Director of Photography, Director, Camera Crew
Agency: Acumen / TBD, London
Project: Two camera interview and B-roll for Lotus Car Corporate Video Production
Client: Lotus Technology
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Most digital cinema and still cameras sensors in 2024 are excellent in gathering colour information. With patience, a colourist or a retoucher can certainly get you the look you want in post production. However, out of the box, the colour science of each camera tilts toward certain characters.
Out of the box, Canon colour science tints red and magenta. Sony FX/A, Black magic and Fuji tints green. RED tints blue. Panasonic / Lumix tints yellow. Leica and DJI tints purple. One of the many reasons why ARRI, Panavision, Sony CineAlta, Hasselblad or Phase one colour science are preferred in cost intensive productions is their out of the box image tints toward neutral. Over time, colourist / retoucher hours adds up. Yes, you can throw a LUT on your monitor. But if cost of the equipment is a fraction of the cost of talents / the locations and the cost of distribution rides on a tight deadline, producers are happy to pay a premium for every tiny margin of advantages they can afford or pick whichever camera deliver footage closest to the desired look.
OUT OF THE BOX
Canon excels in colourful advertising and youthful blushes. It is easier on the eyes when you want to see a bit of flush in complexion. It is great with food too. Think pizza, chilli and steak.
Sony FX/A and Fuji (Green) Panasonic / Lumix (Yellow) can smooth or even out warmer skins, particularly with fluorescent ambient lighting.
RED footage has been perfect for aerial and b-roll when we were after a vibrant blue sky or an ocean.
Leica and DJI saturates the magic hour, adding a postcard quality to breathtaking sceneries.
Of course, you can colour grade the footage or photos from each one of these camera to match another, to a certain extend, until they break.
Yet if a director of photography can get a look out of the box. Why delay our creative choices?
The shoot happens in low light / in the dark / indoor.
Out of the box, color green is a desirable tone in your shots (You CAN get accurate skin tone by lighting and diligent white balancing.)
When the video production works with tight spaces.
When you want an unobtrusive set.
The camera sits on a gimbal most of time.
You need the camera to be Netflix approved.
When the production need to travel light and move fast.
When you need auto focus. (With Lidar, like PD Movie Air 3, now you can have auto focus almost with any lens.)
When the director of photography / camera operator is a one man crew.
When you need fast turn around.
When you need to upload to small 4:2:2 footage quickly.
When you need full frame in 4K or 1080p
When the production requires footage from all over the world by different DP.
In our experiences, even for corporate interviews and pieces to camera, particularly in Hong Kong and Asia, where space is at a premium. The smaller the form factor of a camera, the more depth of you can squeeze in by allocating more distance between your subject and the background, a super speed T1.2 or G Master 1.2 can only get you so far. The modern lenses are between T2 to F2.8. Sometime a few inch is all you need to make a world of difference.
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