second that can be shot with this codec is 40. Meaning that the camera needs to change to a lower res codec if slow motion is required.

Shooting large format comes at an increased cost, not only due to the rental of the more expensive camera and lenses, but also due to data storage. When shooting at 4.5K you only get 32 minutes of footage for one whole terabyte of storage. 

The Mini LF has a great ergonomic design. It’s accommodated in a slightly larger, updated version of the Alexa Mini body. This means it’s small enough to be used for lightweight setups, such as on an Arri Trinity. The modularity of the design means it can be quickly and effectively built into different configurations by camera assistants, saving a production time on set.

It comes with an LPL mount, Arri’s new mount which accommodates large format lenses. However there is also an LPL to PL adapter which allows the use of standard PL lenses too. 

The Mini LF has 3 internal FSND filters, which have no colour shift, and come in 0.6, 1.2 and 1.8 strengths. This is far fewer internal NDs than some of its competitors such as the Sony Venice.

Overall, the Mini LF has become a dominant large format force in the high end film market due to its efficient design, compact size, beautiful, organic Arri look and its ability to meet Netflix’s 4K UHD approval standards.     

RED MONSTRO (2017)

Next, let’s take a look at Arri’s large format competitor, the Red Monstro.

Monstro refers to the sensor designed by Red which, like the Mini LF, is larger than the standard Super 35 size. This bigger sensor requires special lenses designed to cover large formats. This includes vintage lens options - such as lenses from Canon originally designed to cover their full frame stills cameras - as well as newly released modern lenses such as the Zeiss Supreme Primes.

This Monstro sensor is capable of recording in 8K resolution. Recording in such a high resolution makes it possible to easily reframe or stabilise shots in post without downresing. Although the camera captures in 8K, this is usually downsized to either 4K or 2K for its final display. Downsizing 8K footage will result in a sharper, crisper look than footage that is natively shot at a lower resolution such as 2K.

The Monstro can record at 8K in Redcode RAW at up to 60 frames per second, meaning slow mo is possible at this high resolution. The Monstro has a low pixel density, meaning that the pixels in the sensor are further apart than on the Helium sensor, for example. Noise is therefore reduced and the camera is capable of better low light performance.

This Monstro sensor can come in a few different bodies: the older body with the DSMC2 brain, the new Red Ranger body or even Panavision’s DXL2 body.

The older Red body is compactly constructed and therefore good for lightweight rigs like gimbal or steadicam. Personally I’m not the biggest fan of Red's touch screen monitor system, which acts as a menu for the camera. It is easy to use, however it quickly attracts fingerprints and smears of dirt, meaning it requires constant cleaning to be used as an actual exposure reference monitor.

Red’s are also a little less user friendly when paired with Arri accessories. For example, when using a Mini LF with a compatible WCU-4 focus handset from Arri it’s quick and easy to do things like change settings, programme lens data, roll the camera and playback clips all from the handset.

Shooting on Red with Arri accessories requires work-around solutions for these issues, which may slightly slow down production.

Overall the Monstro is great for those looking for a large format camera with a crisp, clean, high resolution look that has lots of maneuverability in post production. 

PANAVISION XL2 (2004)

Now, let's move from digital to film and take a look at a 35mm camera.

There are two main camera choices when it comes to shooting 35mm motion picture film today: the Arricam or the Panavision XL2. The XL2 is the most modern 35mm camera produced by Panavision. It comes with a PV mount and supports all anamorphic and spherical 35mm film lenses as well as standard accessories.

It comes in an ergonomic form factor that means it can alternate between studio builds and lighter steadicam builds. 

It can shoot 3 or 4 perf film. Using a 3 perf negative pulldown saves on film stock but records to a reduced surface area, meaning slightly less fidelity and quality. The XL2 comes with a 400’ and a 1000’ magazine option and features a clear, detachable optical viewfinder. It’s capable of shooting from 3 up to 50 frames per second. 

A big improvement comes from the 2 HD video tap options. This makes it much easier to monitor footage and provides a clearer feed to the focus puller. This is a big step up from some older 35mm cameras which had very low definition, barely visible video feeds, sometimes only in black and white. 

Since it’s a film camera its look is determined by whatever stock is selected by the cinematographer.

The XL2 is a great, contemporary 35mm film camera due to its reliability, ergonomic versatility, ability to record up to 50 frames per second and the increased quality of its video feed. 

SONY F65 (2011)

Finally, something a little different.

The F65, from Sony’s CineAlta range, is a Super 35 digital camera capable of recording in 8K resolution. Although now discontinued, for its time the F65 was able to deliver highly detailed images from its CMOS sensor. With extremely fine texture and low aliasing courtesy of its amazing 16 bit RAW files.

Despite producing incredible images and being a technically amazing camera, it never achieved widespread appeal in the industry.

This is probably due to its design.

I’ve worked with the F65 once and believe me when I say it's a clunky, cumbersome machine to work with. The body is extremely wide and heavy meaning it is very difficult to manoeuvre for anything handheld. It’s like having a boulder on your shoulder. It’s also too large to be usable with a steadicam.

So while the F65 is capable of producing incredible images in 8K, 16 bit RAW, with beautiful colour science, it is limited by its bulky size and cumbersome ergonomics, which probably contributed to it not being mass adopted across the industry.