Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 25, 2010. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The Hamburg Media School (HMS) project, led by Michael Ballhaus and conducted in collaboration with CinePostproduction Atlantik Film Hamburg, has now been completed successfully. As part of the comparative test of digital cameras, a six-minute segment was produced whose scenes were each recorded with an ARRI D21, Sony F35, RED One, Sony EX3 and Canon EOS 5D Mark II and combined in the edit. The aim of the project was to evaluate the cameras’ different possible applications and technical limits. Extensive technical tests were also carried out to examine the cameras’ behaviour under conditions such as overexposure or underexposure.
Colour correction during the offline phase was performed with Baselight. Through encoding in DNxHD, the MXF files could be processed directly on the AVID Media Composer during the creative edit. The online edit took place on the Quantel eQ in the cameras’ native data formats. For recording out to 35 mm intermediate, colourist Jonas Schmid developed the colour design in 2K. The appearance of the later 35 mm film print was simulated using the colour-management system specially tailored to CinePostproduction’s film-processing workflows. The 35 mm negative was then exposed on an ARRI laser onto FUJI 4511 Intermediate and copied onto Kodak 2383 Print, and the results were assessed during a cinema screening at CinePostproduction’s Hamburg branch.
Michael Ballhaus, who heads the camera department at HMS together with cinematographer Achim Poulheim, says of the project: “With regard to subsequent professional practice and the currently rapid development in the digital camera sector, the comparison was intended to enable camera students, as well as directing students, to evaluate both the technical and dramaturgical sides.” The seminar made clear how important the choice of format may become in future in connection with the story to be told. Economic aspects regarding different requirements for light intensity and camera purchase costs or rental prices, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of exposure latitude compared with film stock, were also discussed.
The evaluation is available from CinePostproduction Atlantik Film Hamburg.
