Equipment Rentals Survey

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1. ENTRY-LEVEL CAMERAS

(R5000 - R60 000 retail cost)

MOST CHOSEN BRAND: 1st: CANON | 2nd: SONY | 3rd: NIKON MOST CHOSEN PRODUCT: 1st: Sony A7S II Strengths:

Great in low light

Beautiful 4K footage

Great hand feel

Image stabilisation/handheld

Weaknesses:

No focus tracking

Image stabilisation needs to be turned off on dolly and slider shots

The Sony a7s II has been a game-changer for filmmakers and creatives across the world. Cinematographers and photographers have been creating amazing images with this mirrorless camera that can rival some of the best. - Brent Barbano, co-founder of camera rental community ShareGrid

2nd: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV Strengths:

High bitrate

Beautiful image

Ergonomics

Weaknesses:

Large file sizes

Only HD output via its HDMI

The Canon 5D Mark IV is a solid follow-up to the much lauded 5D Mark III. Though the new camera is capable of 4K video recording, the 1.74x crop factor is a bit of a disappointment. Overall though, the 5D Mark IV produced a great-looking image. - Chris Monlux, Videomaker

3rd: Canon EOS 5D Mark III Strengths:

Manual audio gain control

Headphone jack

Superb low-light performance

30-minute maximum record time

Improved rolling shutter

Weaknesses:

No uncompressed video out

Sluggish autofocus in live-view mode

Superb imaging and fleshed out audio control makes the 5D Mark III a worthy successor to the camera that forever changed the landscape of video production. - Mike Wilhelm, Videomaker

These cameras are available from: Cam-A-Lot | Digitalfilm Service | The Magic Lightbox Company | Puma Video

2. MID-RANGE CAMERAS

(R60 000 - R120 000 retail cost)

MOST CHOSEN BRAND: 1st: SONY | 2nd: CANON MOST CHOSEN PRODUCT: 1st: Sony PXW-FS7 Strengths:

Internal 4K recording with a super 35mm sensor

14 stops dynamic range in S-Log3

Superb ergonomics

Fully operational out of the box

Records from 1 to 180 frames per second

Weaknesses:

Very Poor menu design and functionality

The LCD monitor is mounted with cheap plastic

The Sony PXW-FS7 - XDCAM is the best camera on the market for your money. Not only is it loaded with tons of high end features, great ergonomics and internal 4K, but this is a camera that is very easy to fall in love with. - Jason Miller, Videomaker

2nd: Sony PXW-FS5 Strengths:

Grip has great function

Portable size

Weaknesses:

Super 35 sensor not full frame

It's easy to love this camera. The picture quality is superb and the form factor is easy to use - but those things don't come cheap. - Chris Monlux, Videomaker

3rd: Canon EOS C300 Mark II Strengths:

Beautiful colours with many gamma, gammut and matrix settings

Many focus assist options like Focus Guide, Boosted Manual Focus and Face Tracking

Small footprint, versatile modularity

Exchangeable EF-mount and PL-mount (via Canon service centre)

Nearly perfect image quality in HD (EBU Tier 1 quality level)

Weaknesses:

Grain in shadows when using C-Log2 at ISO 800

Soft image at 100/120fps and 2:1 sensor crop

1/4 allen screws for top handle instead of quick release knob

The Canon C300 Mark II shines in image quality with endless combination image style settings. - PJZ, GadgetFlux

These cameras are available from: Cam-A-Lot | Digitalfilm Service | The Magic Lightbox Company | Puma Video

3. HIGH-END CAMERAS

(R120 000 -

LINK:	http://www.screenafrica.com/2018/03/28/technology/film-tv-video-produc...
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