02-28-2025 - Filmmaker Interviews
VIDEO: DP Jonathan Nicholas Tests the Sony BURANO Firmware 2.00 at the Racetrack
By: Yaroslav Altunin
Cinematographer Jonathan Nicholas is no stranger to catching once-in-a-lifetime moments, whether on Netflix's America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders or capturing the professional wrestlers of Ohio Valley Wrestling in Wrestlers.
For his work, Nicholas has depended heavily on the Sony ecosystem, having shot both of his Netflix shows using cameras from the Sony Cinema Line. And now, the BURANO has become the perfect sweet spot for the cinematographer.
With the upcoming release of BURANO’s Firmware Version 2.0, Nicholas was given the chance to test the camera in the field and see how the new features would support his work.
Sony Cine sat down with him to chat about what he discovered, what surprised him the most about the BURANO’s upcoming update, and how he plans to implement the new features into his workflow.
Now that there's full frame 3.8K 120fps… that's a game changer.
Testing the new Sony BURANO Firmware on the Race Track
With only a week to test the BURANO and the new Version 2.0 Firmware, Nicholas was not content with shooting charts or studio scenes. So, he did what any documentary filmmaker would do: he took the camera out into the world to see what he could capture.
"I [got] a full team to go out and really field test [the BURANO] at a racetrack," Nicholas said. "We shot anamorphic and also shot full frame spherical, mostly testing the new 3.8K Full Frame Mode, and the 4.3K 4:3 Super 35 Mode for anamorphic.”
"That was most curious [for me] because I see myself using that a lot in the future. I really wanted to see that 120 fps in that 3.8K Full Frame."
As someone who has defined his work by the character of his lenses, shooting slow motion wasn't always the right option for Nicholas because it would crop into the frame.
"I have two sets of vintage, rehoused, full-frame spherical lenses for their look," Nicholas shared. "That [isn't] just how they render, and the softness or sharpness, but also what's happening on the outer edge of the frame. And so, if you start to crop in too much on the full frame, you start to lose all those fun, beautiful defects that look so cool.
"Now that there's full frame 3.8K 120fps… that's a game changer," Nicholas continued. "I can see my full frame and use the sensor to the max.”
These new formats gave Nicholas the ability to shoot on his vintage spherical lenses and quickly switch to anamorphic glass, all while keeping his aspect ratios consistent and removing layers of complexity to his framing.
“Sometimes we’d walk with the girls [at the track] and I’d go spherical and 120fps because we were up on top of the grandstands and their hair was blowing with the cars racing by,” Nicholas explained. “And then we’d go back down to the pits to see those race cars in anamorphic and it was seamless.”
“Being able to do that in X-OCN LT gives me no hesitation to shoot that in the future on my big shows.”
Interview: Finding the Right Exposure with the Sony BURANO
New recording formats weren't the only surprise for Nicholas. The BURANO's upcoming exposure tools gave the cinematographer more support in nailing his highlights and shadows, as well as tackling tricky practical lighting.
"As documentarians, you don't have a DIT checking your frame all the time," Nicholas said. "You do your best to keep a look on your highlights and your toe. And now, with one click of a button, I can quickly check my highlights, check my toe, and feel confident that what I'm capturing is color gradable."
During his test shoot, Nicholas discovered that he could use the BURANO as a solo operator, balancing exposure and color, without taking his eye off the frame.
"[During the track day], there were hard shafts of light in a dark garage, and I did have my Rec.709 LUT up," Nicholas said. "I wanted to shoot out the garage bay while seeing the profile of a car and people working on it. So, I quickly hit that high-key, low-key tool and knew that I was safe in the shadows.”
For his documentary work, mixed lighting is a constant obstacle, forcing Nicholas to rebalance his camera when shooting multiple locations in a day. Now with eight white balance presets, the BURANO can tackle more lighting scenarios at once.
"The upgrade from three white balance presets to eight is definitely something that I was missing," Nicholas said. "On my show, we have quite a bit of locations that we go back to, whether it's people's homes, a locker room, or stadium."
"You always want those three main [presets], right? Your tungsten, your 4300K, and your daylight. But we do have a handful of random white balances on our shows that we are constantly having to dial back in," Nicholas continued. "To be able to do that within a couple clicks of a button and not have to go deep in the menus and reset all those…it just saves you time."
Interview: Using the Sony BURANO to find the Right Composition
Documentaries rarely offer a chance for a second take. Getting the composition right from the first frame is key, but having all your camera information visible is equally important. When these are layered on top of each other, getting the perfect frame can be a challenge.
"I constantly have to turn the display on and off," Nicholas explained. "But that's also scary because you want to make sure you're still recording, and there can be double punches that happen. And now I don't have to do that."
Firmware Version 2.0 for the BURANO now shows the overlays on the outside of the recorded image, removing any obstacles that may hinder a composition.
"Having the camera info now on the outside of the [composition], like the VENICE 2 does, alleviates some stress on my end," Nicholas said. "[Having overlays] can mess with your brain. Your eyes can tend to shift your framing because your eye just sees something in the way."
Interview: Bringing the Sony BURANO to Bigger Productions
When needing to juggle both spherical and anamorphic lenses, Nicholas has relied on the VENICE 2 to easily switch between the two.
"On this past season of my Netflix show, I was going between spherical and anamorphic. Because I wanted to shoot 1.33x on the 4x3 sensor mode and then squeeze out a 16x9 to match my 16x9 spherical, we had to go back to the VENICE 2 for that," Nicholas explained. "These are all the things I need for my current show."
Now with the new updates to the BURANO, Nicholas has a new tool for the job. As his testing at the track revealed, the BURANO can shoot in slow motion, easily switch from anamorphic to spherical lenses, and meet any delivery needs Nicholas could have.
"For me, [the BURANO] is hands down the best documentary camera on the market while also hitting a fantastic price point for owner-operators and rental houses," Nicholas said. "It's just knocking every other camera out of the park. I don't know why you would choose to shoot documentaries on any other camera."
"I truly think that this [firmware] version of the BURANO is the culmination of taking a VENICE 2 and FX9 and smashing them together," Nicholas added. "It just checks so many boxes that I was looking for in the BURANO.”
The BURANO Version 2.0 firmware update is planned to be released in March 2025. To learn more about the upcoming features, click here.
