If you had the money, and were ready to buy.

Based upon what's available today, which camera would you buy for Nature/Wildlife Cinematography?

Which format would you select?

What would be your dream kit?

David, what would be your objective? Broadcast, dvd, internet?

My dream camera is the new F55 from Sony ;)

objective? Broadcast, dvd, internet?

all three......But Broadcast Quality

If 1080p30 is good enough for you I believe the EX3 with a set of dslr lenses will be a good camera for years to come. You can add a nanoflash to make sure it will be accepted by European broadcasters.

If you want higher framerates a FS700 is a good alternative, once again with a set of dslr lenses. You need longer lenses however. Or get closer to your subject, which is even better.

And the F55 indeed looks very, very promising. That might become my A-camera. If I need long reach or extreme close up I will use my EX3.

To get an idea of what you can shoot with the EX3/nano and FS700 have a look at my thread about the Kestrel project in this forum. We did a 'stress test' this week to assess the technical quality for an high end broadcast production and it held up very well.

What about the new Black Magic Cinema?

I have my dream camera, it is the Canon XF300

The problem with a camera as FS55 is indeed the big sensor when using teleobjectives . The 1/2" and 2/3" sensor camera are easier and cheaper to get tele lenses for. The EX3 with a converter for Nikon or canon lenses work great and would be a very good camera for tele jobs as Cees van Kempen also say. My dream is to go 1920x1080 50P. I make nature documentaries for broadcast and that format will be good for converting to the different formats they ask for. Not many "Broadcast Cameras" can deliver this format yet. I am playing with a panasonic GH-3 and I must say that it make the best video quality I have ever seen from a DSLR or DSLR like camera. Maybe better than the footage from my other cameraes - the Panasonic HPX2100, Sony PMW350 and EX3. But I am still testing. By the way I am using a cheap Black magic Hyperdeck shuttle 2 recording in 10 bit form my Sony cameraes and it improves the footage a lot.

Not all wildlife films are about long lens filming... I think that only focusing on +1000mm in reach is too narrow. As always, that is no perfect camera for all type wildlife productions. It's depends on so many factors on what camera would be best for you. But it come down to two thing (I think), your type of style/speciality and how deep your pocket is.

For me I like the large sensor filming, that gives me that extra set of option when I want the viewer to look at what I want. My type of filming is not about long reach so 600-800mm is OK for me. Is all about finding the tools that works for you.

The camera that I would love to spend money on would be C300 and renting C500 for bigger jobs. I need to think of the option for bringing it UW too.

By definition, if you are shooting wildlife, you will eventually need a long reach. To my knowledge, the Sony EX3 is the only camera in production at this time that combines a small chip for a big crop factor, and the ability to mount long lenses, and do it at a reasonable price.

But if you are talking about dreams, why doesn't some manufacturer allow coning down on the portion of the chip receiving signal, so you could use 1/2 an inch worth of a 35 mm size chip when you want that
wildlife crop factor, and the whole chip for scenery or people-sized critters. It can't be that hard.

Steve has a good point about this. Canon tried a 3x crop factor on the T3i DSLR. I wish the camera used a better codec, but all in all the principle works reasonably well. I had hoped they would improve on it and include this in more advanced DSLRS as well as cameras such as the C300, but at this point they have not followed up on it and didn't include it on the 5D MK III. I really like the MK III for video work if one can get close enough, but it is really lacking for long range work. They also didn't put it in the T3i's successor the T4i so it worries me that they may never include this in a camera again.

Unless I am missing something this principle should work with a camera such as the C300 as it is listed at over 8MP , so they should be able to set it up to read approximately a 2 MP portion of the sensor and give good long range performance.

I love the big sensor look, but II do a lot of long range wildlife photography and it is disturbing that the options we had in the past are vanishing. I am currently shooting a Panasonic GH2 quite a bit, which has the 2x extended telephoto mode and like it reasonably well. Picture quality is not as good as my old XL-H1 and nanoFlash, but it is so much more portable and easier to focus than the H1 with the EF adapter. I am using several Canon FD lenses, and a Novoflex adapter. on the GH2 I have a Panasonic GH3 on pre-order, which I hope will perform even better than the GH2. I am also still using the T3i some. I have found that magic lantern makes it much better--at least for me, but it is not for the casual user. I think the GH2 is somewhat sharper and easier to focus, but I like the Canon's colors better. Neither looks as good to me as the video from the MK III, but again the lack of real long range ability is the deal breaker with it.

Article on Crop Factor you may find of interest: Crop Factor Nonsense. | (http://www.xdcam-user.com/2012/11/crop-factor-nonsense/)

When you have been in your hide for a week to get a shot of an animal - youre more interested in getting a focused shot than a shot of only a part of the eye or tale in focus. You have plenty of defocus to play with when you are on a tele or macro job. Crop factors make sense to me - but not that I understand to calculate them. I have bought a GH3 and I would like to know the difference in field of view for the Samyang MFT 7,5mm lens and a Samyang 8mm f/3.5 Aspherical IF MC Fisheye for Nikon with a MFT adabter - because it would be nice to get a universal lens for my equipment.

......Then I would say that 4k is the "right way" to go. You keep the 4k (downscaled to 2k) and when you want a crop you simply crop the 4k to 2k. I think that this is a much better way than what Canon and Panasonic did in 600D/GH1,2(3, I don’t know).

So the “wish camera” would be C500 for me then…

Then if that is true, then you would want to put all your money in a 4k camera instead of glass?

Any thoughts on the Black Magic Cinema Camera?

Les,

Read your Crop Factor Nonsense article. Yes, he's right. It's the field of view that changes, but that's exactly what you want for shooting small wildlife. You get the desired magnification without having to schlep an 800 lb lens around. And what is this 21st century obsession with depth of field? It's like 8 track tape. Everything while it's popular, a non-starter once the glow wears off. Can't happen soon enough for me.

Yes, FOV and resolution are issues. Shallow DOF obsession has gone on a long time. Maybe slo-mo is the new fad. Come to think of it, wouldn't slo-mo and cache recording be great features for wildlife in addition to reach?

Hi David, I haven't tested the BlackMagic camera, but all samples I've seen suggests it's not bad at all. Personally I find raw-images very important in wildlife shooting. Another issue is dynamics. I've also moved away from long teles and use them sparingly. The reason is, long teles create images everybody has seen over and over again. Instead have spent a lot of time processing how to manage with short lenses.

I am playing with a panasonic GH-3 and I must say that it make the best video quality I have ever seen from a DSLR or DSLR like camera. Maybe better than the footage from my other cameraes - the Panasonic HPX2100, Sony PMW350 and EX3. But I am still testing.

You like the image from the GH3 better then that from the EX3? Am I reading this correctly?

Another camera to consider would be the Sony pmw 160. It's lens is equivalent to about 600mm, it shoots 4:2:2 at 50mb/s and is small and light. I'm thinking about this one.

Hi David, I haven't tested the BlackMagic camera, but all samples I've seen suggests it's not bad at all. Personally I find raw-images very important in wildlife shooting. Another issue is dynamics. I've also moved away from long teles and use them sparingly. The reason is, long teles create images everybody has seen over and over again. Instead have spent a lot of time processing how to manage with short lenses.

Hi Lauri, I've been thinking about the BMCC for wildlife too... I'm on the waiting list. I've seen a solution for the power there the shooter carry a battery as a charger in the backpack and hook up the camera in between shots and on the move. That way the camera staise clean and light on the tripod. The crop factor is good too. My main problem is storing the raw. I'm thinking about the solution to fix the exposure and create a nice looking shot in Resolve and conform it to a more editing friendly codec (I hope BMD will implement Canopus HQX) and then trash the raw. That would save a lot of space and that's my biggest fear, to run out of HDDs, with this camera.

Les,

Read your Crop Factor Nonsense article. Yes, he's right. It's the field of view that changes, but that's exactly what you want for shooting small wildlife. You get the desired magnification without having to schlep an 800 lb lens around.

The point was to help new comers, but I don't see using FOV as helping either.

Imagine the conversation "You need a lens with a FOV of 1 degree to get that nest there"... "1 degree?!? Where's the marking on my lens?" or "I have a 400mm lens, what's the FOV on that?", and we come back to the crop calculation.

My dream camera is the Red Epic. Expensive. Modularity. Raw. Intelligent mounts. High resolution.

It was the dream camera without price considerations, wasn´t it?

Yes any Dream Camera priced within reason. Say under $20,000 for the camera?

...and for wildlife filming, I'm talking about a camera that will be used for stocking wildlife or filming "wild" wildlife from a hide or blind.

Many so called pro's travel to Alaska and end up filming "Zoo Bears" in enclosures, or get their close-ups of marine animals in a aquarium. You can get great close-up shots of Bald Eagles with any camera, if your filming in a Raptor Center or Bird Sanctuary.

Dave

So, Red Epic it is (USD 19K).
Well, necessary extras makes it much more ...
Otherwise I could accept :) a Red Scarlet (USD 9K) which will make it around 20K.
Lenses from 11mm to 400mm from Tokina, Canon or Nikon.
Several batteries and a lot of storage for many days in the wilderness.
But still dreaming ...

... the most important accessory would be the guy carrying the equipment ...

There's a review of the BlackMagic camera in HDMagazine HD Magazine - HD Mag (http://www.definitionmagazine.com)

Here's the review (http://www.definitionmagazine.com/journal/2012/11/22/first-look-review-blackmagic-design-cinema-camera.html) which is rather positive.

I am filming with the Canon C300 in some extreme low lights and at times with a little bit help from a torch light. I wish for the next version of the C300 when the sensor is just two stops more sensitive so that I can peacefully shoot in the night. Ofcourse, then I will ask for sensitivity to shoot in no moon nights. :)

Cheers,
Sabyasachi