DIGITAL CAMERAS AND LENSES USED FOR FEATURE FILMS IN 2022

DP James Friend used the Arri Alexa 65 for the exterior shots paired with Arri Rental Prime DNA lenses and his own set of Tribe7 Blackwing7 lenses. The production was captured in LF Open Gate with spherical lenses although cropped to an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 in post. Just to a-be able to reframe things when needed. About the lens choice Friend adds: "We looked at large-format anamorphic lenses, but I was concerned about the action work on the battlefield. The weight of the lenses with the dynamic camera moves was a major consideration. So, we chose spherical."
Some low light scenes, with military flares, were shot at 2,500 ISO with the Sony’s Venice camera, using the Rialto system. The Alexa sensor is very sensitive, but they needed just a little bit more from the dual native ISO of the Venice.

DP Russell Carpenter used a twin-camera native 3D rig. The modular system comprised two Sony Venice cameras. He used the 2500 ISO setting and a 270-degree shutter to work at lower light levels without compromising image quality. The extra exposure also helped offset the 2 stop loss from shooting at 48fps through the 3D camera's beam splitter.
Russel Carpenter: "We separated the lens block and the sensor from all the processing that the camera did. We basically split it in two. Only the lenses and the sensor are actually in the 3-D system, then you have a cable that runs off to the rest of it, which the operator usually carried on his back."

Shot with Red Ranger Monstro paired with Arri DNA lenses. The story narrows in on one week of the famous 'I Love Lucy' show from the 1950s. DP Jeff Cronenweth: "We decided that the camera movement could be different from what they did back then and the image quality could be better. But your light sources need to be true to what they did because that's what sets the tone of a period piece." About the camera he adds: "I chose to use the RED Monochrome camera: a Ranger with a Monstro chip in it that is dedicated purely to black and white. The pixels have all been changed. It is light and dark, and it is beautiful, beautiful quality."

Anamorphics are the go-to lenses in DP Autumn Durald Arkapaw's kit. "There's a nostalgic feeling you get from older glass, and that's what I tend to shoot with." Durald says. "These Panavision T series are softer, flare beautifully and have a dreamy quality."
About the camera choice she add: "It is always my intention to try anything I make and shoot look like film. And I try do do as much as possible in-camera. The color science with the Sony camera was very important for me. It kind of gives it that personality and texture and density."

DP Chayse Irvin shot with the Sony Venice in 6K and with the Alexa in 2.8K ArriRaw. He graded dailies on the camera truck and sent the DaVinci Resolve files to Benny Estrada, who applied LiveGrain and halation until they got desired look. Chayse Irvin: "Once we figured out a rhythm, Benny took that over. As we shot, we'd indicate on the slate what we intended the framing to be, the aspect ratio, and the LUT, and the EFilm team did an incredible job keeping track."

Dp Jess Hall used a Sony Venice at 2,500 ISO setting for all night interiors and exteriors, particularly focusing on the candlelit sequences. When it came to day interiors, he typically lowered the setting to 500 ISO.

For lenses he worked with Panavision to create new Panavision Ultra High Speed primes: 28mm, 35mm, 40mm, 50mm, 75mm and 100mm focal lengths, ranging in speed from T0.9 to T1.4.

DP Douglas Koch spent most of his life shooting on film but loves shooting digital. About the Arri Alexa he says: "There's a reason why this cameras costs as much as it does. You know, the image quality is really high, it has a huge dynamic range ... so if you suddenly say oh is it possible to see the details in that bright window over there? Sure enough! "

Director of photography Erik Messerschmidt chose the DXL2 as his main camera . "I've done a lot of commercials on the DLX2 and I really enjoy using it. And the smaller Red Komodo enabled us to do a lot of mounts in the cockpits. Aerial DP Michael FitzMaurice requested the Venice 2 for our real air-to-air shooting. And in the end, the Sony and Red footage blended seamlessly.” About the Panaspeeds he adds: "I wanted a little halation in the highlights through spherical aberration, but I didn't want a lot of chromatic aberration; I wanted a little barrel distortion, lemon-shaped highlights and predictable flares. Dan Sasaki of Panavision gave us two full sets of customized Panaspeeds".

Shot by DP John Mathieson on the Panavision DXL2 8K and the Red Monstro Imax cameras paired with Panavision Sphero 65 and Primo lenses. "Doctor Strange" teams up with a mysterious teenage girl from his dreams who can travel across multiverses, to battle multiple threats, including other-universe versions of himself, which threaten to wipe out millions across the multiverse.

DP Mandy Walker used a range of lenses to shoot different periods in Elvis' live. For the first part she used the 'Panavision Sphero' spherical lenses. By the time Elvis arrives in Hollywood Walker switches to specially made Panavision glass titled "Elvis" Lenses. As opposed to modern lenses, the "Elvis" version is less sharp, even a bit 'dirty' and with extra aberration, so it remains the old anamorphic glass from the seventies.

DP Roger Deakins shot with an Arri Alexa Mini LF — framing in his director’s preferred 2.39:1 aspect ratio — paired with Arri Signature Prime lenses, which he calls "the cleanest and the fastest lenses. Plus, they're not heavy, which is a bonus if you're shooting on a remote head or handheld". About the Alexa Mini LF director Sam Mendez adds: "It can do almost anything. Rich and dense the blacks, subtle in the middle range. I've also been astonished by how few technical issues there have been with this equipment."

DP Michał Dymek: "I wanted to have full range of focus and motion, so I used a Zeiss Supreme Prime 35mm, which has a great close-focus distance."

The Zeiss optics were used in combination with the Canon K35 lenses: vintage optics known for their warm look, to add an extra layer of nostalgia to the film.

To give the multitude of worlds their own look and feel DP Larkin Seiple used a variety of lenses on the Arri Alexa Mini. From anamorphics (Todd-AO, Atlas, Scorpiolens) and a Venus Optics Laowa Probe lens to Zeiss Master Primes.

With artwork by artists Jack Dudman, Eva Kuntz, and Dermot Power providing the foundation for the film’s look, Richmond settled on a large format sensor and a return to anamorphic. "I’m a fan of the way the Alexa curve reads the image,” reveals Richmond. “The way the highlights roll off a bit easier. There’s more of a curve in the way it sees the light – a little bit more similar to film. It’s also something I'm familiar with."

DP Karl-Walter Lindenlaub is satisfied to see how many of his ideas were implemented, including contrasting monochromatic and complementary color palettes, shooting with Arri Signature Primes and Alexa LF cameras, and framing for 2:1 — an aspect ratio Lindenlaub felt "would feel more cinematic than 1.78:1 to capture the huge scope of the Halo world".

Director of photography Dariusz Wolski: "Thanks to this great cameras you can just push it so far. I mean we've been always pushing it with film but now we can even go further. It's extremely liberating. It opens the new realm of how far the camera can see, sometimes even more than your eyes."

"We have these amazing, gigantic sets, which are an absolute joy to light." says DP Fabian Wagner. "I suggested shooting large format on the Alexa 65 to really capture the feel." Wagner chose the Arri Rental Prime DNAs and DNA LFs lenses, along with Fujifilm/Fujinon Premista zooms, Canon 200mm and Nikon 300mm long primes. He loves the Prime DNA 58mm, which has distinct focus falloff around the edges of the frame.

Director of photography Zak Mulligan: "The KOMODO was totally crucial to getting our shots! That size and quality matched with a global shutter seemed like it was designed just for Hustle. I put it on a Ronin S and made a super-compact gimbal we could run and jump with easily. We also used it handheld, on rigs and in tight spots."

DP Rob Hardy about the Sony Alta Venice: "You need to have the sort of confidence to know, when you're shooting something, that you don't have to concern yourself with how the camera is going to behave. So I can just respond to something I see very quickly."

DP Markus Förderer: "Whenever I'm trying to determine the best format to shoot a project on, I always start with the lens before picking a camera. At Panavision I saw the vintage Panatars, which Robert Richardson had used for The Hateful Eight. These lenses were the perfect fit to capture the large-format look. They create gentle skin tones with natural high resolution, and are reminiscent of the classic anamorphic look." About the camera, he adds: "Because the lenses have a 1.25x squeeze, they're very subtle in their anamorphic quality, and it's beneficial to have a wider sensor like the Red Ranger Monstro 8K".

DP Senthil Kumar used the large format ARRI Alexa LF camera with signature prime lenses 'for the sharpest picture quality'. "When we began working on RRR four years ago, this camera was new. I knew this camera was soon going to be used by big-budget films. With this camera, the focal point has to be correct to the last inch."

In the classic Technicolor three-strip method, a beam-splitting prism was situated behind the camera lens. This prism divided the incoming light into separate pathways, capturing red, green, and blue information on three individual black-and-white film strips. Subsequently, a complex dye-transfer technique was employed to produce the final colored release prints

To re-create the Technicolor look using a contemporary digital sensor DP Jon Joffin used the Sony Venice 2 and Zeiss Supreme Prime Radiance lenses, and a Technicolor LUT developed specifically for Schmigadoon by Jill Bogdanowicz.

The primary camera for DP Suki Medencevic was the Sony Venice, but there were several cases where other cameras were brought in to help achieve unusual looks. "Using the Sony a7 gave us the mobility we needed to emulate the real POV of the person in motion. In addition, by using Sony still-camera lenses, we were able to get a very wide angle without adding to the weight and size of the camera."

"The Alexa Mini LF has a slightly softer look than other cameras, which I like,” says DP Danny Cohen. "It meant we didn"t use diffusion filters at all, which helps at night as they can sometimes do weird things to highlights. The Panaspeeds worked well, as they cover the large-format sensor, they're fast lenses, and they have a bit of contrast, which I like as well."

Shot by DP Claudio Mirana. Story: in the near future, convicts are offered the chance to volunteer as medical subjects to shorten their sentence. One such subject for a new drug capable of generating feelings of love begins questioning the reality of his emotions.

For The Batman DP Greig Fraser worked in close collaboration with Arri, to produce a new line of lenses based on their original Master Anamorphics. Fraser wanted a less clean version with that typical character of anamorphic lenses. The result is the Arri Alfa Series 2: beautiful sharpness and contrast and soft at the edges. Exactly what Fraser had in mind.

DP's Černjul and Billeter settled on two optical systems through which they would filter their tale of two New Yorks. For "old" New York they chose Cooke Anamorphic/i prime lenses, to capture "that little bit of nostalgia and romantic feel that’s created by anamorphic bokehs". For "new" New York they used Cooke S7/i spherical lenses, to imbue a look that was “more modern and cleaner, with less distortion,” he notes.

DP Tommy Maddox-Upshaw used a Venus Optics Laowa 24mm probe lens for its wide angle of view. With its 16" barrel, the Laowa has a minimum working distance of just 20mm from the front element. Focusing from 2:1 macro to infinity at f/14, it needs a lot of light, yet provides a unique perspective — adding a disorienting effect to the scene.

Director of photography Salvatore Totino: "I wanted to shoot the film in the anamorphic format with Hawk V-Lite lenses, which I also used on 65. I love them because I like things to be a little ‘off’ sometimes. I love the quick falloff in depth of field, and I embraced shooting with V-Lites more wide-open so that there would be softness and banding on the edges, which creates flare and makes the light react in different ways."

DP Alex Disenhof notes that the production shot on the Arri Alexa Mini LF in a widescreen aspect ratio, together with the Alexa LF when they needed to shoot at a higher frame rate of 48 fps.
Disenhof used Arri Rental DNA LF prime lenses. "They offer a great combination of softness and contrast, and possess a dimensionality that rounds out faces and pops them from their surroundings" he says.

DP Armando Salas says the Arri Alexa Mini, which recorded in XQ UHD, is very sensitive and performs well in low-light situations. "Stefan Sonnenfeld and I spent several hours creating and fine-tuning the show LUTs so that I felt very confident about our digital negative. We ended up with a really filmic LUT, not overly aggressive, and I got comfortable with what we could see in the shadows. We lit for those nuances down in the toe of the curve." He shot with Leica Summilux-C and Summicron-C primes, which the cinematographer characterizes as “modern and clean without being harsh and ultra-sharp.”

DP Nigel Bluck about the Mini LF: "I’m definitely sold on large format. I think it’s a great way forward. The image is phenomenal in what it gives you, what you can do in post with it and how clean it is. We’re getting so much into using film grain in the digital world, which I use on every project now to different degrees. I feel like the cleaner the digital image you start with, the truer application of the film grain you can get. When you’re trying to put film grain over digital noise, you get two things going on that are kind of butting up against each other. With large format, I get a cleaner digital negative that I can then put a more unadulterated film grain treatment over."

DP Libatique faced some unique challenges due to the film's intimate setting. He planned to light the film at extremely low levels, which led him to working with the Venice at ISO 2500. "It just seemed like the right tool for working at more realistic light levels". About the choice for the Angénieux Primo lenses he says that this project didn't require lens aberration and flares but needed the lens to 'just capture it and give me the most beautiful image possible'.

For the film's many night-exterior scenes, which nearly always featured characters’ dark skin tones, DP Polly Morgan consulted with Sasaki to modify a set of Panavision’s T Series anamorphic lenses to reduce the contrast in her images and preserve detail.
For most of the shoot Morgan paired these optics with the Arri Alexa Mini LF. But for location work where sequences such as the opening battle were shot she chose the Arri Rental Alexa 65. When shooting with the 65, Morgan paired the camera with customizedPanavision Panaspeeds, customized to match the T Series.

DP Sayombhu Mukdeeprom : "Much of the movie was shot handheld which was another reason the lighter Mini LF proved beneficial. And since the director didn’t want the movie to have a shaky style, I would put the camera on my shoulder, just to make my job as simple as I could, and try to keep it still." Interestingly, Mukdeeprom faced the challenge of underwater photography by giving the cameras to the actors in some scenes. This innovative approach further heightened the film's realism. His work has been cited as ensuring that Thirteen Lives is Ron Howard's best-looking film yet.

By using Sony Venice cameras, which allow the lens and sensor block to be separated from the body, up to six cameras could be build into the F18 cockpit. Light and compact lenses like the Zeiss Loxia and Voigtländer Heliar were used to keep the setup as slim as possible and keep the path of the ejection seat clear. Sony Venice cameras have built in optical ND filter so no matteboxes were needed.

DP Polly Morgan: "It was all about thinking of ways the natural world could help highlight Kya’s journey."

DP Eliot Rockett: "... Then in terms of what we did in the camera, the Sony Venice, we did do a number of tests for that. We started in L.A. at Technicolor to talk about LUTs and the look and the color rendition. Those conversations continued in Wellington at Park Road Post, where we further developed two different LUTs: one for the 35mm look and one for the 16mm. We folded all of our dailies processes into our on-set workflow through our DIT Martin Le Breton. We were adding a grain layer and a little bit of defocus along with the LUT into the dailies so that we would have a very accurate representation of what the movie was supposed to look like in the end."