Blind Cinema Camera Test - Part 2 | What You Don't See

The "Blind Cinema Camera Test" answers and winners of the Nitze Camera Cage and Accessory Kit are finally here!

WINNERS: (YouTube Usernames)
Camera Cage: KT YANG
Accessory Kit: Well Well

ANSWERS:
A. Sony F55
B. Arri Alexa
C. Kinefinity Mavo
D. Blackmagic Pocket 6K
E. Sony F65
F. Blackmagic Pocket 4k
G. Blackmagic Ursa 4K

Cameras mistaken for the Arri Alexa:
1. Kinefinity Mavo (6 times)
2. Sony F55 (5 times)
3. Sony F65
4. Blackmagic Pocket 6K (2 times)
*The Alexa was mistaken for the F55 the most.

THOUGHTS:
This test has been so enlightening for me as I normally don't pair some of these cameras together. The F55 is a camera I know that matches the Alexa straight out of camera (F65 too when using Sigma lenses) and I always felt my Mavo was similar, but now I am certain that it would make a perfect companion in the same scene. I know the Pocket 6K can match the Alexa even more if I graded completely from scratch and ignored the Manufacturer LUT as I believe the Extended V4 LUT is kind of harsh with highlights and can have a bit too much contrast for certain looks.

As you can see in the video once fitted with their respective Manufacturer LUT their colors are all over the place even when they were all daylight balanced in camera. The 2 closes to the actual scene were the Sony F55 and the Arri Alexa. The F65 isn't far but it does have a red tint to it and i'm not sure if that is because it was from the Xeen lens but can be corrected out very easily with the red bars.

I think the next easiest to match the Alexa would be the Mavo and the Pocket 6K (from scratch). The Mavo has a strong red tint to the image, but what is strange is that the thumbnail photo of the Mavo in the clip folder does not have a red tint but when in Resolve it does? I don't remember this being the case with many productions that I have shot, but I have been noticing this recently so I don't know if it is a bug in the latest camera firmware or just a temporary interpretation issue with the KineLog and Resolve? But, as you can see once the red is removed it can be mistaken for the Arri Alexa. Another interesting note is that the Alexa and Mavo were the only ProRes clips in the test and they both were mistaken for each other...

The Pocket 6K looks great when graded from scratch and for certain looks with the Manufacturer LUT as well. I prefer a softer highlight readout/roll off so I would grade the Blackmagic cameras by hand. To me the best colors come from the Ursa 4K camera. It failed in this test because it was lit for cameras with more dynamic range, but I could have lit this scene differently and the Ursa would have had a lot more attention, but the reason for this test was to see what cameras I can bring out to match a scene lit for my Alexa. The Ursa is still one of my favorite cameras and was the camera that got me a few talent highlight articles so I am forever grateful for this camera and find it difficult to let go.

So this test was just for aesthetics and unintentionally dynamic range. As you can see they can all look very similar but the path to get there couldn't be more different. So the results I got were perfect for what I needed answers to, but there are so much more to a camera than aesthetics like ergonomics, ports, workflow, build quality, convenience features: ND, IR, external buttons, media, etc.

At the end of the day choose the camera that best fits what you need and what you can afford. With enough time, patience, and execution they can all look like the best camera in the world. Whatever that camera is 😅

Thank you to all of those who participated in this contest it really felt like a community experiment with your engagement and contributions and I am grateful for the turnout! Special thanks to Nitze for supporting this test and giving 2 lucky winners a chance to get some free stuff!

Production by

Alexa highlight rolloff is out of this world

[adamwerton]

Actually, I just copy pasted KT Yang's answers but switched F55 and ALEXA. Haha, this is really fun. Thanks KT!

[MisterBandsman]

Nice, I got 5 out of 7 :) Thanks for the comparison and congratulations to the winners!

[niebaoqi]

Curious about how many times Alexa was chosen correctly？

[niacreatives]

Hey guys am resent graduate at a local university here in Kenya, I don't know any of this camera, is there a possibility of winning anything.