KINEFINITYMAVO 6K
L et’s immediately talk about the elephant in the room. Building an almost industrial- style modular camera that can be kept small or rigged up, and that is built to shoot Raw files, has always meant one brand, and that’s RED. It’s the dream camera for many independent filmmakers, who want the simplicity of a rugged camera that is focused on image quality and fast frame rates above all else. But the cost is just too much for many to swallow. The Chinese-made Kinefinity is obviously the same style camera as a RED, with the same focus on modularity, speed and image quality. But at a fraction of the cost. A basic 5K RED package will cost about £25,600/ $28,875 while a similar-spec Kinefinity Mavo 6K pro package is a far more reasonable £10,194/ $13,370. Of course, you get what you pay for and if you have the budget for a RED and all its accessories, then that’s still the way you’ll go and no doubt be very happy as the American cameras are simply stunning. But for the rest of us, where every bit of cash you hand over for kit has to pay for itself quickly, the Mavo is a new option that deserves a serious look. Hot on the heels of the Kinefinity Terra 4K, tested and raved about in the last issue, the Mavo is its big brother in all but physical size. The Terra has a sensor a little bigger than Micro Four Thirds size. The same size, in fact, as a Panasonic GH5S sensor which also, like the Terra, has dual ISO native capability. It’s almost as if the sensors rolled out of the same factory. The Mavo moves Kinefinity into a whole new arena, one that serious filmmakers want to be in, and that’s a Super35-size sensor. Just like many of the cinema cameras on the market from Sony, Canon, Panasonic and RED. A Super35 camera lets you use lenses without a big crop, and gives that wonderfully shallow depth of field that can give a true cinematic look. But to serious professionals, a camera is more than a one-off purchase but something that has
SPECIFICATIONS Price: £10,194/ $13,370
Pro Package including camera, back, monitor, grip, 500GB SSD and case Sensor: S35mmCMOS sensor, 24x16mm Recording formats: Compressed CinemaDNG 12-bit, ProRes444XQ/ 422HQ/ 422/ 422LT/ Proxy 10-bit MOV, Compressed Lossless KineRAW 12-bit (with firmware upgrade coming soon) File sizes andmaximumframe rates: 6Kwide 6016x4016 66fps, 4Kwide 4096x2160 100fps, 3Kwide 3017x1620 130fps, 2Kwide 1920x800 196fps. Dynamic range: >14 stops Shutter angle: 0.7-358° Recordingmedia: 2.5in 7mm wide SSD Audio: In-cameramic, 3.5mm input jack, 48V phantompower XLRwith KineBACK ISO: 800 to 24,800 Image stabilisation: None Autofocus: None Videomodes: Manual LUTs: Neutral, flat, custom3D Dimensions (WxHxD): 115x110x95mm/4.5x4.3x3.7in Weight: 990g/2.1lb body only to last, have a service network and direct line to technical help if something goes wrong. In recent times, that’s where Kinefinity has fallen down as the cameras were shipped directly from China to the customer, in most cases. But now Kinefinity is expanding with an all-new factory, and it knows it needs serious distributors in lots of territories to give a potential buyer the confidence to slash the cash. British firm ProAV now handles distribution and service in the UK, so that gives huge confidence to a would-be purchaser. The Mavo we got our hands on was the first to arrive in the
“Changes are made to take into account what actual customers are saying”
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AUTUMN 2018 PRO MOVIEMAKER
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