No question… film still has a better dynamic range, but you might be surprised at how close the Canon 5D, 7d and 1d, the Panasonic GH1 and the Nikon D3s look in comparison.
As a proud owner of a Panasonic HVX200 and the Canon 7D — this is amazing to see. There are no technical reasons anymore that we, as indie filmmakers, can’t produce the same quality of footage as Hollywood… we just happen to have less red corporate tape, and better stories!
This is a test put on by Zacuto with some legendary names like Philip Bloom. Gary Adcock, and a bunch more. Here’s the excerpt from Vimeo:
“The webisodic series showcases the top performing hybrid HD-DSLR cameras: Canon: 5D MKII, 7D, 1D, 550D/T2i Rebel, Nikon D3s, Panasonic GH1 and compares the image quality of these cameras against the gold standard of 35mm film. (…)
The battery of tests were administered under strict controls and conducted by Robert Primes ASC, Gary Adcock, Philip Bloom, Jens Bogehegn and colorist Ryan Emerson. See the reactions to this test following 2K screenings, where “HD DSLR is compared to 35mm Film”. The test results were projected in a 2K theatrical environment at three screening locations: Stag Theater at Skywalker Ranch, LucasFilms Ltd., AFI (American Film Institute) Theater in Hollywood and the FilmWorkers Astro Color Timing Theater in Chicago.”
This is well worth the watch:
<iframe src=”http://player.vimeo.com/video/11080239″ width=”400″ height=”300″ frameborder=”0″></iframe><p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/11080239″>Zacuto Great Camera Shootout 2010: It’s all About Latitude</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/zacuto”>steve weiss</a> on <a href=”http://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>