Lookin' good! The new clips have some more actiony material in them?
Unfortunately not.. I haven't shot much actiony stuff for a while. I do think the reel is a bit slow (and contains a lot of dolly shots
) but I'm not really sure there's any strong punchy action-ey stuff that I can put in.. I'll see how I go.
Feeling jealous from the toys you've played with.. What would you say was the overall best camera? In regards to ease of operation, price point and picture?
I don't think there
is a best camera. It's all subjective, and it also depends on your own needs, the film's needs etc. I
personally love 35mm, but it's often prohibitively expensive. The Alexa is the next best, and my favourite digital camera to work with. It gives a great picture, almost on par with 35mm film, and simply works like a real camera. And though it's $100,000 to buy, I have an Arri catalogue from 2006 quoting some of their prices as $250,000+ for their higher end 35mm cameras (cameras that now go for <$10,000!), so I guess it's all relative. The Alexa is cheap compared to what you'd pay to buy something only a few years ago, but expensive compared to say the cost of a DSLR.
The other thing with film cameras is they take a beating (and will still work in 30 years time) and are comparitively easy to service as they're all mostly mechanical (unlike all digital cameras
). If you have an issue with a film camera, you can often diagnose and fix it within the hour. If you got a problem with a RED, you're on the phone to the rental company to rush you out another one as quick as they can.
I guess my point is that you can get good images out of all of them. It really depends on what you want to do - I would suggest a Scarlet as the cheapest camera to get you an image that's generally acceptable on a cinema screen, but then it's much more difficult to use than a traditional camera system. The Sony FS-series I find hard to use, and expensive for the picture you get out of it - I don't think the picture's all that much better than a DSLR (though it
is better). If you're shooting a web series or a corporate, for example, an FS or a DSLR would be fine.
I guess if I was forced to shoot digital forever, and could only choose from what's available now, I would pick an Alexa, as I think it has the combination of a great picture and an easy to use camera, plus the price point is not cheap, but it's not prohibitively expensive on a modest budget.
I also find the Alexa works the way I'm used to, and the way I like - I hate the weird exposure system on the RED, and having to 'maximise the histogram,' and leave it to the grade, regardless of the fact that it may be completely opposite to the actual look you want..
With all that said, lensing and lighting is
much more important than the camera body you're using. Lensing and lighting can make or break an image much moreso than the camera itself. Talking from purely a cinematography standpoint anyway.
