Which Budget Camera for Filmmaking?

camerasreviewfilmmaking

Dec 29

Written By Marko Li

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For the pickiest image quality enthusiasts.

Choosing a camera is a stressful process. Not everyone can afford an Arri or Red and not everyone wants to spend money, time and effort to test out all the options. Then you have the fear that your choice will forever lock you into investing in that ecosystem. If you want to get into video, Sony is typically the go-to brand for their reliability. I would say if you are doing commercial work just go Sony. Your clients will be happy and it makes your job a lot easier. But for image quality enthusiasts looking for visual inspiration from their tools, the choice gets harder: Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6k, Sigma FP, Fujifilm XH2s.

The best tool for the job

The question I get most is which camera should I buy? Which is better? All cameras have their strengths and weaknesses and depending on your project, one may be more suitable than another.

Blackmagic cameras are extremely newbie friendly. The menus are best in class, easy to use and have a graciously large monitor that is just as good as a professional Small HD with a fantastic BRAW codec. However, the battery is abysmal and the lowlight performance is unbelievably noisy. Blackmagic color science is a bit overrated with the worst natural look compared to these two because of the over-saturated greens.

The Sigma FP has poor, inaccurate monitoring, cumbersome large file sizes and requires rigging to utilize its full potential. It requires a lot of patience as it lacks a lot of quality of life functionality but its potential is incredible because of its image quality. It has the highest quality codec 4k 12bit CDNG with realistic texture and contrast, incredible lowlight performance rivaling Sony, is small and light, not to mention it can take photos too.

Fujifilm is a dedicated stills camera so it will naturally take the best stills. This means it is optimized for sharpness and contrast, but for video it still looks way too sharp. The film emulations are also lovely assisted by its Arri-adjacent color science, which will create the most pleasing colors of the three in the right lighting. IBIS and autofocus are non-issues for me as I have a dedicated filmmaking approach.

Camera Reviews

Differentiators

Cameras are quite good these days and you can create great images with any of them, so what your decision should come down to is what you don’t want from a camera. If you’re an image quality snob, then I can give you some recommendations.

The BMCC6kFF is sharper and requires more light. If you can always control your lighting, the BMCC6kFF has a high image ceiling that can resemble Arri but you need to know how to grade your images. The 6k resolution is kind of irrelevant and doesn’t resolve as much micro contrast as the FP because it’s actually a faux sharpness like it was de-noised then artificially sharpened. This sometimes leads to plasticky textures and doesn’t always escape the digital look. I would prefer Blackmagic if I wanted to utilize advanced color grades because BRAW is very friendly and easy to work with. This makes it reliable for commercial work as you can easily hand off footage to the client. The intuitive menus, large screen and ergonomic shape make it ideal and gleefully fun for handheld. It can look better than the FP in daylight because of more highlight information.

The Sigma FP is softer and more contrasty. It also has more dynamic range than people give it credit for and can handle any lighting condition with the most accurate color science on the market and incredible texture and dimensionality. Although I would say the Sigma FP looks more cinematic and substantial, some may still prefer the Blackmagic. I will say that with Sigma, everything will look good with minimal grades and really does look like Red. The lowlight is the best especially in mixed lighting where the color accuracy comes in handy. It will look the most like a feature film whereas the Blackmagic you will often need good lighting or a pushed look to make things look good. However the cumbersome workflow cannot be overstated, it is literally the worst workflow on the market with a weird RAW, massively restricting files and frustrating monitoring. The only reason people put up with it is because of its beloved image. Think of a gorgeous model with a difficult personality.

Fujifilm XH2s has great dynamic range and color but flat dimensionality. But it has one of the best color sciences ideal for film emulation and impressive dynamic range. Every time I look at old footage I find the colors on Fujifilm to look more pleasing than I can get with my color grading. The XH2s has an inconvenient high base ISO of 1250 in FLOG2 meaning you always need ND filters when filming outside. It also has chroma noise reduction leaving a lot of luma noise, which kinda looks like a colorless grain. Stills are awesome and film simulations are so much fun. But it’s also a cropped sensor, which mostly matters if you have full frame glass because the incomplete lens coverage means less character on the edges of the frame. But if you only have APSC lenses, then it shouldn’t matter because you’ll still get full coverage and retain all the character from the corners of your lens. Just bear in mind most new technology will be catered toward larger formats.

Texture wise, the FP has the richest depth like Hollywood cinema cameras and will shine with clean optics. Blackmagic and Fujifilm are comparatively more digital and sharp so softer glass will pair better. The FP has more detail in the shadows making the shadow roll off better, but weak highlights. The reverse is true for the other cameras. This makes it so if you are shooting outside, you may prefer the look of the Blackmagic and Fujifilm for their highlight roll off. If you prefer gentler, brighter visuals resembling Arri, BMCC6kFF. If you prefer heavier visuals with depth and realism, Sigma FP. If you want film emulation, nostalgic or trendy social media posts, go for the Fujifilm.

Clever Ghost’s Recommendations

If you value my personal taste so much, then I can say that I prefer Fujifilm for photography, Sigma for video 70% of the time over Blackmagic and the Blackmagic for its smaller file sizes and resolution for things like talking head and macro shots. However, my requirements may not be relevant for your creative projects as I prefer cameras based on my specific lenses, workflow and shooting style. A singer like Ariana Grande has a great voice, but maybe not for a heavy metal band. Universal gear advice should be avoided, but this is equally unhelpful in making purchase decisions easier. So if you appreciate a similar shooting style as mine focusing on framing, using high resolving glass, pursuing image fidelity and realism then my advice may carry more weight for you.

I have always believed that lenses are more important than cameras. They last forever whereas cameras cycle regularly. They also contribute more to the overall look compared to the workflow and texture of a camera. So I would actually first decide what kind of glass you want, then see which camera pairs best with it. I like the rendering from Zeiss optics and the FP complements them the most.