The 8 stops brightness range of film vs. the 3-4 stops of video were the numbers we used as reference back in he mid 80s when we started the transition from film to video. These numbers were also the reason why most mid-to higher end productions stayed with film for many years, video just did not have the latitude than film had.
With professional digital HD cameras these number can be manipulated to greatly extend the brightness range, very close to what film was. I haven’t worked with film or seen any of these comparison specs in 25 years, I imagine that film and processing has also greatly improved.
I can tell you for sure that with all the menus adjustments at our disposal today, the obtainable brightness range on my HDX900 is far superior of what it was on my BVW600 BetacamSP.
This is why we’ve been telling for years that there’s an enormous difference between professional and prosumer equipment. Those who say there’s no visible difference have no clue about equipment, luckily clients know.
I get cold sweat when for whatever reason I have to use my Sony Z1U outdoor. I imagine most prosumer cameras are the same or probably worst. I wont even mention consumer cameras. The brightness range on these cameras really sucks no matter how fine tuning I try to do with the limited menu adjustment. In an attempt to alleviate this problem I have bought a set of 4x4 Tiffen low contras filters in several grades. I always use them mostly outdoor where I have no control on the brightness range as I would indoor with lighting. Please keep in mind that here in Florida and across the Caribbean the Sun/contrast factor is considerably higher, except maybe trying to take good video in early spring on the Colorado Rockies.
What these filters do they raise the values of the blacks, I then stop down the lens to bring down the blacks to where visually they should be but by doing so I also reduce the brightest areas of the image thus effectively reducing the contrast range.
To really fine tune all these adjustment a good monitor and preferably also a good waveform monitor will go a long way.