First Look: Back In The Game

Nikon releases the D4 and D800, two DSLRs with much improved features for filmmakers

By Neil Matsumoto

When it was announced, back in September 2008, the Canon EOS 5D Mark II was the game-changing DSLR that helped start a filmmaking revolution. But how many of you recall that Nikon was the first camera manufacturer to release an HD-enabled DSLR? The D90 was announced in August 2008 (it’s still in production), but unlike the 5D Mark II, the D90... Read more

Scarlet Fever

RED’s modular Scarlet-X delivers 5K stills and 4K motion picture capture—definitely not for amateurs

By Neil Matsumoto

I have a confession to make. Although I’ve seen plenty of RED ONEs and EPICs on sets and have placed my hands on models at trade shows (when they’re not encased behind glass), I’ve actually never shot with one. As you may know, RED’s long-awaited Scarlet-X has had many starts and stops over the years. It originally was announced... Read more

First Look: Blackmagic Cinema Camera

Blackmagic Design launches a revolutionary digital cinema camera

By Neil Matsumoto

At NAB 2006, RED Digital Cinema announced the 4K RED ONE camera, which became the talk of the show for both ASC cinematographers as well as eager film students. Show attendees crowded RED’s booth to peer at a prototype behind glass and surrendered their credit cards to place $1,000 deposits at the chance to buy one. Within a year, RED created... Read more

True Cinematic Results

Hands-on with the Canon EOS C300, the ultimate camera for indie filmmakers

By Neil Matsumoto

In the April issue of HDVideoPro, I wrote up a First Look on the new Canon EOS C300, Canon’s first professional large-sensor digital camera system. For the story, I profiled the specs and features of the camera, as well as getting a shooter’s perspective from filmmaker Jonathan Yi, one of the C300’s initial beta testers. As you probably... Read more

Hands On With The Sony NEX-FS100U

A true digital motion-picture camera with a budget-friendly price

By Neil Matsumoto

I first saw the Sony NEX-FS100U on a press excursion last year in Japan a week before the earthquake and tsunami hit. Although Sony did show us the prototype of the new 4K F65, the camera journalists literally were climbing over tables to get their first glimpse of the large-sensor video camera targeted toward indie filmmakers. The FS100U is a compact... Read more

First Look: Canon C300

Canon releases its first large-sensor video camera for its new Cinema EOS line. With a number of professional features designed for motion picture capture, don’t call it a DSLR.

By Neil Matsumoto

In recent years, no tool has changed the production industry as much as the DSLR. With the release of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II nearly three and a half years ago, Canon helped kickstart a filmmaking revolution that enabled low-budget (or no-budget) filmmakers to produce high-quality cinematic images for a fraction of the cost of a typical production.... Read more

Delivering The Goods

Sony releases the F65, a true 4K camera system that may change the game

By Neil Matsumoto

In the past year, the ARRI ALEXA and the RED EPIC have been scoring points with some of the best filmmakers in the world, including Martin Scorsese (Hugo), Peter Jackson (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) and David Fincher (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). Many in the industry were wondering what Sony would come up with next, even though its flagship... Read more

At A Glance: Sony NEX-7

By Neil Matsumoto

The Sony NEX-7 with an LA-EA2 mount adapter, which enables much faster phase-detection autofocus. As the worlds of stills and HD video continue to merge, we’ve seen a number of interesting mirrorless cameras, aka DSLMs (digital single-lens mirrorless), released in the past year. The cameras are so new that a consensus acronym... Read more

An X-citing New Camera

P+S Technik’s PS-Cam X35 offers high-speed digital shooting

By Dan Brockett

The year 2011 represents an interesting time for narrative filmmakers. Traditional, long-established, film-based workflow has largely given way to the present-day multiple-format/workflow chaos of electronic cinematography where it seems that almost everyone is shooting with a different kind of camera, recording widely varying codecs to different forms... Read more

Building A Hot Rod

Hot Rod Cameras’ Illya Friedman discusses the latest large-sensor camcorders

By Neil Matsumoto

In the past year, we’ve seen a new wave of large-sensor camcorders hit the market, which many see as the video industry’s response to the HD-enabled DSLR. The camcorders are compact and address many of the workarounds associated with DSLRs, such as dual-system sound, monitoring, compression, etc. The Panasonic AG-AF100 was the first out... Read more

Camp RED

Kids go to summer camp to make movies with the RED EPIC

By Andrew Takeuchi

Many moons ago, when I attended summer camp, the most impressive skills I brought home were tying the bowline and the clove hitch, spinning the nunchaku and flipping open a butterfly knife. Sure, I’ve been able to employ a few of those tricks later in life, but I wish I’d been able to attend something like this year’s inaugural Camp... Read more

Speed, Power & Portability

Fastec’s TS3Cine looks to make high-speed imaging accessible

By Dan Brockett

Digital HD imaging has spoiled us, frankly. When shooting HD using solid-state media, it seems as if a lot of shooting modes that used to take highly specialized, hyper-expensive gear now have become commonplace. Interval recording for time-lapse photography? Check. Variable-frame-rate shooting up to 60 fps? Piece of cake. However, there’s still... Read more