NIKKEI Business Daily has published an article that praises Sony’s professional camera – The VENICE. According to NIKKEI, the VENICE was treated like an underdog, however, it has been highly accepted by industry professionals due to its compactness, simplicity of operation, and durability. The Nikkei article is translated below. 

NIKKEI praises Sony because of the VENICE

The NIKKEI (Japan Economics Newspaper) has published an article that applauds Sony’s flagship, which is the VENICE – the star of Top Gun: Maverick. According to The Nikkei, in 2021, VENICE was used in 28 major foreign films alone, increasing about five times in two years. It states that there’s special ‘attention’ on how far Sony will spread in the movie industry. Here’re the article’s main key points (Google translated from Japanese).

The establishment of CineAlta

As stated in the article: “In 2000, Sony entered the digital motion picture camera market under the brand name CineAlta. However, there are many competitors from the era of film cameras such as German company ARRI. Sony, which was treated as a “newcomer” in the film industry that values ​​tradition, was struggling to break down its stronghold of foreign companies. Venice, released in 2018, was a product that reviewed everything from scratch. The R&D was focused on how to improve the ease of use for film directors and other creators. The operation buttons are placed on both the left and right sides so that anyone can use them from either side on a busy work site. The specifications have also been reviewed, and simple operability has been pursued, such as completing basic settings with just 6 button operations. Durability in harsh shooting environments was also meticulously developed, such as by applying four layers of coating on the outer layer of magnesium alloy”.

Conquering the movie world

According to the Article: “VENICE gradually permeates the movie world. Sony’s U.S. subsidiary has released examples of the use of foreign films. In 2019, there were six films released, but in 2021, there were 28, nearly five times as many”. Just a note here — ‘Foreign films’ means films outside Japan. Furthermore, The Nikkei adds: “VENICE will also be used in Sony Pictures Entertainment’s ‘Kingdom 2: To the Far Land’, which was released in July. The previous work released in 2019 was a camera made by another company”.

Cinematographer Akira Sako commented, ‘Venice is attractive because it is simple. I can concentrate in front of the lens. The VENICE can be disassembled and cleaned easily, so it is suitable for cavalry battles and other dusty sites’. The Nikkei summarizes: “In 2022, Sony introduced the top-of-the-line ‘VENICE 2’ to give momentum to this movement. It also supports some 8K video shooting, and has made the entire system smaller than the previous model to improve operability”.

“Getting close to people”

Kenichiro Yoshida, chairman, and president of the Sony Group stated in the article: “Getting Closer To People is one of the major management policies. VENICE, which is a latecomer but is opening up the market by working closely with film directors and others, is also in line with Sony’s vision for the company as a whole”. 

Wrapping up

It’s no secret that Top Gun: Maverick is one of the best ‘feature commercials’ for Sony VENICE. Thx to the CBK-3610XS (Extension Unit), the camera stars no less than Tom Cruise in the film. Moreover, IMAX has certified the VENICE to be used on IMAX productions. The image quality granted by the X-OCN, plus the outstanding trustworthiness, makes this camera located at the top of the line of high-end cinema cameras. Indeed, the Sony VENICE’s usage was elevated during 2021, however, it was reduced in 2022. Furthermore, Sony has now tough competition with the launch of the RED Raptor 8K XL, and the ARRI ALEXA 35. Let’s see how it performs in 2022-2023.