GEAR. DOCUMENTARY KIT
LIGHTENING THE LOAD
Stay fast and loose with our guide to must-have kit for an agile set-up
WORDS. Phil Rhodes IMAGES. Various
O nce upon a time, Even in the digital age, nobody was carrying F35s up mountains for natural history shows. It’s only recently that big chips have been crammed into modestly sized cameras, and documentarians have been dealing with all of the associated side effects. It’s easy to think that two-thirds- inch cameras – once a documentary mainstay – have vanished entirely. For newsgathering and current- documentaries were shot on 16 and drama on 35, and the world was simple.
affairs broadcasting, they largely have, although they persist in live work. Keeping a well-driven golf ball in frame and focus still makes small chips and long zooms essential, although even live OB crews have begun to encounter big-chip shooting in the form of options like the Arri Multicam System. On a documentary, the 4.1kg Amira was built to bring portability to the much-loved look of Alexa. Bigger chips have now been shoehorned into even handier cameras – the Alexa Mini LF, at 2.6kg, packs in the pixels per pound for shows which can accommodate the data. If large format seems like overkill away from the big screen, reflect that not many major motion pictures are shot on FX3s. Neither Amira, nor any of its siblings, is a featherweight. Although, the indestructibility of Arri’s build may be attractive for anyone willing to shoulder the weight, in return for a cam that could probably shrug off a round-the-world trip on a quad bike with square wheels. A smoother ride comes from one of Motion Impossible’s modular
FIT TO BURST At 2.6kg, the Arri Alexa Mini LF is a compact wonder with a large format sensor
60. DEFINITIONMAGAZINE.COM
Powered by FlippingBook