Teased for some time, Sony made good on their promise and announced their 6K FF CineAlta Sony VENICE camera just before IBC 2017 two weeks. And now we can also see the two promo films that were projected at the exclusive launch events in London and LA attended by (invitation only) dealers, select press and DP’s that Sony deems of importance, or whatever their reasoning is/was.
Apart from the strange (but catchy) new name VENICE (which gets awkwardly close to and can be easily confused for Sony VEGAS anyone?), the big boy camera is a new design with an interchangeable sensor block, PL mount and E-mount, 6K FF sensor and support for pretty much every resolution known from 6K to Full HD. Sensor is new and supposedly capable of 15+ stops of dynamic range. You can certainly see plenty of it in the first short film below (“The Dig”), which looks like a million bucks.
The first promo is a short film called “THE DIG” starring Taylor Kitsch (of “True Detective S02” fame where he delivered up until now, IMHO the performance of his career), directed by Joseph Kosinski and lenses by Oscar winning DP Claudio Miranda, ASC (“Tron: LEGACY”, “Life of PI”, “Oblivion” shot on Sony F65, “Curious Case of Benjamin Button” for Fincher, and many more).
Be sure to watch in 4K on a large screen:
Writer, Director: Joseph Kosinski
Director of Photography: Claudio Miranda, ASC
Sony Venice on set of launch promo film
SONY VENICE 6K FF CineAlta Features
- New Full-Frame 36x24mm CMOS Sensor
- 15+ stops Dynamic Range
- Interchange-able Sensor Block – for future sensor upgrades (user serviceable)
- 6K Full-Frame 3:2 mode (6048 x 4032)
- 4K Anamorphic 4:3 and 6:5 (4096 x 3432)
- 4K Super 35 mode (window)
- Support for FF & S35 spherical lenses
- Support for FF & S35 Anamorphic lenses
- 8-step Mechanical Built-in ND filter (8 Stops ND)
- PL mount (Cooke i technology supported)
- Locking E-mount
- Recording Codecs/Formats:
- X-OCN Compressed Raw onto AXS-R7 Raw Recorder
- 4K XAVC – Class480/300
- ProRes HQ/422/LT
- MPEG HD
- Recording Media – SxS cards, AXS cards for RAW (external recorder)
- Price: £37,000/$45,000 Body
- Available: February 2018
- Compatible with existing CineAlta accessories:
- AXS-R7 4K Raw recorder
- DVF-EL200 viewfinder
You can also check out the Behind the Scenes, which are featured in the VENICE Promo video below:
As much as I really liked how “The Dig” was shot and had a really cinematic and epic feel to it that really demonstrated what the camera can do (as a cinema camera used precisely for that – cinematic narrative projects), in my opinion, I can’t say the same for the European footage that was presented at the London event in Pinewood.
You can see “The Departure” shot by Ed Wild, BSC below:
Ed Wild, BSC, who received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Cinematography, is the first to use #CineAltaVENICE in Europe. He takes full advantage of the creative tool mixing different colour temperatures and playing with light to capture Emotion in Every Frame.
Nothing against the DP, who shot it, not at all, don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to knock him, I am sure he is a very capable cameraman and all, but in this case it looks like he had a very tiny budget and very little time to shoot with the camera.
Most of the shots felt very rushed, the pacing was off, and the whole thing just lacked the grandeur and cinematic pizzazz of the other piece. The blacks felt way too crushed (maybe it was the grade that ruined it, don’t know), and this piece did not have the dynamic range of “The Dig” and I am not a fan (in this case) of the mushy lenses they chose for this shoot.
Check out the behind the scenes below:
What do you guys think of the released Sony VENICE footage?
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