QUOTE Vitaliy : "Are you affilated with them?"

Only in so much as I'm backing them. I heard about the project the day it came up on Kickstarter, and followed it from then. A few days later, having read a lot, I took the plunge on one of the $3500 slots (all the cheaper ones were gone by then). Near the last couple of days, I could have jumped to the cheaper one, but I like the bag so I stuck with the $3500 option.

QUOTE Vitaliy : "Can you provide links to sources where you get it all?"

Most of the information is in various threads on the forums I linked to before : http://www.digitalbolex.com/forum/

Can I ask what you mean by custom 256GB SSD? Why would it be custom built? Surely it's a laptop hard disk they will be using, available from any wholesaler?

I'll defer to you in regards FPGA... I'm not a camera engineer. I just shoot with them. ;)

The SDI is not a part of the actual camera... It will come as an attachable module which will be available at a later date for around $3000. It will have Full HD, Full Colour, Preset Graded stream which you can use for both realtime monitoring on set or recording to a 3rd party recorder (which, I think, defeats the purpose of a Raw camera... But that's why it's an optional module, and not part of the actual camera architecture). All SDI processing will be carried out within the SDI module (at least as far as I can gather).

I would just point to Raspberry Pi... It's a mini PC that can play full HD compressed video (yes, I know it's not the same as tranferring 3MB per frame Raw), and costs only £15 each... That is a full functional mini PC, and was designed by a small team. In this world, I don't see what's so mythical about building a camera that essentially just moves data from the sensor to the storage.

As I say, I'm not a camera engineer... But, I can clearly see that what they are aiming to do is orders of magnitude more simple than a video or hdslr camera is.

That said... I'm still expecting there will be delivery delays, for the very reasons you mention.

@PaulVTX42

Are you affilated with them?

However, it's been made fairly clear that they are buying the sensor, the main processing chips (confirmed as re-programmable for firmware updates) and the hardware for transferring data into the storage, as well as the storage and sockets for the storage, off the shelf...

Can you provide links to sources where you get it all?

Yep, they get the sensor, but it still requires significant engineering to put it right, make all connections, add cooling, etc

All I know is that they claim that they use FPGA, and it is not some easy to make thing. Complex things require hundreds of man years. It is not really off the shelf part. They'll also use CUSTOM 256Gb SSD, and if you think that it is easy to do properly, you are quite wrong.

They also need all buttons processing, screen and HDMI, SDI to function properly. Each of this components uses dedicated hardware with very long and complex specs.

I really hope that they are not developing SD sockets themselfs. :-)

While it all could look simple, it is not.

You can just talk with guys who are making modern computer motherboards (and this guys have reference designs provided by main chips manufacturers, made by hundreds of engineers).

Well, I'm not building the camera, so it would be remiss of me to speculate too wildly...

However, it's been made fairly clear that they are buying the sensor, the main processing chips (confirmed as re-programmable for firmware updates) and the hardware for transferring data into the storage, as well as the storage and sockets for the storage, off the shelf... All that's really left is a circuit board to pass the sensor data around, and that circuit won't be doing very much at all, other than moving the data from one place to another (next to no internal "processing" or alteration).

I think the only bit of actual image processing being done on the D16, will be to cut the sensor stream from 2K down to 1080p for the HDMI out. No debayer, no colour presets... Just a straight crop.

It's, in essence, a very "simple" camera. No bells and whistles. And for those that want a Raw workflow, that's just what we are after.

Of course, there are things like this, some would say, bizarre crank handle... I assume the actual rotary switch for that will be shelf bought, and the handle will be injection molded... So, the processor and firmware will need work done to cater for it's input.

As I understand it, the most complex thing about this project is going to be the Firmware (which is incredibly simple when compared to that used in the likes of an all-singing-all-dancing video or DSLR camera), and that is being built by a group with experience of this process.

The D16 has essentially ONE job to do... Move the sensor data onto storage media. That's it.

From what I can gather, the ratio of bought parts to custom made parts (not including the chassis) is notable, to say the least. This camera is not breaking new ground. It's not revolutionary. It's just filling a niche, with existing tech, that no-one's really gotten around to filling yet.

Ikonoskop is the closest there is... But it's 1080p, with proprietary storage, and so isn't quite hitting the mark for many of us who are looking for the 2K Raw, accessible, "Film like" camera.

But, if you are genuinely interested in specifics, it would be worthwhile asking over at the boards (http://www.digitalbolex.com/forum/), where Joe has been active in answering questions about the project.

There are still many answers yet to come, but the updates and info have been coming regularly, and have been enlightening.

@PaulVTX42

Can you list of the shelf parts, and ones that are custom?

and all that off the shelf talk is BS... u need a lot custom parts like fpga , buffer control for ssd ... someone who thinks u can just order pats from net and assembled camera should try to do .... this camera is more complex than ikonoskop ....

The hardware is going to be the easy part the software will be the harder part IMO.

I have big doubts about it.
And this guys did not make mistake, they just have nothing to show yet.

@PaulVTX42

Thanks for registering to express your opinion. :-)

my 3500 Dollars are on their way to the guys at Digital Bolex

Btw, some $2500 slots become pulled out in last hours, so you could spend less.

@bitcrusher

I doubt that someone here called it scam.
Goal of the topic was to understand more factual details about this project that authors did not provide.
It is also interesting that almost all influental people who advocated project on the start pulled out under different reasons.

Hello everyone - This has been an interesting read. I'm actually backing this D16 project, in full knowledge that it could potentially suffer long delays. It may even fail. I certainly hope that it does not.

I really like the concept. I don't see much of anything about it that isn't do-able. Off the shelf parts, minimal processing power and actually quite a small initial run of approx 100 cameras to put out.

You've got a standard sensor spitting out frames directly to an SSD, and then a relatively simple circuit offloading those frames to SD cards. The in-camera options are going to be fairly minimalist... Nothing TOO taxing. The HDMI out described today is going to be a monochromatic 1080p straight feed from the sensor. Nothing fancy.

The comments I've read on these boards, which suggest this could be a scam, are the same few comments I've read on a few other boards. None of these pieces of information really stand up as evidence of a scam. In fact, they are circumstantial and often actually non-sequitur. So, at this point I am far from convinced that this is a scam (obviously, as I am backing the project).

Suppose it could turn out to be one, but I'm highly doubtful of that.

For my own part, The concept of the D16 meets my requirements for a relatively simple camera that spits out 2K Raw footage. And, I've seen no defining reason to believe otherwise.

Many have criticized the footage used in the Kickstarter Campaign... Frankly, I'm surprised it isn't more obvious to people to take the look of that footage with a pinch of salt. The sensor in question is a well known sensor... That the filmmakers behind the footage in question couldn't quite make it shine, says nothing of whether you or I could.

Anyway, I just wanted to give a few points, from my perspective as a backer. I love the concept. I'm more than willing to take a punt on it... despite potential delays. I think that the signs are pointing to this being a great wee camera that could very well knock people's socks off.

The Kickstarter Campaign has closed, and my 3500 Dollars are on their way to the guys at Digital Bolex... for good or ill. ;)

We shall see how things progress.

So it looks like the Digital Bolex turned out to be Digital Bullshit.

No one really know that it is.

@brianluce

It is easy to google it on various blogs and forums and check their page from time to time to see it.

@010101

Your logic is badly wrong.
RED and this thing have very little in common. It is very easy to look at RED history. ANd compare it to extremely strange interviews and texts here.

I already offered to people to go to this ienso startup and look at how actual things look.

People started pulling out of this, so they threw some new stuff:

We are adding a Mini-HDMI port to the side of the camera that can output full 1920 x 1080! This makes it possible to use many of the popular Electronic View Finders on the market today!

Not a small change, really.

The monitor will no longer swivel up. We needed extra room to add the video electronics for the HD output so we are removing the swivel on the panel and the built in focus assist. Many of our buyers prefer to use an Electronic View Finder like the Zacuto EVF while shooting that already has focus assist and many other features built in. One of our goals with the D16 is to make the camera as accessories compatible as possible, so we think this will make a lot of people happy.

Soon, monitor will be gone :-)

We will be changing from CF card to SD, many people complained about the ability to bend pins in CF card readers and Toshiba is doing some exciting things with the SD format, so we decided to make the switch.

What a surprise. So small change. "We are at the final stages" :-)

And this is all the boards they could find in the basement :-)

after i bought her 1st drink at the bar and had a quick chat

May be it is all she had been looking for, free drink. You bough it, aren't you?