Sony BURANO is a new cinema camera that promises to deliver stunning image quality, versatility, and durability. But how does it perform in the most extreme conditions? Renan Ozturk, a renowned adventure filmmaker and National Geographic explorer, decided to test the BURANO in a daring documentary project that took him to the heart of the Guyanese jungle.
The documentary project, titled “Explorer: The Last Tepui”, follows a team of elite climbers and biologists as they attempt to reach the top of a 7,500-foot tepui, a flat-topped mountain that rises above the clouds. Their goal is to help 79-year-old scientist Bruce Means find new species that may exist only on these isolated plateaus.
The expedition is led by Mark Synnott, a veteran climber and writer, and features Alex Honnold, the star of the Oscar-winning film “Free Solo”. Ozturk and his partner Taylor Rees are in charge of capturing the adventure on camera, as well as the scientific discoveries and the cultural interactions with the local people.
The project is one of the most challenging and dangerous ever undertaken by National Geographic, as the team faces uncharted terrain, torrential rain, mud, insects, snakes, and jaguars. The climb itself is also fraught with peril, as the tepui’s sheer walls are slippery, brittle, and unpredictable.
Sony BURANO: The Ultimate Camera for Adventure Filmmaking
To document this epic journey, Ozturk needed a camera that could handle the harsh environment, the fast-paced action, and the diverse lighting conditions. He chose the Sony BURANO, a compact and lightweight camera that offers 4K resolution, 10-bit color depth, 15+ stops of dynamic range, and Sony’s flagship codec X-OCN.
X-OCN stands for eXtended tonal range Original Camera Negative, and it is Sony’s original compressed RAW format. It preserves the camera’s original image data with 16-bit precision, while reducing the file size significantly. This allows for longer recording times, faster file transfers, and more flexibility in post-production.
Ozturk was impressed by the BURANO’s performance and durability, as he put it through the ultimate torture test. “It’s not just the moisture, it’s not just the rain, it’s not just the slime,” he says. “It’s the constant dropping in the mud. The accidental slips, the falls, the impact, all day long. It just wants to eat your camera gear alive.”
He adds, “There were so many times I thought I destroyed a camera in this expedition, but they just kept going. And it’s safe to say I’ve entered a deep long-term relationship with the new BURANO.”
A Cinematic Masterpiece from the Jungle
The result of Ozturk’s work is a stunning cinematic masterpiece that showcases the beauty, the mystery, and the drama of the last tepui. The film captures the breathtaking scenery, the thrilling action, the emotional moments, and the scientific breakthroughs of the expedition. It also reveals the challenges, the risks, and the sacrifices that the team had to endure to achieve their goal.
The film is a testament to the power of storytelling, the passion of exploration, and the innovation of technology. It is also a tribute to the Sony BURANO, the camera that survived the jungle challenge with Renan Ozturk.
