Later this year I again oversee an invitational demonstration day at the gold refinery, in which we always attempt to record well if on a tiny budget of a few hundred bucks. In 2013 we used the event to make this 10 minute video showing gold refining.

I got some great news from my boss about this year. This time we will publish a full up documentary about the whole day which has three big demos. So we step up to a rented 4k Sony TV production camera that can be run by one person. And it takes those very good lenses that are built for cinema rather than a still camera. It’s an exciting step up from shooting DSLR digital and separate sound recording.

Not that hardly anyone could view it in 4k anytime soon, but I got a good look at 1080 footage that was shot in 4k. Oh my goodness, talk about tack sharp and then eleven stops of bright to shadow exposure range. Film has about four stops of range. Most cell phone cams have less than that. That means I finally won’t lose so much in the shadows unless I want to. Gets me off the hook for about half the lighting I would have added this year. If you look at the linked video you will see the problem I faced then at about 3:30 and at 8:00.

I can see the reason to get or use a good 4k camera now for superior HD. Laughably that sets up a situation where when 4k is the common resolution, the race will be on for the best 8k to put out in extra sharp and clean 4k. That biz is not for the faint of heart or wallet.