<p>Depends on the look you're after. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Searching_for_Sugar_Man" rel="nofollow">Searching For Sugar Man</a> won the 2013 BAFTA Award for Best Documentary, and it was partially shot on an iPhone, the <a href="http://www.iofilm.co.uk/feats/feat_dvfilm.htm" rel="nofollow">Blair witch Project</a> used a lot of DV video (standard definition heavy compression) and parts of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Born_Killers" rel="nofollow">Natural Born Killers</a> were shot on super-8.</p>

<p>If the content is worth it, or if the style of story telling motivates it people will forgive crappy picture quality (but it certainly needs to be good content).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-23T06:36:59.430Z
2014-01-23T06:36:59.430Z
stib
<p>If I understood your question correctly, you want to project a movie on a cinema.</p>

<p>This would depend on the projector used by the movie theatre. Most movie theatres use film projectors, for which there really isn't a "quality", but rather you'd have to worry about getting a decent camera with decent film at the correct size. In this case I don't know much about transferring from digital to film. </p>

<p>If the movie theatre uses a digital projector though, they usually come in 2K (2048×1080) at 24 or 48 frames per second, or 4K (4096×2160) at 24 fps if they follow the DCI specification. Basically, get the best camera you can get. 2K should be enough to have a pretty good quality experience at the distance a cinema projection is seen from.</p>

<p>Also remember though, the quality does not only depend on the amount of pixels on screen, but also on the compression used, and the sensor of the camera itself, so be prepared for large files or a lot of processing to compress your movie to a high quality profile.</p>

<p>If you can't get a 2K camera, 1080p should do: it's not too far from 2k: it the same vertical size, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File%3aVector_Video_Standards2.svg" rel="nofollow">just a little less wide</a>. </p>

<p>Links that might help: </p>

<p><a href="http://www.mkpe.com/digital_cinema/faqs/tech_faqs.php#2K+4K" rel="nofollow">http://www.mkpe.com/digital_cinema/faqs/tech_faqs.php#2K+4K</a>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_cinema</p>

<p>Hope it helps!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-15T09:28:41.120Z
Thanks for the answer. I think it's answering the question well. I updated my question to be more clear though.
Meysam
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-20T01:02:15.377Z
No problem! Your question is much clear now, btw. Thanks for that.
kevin9794
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-15T05:07:07.043Z
2012-05-15T05:07:07.043Z
kevin9794
<p>What are the minimum characteristics required for a camera to project a movie taken by it on a standard cinema screen? I mean anything that affects the quality of the picture seen on the screen. What sort of camera should be used to shoot the video?</p>

<p><strong>Edit:</strong> To be more clear:<br>
If I record a movie with my cellphone's camera, there is no doubt its quality is not good enough to be projected on a cinema. So I should use a more professional camera! My question is about the minimum characteristics this professional camera should have. Like the number of frames it can record per second, the size of picture it records, the number of pixels per picture it records, etc.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-11T19:38:36.420Z
I am not clear on what you are asking. Are you interested in recording a projection of a video with another camera? If so why not just make a copy of the the material being projected?
filzilla
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-15T12:04:25.473Z
@filzilla Updated the question.
Meysam
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-15T22:37:28.813Z
Thanks for the update. A word of caution, unless you have permission to copy the work, you might be violating copyright laws when taking video of other peoples work.
filzilla
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-05-16T13:06:56.717Z
@filzilla I think my question is still ambiguous and you didn't get it. I am not to copy anything. I want to record something from scratch.
Meysam
<video><camera><specifications>
What are the minimum camera characteristics required to record a movie for cinema?
Meysam
# What are the minimum camera characteristics required to record a movie for cinema?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2012-05-11)

What are the minimum characteristics required for a camera to project a movie taken by it on a standard cinema screen? I mean anything that affects the quality of the picture seen on the screen. What sort of camera should be used to shoot the video?

**Edit:** To be more clear:  
If I record a movie with my cellphone's camera, there is no doubt its quality is not good enough to be projected on a cinema. So I should use a more professional camera! My question is about the minimum characteristics this professional camera should have. Like the number of frames it can record per second, the size of picture it records, the number of pixels per picture it records, etc.

**Tags:** video, camera, specifications

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I am not clear on what you are asking. Are you interested in recording a projection of a video with another camera? If so why not just make a copy of the the material being projected?  
> **username_0**: @username_1 Updated the question.  
> **username_1**: Thanks for the update. A word of caution, unless you have permission to copy the work, you might be violating copyright laws when taking video of other peoples work.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 I think my question is still ambiguous and you didn't get it. I am not to copy anything. I want to record something from scratch.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2012-05-15. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

If I understood your question correctly, you want to project a movie on a cinema.

This would depend on the projector used by the movie theatre. Most movie theatres use film projectors, for which there really isn't a "quality", but rather you'd have to worry about getting a decent camera with decent film at the correct size. In this case I don't know much about transferring from digital to film.

If the movie theatre uses a digital projector though, they usually come in 2K (2048×1080) at 24 or 48 frames per second, or 4K (4096×2160) at 24 fps if they follow the DCI specification. Basically, get the best camera you can get. 2K should be enough to have a pretty good quality experience at the distance a cinema projection is seen from.

Also remember though, the quality does not only depend on the amount of pixels on screen, but also on the compression used, and the sensor of the camera itself, so be prepared for large files or a lot of processing to compress your movie to a high quality profile.

If you can't get a 2K camera, 1080p should do: it's not too far from 2k: it the same vertical size, [just a little less wide](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File%3aVector_Video_Standards2.svg).

Links that might help:

<http://www.mkpe.com/digital_cinema/faqs/tech_faqs.php#2K+4K>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital\_cinema

Hope it helps!

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks for the answer. I think it's answering the question well. I updated my question to be more clear though.  
> **username_3**: No problem! Your question is much clear now, btw. Thanks for that.  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-01-23. Score: 1

Depends on the look you're after. [Searching For Sugar Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Searching_for_Sugar_Man) won the 2013 BAFTA Award for Best Documentary, and it was partially shot on an iPhone, the [Blair witch Project](http://www.iofilm.co.uk/feats/feat_dvfilm.htm) used a lot of DV video (standard definition heavy compression) and parts of [Natural Born Killers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Born_Killers) were shot on super-8.

If the content is worth it, or if the style of story telling motivates it people will forgive crappy picture quality (but it certainly needs to be good content).


---

