In this post I'll talk about the different type of camera's and their pro's and con's. And let me first of all say, that there's no wrong camera in this list. Each camera has their own pro's and con's. The choice for camera depends very much on a number of things like your budget, type of movie and the kind of effect you want to create. So here we go:
Smartphone camera
This may seem like an odd thing to you, but camera's on smartphones are getting better and better each day. And although the image quality itself obviously isn't as good as a professional film camera, many filmmakers have chosen to shoot their movie on an smartphone to achieve a specific look or feel.
No, this camera won't let you shoot images like most of the movies you've seen in cinema, but if you're going for a 'Blair Witch Project' type of movie, or want to incorporate some handeheld camera-phone kind of footage to your film, than it's a perfectly good option. Please do remind yourself that a smartphone has very few options compared to more professional camera's. Shooting against very bright or very dark backgrounds is probably not a good idea, and shooting in the night will give you poor quality.
Pro's:
- Low budget
- Light weight
- Easy to operate
Con's:
- Poor image quality
- Not many options to control the image quality of your camera
- Gives very shakey footage
- No changeable lenses
- Bad quality in the dark
Digital camcorder
A lot of first time filmmakers start out their first home-made movies with a simple digital camcorder. Although not the best quality, the overall quality is a little bit better than you can get with a smartphone, and the cost are low. Downside is that the image quality is low, no changeble lenses, and few options to control your image. There's only the standard lens, so you only have one size of shot, just the wide-angle, which may look odd for some good close-up work. Of course you could zoom, but it doesn't change the size of the lens, so it just comes down to a digital blown up picture, which will be of poor image quality. Of course you could be going again for that 'Blair Witch Project' film look, but if you think good about it, and invest a little bit more money in a good camera, there are better options out there.
Pro's:
- Low budget
- Easy to operate
Con's:
- Poor image quality
- Not many options to control the image quality of your camera
- Still gives shakey footage
- No changeable lenses
- Bad quality in the dark
Digital videocamera
There's a wide range of digital videocamera's out there. And as wide as the choice range is, equally as wide is the price tag on these camera's. Digital videocamera's are mostly used for TV-work. All your basic TV-work will be done with these kind of camera's, including news, reality shows, soap opera's, etc.
These camera's are a bit more expensive than regular camcorders, but than again they also offer more options to control your camera, and therefore your image quality. And generally the image quality itself is better than with camcorders, who are strictly designed for consumers.
Many amateur movies have been made with these kind of camera's, but there is a backdraw. It's still a digital camera, which offers digital quality. Even though shooting in HD is nice, it's not the pixel ratio that will give you better quality. The image sensor in these camera's are digital, and is not good enough to compare itself to film camera's. And besides that, there's only a default zoom-lens. Which means you can zoom with the lens itself, rather than digitally blowing the picture up to a bigger size, but the image will go darker, and will not give you a nice shallow depth of field. Also shooting in the dark will be difficult, since the sensor isn't strong enough to catch the little light that there is, and the lens isn't good enough to let all that light pass through to the sensor. If you're thinking about using this for your movies, maybe you should also take a look at some DSLR camera's, and think about it again.
Pro's
- Good overall image quality
- Less shakey footage than with a camcorder
- Many options to control the image quality on your camera
Con's
- No changeable lenses
- Not the best camera in the dark
- Requires a bigger budget
DSLR
Since the comming of a movie recording option on DSLR camera's in 2008, people have been keen to use this camera to shoot their own films with it. And that's not such a strange thing, because the quality that a DSLR provides, compared to most other digital camera's is far superior. A DSLR comes closer to a filmcamera, than most of the digital camera's. There are two reasons for that. First of all because the image sensor is just better than in other digital camera's. It's bigger, and therefore can handle dark situations better than digital videocamera's. Plus you can actually change lenses, which means you can change the focal lenght of the lens. This changes the size of things in your image, compared to how far they are away from your camera. To give you an example. If you shoot someone with a very wide lens, close-up, the nose will apear very big. If you shoot the same person with a longer lens, the nose will apear smaller, and more natural.
In short, you have more control over the way your shot looks in perspective, have better lighting, and as a side effect, it gives you that nice shallow depth of field you always see in movies, that makes it look so professional. Downsides may be that the best DSLR can become expensive for an amateur filmmaker, but fortunatly there are also cheaper ones, with a little les quality, but still better quality than most digital videocamera's. Another downside is, that if you really want to shoot with more lenses, the lenses themselves can be sometimes quite expensive, so it's good to think about with which lenses you want to shoot before you start. The better (and mostly also more expensive) camera you have, the bigger the image sensor will be (and therefore better image quality), and the more control options you'll have on your camera.
Pro's:
- Very good image quality
- Changeable lenses
- Good to shoot in the dark (with the right lens)
- Shallow depth of field
Con's
- A little bit shakey if you don't use any rigs
- Prime lenses could be expensive
Red One
I wouldn't suggest the Red One camera to anyone, unless they really have the budet and knowledge to do it. The Red One is the digital equivalent of the 35mm filmcamera. It's cheaper that it's analog brother, and has the advantage to shoot on harddisk, which is much easier than shooting on film and having to go to a laboratory to scan the film in digitally. The quality of the Red One is unmatched in the digital world. There's simply no other digital camera that can come even close. It shoots with much more detail and contrast, en shoots much bigger images. Like any real professional camera, it comes without lens, and lenses can be bought seperatly from different brands.
The Red One has been used for numerous movies, like The Hobbit, District 9, The Amazing Spiderman, The Social Network and so on. Many filmmakers have switched already to the Red One from the 35mm camera's. And I think in a few years time, everybody will be shooting with it.
Downside of this amazing camera is obviously the price. Although much cheaper than a 35mm camera, for a normal amateur filmmaker it's way too expensive. But for semi-professionals or professionals this is a must.
Pro's:
- 35mm filmcamera image quality
- Cheaper than 1 35mm camera
- Shallow depth of field
- Changeable lenses
- Good for shooting in the dark
Con's:
- Expensive for low budget
- Requires a lot of knowledge of operating the camera
35mm Filmcamera
The good old professional camera with which so many Hollywood movies have been made. Although most filmmakers are moving on to the Red One, this camera is still the most used camera in the movie industry. This has to do with a couple of reasons. Because although the Red One has many advantages, most of the film studios still own lots of 35mm camera's themselves, and investing in a new series of camera's, although cheaper than their current camera's, is still a big investment.
The good things about this camera is obviously the quality, a little bit better than the Red One in image qualilty (although hardly noticeble), you will notice it in colour grading. The camera has many professional options, and lenses of course are changeable. Downsides are the high price and the filmscanning. Since you're working with actual physical film, you'll need to bring your film to a laboratoy to get it devolped, which of course is not cheap. And another downside is that the film you're shooting with inside your camera only last a limited time. That means you can't shoot for hours without loading in some new film into your camera, and requires again some time to set up the camera. In short: great quality, but don't use unless you know what you're doing. And if you're going to shoot with this, think about the Red One.
Pro's:
- Still the best image quality a camera can get
- Shallow depth of field
- Changeable lenses
- Good for shooting in the dark
Con's:
- Expensive camera
- Requires a lot of knowledge of operating the camera
- Needs to convert the film to a digital signal in a laboratory
Conclussion
I will not try to dictate which camera people should use, since it depends on so many things that each different situation could require a different camera. However, for most amateur filmmakers on a low budget a DSLR would be the best option. It gives the best 'movie' quality for the lowest price, and compared to the other digital camera's the quality is much better, for about the same price or a little more. There's a wide range of DSLR's out there these days, so for every budget there should be a camera available.
If you have a bigger budget I would suggest you take a look at the Red One camera. Buying one might be expensive, but you can also rent one, which will be cheaper, and give you a very good vallue for your money.
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