By Matt Allard
It’s an all-out battle in the DSLR world: 2011 saw a plethora of new camera gear and announcements. The major manufacturers are now engaged in a real fight, which can only be a good thing for the end user. That said…while all this new gear is great, I feel we are becoming overly obsessed with new technology and buying the latest product.
But let’s start by reviewing those additions. Super 35mm sensor cameras, 4K and 5K cameras and external recorders were the big movers this year. For the majority of DSLR news shooters there wasn’t that much change. Only a handful of new cameras and no new Canon 5D Mark III in sight. Towards the end of the year Canon did announce the 1Dx and a 4k concept camera – there is also a strong rumor of a 7D mkII release early in 2012. The video features of the 1D X are probably a strong indication of what’s to come in the 5D mkIII (or whatever it’s officially called). I’m expecting the 5D mkIII will probably only have minor changes in video mode over the current model and probably have similar video functions to the 1D X. The release of the C300 and a 4K concept camera has pretty much assured that as Canon are unlikely to want to compete with their own products.
How much will the 4K concept camera be? Well given the 1D X is going to be between $6-7K US I can’t see it being any less. How the 4K camera will record and to what media remains to be seen. Regardless of price and features I’m sure the 5D mkIII will be a big seller for Canon. The 5D mkII still remains one of the best bang-for-your-buck cameras around. In my view DSLR cameras with HD video will continue to flourish. The quality of the image and the price point ensures they will remain relevant for years to come.
Earlier in the year we saw the Sony F3, FS100 and the Panasonic AF100 come to the market. All these cameras were revolutionary and have proved to be very popular in the market place. The biggest announcements of the year were the much publicized Canon C300 and the RED Scarlet. Both cameras had been in the works for quite some time. They are both great cameras but very different. For me there is no such thing as a clear winner when it comes to cameras – all have their strengths and weaknesses. I recommend you buy the one that has the most strengths in the areas that you require the most – always use the appropriate camera for the job. The other key message is don’t buy a camera just because someone recommends it. Do your own research, watch as much actual footage as you can and go and try the camera for yourself. Reading reviews and blogs can help but make sure you don’t just take one person’s opinion and base your purchase on that.
Another big equipment mover in 2011 has been external recorders. The Nanoflash from Convergent Designs and the Ki Pro Mini from AJA were pretty much the only low cost external recorders available at the start of 2011. We now have the Atomos Ninja and Samurai, the Sound Devices PIX 220 and 240, the Blackmagic Design Hyperdeck Shuttle as well as the Convergent Designs Gemini. External recorders can extend the life of older cameras as well as give you higher codec recording options for newer cameras like the Sony F3 and Panasonic AF100. A word of warning though – don’t expect external recorders to suddenly turn your vision into something spectacular and don’t expect them to work well with a Canon DSLR (even a hacked one). Your camera does the important work – the external recorder just lends a helping hand. I have both the Sound Devices PIX 240 and a Blackmagic Design Hyperdeck Shuttle. To be honest if I show a normal person vision recorded at 35Mb/s on my Sony F3 compared to material recorded at 220Mb/s they can’t tell the difference. Uncompressed 4:2:2 is a different story – the image quality is so clean but so it should be. At over 1200Mb/s it produces ridiculous file sizes and even a 250GB SSD drive will only give you 25 minutes of record time.
Uncompressed is great but like 4K recording it’s not suitable for a lot of the work I do. I will post a review of both the Sound Devices PIX 240 and Blackmagic Design Hyperdeck Shuttle at a later stage.
All that said, as I mentioned earlier, I feel we are becoming obsessed with wanting the latest product. I have been guilty of this too: I own a lot of equipment I wish I had never purchased or simply never use. Buying the latest and greatest of everything doesn’t make you a better cameraman or film maker. A great camera definitely helps – but it isn’t the most important thing. Pretty pictures are great but without your film/news story/personal project having good characters and an interesting story it will lack depth. As human beings we relate and identify with other people. A good film makes you feel something. Whether that emotion is fear, laughter, suspense or happiness is not important. What is important is whether the viewer feels one or more of these emotions when they are watching your film. You want to identify with the characters. To be sad for them, laugh with them or root for them in a tough situation. People go to see most films because of who is in it and what the story is about, not because it was shot at 4K or on a RED or Arri Alexa. We in the camera world get too caught up with cameras and equipment rather than the story and characters.
To get a great final product everything – the story, characters and pictures – have to blend together in harmony. But please, never forget that the story and characters are King. I cannot stress this enough.
Also don’t forget that you can never know or learn enough about film making. I’m still learning new things every day after 22 years in the industry. To quote the famous New York Yankees baseball player Mickey Mantle “It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about the game you have played your whole life”. Keep learning and asking questions: it’s the only way to get better.
I’d like to finish on this note. I’m lucky enough to travel the world with my job and see the best and the worst of humanity. Why do we whinge and complain about a camera not having this feature or that? or why I can’t afford that particular camera? Let’s put things in perspective. A great deal of people in the world have almost nothing and struggle to survive day to day. As 2012 begins let’s stop complaining and create the best content we can with what we have. Anyone who gets to make films for a living or just does it as a hobby is extremely fortunate. Sometimes we forget how lucky we are.
About Matthew Allard, Aljazeera Senior Field Cameraman, Kuala Lumpur:
Matt has been a Camera/Editor in TV news for more 20 years, previously working for both Channel 9 and Channel 10 in Australia. Twice Network Ten Australia’s cameraman of the year as well as being a Walkley Finalist for outstanding camerawork in 2006 (for coverage of the Cronulla Race Riots) and a Logie Finalist for outstanding news coverage 2006 (Bali 9). He is a multiple ACS (Australian Cinematographers Society) award winner. His Sword Maker story that was shot on a 7D won the prestigious Neil Davis International News Golden Tripod at the 2011 ACS Awards. He has covered news events in more than 35 countries, from major sporting events to terrorist bombings. Based out of the Kuala Lumpur broadcast centre in Malaysia he is an avid user and follower of new technology, shooting stories on HD broadcast cameras, the Sony F3 as well as new Canon DSLRs.
