Download free Sony Cine Camera Reports 80-page High-Rez PDF (30 MB).
Or, download free low rez 10 MB version.
This 80-page FDTimes Special Edition began at the beginning of the year when colleagues called in with stories about recent jobs that happened to be filmed with Sony VENICE, BURANO and FX3 cameras.
These are not eulogies or reviews or production paeans. Instead, they are somewhat technical, sometimes nerdy, always artistic discussions about interesting films and series with lots of details about lenses, lighting, LUTs, peppered with long discourses on Director-DP dynamics, crew management, psychology, color science, career beginnings, film schools, first jobs, and all the other tales told on location waiting for the sun to rise, the clouds to part, or the next shot in a glass after wrap.
And, oh yes, the cameras:
VENICE
September 6, 2017. Sony’s original VENICE cine camera was launched at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, not far from Venice Beach. The European premiere was in London at Pinewood Studios on Sept 7. Sony announced that VENICE would ship by February 2018 in Super35 format only. At the time, Full Frame and E-mount functionality were not expected until mid-year 2018.
One week later, a Full Frame 36x24mm VENICE serendipitously appeared at IBC in Amsterdam and Sony announced Full Frame capability on delivery.
VENICE came with a PL mount. A lever-lock E-mount lurked underneath. The big news was the big picture, dual internal ND filter wheels with 0 to 8 stops of ND, 15 stops of dynamic range and support for almost every format from Full Frame 3:2 to Super35 4K 18mm full-height 4:3, anamorphic and spherical, and everything in between. The sensor block/lens mount could separate from the recording body—in what we all called RIALTO mode, like the bridge connecting two parts in the city of VENICE.
VENICE 2
November 15, 2021. Four years and nine days after the original VENICE camera first launched in LA, VENICE 2 arrived.
There were two models: VENICE 2 8K and VENICE 2 6K. How do you distinguish between an original VENICE and the new VENICE 2? Original VENICE requires an AXS-R7 unit attached to the back for X-OCN recording. VENICE 2 has X-OCN built in. Its base is completely flat, with big air vents, whereas the original VENICE has a removable shoulder pad on the bottom. 8.6K and 6K image sensor blocks were interchangeable.
BURANO
September 12, 2023. BURANO blends the front-end styling of VENICE with the rear curves of an FX6. It has the same front PL Mount over a Lever-Lock E-mount. BURANO is 1 inch shorter and 3 pounds lighter than VENICE 2, with a magnesium and aluminum body.
BURANO innovates with in-body image stabilization and in-camera variable ND filters.
Other cameras are discussed in this report, including Sony’s small and capable FX3, Alpha series mirrorless cameras and more. See additional details and specs at the end of this report.
Download free Sony Cine Camera Reports 80-page High-Rez PDF (30 MB).
Or, download free low rez 10 MB version.
