10 Cameras That Changed Filmmaking Forever

The sheer number of new cameras in the last few decades is staggering, but even so, there are still standout performers that either set the pace or changed the game completely. This video will go through the top 10 and why they had such a profound impact on the industry.

Photography has a number of cameras that have changed everything, but I would argue it has fewer than video. The reason for this, as far as I can tell, is that video has some overarching, high-value influences that photography does not. While the stills cameras used by the top photographers in the business are sometimes influential, video has many more branches to it and a far higher budget and demand for quality at the top end. Between TV, film, and everything in between, budgets can be enormous for projects, and so the incentive to create the next great camera is high.

However, what was so interesting about this history of filmmaking is the role smaller, prosumer cameras played, like the early Canon 5D. Far more high-end productions were shot on the DSLR than I realized, and in many ways, it raised the floor of videography significantly, giving more power to amateurs and low-budget filmmakers. This then continued with the mirrorless revolution and the revered Sony a7S.

Which video camera do you think had the biggest impact on filmmaking?

Robert K Baggs's picture

Robert K Baggs is a professional portrait and commercial photographer, educator, and consultant from England. Robert has a First-Class degree in Philosophy and a Master's by Research. In 2015 Robert's work on plagiarism in photography was published as part of several universities' photography degree syllabuses.

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2 Comments

I wanted that JVC shoulder camcorder so bad a long time ago. But I did have the Panasonic DVX100B and it was amazing!

without a doubt the NLE editor on an affordable workstation had the biggest impact with the prosumer market, followed by uTube giving a relativity easy place to broadcast to an enormous audience. Cameras only follow the medium, where the work is going.