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Digital single lens reflex cameras aren't just for still photographers anymore. The ability to capture rich, high-definition video is drawing DIY filmmakers to the relatively inexpensive devices, which cost far less than conventional movie cameras.
"DSLRs are a game-changer for moviemakers because they're the first low-priced video cameras on the market which really can compete with good old 35mm film," said Joshua Beyer, director of the Cinema Out of Your Backpack DSLR film festival.
Preceded by similar festivals in the United States and Canada, Cinema Out of Your Backpack is the first European event devoted to movies shot on DSLR cameras, which boast upgraded sensors that capture more data than conventional video cameras. The latest DSLRs, which let moviemakers take advantage of interchangeable "fast" lenses to shoot noise-free footage in low-light environments, deliver a positively filmic look, as measured by richness of natural colors and depth of field.
These advances democratize the filmmaking process, Beyer told Wired.com in an e-mail interview, "because more people now have the chance to shoot cinema-quality images."
Citing The Great Camera Shootout 2010, an Emmy Award-winning web series that pitted DSLRs against traditional film cameras, Beyer says the digital powerhouses, which start at about $500 for products like the Pentax K-x.), offer great bang for the buck.
"If you wanted to achieve something approaching filmic texture and depth of field [prior to the rise of DSLRs], you needed either semipro HD video camera with 35mm adapters and special lenses for around $10,000, or else the Red One, priced at about $25,000," he said.
Recent DSLR success stories include South by Southwest 2010 Best Narrative Feature winner Tiny Furniture. The slacker melodrama was captured entirely on a Canon 7D camera, priced at about $1,700.
Even Hollywood insiders are getting in on the low-budget action. Fox TV series House filmed portions of its seventh season on a Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Subway scenes in Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan were filmed with DSLRs, as were portions of Lucasfilm's upcoming Red Tails. And Shane Hurlbut, cinematographer on Terminator Salvation, used a Canon 5D to shoot the short film The Last 3 Minutes (embedded at top of story).
DSLR fan Hurlbut will help judge entries for the inaugural Cinema Out of Your Backpack film fest, slated to take place in June at the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy in Ludwigsburg, Germany. (Interested in competing? Cinema Out of Your Backpack is seeking three-minute shorts through March 31.)
Beyer expects festival entries to underscore DSLRs' portability, which enables directors to shoot in nooks and crannies rarely explored by mainstream movies. Jury member Andrew Wonder, for example, filmed the Undercity documentary, embedded above, in New York subways using only a Canon 5D Mark II and a knapsack's worth of accessories.
"You can carry a DSLR around in a backpack and shoot whenever and wherever you want," Beyer said.
Shot on a Canon 7D DSLR camera, Last Minutes With Oden, embedded above, won director Eliot Rausch the 2010 Vimeo Festival + Awards.
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