Another new camera

The move to High Definition, and the rise of HDSLRs has necessitated our ongoing equipment expansion.

To compliment our Sony FS 100 Cine-style large sensor camera, our Nikon D7000 DSLR and our kit of Nikkor prime lenses, we needed another full featured HD camera for what is known in the business as “run and gun” shooting.

Run and gun shooting requires a quick setup, lots of location changes, a variety of subjects and / or lighting situations. A good example of run and gun shooting is the shoot we just did in New York at Bellevue Hospital. We shot exteriors, interior lobby shots, the ICU, the standard floors and the emergency room. Our new camera is perfect for this shoot. What camera did we get?

A Sony PMW-EX3. It has a great long zoom lens, a form factor that’s perfect for hand holding or on a tripod, and most importantly, large 1/2 inch sensors. These sensors will give us the image quality and depth of field we need to be able to intercut the footage we shoot with our larger sensor HDSLRs and Cine-style cameras. Of course we can shoot in all flavors of High Definition as well as the lush Cine Gammas that look so film-like.

These cameras are often used for TV news, documentaries and feature films.

Earlier this year we did some editing on a documentary that was shot on an EX3, and we were so impressed with the image quality, that we decided this was the camera we needed. Here’s a clip from this very interesting project that we helped edit: