Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

Shane Hurlbut ASC, is putting together a test/shootout.

The cameras are:
Sony F65
Sony F5
Arri Alexa
Red Epic
Canon 1DC
Canon C500
Black Magic
GoPro Hero 3
35mm Film

Exciting to watch how this shootout comes out. They said they will start posting results from the black magic camera first in the coming weeks.

Link to his blog:

Digital Cinematography vs Film: Tides are Turning | Hurlbut Visuals

Love the shot of the GoPro mounted on a oconnor head! LOL!

http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/w...3/02/1lHWF.jpg

http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/w...02/MG_8794.jpg

Images from Shane Hulbut blog (Hurlblog)

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

HAHA that go pro shot is hilarious. This should prove interesting at the least and hopefully informative.

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

This look cool!
I hope he doesn't just go for the Canon cameras.
He seemed very biased at NAB last year.

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

No Sony F700?!

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

Should be interesting, not sure about the "ultimate " part, lol. Seems he was out to select cameras for this one film and going on what he's written in this piece, I would make a wild guess at..

Sony F5/Red Epic
Canon C500
Canon 1DC

Should be a good read when he publishes it and will no doubt cause the inevitable barrage of complaints from some camera owners.

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

As Adam Wilt often points out, "no good deed goes unpunished" ...unfortunately.

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

Thankfully, Mister Hurlbut is USED to "barrages of complaints", as an on-set audio recording a few years ago made us aware.

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

He may soon discover to his horror that Christian Bale is 5D3 man
"HUUUURLBUUUUUUUT!!! You and me are Done, Camera wise!"

It is the usual weird grab bag of cameras we've come to expect from these. Most of them kinda make some sense. But they're just throwing the GoPro on there for giggles, surely. What, no Ipad this time?
If it wasn't for that it's obviously a high end collection and leaving off the C300, FS700 etc is logical.
When is somoene going to chuck an Ikonoskopp on one of these things?

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

Or: "no good test goes unpublished".

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

Has the SI2K become a feather duster so quickly ?? It has been missing from a few tests of late.

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

Quickly? the SI-2k probably isnt in recent tests for the same reason people aren't still testing the RED One M or the Sony F23 or the ARRI D-20 (all released in 2006-2007)... On the other hand SI-2K had more staying power due to its uniquely small size and ability to benefit from advances in standard computer hardware. But it won't be winning any tests for image quality with its 2/3" imager, ISO250 sensitivity, and 11-stops of DR :)

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

Noah. I pretty much guessed that would be the reason. Like with RED M and MX, there was a sensor revision but the basic recording tech remains Windows XP. That in itself not be such a bad thing.

I would have been interested in how it and the Blackmagic camera compared in realworld terms.

We are luddites out here and still using the second generation full P+S body which some do not like because of its bulk and weight. It has been reliable and is quicker to build once it is where it needs to be. It starts. It stops. It makes pictures. The two here have not ambushed either of us locals away from home thus far touch wood.

I would have liked P+S to have built a 3D version using the i7 military grade split motherboard from their german supplier, a new backpane with two Lemo LAN sockets and a dumb Mini body with relay Lemo sockets on the sides and a side-by-side rail or mirror rig mounted on it. Such an arrangement would rig and de-rig in seconds but with the modern developments, that horserace has long left the gates.

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

Why F5 but no F55? F55 has global shutter & wide color gamut... would be great to see.

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

I would think that F55 is to similar to the F65, and since F65 is in there already with global shutter, etc. it wouldn't matter, I mean, F65 shows the color gamut and global shutter capabilities, the F5 shows sensors dynamic range, etc. then you can imagine the F55 in the middle...

I haven't really checked their sensors, etc. to see what the real difference is (seems like F55 is just the F5 but with better output and global shutter), but my bet is that most people rather see F5 and F65, than F55 and F65.

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

And I suspect, Shane is more interested in cameras that he would use in the work he does.

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

I can predict the results already. All cameras are capable of telling a story and making a production work. In the right hands they are all good.

Nothing more to see here.



Honestly isn't this getting a little old? How many of these do we have to do until we realize it is kind of pointless. We will continue using the cameras we like and at the end of the day unless you are pixel peeping side by side nobody, and I mean nobody is going to give a darn about a sliver of microscopic difference between the cameras. We have long since passed the point of "oh my god that looks so much better"

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

Well, that SHOULD be the case, but my guess is that there are plenty of people who will continue to debate specs and formulas and theories on message boards forever because they are more adept at that than the actual art of shooting...

(not talking about Shane, who is a fantastic DP)

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

While many of the camera differences may well be very small, differences there are and this is no different to the way different types of lighting fixture or lenses give different looks. Sometimes it is the small differences that make the difference between a good film and a great film. Is it not part of the job of the DoP to choose the tools that will produce the best possible images? Not just OK images, but the very best that can be had. The time to worry is not when camera tests and evaluations are done but when people stop evaluating cameras and stop caring about those small things that can and do make a very real difference to the look and feel of a movie.

I think many of us were surprised by how good an iphone can be made to look in another famous shoot-out. But, how many of us are now seriously using iphones to make movies? Very few I suspect because we all know that there for most movies there are better tools than the iPhone.

Content is king, always has been and always will be. But as cinematographers our job is to make that content look as good as possible and a part of that is choosing the right tools for the job. There are very real differences in the materials used in the sensor filters and this has a marked effect on the way cameras respond to colour in particular. Some cameras will reproduce skin tones very differently to others. Sure some of this can be adjusted and altered in post, but that takes time and even then sometimes may not be completely satisfactory. So while there are different cameras to choose from, using different sensors, different recording processes etc. camera tests will continue just as film stocks would be evaluated prior to a major shoot. They were all good, but some suited certain styles or lighting better than others.

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

"Sometimes it is the small differences that make the difference between a good film and a great film."

I agree with what you say Alister except this point as it regards slight camera differences.
While yes, it's often a lot of subtleties that can make a good film great, I would consider them in technique, lighting, composition, acting and directing.

I still think the valid point is that the subtle differences that will be discussed in a comparison like this, would have nothing to do with the difference between a good or great film - not to the viewers they're made for.
To them, Brad Pitt's golden lit hair in Legends of the Fall would be just as mesmerizing whether it was shot on 35mm, 16mm, an Alexa or an F3

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

I too agree that subtle differences in camera imaging is becoming less important as the technology improves and camera manufacturers adopt raw and log imaging that essentially strips out their signature "look". A few years ago, it was a very different animal in the digital world, where Sony cameras were quite different than Panasonic etc. I think many will agree that a Sony F3 is a very different beast in S-log mode vs picture profiles. How a camera performs in low light and how the resulting noise appears is still relevant, but it's safe to assume that in a few years most lighting situations will be handled with virtually no resulting noise anyway (if not already).

What is much more relevant right now is the suitability of form factor, resolution, recording codec, post workflow and above all reliability etc. of a given camera when selecting for a project. This has little to nothing to do with the look, but may have a lot to do with the smooth running of a shoot and that counts for a lot. I don't care how beautiful an image may be if there's a risk of losing it due to an outboard recorder going wonky, or the camera overheating, or it requires a bunch of wonky tinkertoy framing to outfit it with everything I need for a job.

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

Yeah, if the sensor/film can hold the dynamic range and keep it golden instead of bright white...

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

All cameras can handle the well-lit scene with nominal processing to the footage. What I want to see on these tests is how they operate at the limits - and an analysis of how that performance coupled with size/weight/features makes the cameras appropriate or inappropriate for various applications.

It's ironic that big feature shoots are probably the most forgiving application around: the primary camera can be heavy and huge; you can use a bunch of outboard gear; you have time to do a proper setup; you can optimize your lighting; you can have a team handling the data; and you have time for processing and post. That said, the investment per minute is so high that the camera budget is lost in the details. So it makes sense to search for that last millimeter of performance.

But take that Hollywood camera on a solo shoot to the caves of a war zone and it might just be a huge fail. But so would the iPhone as it lacks the DR and low light performance needed to go in and out of caves.

Until we can get phone size, C300 low light performance, Dragon resolution/DR, and Alexa colors with week long battery and recording times in a single product, camera tests continue to be relevant.

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

"Until we can get phone size, C300 low light performance, Dragon resolution/DR, and Alexa colors with week long battery and recording times in a single product, camera tests continue to be relevant."

Of course! Why hasn't anyone thought of that. Oh, & i'll have mine for $500 please!! :)

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

You forgot autofucus for all the amateur shooters that think it's all about cameras!

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

If you are a smart guy, then you can patent it. Else, in 5-6 years, you will see one smart alec having patented it. :D :D

Ok. you can substitute the phone size for say 3 inches, 20,000 ISO, 16 stops reolution, 168 hours or more battery life..... and face recognition?

sorry. I am reading some patent papers and am just shaking my head.

Re: Shane Hurlbut ASC conducting “The Ultimate Camera Test”
 

Shane posted his BMCC tests:

Turning the Black Magic Cinema Camera into a Movie Making Machine | Hurlbut Visuals


Please let's stay on topic, this guy is sharing his tests with us. He doesn't have to, but does, weather its biased, has an agenda, web traffic generator, it doesn't matter since we also read internet info with our own agendas and purposes. Lets just filter the useful information we can get from it for own purposes just like how we read news from any mass media and carry on. I started the same thread on "the other" forum and I complained to the mods how it has deviated so much to bashing others, so they locked it down.



:)