You don’t need a RED or ARRI to shoot a video that’s ready for the big screen. But is it possible to shoot a cinematic video on a cheap camera under a $100?
Obviously you’re not even going to come close to the quality a 40,000 dollar camera. Still, how cinematic can you get with a camera that costs just $94? The results may surprise you. YouTuber Photo Jet set out to shoot a few cinematic scenes and he limited himself to a $94 camera. And for support, DIYed a planter pot stabilizer and used a lens from a pair of sunglasses a filter.
Was he able to make a cinematic sequence or did he fail? Watch the video below to find out.
Thrifty filmmaking at its finest
Potato Jet went onto ebay and bought a Canon ELPH 190 for just $94. The camera itself is very basic. It shoots just 720p video and the only setting he had control over was the white balance. Everything else, Potato Jet had to guess what the camera was manually setting itself too.
The first thing Jet noticed about the camera’s footage was it was so shaky. The camera itself is very small. Mix that with no image stabilization and you’re left with a footage that looks like it’s being filmed in an earthquake.
Surprisingly, Potato Jet wasn’t disappointed with the camera’s coloring. At least he didn’t think it was terrible. “Colors don’t look terrible especially considering the price point of this thing,” he says. However, when he turned off most of his lights, the colors definitely weren’t as passable.
A cheap setup for a cheap camera
Though tempted to use his $400 gimbal, Potato Jet stuck with the thrifty them of his video and instead fashioned his own gimbal. He made a planter pot gimbal, where he attached the camera to a pot with one single screw. It worked alright, but he later had to make another gimbal made with a discarded pole.
And of course he couldn’t use an expensive camera filter. So, he broke a pair of sunglasses he bought for 99 cents and used one of its lenses as a filter. Surprisingly, it did a decent job blocking our excess light.
What he ends up with is admittedly not the most cinematic video on YouTube, but it is still cinematic. If anything, this video proves that you don’t always need the most expensive equipment. If it’s possible to make something look that cinematic with a $94 camera, just image what you could do with a camera that’s just twice that price.
If you want to make your footage instantly more cinematic, regardless of the camera you’re using, check out how you can do it by just moving your camera.
