Pro Moviemaker Autumn 2018

GEAR KINEFINITYMAVO 6K

LOG FOOTAGE

ABOVE The huge dynamic range when shooting Log means it’s easy to pull back highlight detail.

standard mount and a KineEnhancer which reduces the focal length by 0.72 and increases the lens speed by a stop, like a Metabones Speed Booster. The third has a built-in electronic ND filter which can be varied from two to ten stops. There are also mounts for Nikon and PL. A typical mount such as the Sony E costs £453/ $595. The mounts are solid and well made, and being a PL-style lever lock means you offer the lens up in the correct orientation then rotate the lever around it. The result is that you’re not having to twist lenses that might have matte boxes or rigs on them, and is why Sony changed its mount to this style on the latest FS7 Mark II. Like the Terra, the camera has few buttons, with most settings controlled from a scroll wheel which is on the left of the camera body with a second version on the handgrip. Settings are altered via the screen. But unlike the RED, which also is controlled like this, the screen isn’t touch sensitive, so you have to scroll and click to change settings. The handgrip contol wheel can be too responsive at first, but you get the hang of it. “The footage just oozes quality, has lots of detail and accurate colours, and can be tweaked in post to get the look you desire”

Just like on the Terra, my biggest gripe is the size of the text on the screen itself which is small and hard to read, especially in sunshine. You can push a button on the screen to expand it but that’s one extra step every time you want to check and change settings. The most useful part of the menu system is the option to chooses up to eight presets which set the codec, frame rate and shutter speed. One day, every camera will have this as it’s so useful and saves lots of time faffing around digging into menus. So far, the camera takes on RED at its own game in terms of build quality and usability, and doesn’t fall too far behind. But the real reasons people yearn for a RED is ultimately in the images it creates. And in the case of the Kinefinity, the camera may be cheaper but does a stunning job of shooting detailed, high quality files with very pleasing skin tones, accurate colours and lots of dynamic range. It’s almost as if Kinefinity targeted RED’s design and build and Arri’s colour science. In fact,

WITH ARRI LUT

ARRI LUT & GRADING

showed a very Arri-like colour palette, just as it did on the Terra. The footage just oozes quality, has lots of detail and accurate colours, and can easily be tweaked in post to get the look you desire. Of course, howmuch information is there depends on what format you have shot in, but the Mavo has plenty of very high-quality options. At the base ISO of 800, there is very little noise but crank it up and it does start to get a bit noisy. This is a camera that excels when there is lots of light rather than being the prince of darkness. It’s not bad, but if you are always shooting in low light then the Mavo might not be the best choice. If you demand the very best in quality, there is CinemaDNG compressed 12-bit Raw files, with adjustable compression from 3:1, 5:1 and 7:1. DaVinci Resolve supports these raw files natively, so there is no intermediate step needed. The

ABOVE Adding an Arri-C LUT in post is a good start for grading. A few more tweaks and the footage is stunning,.

BELOW The control wheel is like an old- school iPod but is not the most intuitive to use and very sensitive.

shooting in Log then quickly applying an Arri-C LUT again

PRO MOVIEMAKER AUTUMN 2018