Rolex Commercial using Sony’s new f23 camera

"Once again Graham at 24-7 Drama came to the rescue," Geoff Boyle, Director of Photography.

The latest Rolex commercial was shot using Sony’s new flagship high definition camera the F23 supplied by specialist Hire Company 24-7 Drama (a division of Visual Impact). The director for the commercial (Gary Birch) wanted to use a digital camera that could also do high speed and DoP Geoff Boyle suggested they use the F23. “Gary wanted the best quality available and I argued that if you want to shoot the best watches in the world, then you need to choose the best cameras.”

Geoff is an experienced cinematographer whose credits include a 2006 digital feature The Mutant Chronicles and commercials for Pepsi, Sega and British Airways. On Boyle’s recommendation production company IMG spoke with 24-7 Drama’s Graham Hawkins and made a deal which saw the F23 travel to Germany for a two- day shoot. “Once again Graham at 24-7 came to the rescue with a package of equipment for us”, said Boyle. Which included a SRW-1 HDCAM SR digital 4:4:4 recorder mounted directly on the back of the camera and Canon film-style lenses.

The shoot
“I treated the F23 camera as I would a 35mm one,” said Boyle. “I used it in Cine mode which has both a wide colour gamut and S-log gamma. This gives us a low contrast low saturation image that captures all the information coming from the chips.” Boyle shot 50 frames per second rather than 60 because of concerns with flicker from some fluorescent lights and also to give maximum flexibility in the post process at slow mo or high speed.

During the shoot the camera was put through its paces from being been buried in the ground, to shooting inside the stables looking out directly into an Arri-Max 18k light. Even in these extreme conditions the camera system worked faultlessly, still managing to handle both the highlights and the subtle details in the rider’s black outfit.

Conclusion
So what did renowned cinematographer Geoff Boyle think of Sony’s new camera after using it on a real job? “I see the F23 as ideal for high-end work – commercials, medium budget features and high-end TV series” he said. “The F23 is definitely the best of the lot. Next time someone asks me to shoot a digital project, it’s the first camera I’d suggest.”

Visuals Group Technical Department.