The definition of a “Camera“Seems to be always evolving. So, what are some of the things that set them apart from mirrorless?
Let’s face it. This is a good time to be a filmmaker. When I first started making movies a few years ago, there was no such thing as digital. Videotape available. But this is not the aesthetic way I wanted. So making film means somehow securing money to get thousands of feet of 16mm or 35mm film. Contrary to today, the camera itself was a cheap part (relatively speaking). But taking the reel, processing it, and putting it through the telecine process is a real hurdle for an independent filmmaker.
Fast forward to the present day and there’s really no reason why any budding filmmaker couldn’t go out and make a movie. That’s right, a top-of-the-line camera is still too expensive for most of us. Today, however, the mobile phone in your pocket has better image quality than the panoramic camcorders used to shoot many professional projects just a few decades ago. Even entry-level mirrorless cameras are capable of capturing images that, in the right hand, can rival the best cameras.
About a month ago, avant-garde French director Jean-Luc Godard passed away. His films like Breathless and My Life To Live are fundamental in my understanding of this art form. How he uses the street as a plot of land behind his back. His independent self-made spirit in his making has shown how cinema is not all about gloss and big budgets. A compelling story and a unique approach can be enough. I can’t help but think that what the directors of the French New Wave were able to achieve was that they had access to the cheap mirrorless cameras we have today.
Of course, there’s still a lot of difference between top-of-the-line cinema cameras and entry-level mirrorless cameras. As they say, you get what you pay for. But with manufacturers labeling “cinema” on some cameras that seem very similar to traditional photographic cameras like the Sony FX3 and FX30, I thought it might be better to take a look at some of the unique features. The distinction I look for when deciding whether a camera is “cinema” enough to get the job done.
Before I begin, standard disclaimer. The best camera is the one that’s right for your particular job. As simple as that. We all have our preferences for brands and models, but honestly, there’s no such thing as a perfect one-size-fits-all camera. So what I’m going to talk about today are general considerations rather than the ones that must be included in every camcorder to be considered a cinema camcorder. And remember, a movie isn’t cinema because the camera shot it. It’s cinematic because of the way you execute your storytelling. The camera itself is simply a tool to facilitate work. So now that we’ve got that clear, here are my top five attributes.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. It is more important than the camera you hold in your hand that you understand how to get the light and how to expose it. If you understand those two things, you can use almost any camera you want. Light scaling and controlling the dynamic range of your scene are fundamental to understanding how to create a great moving image.
If you’re coming from a stills camera, you’re probably familiar with using tools like histograms to gauge your exposure. Histograms also played an important role in camcorders and are still essential tools for many videographers. But true cinema cameras often also come with more advanced exposure tools like waveforms and false colors. These tools go even further in allowing a videographer to understand their exposure on a detailed level and can be key when trying to maximize the image you’re creating in-camera.
Time code
The mediums used to create a final film come from many sources. Unlike a still photo where the camera is usually a single point of view, a movie is recorded in many ways. One main camera. Usually multiple secondary cameras. A separate recording group for their own devices. Perhaps a separate VFX team creates additional material. Then all these elements are combined together in the post to create a final product.
To keep all of this in sync, it’s important to be able to keep the timecode consistent across all the different components. There are many ways to do this. There are even very affordable options like Tentacle Sync, which do a great job making timecode syncing easy across devices without a built-in option.
What you’ll find on better cinema cameras is a more robust timecode system. Many of these cameras have the ability to generate their own timecodes to sync with other devices. They often have a dedicated timecode port so you can timecode recording without sacrificing your microphone jack like you do on many smaller mirrorless cameras. Timecode is not interesting. But it can be crucial in simplifying your life when you’re involved in post-production.
On XLR input body and possible preamplifier
As mentioned in the previous section, chances are that your audio in a professional production will be recorded completely separate from the camera body. But this is not always the case. If you’re shooting a documentary (or documentary style), there are a lot of cases where the sound will be streamed directly to the camera in real time.
Since XLR inputs are often considered the industry standard connection for production audio, most cinema cameras will come with these inputs built into the body. This allows the simplest connection between the microphone and the camera. Some smaller cameras come with additional accessories such as hand grips that have built-in XLR ports instead of having them on the camera body. This is a good solution, although often not as convenient as integrating ports into the body.
Cinema cameras also tend to have a better original noise floor when recording audio directly into the camera. No matter what camera you are using, you can still get the best sound by recording to a dedicated recorder. However, if you are recording directly to the camera, you want the audio file to be as clean as possible. And cinema cameras tend to outperform mirrorless cameras in this regard.
Raw internal recording
I say raw internal recording, but to be honest, there are a number of different formats in which movies can be collected. I say raw video because it’s my own personal preference, but for some movies and TV shows, less storage solutions like different log formats may be an option. better.
The key to a great cinema camera is that it gives you plenty of format options to suit different shooting situations. Depending on the size and scope of the project, the capture format may not even be up to you. The decision could have been made in season one and you won’t be hired until season five, for example. Or an in-house production requirement that requires all footage to be purchased as X or Y for legacy purposes. Great cinema cameras give you plenty of formatting options with the least amount of fuss needed. And most can do so without having to attach additional accessories like specific external displays to access the feature set.
Internal ND
I once heard someone say that once you’ve flown first class, you can’t go back. I feel the same way about the inner ND. Because your shutter angle is (usually) set at 180 degrees, getting the right exposure when making movies depends largely on aperture and ISO. If you’re trying to maintain your camera’s native ISO to maximize dynamic range, that usually just leaves you with an aperture to work with. If you want to maintain a shallow depth of field, on bright days it can be challenging to avoid blurring highlights without the benefit of a neutral density filter. Because this is such an expected challenge, many cinema cameras have ND built in. This allows you to dial up or down the filter level with a simple flip of a switch instead of having to screw anything onto the front of the lens. This is important because it both saves time and allows you to change lenses without taking into account the ND filter. Any lenses you put on can benefit from ND because they’re between the lens and the body instead of the front.
The first camera I got with built-in ND was the Canon C200. Having them makes exposure on bright days easy. And the efficiency of the system caused me to miss the internal NDs whenever I shot with another camera. Internal ND is not always mentioned on the billboard. But they may be my favorite part of dedicated camcorders.
These five are just the top five that I look for. But there are others. While a full-frame sensor versus a crop sensor isn’t nearly as important in movie shooting as it is in still photography, that choice (especially with regard to field of view) can be a major deciding factor in camera performance. Which photo is right for you? Likewise, since much of the entertainment content filmed continues to be used in 1080p, the “demand” to shoot in 8K or even 4K can be overblown. However, depending on your needs, there are more solutions that may help. For example, I use less than 8K for perceived sharpness or to be able to recompose later and more because it allows you to be more stable in your post without losing detail. In turn, this allows me to skip the gimbal in many cases knowing I have plenty of resolution to crop when stabilized in post. Like internal NDs, convenience brings efficiency and allows me to work faster. But that totally depends on what and how I want to shoot.
So your favorite features in Camera? Do you consider the smaller cameras without these features to really belong to the brand’s cinema line? And what features do you wish cinema cameras were often missing?
