Zacuto's 2012 Camera Shootout Concludes on August 15th, See What You Missed in Parts 1 and 2
Every single Zacuto shootout -- and really all camera shootouts for that matter -- seem to cause quite a debate. Feelings tend to be hurt if someone's personal favorite isn't near the top of the pack, and often more than one individual is unhappy with the way the test is being conducted or shown to the public. I was lucky enough to see the 2012 shootout in person, and while web video will never replicate the theater experience, my favorite scenes weren't too far off from the majority of viewers -- except in regards to the GH2 scene. That scene, to the surprise of many, just so happened to win a blind poll on No Film School right before part 2 was released. While the first two parts dealt with subjective choices, part 3 should finally reveal the empirical test where each camera is compared objectively. Check out the trailer below.
If you haven't seen them already, embedded below are parts 1 and 2 (though for best quality, they are both available for download from Vimeo):
If you're familiar with most of these cameras, the empirical test shouldn't be that surprising. The entire point of the 2012 shootout, however, was to show that the operator is just as important as the camera (if not more). No film is made up of camera tests, and it's these subjective choices that affect the viewer more than the actual capabilities of the camera. Whether you agree with the testing procedures or not, it's definitely interesting to see each scene in relation to the other, and for those who weren't able to go to the screening, you can finally see all of the cameras evenly compared.
Disclosure: Zacuto is a No Film School advertiser.