Earlier this month, Sony’s FX3 Cinema Camera won the Time Magazine Best Inventions of 2023 – accessible film making award mainly due to the fact that it was the primary camera used to film Gareth Edward’s movie The Creator.
It’s important to remember that high-end cinema cameras aren’t cheap and cameras such as the Sony Venice 2 can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to a film production especially if multiple cameras are used.
Sony’s hand held FX3 Cinema Camera on the other hand, is an absolute steal with a body only price point coming in under $5000 (CDN).
Sony FX3 Pricing and Availability at Vistek
While the FX3 is light and compact, it boasts a dramatically high ISO (the sensitivity of the camera’s ability to capture light), which according to director Gareth Edwards allowed the cinematographer “to capture difficult night shots without the need for extra lighting” allowing them to “basically film in moonlight.”
Another factor is that footage shot in S-Log gamma curve and S-Gamut.Cine on the FX3 can be easily matched up with footage shot on other Sony Cinema Line cameras in post helping to create a more streamlined production workflow.
Winning this Time Magazine award goes a long way to proving that while there will always be a high-end cinema cameras on movie sets, sometimes, especially on location based films, smaller handheld cameras can be used without having to sacrifice any quality.
Extra Lighting Used on The Creator – Aputure LS1200d Pro and MC Pro Lighting
As you can see in the video below, when extra lighting was needed during filming in Thailand, the production turned to Aputure’s LS 1200d Pro and MC handheld LED lighting.
Aputure’s LS 1200d Pro features a weather-proof design and utilizes a 1200W Daylight COB chipset offering up to 83,100+ lux output allowing it to compete on the same level as industry-standard HMI Lights.
The Aputure MC Pro on the other hand, utilizes a compact, credit card-sized design that is packed with professional functionalities including wireless control methods (Sidus Link & LumenRadio CRMX), and magnetic mounting options allowing it to be placed and operated virtually anywhere.