Sony Alpha on FOX NFL

Looks like FOX has it on a real Steadicam today and is not shooting with as shallow of depth of field and maybe a little wider focal length, too.
 
Definitely, but they have a shallow DOF camera as well...first shot I saw was of Davante Adams after catching potential TD out-of-bounds.

Mostly the deep camera has been cut to though thus far.
 
NorBro said:
Definitely, but they have a shallow DOF camera as well...first shot I saw was of Davante Adams after catching potential TD out-of-bounds.

Mostly the deep camera has been cut to though thus far.
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I missed that, but noticed a shot during pre-game that was really shallow DoF and looked like the electronic gimbal type movement. But have seen the small cam on a Steadi and their typical Steadi(broadcast camera). So far, much better today, at least what I've seen during the game. Will be curious what CBS does tonight.
 
I just caught a glimpse of the guy standing on the GB sideline before the half. Looks like a Canon C70 on a sled? DOF looks a little deeper today.
 
They definitely have the A7 out there, too. Just saw it after the game. So they had their normal full sized Steadi with 2/3" broadcast head, the a7 on an electronic gimbal and whatever this "new" one is.
 
Yeah, CBS was running the VENICE on a Steadi and another one on a large handheld gimbal.

Immediately after the KC game, a discussion started on an iMessage group that’s set-up amongst a bunch of us that are friends and work together. The first volley was from one of my friends, “what lens/camera did CBS have on the Steadicam in the chiefs game? Real shallow DoF...” “The focus was on and off. Hit or miss”.
 
Run&Gun said:
Can't quite tell what it is...


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I think that's a Venice. Could be wrong, I wasn't at that game.

But like I said, the FOX crew was experimenting between the Venice and the Sony Alpha. I do not know this to be fact, but I suspect that with the Venice on a Steadi, the operator was manually focusing...with the Alpha on the Ronin they ran AF. ( does the Venice even feature AF? ). Reasons I suspect as such are that Steadi Ops in live sports typically shoot with manual focus, and it wouldn't be any weight consideration on steadi to have focus motors and such. Whereas with the Ronin you'd more want to keep the weight down by going AF. And one can clearly see the footage from the Alpha / Ronin hunting for focus in an automated manner.
 
I wonder if a reason the gimbal shots are more shallow focus than the steadi-shots is that, because of the smaller size and lesser weight of the gimbal compared to a steadicam, the operator is going closer to the players and that in turn is resulting in more shallow dof as result of the focus point of the lens being closer to the lens / shorter. That difference of just 1 foot closer to the players could have significant impact upon the dof.

A factor could also be ND availability. Meaning, the ND available to the Op could be determining the f-stop employed, which in turn impacts dof. The Venice having 8-step ND built-in, the Sony Alpha having none. Possible that the Alpha Op found themselves more wide open as a result of not having on-hand the ND to be elsewhere on the iris. Not having iris control / exposure control in the truck is something those crews are unused to. I should have asked the FOX Op of the Alpha if he was directed to shoot at a particular stop or was more just shooting where he wound up on the iris, given circumstance.
 
Good point. I have been pretty impressed on how well the colors have matched the broadcasts even though different brands and ilks of cameras are being used. Thumbs up to the techs!
 
They are broadcasting live, so what does that mean for camera settings?

Would they be shooting in sLog and then applying a LUT? Would there be any point?

Can an Alpha do everything live that it can do to card?

We already know they were only in 1080. I assume 1080 interlaced. Although ESPN shoots in 720p for some of their sports-news ( reporter standups and shots of player arrivals / warmups ).

We know the Op was shooting in AF, but was he also in AE? "riding" the iris with that camera and that setup would be near impossible. So it is likely that he was either in AE or set the exposure in advance and let things fall where they may.

While on the one hand I think it is awesome that FOX is introducing this look, they could have gone about it better. The Operator's movement of the gimbal is rough. It doesn't appear that he has much seat-time with the rig. The execution has been amateurish, frankly.
 
I would assume some technician set up the camera before going on air. Most likely using a picture profile that would look the same live as recorded. One would think auto exposure was being used but it surprised me that the lenses did not have variable NDs. I never take these types of cameras outside without a VND and use it as my exposure compensation.
 
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