who is the best DP

[Jon MIchael Puntervold]

to add some:

Robby Müller

Christian Berger

Tonino Delli Colli

+++++

 

[Jan Reiff]

Kaminski.
so many outstanding, rich images and looks in the last 20 years (schindler´s list, private ryan, catch me if you can, munich)
"war horse" was impressive too.

 

[Kemalettin Sert]

My favorites:

Roger Deakins
Christopher Doyle
Robert Richardson
Dante Spinotti
Robert Elswit
Philippe Rousselot
Peter Andrews
Emmanuel Lubezki
Vittorio Storaro
Bruno Delbonnel
César Charlone
David Mullen
Darius Khondji
Harris Savides
Conrad Hall
Jeff and Jordan Cronenweth
Wally Pfister
Michael Ballhaus
Seamus McGarvey
John Mathieson

I would also like to give a shout out to cinematographer Greig Fraser who is highly underrated and virtually unknown. His work is superb and I can see an Academy nomination in his future.

Check out his work: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0292132/

The award for cinematographer I have learned the most from goes to David Mullen, his work is fantastic and he is a great teacher. David, your posts are invaluable.

Thumbs Up for FRASER he ll get oscar in next 3 years im sure! check Zero Dark Thirty trailer..

shot on Alexa

also Nelson Cragg did very good job on HOMELAND..

 

[Gary Paul Walker]

Ok, I'll throw my favourites here.. I nominate two DPs jointly: Todd McMullen & David Boyd. To my knowledge (although I could be wrong) neither have shot anything on Red, but I first noticed them with their work on the TV series Friday Night Lights.

Previously David Boyd shot a some episodes from Firefly, and then went on to shoot The Walking Dead which shares similar characteristics to Friday Night Lights - gritty, realistic, handheld-in-all-the-RIGHT-places. There's something about the way he shoots that really draws an audience in and reveals character without invading their 'space' (some of the best shots in Friday Night Lights are crowd sequences where a single moment is picked out from afar).

After his tenure on Friday Night Lights, Todd McMullen went an entirely different route, going on to shoot The Newsroom - a glossy, fast paced (and typically-Sorkin-esq) kinetic style of shooting.

I know a lot of people talk about the way scenes look, and how the images are presented. But both McMullen and Boyd say so much about character in the way they shoot, it's hard to deny that they are truly amazing at what they do

 

[Kyle Prohaska]

Conny Hall for sure. RIP.

 

[Timur Civan]

Roger Deakins
Harris Savides
Jordan Cronenweth
Janusz Kaminsky
Wally Pfister
Darius Khonji

For now....

 

[Mark Warren]

I resonate with all the names David Mullens threw up, plus Slocombe, and all I'll add is the cinematographer who went from one extreme to the other (furthest) was Leon Shamroy lighting the gorgeous Gene Tierney in 'Leave Her to Heaven', on one hand, (for which he won an Oscar) and the apes in 'Planet of the Apes' on the other.

 

[Mark K.]

God, there's so many amazing ones to chose from. I suppose if I had to put together a short list:

- Dean Semler
- Dion Beebe
- John Seale
- Freddie Young
- Conrad Hall
- Claudio Miranda
- Roger Deakins

 

[Vince Sweeney]

Some of the best lighting was done some time ago. George T. Clemens. Watch pretty much any Twilight Zone. Holds up against the best feature work.

 

[Rob Anderson]

The two I believe I've learned the most from (indirectly, I've never met them) is Daniel Mindel and Greig Fraser. There are many others in this thread have been incredibly inspiring, but those two have had the most direct influence on my own work.

 

[Sandro Klopfstein]

benoit debie

 

[Ted Parkes]

I think we can all agree there are many great cinematographers out there. I was lucky to have spent some time with Gordon Willis. But the list is long
Hall
Deakins
Kaminski
Toll
Zsigmond
Mullen
Storraro
Lubezki
... No shortage of inspiration out there.

 

[Marc Berger]

All of my favorites are already named in this list, but I miss one name:
Nestor Almendros, died 1992, but for sure belongs to the most important DOP´s in film history.
With he´s obsession for daylight, like in "Days of Heaven", he created some of the most beautiful pictures I can think of.
Another one is Sven Nykvist. Could not find his name on this list.

 

[Kristin Stewart]

Cinephiles won't also forget Karl Freund, the cinematographer behind Der letzte Mann.

Kristin

 

[Björn Benckert]

Did not know Anthony Dod Mantel ranked this high. During the spring I worked on a series of commercials that he shot, and I posted. Nice done stuff I must say all shot on epic. A little Anthony trick I noticed is that he actually uses the resolution slider as a digital extension of his zooms. Basically he does not swap lens, instead he just slide over in 2k to shoot a close up. No joke he jumps between resolutions in a way I never seen practiced before. And to me it actually works really well. I guess good exposure, tack focus and good glass is key when doing so but, to me that was quite a surprise.

 

[Chad Bonanno]

Tobias Schliessler

 

[George Butterfield]

Clint Eastwood ... he calls the shots.

 

[Bobby Farokhzad]

Wally Pfister
Roger Deakins
Janusz Kaminsky
Darius Khonji
Conrad Hall
Vilmos Zsigmond

 

[dio Zafi]

for me ..me.

 

[Carlos Castillo]

I would say:

1.- Wally Pfister
2.- Roger Deakins

But also I can name :Ammanuel Lubezki "el Chivo"