SONY FX3

Sony's own ILME-FX3 was released in early 2021 at a price of €5000 including the XLR-H1 accessory and it still remains unique in its class at around €4000. This is considering you can pair it with the Japanese company's GM lenses, which have no rivals in terms of flawless autofocus, combined with an efficient camera body like this. The real power is certainly in the dual base ISO which allows shooting at 12800 EI at maximum quality in these low light conditions. Obviously in an environment with absolute absence of light some video noise could be slightly noticed. Another strong point is undoubtedly the actual possibility to record in 4K up to 120 fps in 4:2:2 at 10 bit. And let's not forget the latest firmware updates that have allowed a shutter angle feature, exactly like film production sets. In fact, the aforementioned camera has been used in various productions, among which stands out "The Creator", reviewed also inside the movie review section of this website. You can also record in DCI-4K at 24 fps and, for those who need it, in anamorphic with the matching anamorphic lenses. Finally, for those who want to have an even more powerful camera body, there is the possibility to connect an Atomos monitor and record onto an SSD, thus having recordings with Apple ProRes or even Apple ProRes Raw at 12 bit, obviously dealing with the storage availability in terms of Terabytes and with the software capable of interacting with Apple ProRes Raw such as DaVinci Resolve Studio. The advice I give is to decide initially based on the final destination of the video. If you can, push it to the maximum to enjoy fast editing speed and the color grading.

POLARPRO BASECAMP

PolarPro's Basecamp matte box system debuted in late 2019, ready to attract the attention of hundreds of thousands of users dedicated to the video world. Anyone who knows how any optical glass works knows that at its edges there is a risk of vignetting, and so the solution offered by this ultra-stylish Los Angeles company is that you can use their matte box system, the lightest in the world, and insert their rectangular filters without any risk of encountering sharpness or vignetting issues indeed. Furthermore, the flag of this system prevents light from hitting the lens and preserves image quality without loss of contrast. The flag is also removable if it becomes an obstacle for close-up shooting of certain objects. Moreover, the system can be freely oriented at 360°, thus choosing from which direction to block light from hitting the objective. Among the various accessories, there is the possibility to purchase the Stage-3 Adapter, which allows you to insert one more filter, which usually can be a Pro Mist filter of the desired intensity. By default, you can insert a third circular filter, which can be the Polarizer filter or an artistic filter among those available on their website. We personally purchased an ND-8, ND-64, ND-256, a polarizer filter, and a Pro Mist 1/4 filter. Over all these years, I have truly noticed the difference in terms of sharpness, and it is important to use it well to give credit to the rest of the equipment you own. Using a mirrorless camera together with the Basecamp is a constant satisfaction, and the price difference with other brands lies precisely in the fact that it is the lightest on the market and built with excellent materials, including carbon fiber.