DP Michael M. Pessah, ASC Pushes the Image Capabilities of Sony FX3 to Cinematic Heights

Michael Pessah on Exploring the Limits of the Sony FX3 With Spinning

When testing a camera and lens package, some filmmakers will shoot a focus and color chart to see how far they can push a camera. For Pessah, those tests can never truly reveal how a camera will perform in a real-world scenario.

"What do we value in the real world in a camera? What makes an image cinematic?" Pessah asked. "What is it about an image that makes it feel interesting and emotional and compelling versus an image that just feels like a picture?"

"Doing things on a test bench or in a controlled environment, you don't really get to see what the camera can do, and you don't really get to experience the soul of the camera and experience what the camera is like to work with until you're in a real-world production circumstance."

Much like Stopwatch, his previous short that was used to test the Sony BURANO, Spinning offered the Pessah an opportunity to see how the Sony FX3 could perform as a high-end studio camera.

"What would this FX3 camera be like trying to really make a day. Trying to really get shots in a particular amount of time and working with actors?" Pessah asked.  "What would that reveal about the camera versus the camera in a lab?"

"I wanted to create a movie that would show what it would be like to work with this camera in the real world on an ambitious schedule."

Equipping the FX3 with a PL mount, Pessah utilized three different lens sets, including the Atlas Orion anamorphics, rehoused vintage Canon K35s, and a set of Zeiss Supreme Radiance primes to shoot with both Steadicam and on a Fisher dolly. The goal was to treat this camera like a Sony VENICE. 

"First of all, what I discovered was a lot of what we think of the look of the FX3 has to do with the way in which the camera is used and the form factor of the camera," Pessah explained. "It was shocking. Once you put on top-level glass and you light the film on a soundstage in the same way that you'd be lighting, for example, a feature film with a more expensive camera, it's amazing how much the differences shrank between the FX3 and its sibling cameras higher up the family tree."

Spinning was shot entirely on the internal XAVC S-I codec in DCI 4K, which was then color-graded on a big screen by Mitch Paulson at Picture Shop. Seeing the image in that size left little room for imperfection and limitations to hide. Pessah would have the opportunity to see every blemish. 

"I tried to create circumstances that would really push the camera," Pessah said. "We were filming into the sun, doing night exteriors on location, consistent scene work as the sun sets in real time, and I tried to do our interiors with classic hard light in conjunction with smoke and atmospheric diffusion. That's something that can really reveal flaws in the image chain."

"Hard light can push skin tones in a way that maybe just setting up a softbox wouldn't do, and atmospheric diffusion will always test your codec and test your compression. There's something about working with smoke, and the way it shifts, that will really push the edges of what your sensor can do."

Pessah further tested the sensor and codec with a scene that involved shooting into the sun with anamorphic lenses and multiple moving subjects across different parts of the frame.

"It's all the things that might challenge a camera, a fast-moving object on one side of the frame, including a train passing through the background, and you have skin tone on the other side of the frame, and the lens is getting flared, and at the same time the camera's moving," Pessah explained. "These are all things that can push the limits of your compression and push the limits of the refresh rate of your [sensor] chip." 

"And I was amazed at how well the FX3 performed even using the internal [codec]. How well it did working with smoke, working with really hard light, and how much I was able to manipulate the look later on [in post]," Pessah added. "We had tremendous flexibility about setting the look of it. The shadow detail was extraordinary. We had less noise in the shadows than I expected, and we were able to push and pull both the shoulder and the toe of the curve in a really interesting way without it falling apart, and similarly, looking into the sun in dramatic backlight."

Though not the typical use case for the FX3, Spinning effectively showcased the powerful and robust sensor and image processing capabilities of the compact cinema camera.

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To learn more about the Sony FX3 and the other cameras in the Sony Cinema Line, visit our Camera Comparison Chart.