Camera technology moves pretty quickly, and with a new documentary project starting pre-production shortly, our DP Dave Jones paid a visit to Pro Motion Hire in Brentford to run through a few options.

The Sony FX6 workhorse — The Sony FX6. A workhorse with a great image. The obvious choice?

The initial idea behind the test was to compare two cameras from different manufacturers: the Sony FX6 with the RED Komodo 6K. For a travel documentary series with a small crew, the FX6 had seemed like the obvious choice: lightweight, great AF (if needed) and stabilisation in post when using the native Sony lenses, a solid post workflow, and a relatively simple camera to work with. It also had a built-in variable ND filter which is a brilliant feature for run and gun work. I'd shot a series for FedEx last summer with the FX6 in a fairly challenging environment at their European hub at Paris CDG. Lots of mixed lighting scenarios and a lot of night shooting so the ability to change exposure quickly, sometimes mid-shot, without having to touch the aperture was really really useful.

So with that all in mind there was going to have to be a compelling reason to switch to the Komodo. I knew that the image out of the RED would probably have something over the Sony, but that the files would also require more work in post. But I was certainly interested to see both cameras side by side.

RED Komodo 6K with Tokina 11-20mm — The RED Komodo 6K. I really wanted to like it.

When I arrived for the test though, there were 3 cameras on the bench. The Sony, the RED and the Ronin 4D. I'd seen a brief demo of this camera a while back and it was certainly an interesting option, the main obvious feature/benefit being the 4-axis gimbal. What I hadn't really realised was that aside from the gimbal, was a really well thought out camera with a great looking image and a pretty amazing AF/tracking system that would be brilliant for working with a presenter on the move. Being a DJI product the image would also match very closely to any drone footage we might take along the way. The wireless monitoring system that comes as part of the package was an added bonus and being able to hand over control of focus/tracking to a someone else also opened up some interesting possibilities.

Being someone who really likes working with a viewfinder rather than a monitor I did think this might prevent me from using the Ronin, but we did manage to rig it up with a Zacuto Graticule and it did actually work well. What it looked like was another matter.

Speaking of the viewfinder, this was something I also needed to add to the Komodo as I found the top screen almost impossible to use, so this camera ended up with the built-in screen, viewfinder and a third party onboard monitor making it a fairly heavy overall package.

In terms of lens choices, it seemed pretty obvious to pair the FX6 (which I hadn't yet even looked at) with native Sony lenses to take advantage of the AF & gyro data. With the Komodo we started off with a Canon 16-35mm EF zoom, but it seemed like a missed opportunity not to use something more cinematic for this camera, so we switched to a Tokina 11-20 T2.9 which definitely looked the part. We also tried the Canon Sumire 35mm which was great but heavy, and being a prime maybe not the most versatile for this type of project. For the Ronin 4D we looked at a Leitz 50mm Summilux f1.4 which looked lovely, but again probably not the right choice, and also the Sony G-Master 24-70mm f2.8. If you only have one lens this is probably the most useful range to have on the FX6 and as the Ronin is also a full frame sensor it worked really well here too. Interestingly, the Ronin was able to control focus and aperture electronically but the aperture was smooth rather than stepped which is something the FX6 can't currently do. On the flip side the Ronin only has stepped internal ND not the variable variety of the Sony which is probably the more useful of the two options.

By now I'd spent the most time with the Ronin and other than the fact that it was a completely new camera to me and I would need to spend a fair bit of time learning the menus to make sure I was comfortable with everything, it seemed to tick pretty much every box of what I needed from a camera. I still couldn't love what it looked like especially when paired with a viewfinder but I couldn't argue with what it was capable of. I still hadn't even picked up the FX6, and even though I was excited about the potential of the cinematic image out of the Komodo I hadn't really looked at that properly either. But then I spotted another camera on another bench, the RED V-Raptor 8K. It seemed to be not much bigger than the Komodo but it was full frame and had the whopping 8K sensor going for it too.

By now I had pretty much decided whatever camera I went with I was going to need an Easyrig. It makes a lot of sense when shooting anything hand held. With the Ronin it was a necessity as there really didn't seem to be a shoulder mount option anyway. So jumping up to the Raptor's weight wasn't going to be that much of an issue. And to be fair it wasn't the weight of the camera, so much as the weight of the lens that was going to be needed to make the most of the sensor. For this we were looking at the Angenieux EZ-2 22-60 T3 which weighs in at 2kg. I've used the Angenieux Optimo zooms in the past on super 35 sensors and really liked them so this seemed like a good choice. The Raptor, like the Ronin came with a monitor rather than a viewfinder, but it was a great screen and at 7" gave a really good idea of the image that you would get out of the camera which looked really nice.

But comparing the image was for another day, all these cameras would be able to create something beautiful. My main reasons for testing were down to which system would be best for this type of project. Shooting efficiently, possibly without an assistant; travelling relatively light; battery powered all day; some form of stabilisation, whether that was in-camera with the Ronin, in post with the Sony gyro data, or in post with the Raptor utilising the 8K frame to crop in and stabilise in Resolve, and finally something that I could use confidently whilst travelling, that wasn't overly complicated. So not much to ask for.

My thoughts in the end were that I could absolutely use the FX6 and be really happy with everything. Or I could go with the Ronin and make really good use of the gimbal/tracking/AF system for certain shots and then live with the weird Frankenstein setup when putting it on the sticks. Or I could really push the image quality up a notch and go with the Raptor/Angenieux combo which was something I hadn't really considered before. The Komodo unfortunately was out of the running for this one and I hadn't even looked at the images from it!

So I'll be back for another test. This time to compare the images so I get the full picture of which camera/lens system is going to work best for the project.

Many thanks to Theo, Ollie and the team at Pro Motion Hire for their time, and use of the cameras on test.