As a technology nerd and wannabe filmmaker, I've been fascinated by the steady rise of (relatively) inexpensive equipment that gets you oh-so-close to the kind of quality and characteristics that "real" film is known for... That combination of resolution and big sensors that allow you to achieve shallow depth of field. I was happy just to get the resolution when I bought my HVX200 back in 2006, at great expense (it's for sale, by the way). Later, for much less, I got a Canon 7D that could record video, and use all of the sweet Canon glass I already had. It's still not a perfect system, but we sure are getting closer.
The enthusiast circles have formed this great online community around these gadgets, and people are doing amazing work. Still, there are so many compromises you have to make, in most cases. The single biggest pain in the ass is that an SLR camera is not really meant for the kind of run-and-gun, documentary-style shooting that I love to do. Even with the rigging that I have to go with it, it's just not ideal. Combine this with the fact that there's no audio monitoring, or great audio solutions period, and it frustrates me.
Things are getting interesting though. A couple of hipsters built a prototype "digital Bolex," inspired by the 16mm cameras from the 60's, and to mass-produce it, have so far raised almost three times their goal of $100k to make it real. If they can pull it off, in some ways they will have succeeded where RED failed, particularly the part about recording raw.
I did my quarterly look around and the current tech and the pricing, and I am being teased and tempted by the Panasonic AF100, which is on sale, has a $500 rebate until the end of the month, and is shipping with a kit lens. Sigh. I want that camera in the worst way, because it's a micro-4/3 variation of my HVX, only it records on cheap SD cards. With the business debt free, it's hard not to act on that.
The renewed interest is because I'm working on doing some doc-style stuff at a certain amusement park in the coming months. Something I could really get excited about.
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