A digital movie camera for digital cinematography is a motion picture camera that captures footage digitally rather than physical film, known as film stock. Different digital movie cameras output a variety of different acquisition formats. Cameras designed for domestic use have also been used for low-budget independent productions.
Since the 2000s, digital movie cameras have become the dominant type of camera in the motion picture industry, replacing movie cameras that shoot on film. [1]
There are a number of movie cameras on the market designed specifically for high-end digital cinematography use. These cameras typically offer relatively large sensors, selectable frame rates, recording options with low compression ratios or, in some cases, no compression, and the ability to use high-quality optics. Some of the cameras are expensive, and some are only available to rent.
Some of the most used professional digital movie cameras include:
Independent movie-makers have also pressed low-cost consumer and hybrid prosumer cameras into service for digital cinematography. Though image quality is typically much lower than what can be produced with professional digital cinematography cameras, the technology has steadily improved, most significantly in the last several years with the arrival of high-definition cameras in this market. These inexpensive cameras are limited by their relatively high compression ratios, their small sensors, and the quality of their optics. Many also have integrated lenses which cannot be changed.
MiniDV was the predominant standard definition consumer video acquisition format in the early 2000s. Steven Soderbergh used the Canon XL-1s MiniDV camera while shooting Full Frontal . The Danny Boyle directed British horror film, 28 Days Later was also shot on MiniDV using the Canon XL-1, albeit with traditional Panavision 35mm film lenses. One of the first MiniDV cameras used on a feature film was the Sony VX-1000, which was used to shoot Spike Lee's Bamboozled .
In 2002, Panasonic released the AG-DVX100, which was the first affordable camcorder to support progressive scan at 24 frames per second on its 60Hz version, duplicating the motion characteristics of film and allowing for easier transfers to film.
Sony, JVC and Canon brought high-definition video acquisition to the consumer and prosumer markets with the HDV format. HDV cameras sold with a wide range of capabilities. Many support progressive shooting modes, and some have sensors with full 1920x1080 resolution (though the HDV format itself can only record 1440x1080 in non-square pixels, and DVCPRO HD only records at 1280x1080 or 960x720). In addition, some Canon and JVC HDV camcorders have the ability to use high-quality interchangeable lenses, rather than the fixed lenses that are included with most prosumer cameras.
The Canon EOS 5D Mark II is a "full-frame" format HDSLR camera capable of recording 1080p video at 24, 25 or 30 frames per second, with a file size limit of 4 GB. Movie makers are pressing this camera into service as a low-cost way to shoot motion footage. The Canon EOS 7D is an APS-C HDSLR that was used to shoot the independent horror film Marianne [2] and Sound of My Voice . [3] Both cameras have been used together to shoot point-of-view (POV) action scenes in The Avengers due to the cameras being relatively cheap and small and, therefore, easily used to shoot different angles in tight locations. [4] [5]
Digital video is an electronic representation of moving visual images (video) in the form of encoded digital data. This is in contrast to analog video, which represents moving visual images in the form of analog signals. Digital video comprises a series of digital images displayed in rapid succession, usually at 24, 25, 30, or 60 frames per second. Digital video has many advantages such as easy copying, multicasting, sharing and storage.
DV is a family of codecs and tape formats used for storing digital video, launched in 1995 by a consortium of video camera manufacturers led by Sony and Panasonic. It includes the recording or cassette formats DV, MiniDV, DVCAM, Digital8, HDV, DVCPro, DVCPro50 and DVCProHD. DV has been used primarily for video recording with camcorders in the amateur and professional sectors.
A camcorder is a self-contained portable electronic device with video and recording as its primary function. It is typically equipped with an articulating screen mounted on the left side, a belt to facilitate holding on the right side, hot-swappable battery facing towards the user, hot-swappable recording media, and an internally contained quiet optical zoom lens.
HDV is a format for recording of high-definition video on DV videocassette tape. The format was originally developed by JVC and supported by Sony, Canon, and Sharp. The four companies formed the HDV Consortium in September 2003.
A digital single-lens reflex camera is a digital camera that combines the optics and mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a solid-state image sensor and digitally records the images from the sensor.
Digital cinematography is the process of capturing (recording) a motion picture using digital image sensors rather than through film stock. As digital technology has improved in recent years, this practice has become dominant. Since the 2000s, most movies across the world have been captured as well as distributed digitally.
The Sony HDR-HC1, introduced in mid-2005, is the first consumer HDV camcorder to support 1080i.
Live preview is a feature that allows a digital camera's display screen to be used as a viewfinder. This provides a means of previewing framing and other exposure before taking the photograph. In most such cameras, the preview is generated by means of continuously and directly projecting the image formed by the lens onto the main image sensor. This in turn feeds the electronic screen with the live preview image. The electronic screen can be either a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an electronic viewfinder (EVF).
Digital Imaging Integrated Circuit is Canon Inc.'s name for a family of signal processing and control units for digital cameras and camcorders. DIGIC units are used as image processors by Canon in its own digital imaging products. Several generations of DIGICs exist, and are distinguished by a version number suffix.
Sony Corporation produces professional, consumer, and prosumer camcorders such as studio and broadcast, digital cinema cameras, camcorders, pan-tilt-zoom and remote cameras.
The Sony DCR-VX1000 was a DV camcorder released by Sony in 1995. It was the first to use both the MiniDV tape format and three-CCD color processing technology—boasting twice the horizontal resolution of VHS and triple the color bandwidth of single-CCD cameras. It was also the first consumer camcorder with the ability to transfer video information via Firewire to an ordinary Windows or Macintosh computer. Together with the rival Canon XL1 and shorter-lived "budget" three-CCD DV models like the Canon GL1 and Sony DCR-TRV900, the VX1000 revolutionized desktop video production in the late 1990s, delivering quality comparable to then-dominant analog Betacam hardware at a fraction of the cost.
The Canon EOS 5D Mark II is a 21.0 effective megapixel full-frame CMOS digital single-lens reflex camera made by Canon, the first Canon EOS camera to have video recording capabilities. It succeeds the EOS 5D and was announced on 17 September 2008.
The Micro Four Thirds system is a standard released by Olympus Imaging Corporation and Panasonic in 2008, for the design and development of mirrorless interchangeable lens digital cameras, camcorders and lenses. Camera bodies are available from Blackmagic, DJI, JVC, Kodak, Olympus, OM System, Panasonic, Sharp, Logitech Mevo and Xiaomi. MFT lenses are produced by Cosina Voigtländer, Kowa, Kodak, Mitakon, Olympus, Panasonic, Samyang, Sharp, Sigma, SLR Magic, Tamron, Tokina, TTArtisan, Veydra, Xiaomi, Laowa, Yongnuo, Zonlai, Lensbaby, Venus Optics and 7artisans amongst others.
The Canon EOS 7D is a high-end APS-C digital single-lens reflex camera made by Canon. It was announced on 1 September 2009 with a suggested retail price of US$1,699, and was marketed as a semi-professional DSLR camera.
The Arri Alexa is a digital motion picture camera system developed by Arri. The Arri Alexa was introduced in April 2010 and was Arri's first major transition into digital cinematography, after previous efforts including the Arriflex D-20 and D-21.
A mirrorless camera is a digital camera which, in contrast to DSLRs, does not use a mirror in order to ensure that the image presented to the photographer through the viewfinder is identical to that taken by the camera. They have come to replace DSLRs, which have historically dominated interchangeable lens cameras. Other terms include electronic viewfinder interchangeable lens (EVIL) cameras and compact system cameras (CSCs).
The EOS C300 is a digital cinema camera in the Cinema EOS range. It was announced by Canon on November 3, 2011.
A log profile, or logarithmic profile, is a shooting profile, or gamma curve, found on some digital video cameras that gives a wide dynamic and tonal range, allowing more latitude to apply colour and style choices. The resulting image appears washed out, requiring color grading in post-production, but retains shadow and highlight detail that would otherwise be lost if a regular linear profile had been used that clipped shadow and highlight detail. The feature is mostly used in filmmaking and videography.
In 2017, 92 percent of films were shot on digital.