List of films shot on digital video prior to 2012

Since the 1990s, more and more films have been shot on digital video and videotape rather than film stock. Some of them are independent, low-budget productions, while others are major studio productions. Since the mid-2010s, most films have been captured and distributed digitally. Among the 200 highest grossing theatrically released films each year, a majority of films were shot on digital video for the first time in 2013, in 2014 over 80% were shot digitally, and by 2016 over 90% of films were shot digitally.

Notable firsts

• First major studio film shot primarily on digital video: ' (2002)
• First film shot digitally in Official Competition at Cannes Film Festival: Russian Ark (2002)
• First nominees for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography shot mainly on digital video: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
• First winner of the Academy Award for Best Cinematography shot mainly on digital video: Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
• First winner of the Academy Award for Best Cinematography shot entirely on digital video: Avatar (2009)
• First film shot with the Red One Camera: Che (2008)
• First film shot with the Red One MX, and first film projected in 4K theatrical distribution: The Social Network (2010)
• First film to be shot mainly with the Arri Alexa: Anonymous (2011)
• First film to be shot mainly with the Red Epic Dragon and in 6K resolution: Gone Girl (2014)
• First film shot mainly with the Arri Alexa 65: The Revenant (2015)
• First film shot mainly with digital IMAX cameras: ' (2018) and ' (2019)
• First film shot mainly with the Red Weapon Vista Vision and in 8K resolution: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)