There's a line that follows you around if you work in video: the best camera is the one you have with you. For a studio, the best camera is the one we picked for this specific job, and that pick happens weeks before anyone touches a lens.
Our camera rack runs from a GoPro Hero 11 to a Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro 12K. Seven cameras total, and the right one for the job isn't always the biggest or most powerful. Options matter because a single camera can't do everything, and the studio that only has one is going to make you compromise.
For instance, the GoPro is for the shots a cinema camera can't get: we can mount it on a helmet, stuck in a doorway, or dropped in a puddle to get the right angles in tight spaces. We use a drone to shoot sweeping overheads of events and businesses alike. And our 12K is beefy. We bring it out for anything that's going to live on a big screen for a long time, like a brand film or commercial.
For social, we usually shoot with our Blackmagic 6K cinema camera in open gate, which records the sensor at roughly 4:3 instead of widescreen. That extra vertical resolution means one take gives us both a 16:9 widescreen cut and a 9:16 social cut, and the image holds up in either. With a single high-quality setup, the final result is more engaging and sharper than anything someone could get from a phone.
At Purple Donut, we lock down the story, the locations, and the look of a shoot before we pick a camera. By the time shoot day comes around, the vision is set and the gear is chosen, and there isn't a one-size-fits-all answer. The right camera is a creative decision, and it's one of many decisions made in the planning.
