Read the article written for ProVideo Coalition here
Ever since I took ownership of my C500mkII I’ve been asked over and over how it stacks up against the Mini LF. I do have an opinion on that, but I decided it’d be a better use of everyone’s time to go ahead and compare all four of the current Full Frame Cinema Cameras available with my friends over at Stray Angel. Alexa Mini LF vs C500mkII vs Sony Venice vs Sony FX9. All at once. It was also “take your girlfriend to work day” so Dani got to sit in as our model. You can see that test footage below:
We shot each camera with the Sigma Cine Prime 50mm and 85mm lenses set to f5.6 and lit the scene in such a way that one could get a good idea of how each camera handles their respective dynamic ranges from F19 down to F2, when aided by an exposure ramp up to f16 and down to f2 on the lens. We had the cameras set to 4300K as we were using mixed lighting. While the look is important, and we’ll get to that, the first thing we wanted to focus on were the features as that’s what you’ll be considering most heavily when deciding to buy or rent. These cameras are actually quite similar in that regard so to save everyone some time, I’ve made a chart that goes through the main specs of each.
| MINI LF | C500mkII | FX9 | VENICE | |
| Sens. Size | 44.7mm ∅ | 43.1mm ∅ | 40.4mm ∅ | 43.5mm ∅ |
| Max Res. | 4448 x 3096 (4.5K OG) | 5952 x 3140 (5.9K DCI) | 3840 x 2160 (4K UHD) | 6048 x 4032 (6K 3:2) |
| Raw | 12 bit | 12 bit | N/A | 16 bit* |
| Compressed | 12 bit | 10 bit | 10 bit | 12 bit |
| Sensitivity | 800 ISO | 800 ISO | 800/4000 ISO | 500/2500 ISO |
| Codecs | Arriraw, ProRes | Rawlite, XF-AVC | X-AVC, MPEG2 | X-OCN, X-AVC, ProRes |
| Proxies | N/A | 2K, XF-AVC, 35Mbps | HD, X-AVC, 9 Mbps | HD, ProRes 422 |
| ND Filters | 6 Stops, 3 Stages | 10 Stops, 5 Stages | 7 Stops, Variable | 8 Stops, 8 Stages |
| HDR | HLG/PQ | HLG/PQ | N/A | HLG |
| Anamorphic | 1.3x & 2.0x | 1.3x & 2.0x | N/A | 1.3x & 2.0x |
| Reported DR | 14+ Stops | 15+ Stops | 15+ Stops | 15+ Stops |
| Autofocus | N/A | DPAF, Face | Face | N/A |
| Media | Codex Cards | 2 CFexpress, SD | 2 XQD, SD | 2 SXS, AXS |
| Video IO | 2 SDI | SDI, Mon, HDMI | 2 SDI, HDMI | 4 SDI, Mon, HDMI |
| Gen/TC | Timecode | Timecode | Genlock, Timecode | Genlock, Timecode |
| Audio IO | 6-Pin LEMO | 2 XLR, Mic | 2 XLR, Mic | 1 Five-Pin XLR |
| Stabilization | N/A | EIS | Metadata-based | N/A |
| Mount | LPL, PL | EF, PL | E | E, PL |
| SOOC “Look” | Balanced Contrast | Low Contrast | High Contrast | Balanced Contrast |
| Accurate Skintones | Accurate Skintones | Green All Over | Olive Skintones | |
| Green Mids, Color Acc. | Magenta Cast, Bright | Darker than average | Balanced Color, Greenish | |
| Strengths | In-Camera Raw | In-Camera Raw | Variable ND | Rialto Extension |
| Arri Look | Most ND, Smallest | Great AF | Most Versatility | |
| Industry Standard | Best Price/Performance | Cheapest | Robust Image | |
| Weight | 5.7 lbs | 3.8 lbs | 4.4 lbs | 8.6 lbs |
| Rental | $2500/Day | $695/Day | $495/Day | $1150/Day |
There can be a bit of confusion around Full Frame cinematography, but after reading this article from Art Adams and the stuff Steve Yedlin has put out you should be in good shape. Essentially, there are absolutely advantages to shooting on bigger sensors (higher physical resolution, less noise, better in low light), but there’s no inherent “look” to full frame/large format cameras that can’t generally be replicated on smaller sensors or in cropped modes. All four of these cameras are “Netflix Certified”, they’ve all got built-in NDs, they’ve got roughly the same dynamic range, the same basic I/O, they’re even roughly similar sizes. These cameras are the best of the best right now, and as time goes on cameras will only become more and more similarly powerful. This isn’t 2008 or even 2012 anymore, that’s for sure.