KINEFINITY TERRA 4K
THE VERDICT The spec of the Kinefinity Terra 4K is certainly impressive, as is the rugged build quality. The price is equally as shocking for something so high in spec. And with the forthcoming 6K and 8K cameras, you will be buying into a system that you can grow with, and ideally afford to grow with as your business increases. And if you’re based in the UK, the new ProAV-run distribution means there will be certified repairers on hand, and loan cameras in case of disasters. So that should take away some of the worry of investing in a new system. At the moment there are very few in rental houses, so your only option to get hold of one would be to approach a retailer and have a demo – hopefully an extended demo over a few days. Of course, reliability is as yet an unknown factor. And only time will tell if the cameras are up to daily, professional use. They certainly don’t claim to be waterproof, so you’d need to be careful and use decent covers in inclement weather. In terms of results, you won’t be disappointed. The camera is a joy to use, the footage is crisp and detailed without being overly sharp, and the colours are very ARRI-like – which is always a bonus. The low-light performance is surprisingly good for such a small
sensor, thanks to the dual native ISO function. It’s a shame there are no built-in ND filters, as you have to use external filters or one of Kinefinity’s EF or PL lens mounts with a built-in variable ND filter. The bottom line is that if you are in the market for a rugged, modular camera that shoots Raw and ProRes in 10-bit 4:2:2, you have very few options. The Kinefinity Terra 4K now increases those options, at a price that nothing else comes close to. Features: 8 No fancy-pants AF or Rawoutput via SDI yet, but it has everything a serious filmmaker needs Performance: 9 The footage is wonderful and can be graded in lots of ways. Slow motion and low light – impressive Handling: 9 Strip it down forminimalist use, rig it as a cinema or ENGmachine Value formoney: 10 There’s nothing that comes close in terms of spec for themoney. Look at RED and ARRI prices OVERALL RATING: 9/10 Deserves to be a huge success as it delivers in every department for this sort of camera Pros: Great value formoney Cons: No AF, ND, touchscreen or Rawoutput via SDI HOW IT RATES More information www.proav.co.uk
3K 3017x1620 it goes to 120fps, or 150fps in 3072x1200. If you’re OK with 2K then it shoots in 2048x1080 at 196fps, 2048x860 at 240fps, 1920x1080 at 196fps, and 1920x800 at 260fps. And the dynamic range is 14 stops. That’s a very impressive spec for such a relatively inexpensive camera, shooting in 10-bit 4:2:2 ProResHQ. Especially as the footage is very detailed but not overly digital, and has a very natural colour palette. It looks, feels and makes films like a much more expensive camera. Other nice touches include every shot having a folder of information stored with it, along with two audio files which are good quality thanks to decent preamps in the camera back. And you can add lots of extra info in the slate option. This will be even better via the app, which should be available soon for the latest iOS phones and tablets. And the menus even let you slow down the fan speed to keep things as quiet as possible between shots. Of course, not everything is perfect. There is no autofocus at all, no built-in ND filters and the HDMI currently only outputs an HD signal. Perhaps a future firmware upgrade will see a Raw signal out through the SDI connectors, which then would need someone like Atomos to develop a firmware for its monitor/ recorders to be able to use it. But it’s early days, of course. And once Kinefinity gets more established as a global player, and its products become more popular so demand for accessories and new firmware increases, then little quirks like this will get sorted.
ABOVE These are the presets that are very fast to select There are plentyof 4K, 3K and 2K options.
RIGHT It’s no fancy- pants camera, but will the Terra 4K be a success, now that it has beefed-up Western support?
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SUMMER 2018 PRO MOVIEMAKER
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