First-Look Review: The Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III In Costa Rica

How a new, versatile, compact OM-D camera body performed in the tropics

By Terry Sullivan

This past February, I traveled to the beautiful tropical Central American country of Costa Rica with Olympus to try out its latest mirrorless camera, the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III. (This was more than a month before the U.S. Department of State issued a Global Level 4 “Do Not Travel” Health Advisory, on March 31, 2020, which advised, “U.S. citizens... Read more

Hands-On Review: Sony PXW-FX9 Digital Cinema Camera

Where does Sony’s latest XDCAM fit in today’s cine market?

Daniel Brockett

One thing Sony tends to do better than many of its competitors in the pro cinema camera market is to read and respond to market segment demand. I know because I’ve owned several Sony cinema cameras over the years and watched how the company has reacted to new technologies and format changes. It’s why Sony has become a powerhouse in the market segment... Read more

Hands-On Review: Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K

Redefining the inexpensive digital cinema camera

Daniel Brockett

There have been quite a few mirrorless cameras introduced over the past 10 months. However, one of the hottest models of the past year in the world of cinema wasn’t a mirrorless camera or a traditional digital cinema camera at all. It was, in fact, a small, rectangular, 2-pound slab of carbon fiber polycarbonate composite known as the Blackmagic Pocket... Read more

Hands-On Review: Blackmagic Design’s URSA Mini Pro G2

The author puts the updated cinema camera to the test by using it in a real-world project

Daniel Brockett

Blackmagic Design introduced the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 in March of 2019, which was a significant update from the original URSA Mini Pro, which was announced two years earlier, in March 2017. Here’s a brief description of it from Blackmagic Design’s website: “The URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 is a next-generation digital film camera with... Read more

Pro Video Gear

Some of the tools introduced this year helped redefine what’s considered ‘the cutting edge’

Daniel Brockett

In 2019, we saw some intriguing developments in the new digital video tools from this season: 6K. Full-frame sensors. Mirrorless cameras and mirrorless disruptors. Internal vs. external RAW. New camera card media formats. Shooting to SSDs. Ultra-bright monitors. In many cases, these technologies and features weren’t available to most just a year or... Read more

Camera Trends In 2019

An overview of important camera trends and new ways of shooting

Daniel Brockett

It seems green-screen shooting has only grown in popularity in 2019. I spend probably an unhealthy amount of time reading production forums, discussion boards and social media group forums that focus on production and camera work. For me, it’s a useful way to get a sense of some of the current as well as coming trends. Below, I describe some of the... Read more

How To Successfully Push The Limits Of A One-Man Band

If you’re going to go with a one-man band approach, follow these tips and suggestions

Text & Photography by Daniel Brockett

This shoot pushed the limits of how much gear I could set up and manage solo. An interesting and significant by-product of the digital revolution is that most of the gear used today to create television and film is now significantly lighter, smaller, less expensive and higher-quality than anyone could have imagined 15 or 20 years ago. Many of us are... Read more

Our Mirrorless Quest

Is Fujifilm’s new X-T3 best in class?

Daniel Brockett

The Fujifilm X-T3 paired with the FUJINON XF16mmF1.4 WR lens. There have been specific mirrorless cameras that have become popular with DPs and cinematographers shooting on various projects, particularly films that have limited budgets. Sony’s a7R III and Panasonic’s Lumix GH5 and GH5S are among the most notable. But some, like me, have found that... Read more

Canon’s New EOS C700 FF

The evolution of the modern digital cinema camera

Daniel Brockett

The C700 was Canon’s bid to introduce a competitor to industry-standard higher-end digital cinema cameras from competitors like Arri, RED, Panavision and Sony. Up until this point, Canon’s sole entry into the high-end digital cinema camera wars was the EOS C500, a camera capable of creating nice 4K imagery but only when hooked up to an external... Read more

Mirrorless Mania

Panasonic and Fujifilm pave the way for the future of hybrid cameras

Text & Photography By Daniel Brockett

The Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5s Panasonic’s latest and greatest hybrid stills/video camera, the Lumix DC–GH5s, has proven to be a capable performer and, ironically, a better video camera than its cousin, the GH5. By dropping back to a lower-resolution sensor, a 10.2-megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor (about half the resolution of the 20 MP version... Read more

Sony a7 III Hands-On Review

Sony's "Basic" Camera Is Anything But

David Schloss

One of the quirky things about language is the way in which a turn of phrase conveys something in one culture yet has a slightly different nuance in another, leaving some things, as they say, lost in translation. When Sony announced its new a7 III at its global launch event in February and proudly proclaimed it to be its “basic model,” the camera... Read more

High Dynamic Range, High Frame Rate Set Sony’s 4K Camcorders Apart

With the ability to capture High Dynamic Range and High Speed Motion, the new 4K camcorders are the best in their class

By David Schloss

Significant technological changes are sweeping through the cinema and broadcast video markets, driven by the ever-increasing consumer demand for high-quality video content and a range of improvements in the delivery and playback of that content. The HDTV sets that flooded the market in the early 2000s were sold on the promise of more precise, better-looking... Read more