Ali Walker is a UK-based independent filmmaker and artist who has been shooting commercials, music videos and documentary films for over ten years. He’s started shooting with the AJA CION production camera and recently completed a series of films for luxury brand Asprey, and is also preparing to shoot his first feature film with the CION and Alexa. 

Walker was commissioned to produce several short films and brand films for Asprey showcasing the craftsmanship that goes into making their jewelry. The short films feature a behind-the-scenes look into their workshops and macro close-ups of their fine jewelry.

“CION was an excellent camera to shoot these projects with; it’s built like a tank, with a well thought through form factor. Also the image quality has a very filmic look,” said Walker.

He shot with CION in a mix of 4K and 2K, both with excellent results. “I’ve used other cameras where scaling up or down is done in the internal software. With CION you get great results whether you shoot in 2K or 4K because the footage is hardware scaled at all times from the full 4K original,” Walker continued. CION’s ability to capture straight to ProRes and bring files straight into Adobe Premiere for editing also significantly boosts Walker’s workflow.

The CION was configured with a Videologic LCD screen rather than a viewfinder along with some vintage Macro lenses and rehoused Leica lenses for a mix of tripod, handheld and slider shoots. “CION is really fast and easy to work with. It’s accurate in terms of ‘what you see is what you get,’ which I like, and recording straight to ProRes you don’t need to transcode which saves a lot of time moving from production to post.”

“There are a million cameras out there. CION is easily worth a lot more than its price and the build is exactly how a camera should be. It’s a great camera on its own for high-end shoots, and I’ve also tested it as a B-camera on a project and the footage blended in very well with both RED and Alexa.”

“A lot of people who evaluate cameras stick them in a shed with a color chart and do all sorts of technical tests. The best test is on the field with it in its working environment and get to know the camera. I like to look at the actual picture rather than the technicality of the picture—and overall this picture quality is very beautiful and versatile. It has a quality that I like. My advice with any camera is to spend a few weeks getting to know it and when you get to know the CION you will really love it. It’s really all about the lighting. If you light everything properly on set, you’ll get a really amazing picture out of it. The images have a great texture with really nice highlights with a beautiful look,” concluded Walker.

Watch: Pursuit of Perfection on Vimeo​