Sony FS700 vs. Super 16 SR2

Will Montgomery · September 3, 2013

Ok, not really a "vs." but something unscientific to show the difference. I had the opportunity to shoot a music video a few weeks ago and we rented an FS700 for the slow motion but I wanted to shoot some of the outdoor shots on my Super 16 SR2 since we actually had a color correction budget. Had plenty of film laying around too.

This is before any color correction so just consider this an observation of the obvious but thought I'd share a screen grab to show the difference "straight out of the camera" (of course the film was a flat pass so there's some grading there)

I was really impressed with the FS700 when the exposure wasn't tricky like this shot, but for this particular shot it looked extremely "video-ish". I know it can probably be rescued in color correction since it's not completely blown out in the highlights but what a joy it was to see the film ready for whatever correction is needed.

I'll add higher res grabs and corrected versions as the project progresses.

Phil Rhodes · September 3, 2013

Did you shoot the FS700 in a log or low-con setup? It looks like it's in 709, which is probably not how I'd have done it.

Will Montgomery · September 3, 2013

Did you shoot the FS700 in a log or low-con setup? It looks like it's in 709, which is probably not how I'd have done it.

I would have liked to, but we had no time with the camera before the shoot; barely got through the 14 clicks to get into slow motion before we were rolling.

The base FS700 setup actually served us extremely well on most shots; some I'd say it was almost stunning. I'm a fan of the camera even with all it's menu issues; just wish I had more time with it before rolling.

Everything was shot in one day and it's a great example of how not to do something like this, but I guess my point was how if you don't have time to plan and light well or no budget at all, film's resilience can save a shot (preaching to the choir I know) whereas many people not familiar with film think of it as more difficult. On this shoot, the SR2 was the quick and easy setup.