Extreme cinematographer, Renan Ozturk, has been testing the Sony BURANO on the top of the Empire State Building. This is what he thinks about the BURANO when it comes to sole camera operation in adventure exceptional environments.
Sony BURANO: High-end cinema camera devoted to solo operators
The Sony BURANO was designed as a top-notch cinema camera that solo operators can well utilize. It’s not a baby VENICE, nor a FX9 Mark II. But a hybridization between them, or should we say that the BURANO is located in a good spot in the middle of them. It allows almost all the privileges of Alpha cameras and FX6/FX9 (autofocus, E-mount, IBIS), and some of the advantages of the CineAlta VENICE 2 (DR, ND, and of course X-OCN LT). You can think of it like an FX9 that can produce better imagery that can be easily paired and matched with VENICE. Thus, sole operators like the extreme filmmaker Renan Ozturk might find the BURANO very useful and a perfect fit for their needs and goals.
Battle-tested by Ozturk
So Ozturk got a BURANO to play with. “We got a Hail Mary last-minute loaner for the new BURANO camera for the main on the ‘wall’ unit for this project, for its combination of size/quality and ability to use my lightweight wide-angle GMaster zooms with super-intelligent autofocus,” Ozturk said, and added: “Loved the form factor, color science, 8.6K resolution, built-in stabilization on the BURANO”. Ozturk took the BURANO on a climb to the Empire State Building as part of the kickoff for a tour by his band 30 Seconds to Mars. “It was probably one of the more stressful things I’d done,” says Ozturk. There was a very short window to shoot (before the first tourist showed up on the observation deck), they had to deliver footage to The Today Show by eight o’clock sharp, and they would be high above one of the most populated neighborhoods in North America. “This was even more serious than the stuff we do in the big mountain,” explained Ozturk. “We just came off a big NatGeo shoot with Alex Honnold in the mountains in Alaska, but this felt even more serious than any of those because you’re doing it above the city with all these people.”
Why BURANO?
Ozturk picked the BURANO because it has internal NDs and the fact that he could use his Sony lenses with autofocus, and still get the file formats, color science, and all those benefits of the VENICE, in a significantly smaller form factor. “I’m always thinking about what the camera choice is going to be, trying to balance weight and beauty,” adds Ozturk. “The BURANO seemed like the perfect balance of all those things, but in a smaller package”. There’s one major difference though. The BURANO shoots X-OCN LT, which can be a deal breaker for high-end productions that demand solid imagery materials for VFX purposes. Also, the BURANO doesn’t have the privilege of detaching the sensor from the body (=Rialto), which can be an essential factor in action shots and special projects just like this one.
The advantage of shifting between PL and E-Mounts
Ozturk emphasizes the benefit of switching between PL and E-mount lenses. During the shoot, he started with the lightweight anamorphic Atlas Mercury series for the lead-up to the climb. But when it came to the climbing itself, Ozturk needed something more suited to the vertical realm. “The BURANO has PL-mount, and then it has that sneaky hidden E-mount that’s awesome to have so we could swing over to those other lenses,” he elaborated. After taking off the PL mount, which got them an even leaner build, they switched to the Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM lens to utilize the excellent AF capabilities of this setup. “When you’re bracing yourself on the wall of the building when you’re shooting high angle dangling from ropes, you can’t exactly control the camera as you normally would on the ground,” described Ozturk. “So having the camera do some of that autofocus work for you, it’s pretty nice to have, not to mention all other built-ins like the NDs”.
Final thoughts
In that kind of complex project, the BURANO shines. Why? Because we have here a few elements that work for the solo shooter when he/she decides to use BURANO. First, this is a sole operation environment. Hence, you need a cinema camera that is user-friendly enough to facilitate operation (interface, internal NDs, and so on)— You will not get a 1AC with you at the top of the Empire State Building:-) Secondly, the easy shift from PL and E-mount is essential, since it allows the operator to shoot anamorphic with cinema glass, and then move to a fast AF lens. Third, you will still be getting excellent imagery, that might not be good enough for hard VFX work, but more than enough for commercials and home screening. So, will you buy a BURANO and climb to the Empire State Building with it?
Product List
Here are the products mentioned in the article, and the links to purchase them from authorized dealers.
- Sony BURANO 8K Digital Motion Picture Camera
