Revenge of the Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout (the Wrap)

Camera tests be damned as John Hess pixel peeps (or doesn’t) Zacuto’s Great Camera Shootout.

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The Zacuto Shootout films (all 103 minutes of it)

To quote Steven Poster, ASC, in part 2, “You have to be very careful what you release into the world.” Showing the film industry a series of camera tests where the results have been manipulated to make them look as similar as possible does no one any favors—unless you make the differences clear FIRST. I, for one, am dreading the phone call where, based on this test, someone tries to talk me into shooting with a GH2 because it “looks nearly as good” as an F65. Do I do my due diligence and try to explain the technical nuances of the test and risk losing the job because I appear at best “geeky” and at worst argumentative? Or do I just nod my head, say yes, and collect the paycheck? That’s not a choice I want to have to make. I do my best to ensure that my clients get the most bang for their buck, but if they want to second guess me… I’d be stupid to turn down the paycheck. And then, one way or the other, we all lose.

Art Adam’s in the comment Section in response to Steve Weiss of Zacuto:

In my opinion the best thing you could have done is to show the differences first. By showing the re-lit footage first and trying to fool a bunch of people into potentially picking the poor cameras you set a bad precedent. Francis Ford Coppola is a director, not a DP, and while he has impeccable visual taste he does not have as nuanced an eye as a lot of people in that room. But—his quote is the one Gizmodo picked up on, and a lot of other people will pick up on it too. He’s very well known, and people don’t know that he’s not as visually sophisticated as, say, Steven Poster, ASC or Daryn Okada, ASC.

Will they also pay attention to him liking the Epic and Alexa? Sure! But the GH2 is the one that’s going to stick because it costs $700. That’s what a lot of people want to hear: that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to buy a camera that will allow you to become a famous filmmaker. (RED started that, but more on that subject later.)

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