IndieWire once again made the traditional camera survey regarding the Cannes Film Festival 2022. We’ve collected the data and built the charts. No surprises here. Again, the dominant camera is the ARRI ALEXA Mini (not LF) —just like Cannes 2021, and Cannes 2019. Additionally, the RED Komodo has shown up as well. Explore the camera segmentation below.

Cannes 2022’s cameras

The 75th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 17 to 28 May 2022 after disruption to the last two events due to COVID-19 restrictions in France. The festival featured a tribute to actor Tom Cruise, whose film Top Gun: Maverick (shot on Sony VENICE) premiered at the festival and where the actor was awarded an Honorary Palme d’Or award. IndieWire once again has reached out to the directors of photography that shot 49 films that premiered at Cannes 2022, in order to find out what camera and lenses they chose to use. Explore that camera list below:

1. “Elvis”: DP – Mandy Walker. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA 65, ARRI ALEXA LF
2. “Masquerade”: DP – Laurent Tangy. Cameras – ARRICAM ST, ARRICAM LT
3. “Novembre”: DP – Nicolas Loir. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini LF
4. “Top Gun: Maverick”: DP- Claudio Miranda. Cameras – Sony VENICE
5. “Three Thousand Years of Longing”: DP – John Seale. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA LF ARRI Mini LF, RED Komodo
6. “Don Juan”: DP – Sebastien Buchmann. Cameras: ARRICAM Studio
7. “Irma Vep”: DP – Yorick Le Saux and Denis Lenoir. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini LF
8. “All That Breathes”: DP – Ben Bernhard. Cameras – Canon EOS C500 MkII, Panasonic LUMIX S1H
9. “Feminist Ripost”: DP – Simon Depardon. Cameras – Sony FX9, Sony FX6, Sony Alpha 7SII
10. “Marcel!”: DP: Daria D’Antonio. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini
11. “Butterfly Vision”: DP: Khrystyna Lizogub. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini, Sony FDR-AX1 4K Camcorder, iPhone 11X Pro
12. “Harka” : DP: Maximilian Pittner. Cameras – ARRICAM LT
13. “Les Pires”: DP: Éric Dumont. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini
14. “Metronom”: DP: Tudor Vladimir Panduru. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini
15. “Return To Seoul”: DP – Thomas Favel. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini
16. “Rodeo”: DP – Raphaël Vandenbussche. Cameras: ARRI ALEXA Mini
17. “The Stranger”: DP: Sam Chiplin. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini
18. “Alma Viva”: DoP – Rui Poças. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini
19. “La Jauria”: DP – Balthazar Lab. Cameras – RED Gemini
20. “Sons of Ramses”: DP Sylvain Verdet. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini
21. “Magdala”: DP – Mathieu Gaudet. Cameras – Aaton Xtera
22. “Polaris”: DP – Ainara Vera and Inuk Silis. Cameras – Sony FX3, Sony Alpha 7iii
23. “The Strange Case Of Jacky Caillou” DP – Mathieu Gaudet. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini
24. “The Dam”: DP – Bassem Fayad. Cameras- RED Scarlet, Sony Alpha 7S III
25. “De Humani Corporis Fabrica”: DP – Verena Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor. Cameras – Marshall Electronics CV 225-M Lipstick
26. “Enys Men”: DP – Mark Jenkin. Camera – Bolex H16 SB
27. “El Agua”: DP: Giuseppe Truppi. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini LF
28. “Falcon Lake”: DP – Kristof Brandl. Cameras – ARRI 416
29. “The Five Devils”: DP: Paul Guilhaume. Cameras – ARRICAM LT
30. “Will-o’-The-Wisp”: DP: Rui Poças. Cameras – Sony VENICE
31. “The Green Perfume”: DP: Sébastien Buchmann. Cameras – ARRICAM Lite, Aaton Penelope
32. “La Montagne“: DP: Alexis Kavyrchine. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini
33. “One Fine Morning”: DP: Denis Lenoir. Cameras – ARRICAM Lite
34. “Pamfir”: DP: Nikita Kuzmenko. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini LF
    “Paris Memories”: DP: Stéphane Fontaine. Cameras – RED V-Raptor
35. “Under the Fig Trees”: DP: Frida Marzouk. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini
36. “Spinning Gold”: DP – Byron Werner. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini
37. “Boy from Heaven”: DP – Pierre Aim. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA LF
38. “Brother and Sister”: DP – Irina Lubtchansky. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini
39. “Decision to Leave”: DP: Ji-Yong Kim. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini
40. “The Eight Mountains”: D – Ruben Impens. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini LF
41. “Forever Young”: DP – Julien Poupard. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini
42. “Leila’s Brothers”: DP – Hooman Behmanesh. Camera – ARRI ALEXA Mini LF
43. “Nostalgia”: DP: Paolo Carnera. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini
44. “R.M.N.”: DP – Tudor Vladimir Panduru. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA LF
45. “Showing Up”: DP – Christopher Blauvelt. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA Mini
46. “Tchaikovsky’s Wife”: DP – Vladislav Opelyants. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA LF
47. “Tori and Lokita”: DP – Benoît Dervaux. Cameras – RED Komodo, RED Monstro
48. “Triangle of Sadness”: DP – Fredrik Wenzel. Cameras – ARRI ALEXA LF

Cannes 2022: Camera Chart

Based on that data, and to avoid complexity, we’ve built a simplified chart showing only the most used cameras (those who appear in the list more than once). Explore the chart below (click on the chart for a full resolution view). Also, the ‘Camera Manufacturers Chart’ is above.

Discussion

It’s amazing to reveal how the ARRI ALEXA Mini ‘wins’ those charts again and again. Cinematographers just trust this camera. Furthermore, it’s intriguing that Super 35 still has a very respected place in storytelling, and indeed, the introduction of the ALEXA 35 strengthens that. Many DPs prefer the look of Super 35 coming from a trustworthy camera that just shoots beautiful overall images. The ALEXA Mini has stayed firmly in a sweet spot so many years, and it’s one of the most popular cameras among features. It will be interesting to see how the ALEXA Mini continues to perform against (or with) the ALEXA 35. We do hope for a price drop for the ALEXA Mini, and that will definitely open up new opportunities for indie filmmakers to improve and sharpen their visuals. Another interesting and unchanged fact is the popularity of ARRICAM cameras. The ARRICAM constitutes one of the most desired film cameras when the celluloid look is needed. It’s always very satisfying to see indie shooters that shoot on film these days. And yes, film stock is still beautiful, even when compared to the most sophisticated digital codecs. Another exciting discovery is the Sony Alpha 7S which is the leading mirrorless among the Cannes camera list. Although the Alpha 7S was not used as a primary camera, it’s the most popular mirrorless that was utilized as a B-Cam. And what with RED? Well, the Komodo has entered the list (B-Cam) and the V-Raptor as well (not in the chart since it was used on one feature – “Paris Memories”). We do expect the V-Raptor to climb and get higher in the next year’s list.

What’re your thoughts about that list? Feel free to throw them in the comments section below.

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