Zacuto-shootout-224x93With all of the new cameras announced in the past few months, wouldn't it be great to have a scientific comparison of them all side-by-side? Specifications matter less than the images they produce, after all, and Zacuto's Great Camera Shootout has always been the go-to source for this. However, for last year's shootout there were a number of cameras not yet ready: the RED EPIC, RED SCARLET-X, Sony F3 S-Log, Sony F65, Canon C300, and Canon 1D-X. If you haven't already seen the 2011 shootout, it's a must-watch, and it's included in full below. Plus, here's an exclusive first word on the next shootout -- which will have some interesting twists -- straight from Zacuto's Steve Weiss:

The next shootout will include all of the new cameras like the Sony F65, RED Scarlet, RED Epic, ARRI Alexa, Canon C300, and new DSLRs. We will have over 25 screenings in our booth at NAB and each viewer will receive a viewing card to pick [the footage of] their three favorite cameras: the cameras will be numbered, not labeled. We will surprise them with the ones they actually liked, not knowing what is what. We will also have screenings around the world. Each camera will be shot by a specialist for that camera. They will be allowed to alter the lighting slightly to make their camera look the best it possibly can which of course is what you would do in real life. The final three part series, “Revenge of The Great Camera Shootout” will premiere on the web in June and this time we are going to try something new. It will be available right away for bloggers to embed on their own site.

It will be interesting to see this "blind taste test" -- thus the Pepsi Challenge reference -- format at work. Picking favorite cameras based on their images alone could definitely surprise some people, I think. Then again, to properly compare the cameras, folks are going to want to see it with a key, too -- which I expect is what the web release is for. Previously, Zacuto had restricted their series to their own site (initially), but it should receive even more exposure next year by going live everywhere at once.

Now that some time has passed and the 2011 shootout is freely embedabble, here are the three episodes, which compare 35mm film (Kodak 5213 and 5219 stock), the Arri Alexa, RED ONE M-X, Weisscam HS-2, Phantom Flex, Sony F35, Sony F3, Panasonic AF100, Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 1D Mark IV and Nikon D7000. I even make a cameo in episode two:

Oh, and Zacuto also won an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Interview/Discussion Programming for their web series, FilmFellas (they also won one for the 2010 edition of the camera shootout):

Congratulations to Zacuto -- it's nice to see a web series taking on the "traditional" TV shows and winning.

DISCLOSURE: Zacuto is a NFS sponsor.

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Cinematography & Cameras