Full Frame Craze

Over the past few weeks, some big name camera manufacturers came out with their cheapest full frame DSLR's. This includes Canon's 6D, Nikon's D600, and Sony's A99.

See links:
Nikon D600
Canon 6D
Sony A99

Nowadays many people have DSLR's, including almost every Park student. They are becoming a new way for amateur and professional filmmakers alike to enhance their movies. From a student production to The Avengers (which wrecked quite a few 5D's for their stunt shots), they are becoming increasingly popular for a few reasons. They are relatively inexpensive, produce crisp images, are small in size, and have a wide range of lenses that can be used on them. Not only that, but many DSLR's are now FX (or full frame) which makes them ideal for filmmakers who want to keep the 35mm sensor like all professional cameras have.

One downside to this is that everyone who owns a DSLR thinks they are a photographer or cinematographer. People overuse rack focuses and a shallow DOF. Sure anyone can make good looking images or shots, but that doesn't mean that it adds anything to a story or enhances it. I am glad though that everyone can have access to a DSLR because you never know who may be the next great Director of Photography. Who knows maybe it is someone here at Ithaca or in our class.

Back to the three new FX DSLR's that have been introduced recently, they are all in the same price range (being around $2,000 body only) and have similar technical specs including: megapixels, wifi capability, screen size and HD video formats and frame rates. No matter what brand of camera you already own or plan to buy, you will be able to produce very similar and comparable results. Canon vs Nikon vs Sony is like trying to compare three different types of apples. You can get the same result as the others. It is all about what you can do with the equipment that you have.