Saturday, April 26, 2025

Why haven't movie cameras gotten smaller and lighter while so many other electronics have throughout the years?

r/movies•5 mo. ago

Why haven't movie cameras gotten smaller and lighter while so many other electronics have throughout the years?

As we continue to innovate while the years pass, electronic components become smaller and more powerful at the same time. So why do motion picture cameras remain pretty large and pretty heavy?

And when will components get so small and good that smartphones can be used to film full-on movies?

Crossposts:

r/FilmMakers: r/Filmmakers/s/v8BeqtWbru

r/movies: r/movies/s/c6zbEL28FZ

r/Film: r/FIlm/s/9JKz4JQzLx

r/AskTechnology: r/AskTechnology/s/FHjQKrmGNI

r/Smartphones: r/Smartphones/s/OEcAXy8Pgo

all 10 comments

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[–]Kriskao 17 points 5 months ago

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[–]jazzstanger2000 8 points 5 months ago

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[–]TheresJustNoMoney[S] -6 points 5 months ago

[–]SaulsAll 3 points 5 months ago

[–]jazzstanger2000 2 points 5 months ago

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[–]TheresJustNoMoney[S] -4 points 5 months ago

[–]TheAquamen 3 points 5 months ago

[–]RyzenRaider 4 points 5 months ago

You absolutely can get small. Famously, The Creator was shot on a Sony FX3, which is only a bit bigger than a consumer digital camera. Lower budget productions are taking advantage of smaller cameras, as it allows everything around the camera to be smaller, lighter, cheaper and doesn't require such high specs to function.

However, miniaturization isn't a priority in Hollywood films, because they have hundreds of millions to spend, and the camera gear is a drop in the bucket. Additionally, size has benefits:

Cameras often have multiple operators. The actual operator that aims the camera, a separate focus puller to the side, at a minimum. Shrinking the camera here could actually cause more struggles.
The industry is used to heavy cameras, with big tripods, jibs and crane systems to handle the weight. There's no demand to dispose of this existing equipment for lighter variations, so there's no demand to shrink or lighten the cameras.
The size and weight changes the aesthetic of camera movement. Have you ever shot video handheld with a small camera and noticed how it doesn't look like handheld cameras in movies? Somehow Hollywood handheld looks like it has more depth? It's because the extra weight adds inertia that resists the micro-jitters that give away a small light camera.

That's why compact cameras - such as Blackmagics, RED Komodos and Sony's FX3/FX6 - haven't been adopted by the big budget productions as their A-cameras. They are frequently utilized as specialized cameras when smaller or cheaper cameras are preferred, such as to mount on drones, fit in small spaces or for crash-cams.