Moviecam and Arricam Comparison

Arturo Jacoby, lens technician at Clairmont Camera and overall camera wizard, got the idea to compare the Moviecam SL Mk2 with the Arricam LT. He wanted to make comparisons based on measurements and weights of both camera bodies with different magazines. When he started looking for the factory technical specs about these cameras, he didn’t find much.  So, he decided to do it himself–and here are the results.

Arturo wanted to share this work with FDTimes readers not just for the technical information, but also to talk a little about film and motion picture cameras.

“Jon,” he said, “You’re spending more and more time talking about digital cameras. Maybe it’s because there’s a lot of new information to talk about, and you’ve pretty much written everything about film cameras. But, let me say something about Motion Picture Cameras. They are light weight, very easy to use, without complicated setup and menus. And they are ready to use in just a few minutes.

“What Mr. Philippe Parain said three years ago continues to make a lot of sense today, even if today the new digital cameras are 4K. Mr. Parain, Chairman and CEO of Thales-Angénieux, said in Film and Digital Times, May 2008, “HDTV now is close to 2K. If you go to the cinema, you are watching film that has the potential for 13 Million pixels. That’s 6 times better than HD.”

“Therefore, film is not dead, and continues being the top of the line choice. Motion picture film, working together with a very well calibrated film gate, and with a perfectly optically centered cine lens, is still the best image that a human being can get today. It’s that simple.

Editorial note: remember, Arturo is the guy who aligns, checks and tests these things day in and day out. Arturo got Denny Clairmont’s blessing for us to publish his Moviecam SL Mk2 and Arricam LT comparisons. Click on the images above for large size views.

 

 

Leave a Comment

2 Responses:

  1. Benjamin Rowland says:

    These cameras seem to be fairly similar. How do they differ out in the field?

    • Arturo Jacoby says:

      Hello :-)

      Some differences:

      Moviecam SL Mk2

      50fps

      20db

      Arri 235 IVS

      Manual Shutter

      Arricam LT

      40fps

      24db

      Arricam LT or LT HD IVS

      Electronic Shutter

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