American Cinematographer - May 2020 - 37

Camera Ready
Arri Alexa LF

Arri Alexa S XT

Red
Monstro
Ranger

Arri Alexa Mini LF

Arri Alexa Mini

Arri Amira

Sony Venice

Canon C500 Mark II

Panasonic VariCam LT

Red Gemini

Canon EOS C300 Mark II

Red Helium

The Camera Comparison Chart you'll see on the following
pages is the latest installment in a series created by ASC
associate member Thomas Fletcher with technical adviser
Gary Adcock; the chart has been published each year
since 2007 by Fletcher Camera & Lenses. "From the beginning, the chart was designed to help cinematographers
educate producers about the incredibly large variety of
tools available to them," Adcock says. Each chart has
featured input from various directors of photography,
including ASC members Robert Primes, David Stump, Bill
Bennett, John Toll, Paul Cameron, Rodney Charters, John
Bartley, Curtis Clark, Francis Kenny, Jon Fauer, Gil Hubbs,
Mark Doering-Powell, M. David Mullen, Roberto
Schaefer, Theo Van de Sande, Dante Spinotti, Nancy
Schreiber, Anthony Dod Mantle, Vince Pace and Kees van
Oostrum, as well as colorists, rental houses and camera
manufacturers.
The chart offers a concise, straightforward comparison of 15 cameras - limited to those "that are available
for rental or purchase around the world," Adcock says -
with regard to such specs as ISO, latitude and pixel count

Sony PXW-FX9

Panasonic EVA-1

Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro G2

35mm Film

of the recorded media. Additionally provided are "highlighted positives" and "notable credits" for each unit, as
well as what may be the chart's most popular feature: an
accurately scaled graphical representation of each camera's
sensor size. "Showing the image size of the sensors was the
key component," Fletcher says.
Adcock notes that he's seen the chart - which also
includes specs for Kodak film negative - displayed "in
rental houses around the world," and that there's nothing
like walking into a rental house or film school in places
like Dubai, Bogota, Cairo, Amsterdam, London, Mumbai,
Paris, Shanghai, Madrid, Munich, Berlin, Taiwan or Rome,
and seeing it mounted on the wall.
"With each edition, Tom and I try to act as gatekeepers, but really it's like herding cats to confirm that we have
all the correct information," Adcock says. Then they have
to make it fit. "We only have [a certain number of] characters available per line for each description, so part of our
responsibility is knowing what users are truly looking for
from the data. That's always been the most important
factor."
➔

Adcock and Fletcher would like to thank those who offered assistance and feedback in the collection of the data for
the latest chart: Geoff Boyle, NSC, cinematographer; Scott Dale, VER/PRG; Megan Donnelly, AbelCine Burbank;
Stosh Durbacz, Fujifilm; Phil Holland, cinematographer; Michael Koerner, Koerner Camera; Jim Mathers,
cinematographer/Digital Cinema Society; Mike Sippel, Arri Rental; David Stump, ASC, cinematographer;
Marcelo Trotta, ABC, cinematographer; Bruno Vieira, cinematographer.
Arri: Marc Shipman-Mueller, Frederic Merten, Marina Aytpakov; Blackmagic Design: Tor Johansen,
Tim Schumann; Canon: Larry Thorpe, Tim Smith, Michael Bravin; Red: Kenta Honjo, Alan Zarnegar,
Loren Simons, Naida Albright; Panasonic: Barry Russo, Mitch Gross; Sony: Simon Marsh; Kodak: Mike Brown,
Bob Mastronardi, Anne Hubbell
www.ascmag.com

May 2020

37
http://www.ascmag.com
American Cinematographer - May 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - May 2020
