Yesterday at Plus Camerimage, Sony premiered the first footage from its PMW-F55 4K CineAlta camera, revealed in October. With the camera shipping in early 2013, cinematographer Steve Lawes and director Martin Scanlan brought their creative vision for Dig to life in 4K with a Sony F55 pre-production model. Steve Lawes, cinematographer on Dig and the first person in Europe to use Sony’s F55, commented: “The F55 ticks a lot of boxes and performed fantastically in what were some really challenging environments. We wanted to push the camera on its first shoot, and even though the unit we were shooting on was a pre-production model, it stepped up to the mark and delivered high quality images that brought the story to life.” “With indoor and outdoor scenes and various lighting conditions, the F55’s high dynamic range and Super 35mm 4K sensor gave us plenty of colour and detail in the images,” continued Lawes. “Shooting on 4K not only future-proofs our content but also produces a great downscaled image at HD and 2K resolutions.” Director Martin Scanlan commented: “There was a lot of buzz around the camera before it launched and having the chance to shoot the first European film on the F55 was really exciting. I think we really pushed the camera hard. The image is always the most important gauge for filmmakers and with the F55 the images have a natural aesthetic to them, which is very cinematic. We’re very pleased with the final cut and look forward to hearing what people think.” Dig was posted at Mytherapy in London and had its European premiere at plus Camerimage in Poland yesterday in the Opera Nova Main Screening Room. It will be repeated at 6:15pm tonight, showcased alongside the short film Images, directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic and shot in XAVC HD on Sony’s PMW-F5 by cinematographer Dominique Colin. The US premiere also took place yesterday, at Sony Pictures Studio Culver City.www.pro.sony.eu
