When the Digital Bolex debuted through a Kickstarter campaign in 2012, I was immediately fascinated by the camera. At the time, there really wasn’t anything else like it on the market (and in many ways that’s still true), and like many of you, I was very eager to try it for myself.
But somehow it wasn’t until four years later that I actually shot with a camera for the first time. As much as I was keen to test it out myself, by the time it was released I was already working on other cameras like the BMCC, C100, RED Epic, and more. In the end, it took me a long time to actually start shooting with the D16, but now that I’ve had the chance to shoot with it for a few days, I have to say I’m impressed.
Digital Bolex kindly lent me their D16 last week, and although I’ve only been shooting with it for a few days now, I already feel like I’ve “got” the camera and know what it does best. Before I get into some first impressions, I first have to explain why I wanted to shoot with the D16 –
A few months ago, I was preparing to shoot a short film on Super 16mm film. I’ve always wanted to shoot on 16mm film, and the short film I was making required the gritty, raw beauty that Super 16mm film is known for. I also loved the challenge of photographing negatives because it was an opportunity I had never had before. The idea of creating spontaneity and immediacy for cast and crew seemed exciting, and after realizing how affordable shooting in 16mm was, I couldn’t agree more.
But eventually, the project shifted in many ways and ultimately required a different format. While the aesthetic of the S16mm film still definitely suited the creative direction, the logistics of shooting the film no longer made sense. The concept of the story changed, as did the length of the project, and other key factors that subsequently made shooting digital a more viable option.
I’ll still be using the S16mm film I have now for another upcoming project… so for those of you interested in that project, I’ll be sure to post an update about it soon. But now, back to this –
When I decided to shoot this piece digitally, I considered a number of different camera options, from Alexa to RED to Blackmagic to others. But in the end, I was attracted to Digital Bolex. I spent a lot of time researching this camera, looking at test footage, and really getting to know the beauty that the D16 has to offer…it’s unlike any other camera on the market.
Having never shot with this camera before, it’s hard to know if what I’m seeing online is just very well graded footage, or if the D16 has a true film look to it right out of the box. The only way to know for sure is to test it yourself.
first impression
All my thoughts below are first impressions. This is not a detailed review (hopefully I will be able to do one in the future), but rather some initial findings that I have made while experimenting with this camera over the past few days.
The first thing I noticed when I started doing some testing on the D16 was that the camera felt more analog than digital. It is often compared to the original Blackmagic cinema camera, but in many ways the D16 is closer to the Arri SR2 (film camera) than any of its digital counterparts.
I feel this way not only because of the image quality (we’ll get to that later), but also because of the way the camera operates. From the pistol grip to the internal memory, the overall design of this camera is unlike any other digital camera I’ve ever used.
I wasn’t sure about using a pistol grip at first, but quickly found that it works really well for handheld/tracking shots – especially on wide angle lenses. You can actually hold down the trigger when you want to record, and recording will stop when you release the trigger. This may seem gimmicky at first, but in some cases, shooting this way is actually very helpful and can help keep your overall footprint small.
What really makes this camera feel like a film camera is that the ISO settings are very limited. While the camera can now go up to ISO 800, it performs best at ISO 200, and from the test shots I’ve done so far, I would only shoot with this camera at ISO 200 because the images look very Perfect in that sweet place.
Shooting everything at ISO 200 may seem limiting (and in some ways it is), but it’s more manageable than you think. There are plenty of extremely fast S16mm lenses (some in the F0.85 range), and as long as you use fast glass and don’t shoot in the dark, you’ll be fine. In fact, in some ways, you’re better off because the D16, like a film camera, requires you to light indoor scenes carefully and purposefully.
Here are some lightly graded test images I took around the house when I first picked up the camera:
Most of the test shots you’ll see in this article were shot using the excellent Veydra C-mount cine lenses.
Today, when using digital cinema cameras, DPs often avoid properly lighting the lens because this results in a “clean” image at high ISO. Unfortunately, clean images are not always good-looking images, and low-light photos will always look bad no matter what camera they were taken with. While this may seem like a compromise, in some ways having to light the lens as if it were shooting on 200T film is a good challenge. If you can handle this situation, the results will be incredible.
Well-exposed photos from the Digital Bolex D16 at ISO 200 look very cinematic, and I’d be hard-pressed to find any other digital cinema camera that looks more like film. Even cameras like the Arri Alexa (arguably the best digital cinema camera ever made) don’t have this look right out of the box. That’s not to say the Alexa isn’t cinematic, but it’s certainly not the gritty style of 16mm. The D16 has a very unique and distinctive look that is very reminiscent of real movies. This is probably thanks to the CCD sensor (rather than CMOS) and excellent color science.
It’s hard to describe exactly why D16 images feel cinematic, because it’s not any one thing. It’s not just the dynamic range (other cameras with more DR have a much lower film feel), it’s not just the fact that it has a global shutter, and it’s certainly not just the RAW recording format. It’s the combination of so many different elements that creates the look that the D16 is famous for, and you can feel it when you watch the film.
RAW images are very flexible in post-production, which is great, of course. But what I find most interesting is that no matter how much you push the color, the image always seems to retain an intangible “film look.” A RAW archive is more than just a blank canvas that gives you a neutral starting point. They really have a cinematic look to them and they retain it very well no matter how you choose to colorize the footage.
Here is a before and after example of a gradient photo of my dog Peanut.
The biggest reason I love this camera is that it has its own character. While many of today’s cameras, such as Sony’s FS7, try to be something for everyone, from narrative filmmakers to event shooters, the D16 serves a specific purpose. It’s designed to realistically simulate the look and shooting process of Super 16mm film, and it does it very well.
People often complain that cameras like the D16 can’t do everything that some cheaper cameras can do. It’s easy to tell, for example, that it lacks low-light capabilities or has limited frame-rate options… but the truth is, if these are important considerations for you as a filmmaker, you shouldn’t even consider the D16 in the first place. As I said above, this camera is designed for a specific purpose and has a specific process.
For the short films I shot this week, the D16 really was the best of both worlds. It will allow us to capture a truly authentic Super 16mm look while still maintaining the convenience of shooting digitally, which is a must for our production.
The project itself is an emotional film I’m making as part of my feature film development process (more on that in the near future), and I’ll be sharing footage and more detailed feedback on the camera as the editing progresses , as well as behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the short film.
All images above were color graded in DaVinci Resolve using the Film Convert plug-in. You can purchase Film Convert for 10% off by clicking this link and using code: KROLL
