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New RAW / 4k / 2k / Prores / DNxHD camera
  • 69 Replies sorted by
  • I understand, what would be interesting for me : 3k 24/25p prores/dnxhd or cineform with 2.5k 48/50fps and 1080p 100/120fps modes ,12-13 stops DR, all with compression options, on SSD or HDD in 2k-3k price range ,

  • can you give precise info on the following:

    • Does that brain you are talking about already exist and if yes at what state (development, working, prototype, vaporware)

    • How often did you talk about this to the manufacturer and how (personally, phone, email)

    • If you talk about 'my' camera, how many people except the manufacturer and you is also involved?

    • Anyone specifically involved to work on debayer and color science (as scientific image devices are not design to produce 'nice' images)?

    • Most important, what is the road map / release schedule for these cameras - if they'll be ready by 2014 your numbers won't work out anyway.

  • 1) Yes and No. There is a brain that exists that does the exact same thing at the same resolution but it is an older and outdated design. This would be a redesign of that concept

    2) Phone with a few different manufacturers. Some from a "this is my business I will build it for a cost" others were more of "thats an interesting idea I would work with you as a partner on"

    3) Right now I'm in the planning stages. I am in talks with a few manufacturers and then third parties who will be producing accessories

    4) can't say

    5) camera. singular. And we would hope to be on a one year timeline.

    As I said before this entire idea spawned by my inability to find what I was looking for in a digital full frame camera.

  • @peterosinski

    It just does not look serious.

    We already have Bolex "dream team".

  • @vitaliy_kiselev I totally understand where your coming from.

    I was just trying to see what other people thought. Truth be told the idea revolves around having a camera head with 4k raw and 1080p outputs and then connecting it to recorders ranging from the hyperdeck shuttle up to the gemini 444. I have spoken with people at convergent designs, ki pro quad, and black magic about the idea and they were interested in supporting it.

    I was still looking into manufacturers and one camera designer was interested in making it a passion project. The idea would be that we would make one camera and once we got it working we would start a kickstarter to mass produce. Let me be clear, the idea is not to announce a camera 12 months before we even have a real prototype ex. "dream team"

    That being said I like what digital bolex is doing. I would have been interested in the camera but i got sick of using etc mode on the gh2 for all my 16mm glass and sold the lenses to get nikons

  • That being said I like what digital bolex is doing.

    LOL. This guys are now doing main thing - spending people money :-)

    I do not know why, but on all forum appear people with ideas of RAW camera. Always with very big margin.
    Some even talked about it for years before being banned for questionable mental health.

  • the second part of the idea is that:

    when using a 4k raw recorder it needs to be cheaper than scarlet

    4k prores needs to be cheaper than 1d-c and fs700

  • @peterosinski

    Ideas are only ideas. Especially such general ones.

  • I'm not even saying it HAS to be raw. 4k raw has ridiculous data rates.

    I would be happy with a truly uncompressed signal...not the crap from the d800. I just figured if I was going to make something it should be a lasting investment

  • "ideas are only ideas"

    I agree 100%, but you have to start somewhere. I would think an online camera forum would be a good place to talk about such an idea, but I sense some hostility. Have you had a bad history with start ups or something?

  • I would think an online camera forum would be a good place to talk about such an idea, but I sense some hostility.

    It is not hostility, it is common sense.
    I like serious approach, and do not like just sweet talk.

  • @peterosinski

    With all respect. You can ask questions and exchange ideas, maybe grab some information from people of forum, but dont talks about vaporware, digital bolex is an exelent example of digital scam.

    Do it, then we can talk about ideas in a product that is allready in a developed stage, people in this forum is generaly well informed and can gather you information, but dont expect farytale treatment from it.

    Like vitaliy said:

    its not hostility is common sense. I like serious approach, and do not like just sweet talk.

  • Right now I'm in the process of building a spec sheet. That way I can get a price for development and a unit price list. The one thing the designer keeps telling me is that once something is developed I'd be surprised how low unit price ends up being. I'm curious as to what I should cut and what I shouldn't.

  • Seriously, without a lens mount people wont bother. You have to solve the issue if you want to make the camera useable with many different mounts. If you don´t include a power source you need to make use of some reliable existing power solution or people wont bother.. Vitaliy has some very good points and you got to pinpoint which market you want to aim at if you go ahead and have a clear marketing plan. If you figure that out you will figure out the specsheet. Remember that you have no brand. You have to over-deliver, not over-promise. If data rates are an issue you don´t want to deal with; look at sensor design. It´s an area where you can potentially be progressive.

    I think full frame is a bad idea for a cinema camera. If you want the option of a "big" sensor; why not go for 70mm film (or IMAX) equivalent? That´s at least a format which has merit in film-making! The whole point of a modular approach is that you update and add to an existing solution, don´t make a wide selection of stuff right away; if you make something, make sure it does its thing well our you will be slaughtered.

    Ikonoskop had a great opportunity to stake a claim in a market gap a couple of years ago. They got a lot of interest in the product they were developing, people liked the images but it took too long to deliver; Since the guys behind it were not serious / smart enough? (had no marketing nous) it remains a niche product, at best.

  • @RRRR from what I have been able to see, there is no patent on the way that the epic and scarlet accept lens mounts. My hope is that people will have more options if I make the front able to accept epic style mounts such as the longvalleyequip.com nikon mount which is only $400. If it was up to me I would make it a straight up nikon mount but I think that people would like to have more options.

    I have to disagree with you on the IMAX front. There is a proven interest in full frame based on the success of canon and nikon full frame dslrs for video. Also full frame (or vistavision in cinema terms) has a long history of use in visual effects. There is plenty of manual glass that would be great for this sensor, especially old nikon and new zeiss zf glass.

    As for the power source I was thinking I will have it made to be identical to the black magic camera so you could plainly say "if it says its made for black magic then buy it for this camera"

    I agree with you about ikonoskop. There problem was price was too high, media took to long to offload, and they were dwarfed by the interest in the 2/3" cinema model from RED.

  • @peterosinski

    Thing is that you are not looking for people needs.

    You made your mind and want to produce very costly full frame stuff made from expensive modules. But. You don't have skill to do it, and you don't have money.

    Suppose in 6 months Sony will make VG1000 with Thunderbold connector that output raw. With $3300 price.
    What will be your actions?

  • The idea of the modules was to give people options. I know I said modules but I was trying not to spill all the beans (not sure why). My thought was why pay for a camera that needs an external recorder for top results when you can just strip out the parts you dont need and send a signal out of a camera head to your recorder of choice

  • why pay for a camera that needs an external recorder for top results when you can just strip out the parts you dont need and send a signal out of a camera head to your recorder of choice

    In fact, you earlear provided perfect answer for this yourself. Because available recorders make it pointless to make any modular system. I am not even started to talk about progress speed, as all this big premium you ask for modules could lead to nothing, except more expenses.

  • I never said I had the skill to do it. What I did say was that I had an idea and had spoken to a few custom camera designers who have the capability to pull it off.

    I dont know why you think you could know that my mind is or isn't made up about anything. I would love for it to be lower cost and for the people who are actually discussing this rather than nay-saying it has been helpful.

    What would you all think of 4k Cinema DNG capture in camera to off the shelf SSD's?

  • maybe I wasn't clear enough. When I said recording module I meant specifically that you would buy either the hyperdeck shuttle, ninja, samurai, pix240, ki pro mini, ki pro quad, or gemini. My recording prices were based on those

  • had spoken to a few custom camera designers who have the capability to pull it off.

    OK, and who'll pay them for all time spend on project?

    I dont know why you think you could know that my mind is or isn't made up about anything

    I can judge only from your posts.

    When I said recording module I meant specifically that you would buy either the hyperdeck shuttle, ninja, samurai, pix240, ki pro mini, ki pro quad, or gemini. My recording prices were based on those

    Yep, it was clear, and as I said, they are not an option in your case.

  • SSD drives at $750/256GB

    I can buy 256GB SSDs all day for under $150.

  • Get us BMC without RAW, for 1200€ ;)

  • @peterosinski

    @RRRR from what I have been able to see, there is no patent on the way that the epic and scarlet accept lens mounts. My hope is that people will have more options if I make the front able to accept epic style mounts such as the longvalleyequip.com nikon mount which is only $400. If it was up to me I would make it a straight up nikon mount but I think that people would like to have more options.

    Options is not a bad thing, but make sure you sell mounts as well. Native nikon mount would make no sense whatsoever for a cinema camera.

    I have to disagree with you on the IMAX front. There is a proven interest in full frame based on the success of canon and nikon full frame dslrs for video. Also full frame (or vistavision in cinema terms) has a long history of use in visual effects. There is plenty of manual glass that would be great for this sensor, especially old nikon and new zeiss zf glass.

    Proven interest is one thing, competition is another. You can be sure there is a full frame camera that will directly compete with your product by the time it is released and it might be cheaper than yours. Nobody makes an affordable IMAX imager sized cam as far as I know and you need to be visionary if you are to stand a chance. There are medium format lenses that could work for this sensor size. But you already talked about crop-ability..

    As for the power source I was thinking I will have it made to be identical to the black magic camera so you could plainly say "if it says its made for black magic then buy it for this camera"

    I think you need to be more generic than that - it´s maybe not the best idea to go with solutions for made for a competition camera. It can of course be the same voltage (as bmd cam); but you need to find the most simple and elegant voltage / reliable connector solution.

    I agree with you about ikonoskop. There problem was price was too high, media took to long to offload, and they were dwarfed by the interest in the 2/3" cinema model from RED.

    Price and media download times would not have been too much of a problem if they had acted quickly and pushed the cam when they had the chance. If people likes the image, it´s the most important thing. Especially at a price range which is out of the grasp of enthusiasts and prosumers. Ikonoskop never won over the "pro" audience, even when they had the chance.

  • I think an important thing to keep in mind is that people often want to see the technology demonstrated in an artistic fashion rather than a technical one.

    On paper, the Canon C500 is not the most exciting camera compared to for instance the EPIC or F65. It's stated dynamic range is lower than both, it needed external recorders, doesn't do the high-bit depth of the F65 or the slow-motion of the EPIC, etc.

    But when I went to see a 4K screening of Man or Beast and sat in the 2nd row with the intent of pixel-peeping intently... I was really surprised by the beauty of the imagery and the way the highlights and light were rendered. I know a lot of it was the way it was shot and graded, but I honestly did not expect that sort of quality when I looked at the unit on paper.

    In other words, the specifications can get techy people excited if they blow away what everyone else is doing, but the specifics of the implementation (and how they are reflected in early demos) can make a big difference on industry perception (especially with less techy buyers).

    Note: But since I am pretty techy, I am usually more interested in the head-to-head tightly controlled stress tests of dynamic range, resolution, etc. than in endless reals "this should wow you" footage that could often have been shot with a variety of cameras. :)