Late to the ALEXA 35 Live party, but after some requests from industry practitioners, here are some musings as I take my ARRI hat off and put on my "Broadcast Cam op who grumbles about the early call for a useless 3rd rehearsal after wrapping late the night before" hat.
To get it out of the way, Super 35 broadcast is going full steam ahead. Expect to see more tech riders, tenders and requests for S35 format spec with PL Mount lenses for big budget events. Concerts, talk shows, stand up comedy, important panel discussions, certain types of sports, house of worship. The list of live production genres where S35 excel will keep growing as more S35 lenses gets released into the market. Speaking of lenses, will my Japanese/German friends please help a little bit with a 40x PL box? :P
Wishlist:
40x PL box lens
35-1400/T4....5 maybe.
IS.... can current tech handle such large pieces of glass? Not sure.
35mm is abit tight yes, but compromises must be made for 1400mm.
Will it be too big/heavy? No idea, but the Vinten 750 payload is 75kg :)
The faster the lens, the better. But compromises must be made.
Ok back to cameras.
1. The experience of S35 broadcast has an impact that is hard to replicate with other formats. Slow-mo gets incredibly intense due to the separation. CU facial emotions will hit audiences harder.
2. Will focus get harder? Yes. Can it be done? After talking to operators, the answer I got from them was: Likely yes if it isnt golf or anything that involves fast tiny objects in large open spaces. Football might be the limit. We will find out.
3. With the ALEXA35's REVEAL colour science, high saturation color lights are handled much more naturally. This coupled with the dynamic range allows for greater freedom in lighting the stage as the 35 has that ability to handle the very large contrast as well as the high saturation LED color lights that are delightful to the eye but a total nightmare for cameras. I have not tested other S35 camera systems extensively enough to comment on their performance in this regard but I wont be surprised if they all exceeded their B4 predecessors in this aspect regardless of manufacturer.
4. For slower songs and performances, I believe after some testing that slow half mixes will be more effective as a tool with S35 systems due to the separation and the softness of the bokeh. Please see comment 1 which I will post a picture as an example even though it isnt a song or performance and in still form.
5. The live production and cinema worlds are converging. From an investment POV, dockable S35 systems might present some interesting cost efficiencies for large broadcasters and rental owners (both cinema and broadcast rentals). 2 in 1 systems often have compromises somewhere but my belief is we are heading towards a point where such compromises will be tolerable for the efficiencies such systems will bring both technically and economically.
And I am at Linkedin's character limit so thats it for now!
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