By Douglas I. Sheer

     The way that the Digital Cinematography market is developing, indicates that, unlike the film-based era, this market is tending towards far more privately owned units, early on, rather than just relying on rental, as was the habit of the film-centric past.  This phenomenon is particularly pronounced in the USA. This trend is highlighted in Digital Cinematography World tm 2013 that was just published in May, following the NAB Convention.

     The global study looked at DC equipment use and habits amongst four currently key segments: 1) Motion Picture and Episodic TV Production/Post, 2) Mobile/OB, 3) Independents and 4) Rental Houses. In all, 1,973 professionals responded to a survey conducted mainly by telephone in five regions: USA, Americas, Europe, Middle East/Africa and Asia-Pacific. The common factor among respondents was that they had to be doing at least 51% of their business in motion pictures or episodic TV program production.  

Private ownership broader than expected

The overarching finding of the study is that unlike film before it, DC methods and habits revealed in the report, suggest that rental is not as dominant as it was and more and more professionals are opting for ownership of the main means of movie and episodic TV production. This is particularly pronounced amongst Independents. While the industry has indicated that broadcast support is being sought, they are apparently not the only avenue for expansion of professional ownership.  

     In all, 12 product genres were studied, with an aim to quantify them and establish their respective installed bases and growth potential. 

Among them: 

1) cameras, 

2) camcorders, 

3) D-SLRs, 

4) cinema lenses (including primes), 

5) servers and storage/recorders, 

6) lighting, 

7) cinema sound, 

8) editing and graphics, 

9) creative software, 

10) tripods and supports, 

11) displays and 

12) Production Switchers.  

     Other parts of the report include: Classifications, Budgets and Revenues, Technology Trends, Brand Image Rankings and Magazines and Shows. Report data is available modularly. At the same time, especially as this is a bench-marking first in the emerging market, an effort was made to assess the total addressable market (the TAM).   

     Of the above 12 product categories, 10 of them have seen personal ownership outpace rental house ownership, indicating that in the electronic cine era, compared to the film era, private ownership is rising.  One of the reasons for this is that some of the early DC brands, like RED, focused on making DC cameras more affordable and accessible to independents, sparking the trend toward individual ownership.

     Only in the case of cameras and lighting is the rental house and therefor rentals more dominant, indicating that in those two categories rentals are still significant. Recently BlackMagic Designs lowered their already modest camera prices making their UHD cameras even more affordable than before.

UHD and Super 35mm the primary DC drivers

     While it remains somewhat difficult to pinpoint why purchases rather than rentals seem to be a growing trend in the Digital Cinematography market, when film was so much a rental-only market, indications lead to a few contributory factors. Among them, the relatively low cost of entry regarding key products such as 4K cameras, the existence of massive quantities of older yet adaptable lenses, including primes, the rise of a broad number of independents and the relative ease of producing movies and episodic TV with electronic gear. This has further been enhanced by the success of some early 3D movies many of which were made more possible by the use of HD and ultimately 4K camera technology. But, unlike 3D, for which enthusiasm has waned dramatically, 4K (and many other Ks) interest has continued to build, and this has been most pronounced, while not exclusively, within the main segments of the emerging Digital Cinematography market. Ownership behavior obviously varies by segment, by region and by product genre and by brand. One example of limits, is the fact that with a substantial existing base of already owned lenses from the film era as well as from still cameras, applicable in many cases and re-purpose-able, purchase of new primes or zooms has not been quite the runaway success story it could have been, at least not yet. So, the development of DC, despite the excitement it is generating and the opportunities it represents, requires some moderation in assessment.

Looking ahead

     The forward going assessment is that the market is expected to continue to grow and may ultimately attract many broadcasters, however slowly, and through that direction spread into institutional segments of the overall market, such as education, corporate in-house, churches and government. For now, however, use of the DC and UHD technology is pretty much confined to making movies or creating episodic TV series.     

     Douglas I. Sheer is the CEO and Chief Analyst of D.I.S. Consulting (www.disresearch.com) and can be reached at dougsheer@gmail.com