With all the respect to DJI’s new drones, there is another major announcement for the filmmakers community – The (very affordable) price of the large format cinema camera.

Large format is a game changer. Super 35 seems like obsolete (?)

The privilege of large sensor size is well known. Many advantages like shallower depth of field, higher sensitivity, less noise, cleaner images and more field of view, are crucial for the pursuit after the cinematic look. We wrote an in-depth article about the ALEXA LF and large format so you can explore those benefits.

The major drawback of the large format sensors is the price

The prices of this kind of sensors are very high (Monstro VV =$80,000, ALEXA LF = $98,000, Canon C700= $33,000).

Yet again, Kinefinity, the Chinese cinema camera company, disrupts the market with Large Format price tag of $11,900!

MAVO and MAVO LF

MAVO and MAVO LF are based on advanced color processing architecture and whole new CMOS image sensors to achieve super low-noise, high dynamic range. Whether it is the S35 format version of MAVO or the large-format version of MAVO LF, the 6K cameras can bring stunning details and organic images.

MAVO LF with large-format sensor provides cleaner images, wider viewing angles, shallower depth of field, and more immersive presence for cinematographers.

Both MAVO and MAVO LF can shoot 6K wide 66fps, 4K wide 100fps slo-mo. Both slow-mo and normal frame rate can get the same superior images, more than 14 stops of latitude, pleasing skin tones and shadow details are reserved perfectly. With 6K 3:2 aspect ratio, in addition to the conventional 16:9 and 17:9 standard aspect ratio, the CMOS sensor can also provide a variety of image formats, such as 4:3, 6:5 S35 anamorphic shooting, even the open gate 6016×4016, up to 24 million pixels’ images!

Also, MAVO provides three kinds of intermediate codecs suitable for editing and color grading to simplify the workflow and provide the maximum room for post-processing. For KineRAW, KRW2.0 as compressed RAW has compression ratio from 2:1~10:1. To work with Davinci Resolve, MAVO can record cinema DNG now, and the compression ratio can be set to 3:1, 5:1, or 7:1.

MAVO LF employs a full-frame CMOS image sensor, physical size as 36x24mm, resolution is over 6K: 6016×4016. Compared to the S35 format sensor, the large format CMOS sensor is 2.25 times larger.

Take a look at the chart below for the comparison between ALEXA, RED and Kinefinity Mavo LF sensor sizes, so you can explore and compare the Mavo LF sensor with RED and ALEXA Large Format sensors.

For more info check out Kinefinity website.

Those are exiting times for filmmakers. The ability to purchase an affordable large format cinema camera and to enjoy all the privilege of this kind of filmmaking without breaking the bank, is a huge deal!

What do you think about the Mavo LF price? Let us know in the comments section below.