KINEFINITYMAVO 6K
camera will also be able to shoot in the camera’s own compressed lossless 12-bit KineRAW via a forthcoming update which promises even higher resolution, but will need an intermediate step to transcode it into ProRes or DNG. For a less data-hungry option, the Mavo can encode its images in ProRes at all frame rates and resolution. It records up to ProRes444XQ and 422HQ and below in 10-bit. When looking at the files, the quality shot in ProRes is just incredible so few users will feel the need to go Raw. With ProRes, it also supports in-camera oversampling, which directly outputs Super35 in 4K resolution or lower. In terms of file sizes and maximum frame rates, the camera can shoot 6K wide at a maximum of 66fps, 5K wide at 74fps, 4K wide at 100fps, 3K wide at 130fps and 2K wide at 196fps. The slow motion is very good at all these settings, although there is a slight reduction in frame rate if you don’t use the wide option, essentially a small letterbox crop of the open sensor. In this case, you can shoot 6K at 50fps, for example, for half- speed slow motion. Shooting 5K at 74fps gives three times slow motion which is a nice compromise between super slomo and normal half speed slow motion. And all at amazing quality.
LOG FOOTAGE
WITH ARRI LUT
ABOVE While the Log footage is obviously very flat, adding an Arri-C LUT makes skin tones very natural looking. RIGHT The Kineback-W comes with a V-lock mount and is ideal for the latest crop of advanced batteries like this powerful Swit unit. It’ll power the camera for all-day shooting.
THE VERDICT If you really demand the modularity and build quality of a RED, or the beautiful skin tones and colour science of an Arri – and you have enough business to afford it – then you will never be happy with anything less. But if you don’t mind something that comes close to the performance of a RED-Arri hybrid at a price that won’t break the bank, then the Mavo could be the camera you’ve been waiting for. It’s well built, well designed, easy to use, rugged and produces very detailed files in lots of different frame rates in ProRes or Raw. And if you’re in the UK, ProAv are certified repairers and will have loan cameras, too. As we said in last issue’s test of the Terra 4K, reliability is yet unknown but we didn’t have to even do a single reboot during our use of the camera. Everything just worked. It’s a camera that’s actually a pleasure to use, produces very natural colours and
sharp images with a dynamic range of more than 14 stops. With a base ISO of 800, you will need some sort of ND solution if you want to use shallow depth-of-field in bright light. The EF mount with a variable ND filter is one solution, or you’re back to variable NDs or drop-in ND filters in a matte box. Just like a proper filmmaker. Of course, for even less money, there are lots of other Super35 options available such as a Sony FS7 Mark II, Panasonic EVA-1 or C300Mark II among others. All very capable cameras and cheaper, but essentially all quite different to the Kinefinity Mavo. In this price bracket, there really is no direct comparison with the Mavo, whichmakes it a standout filmmakingmachine.
HOW IT RATES
Features: 9 It might look basic but has all a serious filmmaker needs, except NDfilters Performance: 9 The footage is beautiful and there are lots of frame rate options for slowmotion Handling: 9 It can be everything froma stripped- down gimbal machine to a rigged-up cinema cam Value formoney: 9 Take a look at RED and Arri prices then you’ll see, that for a camera like this, it’s a bargain OVERALL RATING: 9/10 The independent filmmakers’ real cinema camera of choice, and affordable Pros: Great value formoney and lovely footage Cons: No AF, ND or touchscreen
More information
www.proav.co.uk
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AUTUMN 2018 PRO MOVIEMAKER
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