Super-sampling: Spectacular HD, 2K or 4K Does a 4K camera make sense in an HD world? Perfect sense. With 8.9 megapixels (effective), Sony’s 4K image sensor enables a single camera to provide gorgeous, super-sampled HD and 2K while preparing you for the 4K future.

• Shoot, Record, Master and Distribute in stunning 4K. You’re ready for the more than 13,000 movie theaters with Sony Digital Cinema 4K projectors.
• Shoot, Record and Master in 4K. Distribute in 2K/HD. Derive your delivery format while preserving the original as a future-proof archive. Your master is ready for future 4K release.
• Shoot in 4K. Record, Master and Distribute in 2K/HD. Sony’s 4K sensor gives you a gorgeous, super-sampled HD picture with visibly superior texture, color reproduction, detail and high-frequency contrast that ordinary HD cameras cannot touch.

4K/2K RAW recording option The ultimate capture system would record every nuance of light and shadow from the image sensor, preserving every detail from every pixel for full exploitation in post-production. If you want the maximum flexibility that RAW delivers, Sony’s optional AXS-R5 recorder is a remarkable new choice.

• 4K or derived 2K RAW. Capture RAW at your choice of resolutions: the camera’s native 4K or beautiful, derived 2K. RAW recording preserves the greatest latitude for color correction and other post processes.
• Incredible 16-bit precision. By design, Sony’s 16-bit recording captures more tonal values than the human eye can differentiate. Sony RAW retains 16 times as many Red, Green and Blue gradations as 12-bit RAW and 64 times as many tones per channel as 10-bit recording. Sony 16-bit linear RAW is also the ideal point of entry into the 16-bit linear Academy Color Encoding System (ACES) workflow.
• Comprehensive production platform. More than an individual product, the AXS-R5 is the starting point for an efficient workflow. The AXS-R5 records onto sleek, optional AXSM™ memory cards, which are compatible with an affordable optional USB 3.0 reader, the AXS-CR1. Once on a PC, the RAW files can be screened using Sony’s free RAW Viewer software.

• Simultaneous RAW + Onboard SxS recording. Instead of requiring you to patch together a science project, Sony provides a coordinated “off-line, on-line” workflow with simultaneous recording to internal SxS cards and the optional AXS-R5 RAW recorder. For seamless conforming in post, you get matching time code, start frame, stop frame, file names and other metadata. The camera supports the following RAW + Onboard combinations:
  • 4K/2K RAW + XAVC 2K*/HD
  • 4K/2K RAW + MPEG-2 HD422

* Expected as a future upgrade.

The future is built in

The Sony F5 is uniquely designed to make economic sense today, with the features you’ll need to continue generating value for years to come. Instead of locking you into a single recording system, the camera opens the door to unprecedented versatility. Consider the choice of internal recording codecs. The camera’s 16-bit Linear RAW 4K output enables Sony’s optional AXS-R5 recorder to register every nuance of color, contrast and detail from the 4K image sensor—and even record a derived 2K RAW signal. Finally, Sony’s planned firmware upgrades are scheduled to bring you even more frame rates, more operating features and more recording options in the months and years to come.

Vast exposure latitude

Cinematographers paint their images with light and shadow. So the ability to render tones from deepest shadows to brightest highlights is a crucial test of any digital camera. The F5 excels, with an impressive 14 stops of exposure latitude, extraordinary low-light sensitivity and extremely low noise in the blacks. The result? Graceful rendering of scene contrast, even in searing sunlight.

Viewfinders as revolutionary as the camera

It's ironic that with focus so critical, most operators are stuck with viewfinders and on-camera monitors that offer middling contrast and resolution. Sony changes all that with the F5. A new digital interface has given rise to a brilliant new series of viewfinders.

• Amazing OLED: optional DVF-EL100. Don’t let the small size fool you. This 0.7-inch* viewfinder has the incredible clarity of 1280 x 720 High Definition. And resolution is just the beginning. Thanks to OLED technology, you get superb brightness, contrast and response.
• Higher resolution, higher contrast: optional DVF-L350. Take a major step forward in operating with the incredible image of this 3.5-inch* LCD viewfinder. Compared to previous Sony finders, this one has higher resolution (960 x 540) plus ten times the contrast. And the eyepiece flips up for direct monitoring.
• Full HD: optional DVF-L700. This compact 7-inch* LCD viewfinder enables high resolution when shooting in 2K and 4K, not to mention pixel-for-pixel 1920 x 1080 representation of your HD images.

* Viewable area, measured diagonally.

Optional shoulder rig

Sony consulted closely with cinematographers on the ergonomics of handheld and shoulder-mounted shooting. One result was the optional Sony shoulder rig, which provides comfortable handheld operation hour after hour. The rig is sturdy, lightweight and features industry-standard rosettes on both sides for quick and easy attachment of third-party hand grips and other accessories.

Modularity and versatility

The F5 is exceptionally small, light and modular, letting you build up the right configuration for each job—or each shot. For example, you can add the optional AXS-R5 RAW recorder whenever you need it. Or go with internal HD recording whenever size and weight are the highest priority. The time code/genlock connections and XLR audio inputs are built into two modules you can add or remove as needed. Small size is particularly welcome in stereoscopic 3D shooting. The chassis is only slightly wider than a typical PL mount prime lens, perfect for both mirror rigs and side-by-side configurations.
 
Choice of recording formats

When it comes to production, one recording mode emphatically does not fit all. That’s why the F5 gives you three useful recording formats. All are recorded internally, onto Sony’s established, affordable SxS media.

High speed shooting at up to 120 fps in 2K From stunts and explosions to the fall of a single raindrop, high-speed shooting is a powerful storytelling tool.

• 60 fps out of the box (XAVC HD).
• 120 fps with a planned upgrade (XAVC 2K/HD). Unique to this process, there is no line skipping or sensor windowing. So there’s no crop factor, no loss in angle of view.
• 120 fps 2K RAW, with the optional AXS-R5 outboard recorder and a planned upgrade, achieves high frame rates while retaining exceptional, 16-bit image quality. This not only exceeds 12-bit RAW with 16 times as many Red, Green and Blue gradations. By design, it exceeds the capabilities of human vision!

High-speed SxS PRO+ media cards

The F5 is a next-generation camera, which will feature high-data-rate on-board XAVC 2K/HD recording at 120 fps with a free planned upgrade. This requires next-generation SxS recording media—Sony’s 64 and 128 GB* SxS PRO+ memory cards—and a next-generation USB card reader, the SBAC-US20.

Real world workflows

Sony understands a fundamental truth: working cameras require practical workflows. That’s why the F5 is part of a larger production platform that includes affordable media cards, affordable card readers, free RAW Viewer software and compatibility with popular NLEs and finishing tools.

Incredible flexibility:

PL-mount, FZ-mount and still lenses Some Super 35 digital motion picture cameras are dedicated to PL-mount cine lenses. Other cameras tap the growing trend of shooting with affordable still lenses. The F5 was designed from the ground up to accommodate both.

• PL-Mount Lenses. Take advantage of acclaimed cine optics from Angénieux®, Canon®, Carl Zeiss®, Cooke®, FUJIFILM®, Leica® and more.
• Still Lenses. Slip off the supplied PL-mount adaptor to reveal the native FZ mount with 18 mm flange focal distance. It’s perfect for accepting commercially available adaptors for still lenses, including Canon® EF, Canon FD, Nikon® DX, Nikon G, Leica® M and even 2/3-inch broadcast B4 lenses.
• FZ-Mount Lenses. There’s also Sony’s game-changing FZ-mount auto focus servo zoom: the SCL-Z18X140.

Enjoy the convenience of auto focus, auto iris, image stabilization and servo zoom in Super 35 cinematography with Sony’s SCL-Z18X140 14x zoom.

Sony CineAlta PL-mount prime lenses:
 
A new generation With the F5, Sony introduces our second generation of cost-effective PL mount prime lenses, featuring a dramatic improvement in build quality. Thanks to refined glass, all are certified for 4K capture, while minimizing geometric distortion, vignetting and breathing. A 9-blade iris delivers beautiful bokehs. The focus rings rotate 240°. The series includes focal lengths of 20, 25, 35, 50, 85 and 135 mm. For easy lens changes, all have the same T2.0 aperture, the same external diameter, matte box diameter, and gear locations for follow focus and aperture. All are the same size except for the 135 mm.

More than just a pretty interface

Carefully designed with significant input from cinematographers, the F5 provides an incredibly rich range of controls. And the interface is nicely intuitive. Instead of diving through menus, you get direct, one-touch access to key shooting parameters including frame rate, shutter speed, color temperature, ISO sensitivity and gamma. Assignable buttons mean that favorite adjustments are always at your fingertips.

The high-resolution status display confirms major settings for confident operation. Six soft keys above and below the display are context sensitive and give you direct access to key shooting parameters.

The connections you need

The camera offers vital connections, including four HD-SDI jacks, HDMI®, USB, DC IN connection, a removable XLR audio module and a removable time code/genlock module. The XLR inputs accept balanced analog signals, provide 48-Volt phantom power and will accept four channels of AES/EBU digital audio with an expected firmware upgrade.

Long-life Olivine Battery

At Sony, we don’t just know about cameras. We’re also a leader in battery technology. The F5 takes advantage of Sony’s innovative BP-FL75 battery pack, which uses Olivine—Lithium Iron Phosphate—instead of conventional Lithium Ion cathodes. The result is a substantial increase in charge-discharge cycles, compared to previous Sony batteries.

The Olivine battery works with Sony’s BC-L90 quick charger.

Tweet Tweet Upon its eventual release, the Aaton Penelope Delta just might be the most innovative digital cinema camera on the market. The Delta features 14 stops of latitude, onboard 3.5K RAW recording in CinemaDNG (with simultaneous proxy recording ability), the world’s first optical viewfinder for a full-res internally-recording camera, an ISO 800 base sensitivity, a mechanical shutter able to reduce that sensitivity by 3 full f-stops, a revolutionary sensor package that simply boggles the mind, and all within a quiet, operator-friendly body. This machine means business — and it’s not going to be cheap, either — but the specs and design plainly speak for themselves. Read on for the full details.

Here is Aaton’s founder Jean-Pierre Beauviala on the camera at this year’s IBC:

• The camera’s origins can be traced back to when the Delta project was aimed at equipping Aaton’s final Super 35mm film camera — the original Penelope — with a digital magazine. With film’s longevity rapidly coming to a close, the project shifted gears. Delta, the (almost) final product, is clearly the result of aggressively original thinking. Just by looking at it, you notice the blend of technologies and design philosophies at work, both old and new. Here’s a larger version of the beauty shot most of the articles on the Penelope Delta have been displaying:
  
  
  
  Here’s the run-down of features and specs as outlined by the leaflet Aaton released, last updated April 2012:
  
• 14 stops of Latitude with its ISO 650/800 3.5K Super35 Dalsa CCD image sensor (more on this later)
• Internal recording of Uncompressed RAW in 16-bit linear CinemaDNG onto slide-in ‘DeltaPack’ SSDs — with simultaneous edit-ready proxy-recording ability
• True mechanical rotating mirror shutter (with the ability to reduce the sensor’s effective ISO rating to 80/100 if need be — more on this later too)
• The aforementioned optical viewfinder
• Top-mounted selector wheel allowing simple menu navigation for both operators and assistants
• Aaton’s ‘Cat on the Shoulder’ philosophy drives ergonomics. The shoulder-snug Delta weighs only 17 pounds
• 3D-ready
• 2-5 hour autonomous operation via onboard 14V Li-Ion batteries
• Large side-screen allows playback, plus allows assistants easy access to operating parameters such as LUTs, Timecode, ISO, white-balance, frame rate,  and general diagnostics
• Sub-19dB noise profile for air-cooling, in both standby and operation

The Penelope Delta is not the first or only camera to offer the mechanical shutter alone or in combination with an optical viewfinder. The Sony F65 features a real shutter and the Arri Alexa Studio features both — not to mention the latter’s base ISO 800 sensitivity and 14 stops of DR — but the Penelope is not only capable of 3.5K RAW recording superior to the Alexa, it’s also the only camera to have all these features in an all-internal recording design. This is major, because there will never be a need to rent or buy an external recorder, which keeps the entire package mobile and compact.

The specs list is really only the tip of the ice-berg, though. Some of the other unique design elements that make the Penelope Delta so note-worthy require a bit more in-depth explanation.

The Shutter The major side-effect of the low-light revolution is, well, our imaging chips naturally being really sensitive to light. This can become a problem in well-lit conditions, traditionally necessitating the use of neutral density filters. A problem we discuss a lot less is the infrared pollution that regular ND filters can create. Aaton’s solution to this problem is ingenious because it almost literally reexamines and reinvents the wheel, so to speak: the shutter.

In addition to allowing you full mechanical control over shutter-angle, the Penelope Delta allows you to switch from a traditional half-moon spinning mirror to another set of blades which transmit exposure through many tiny slits. This reduces the ISO 650/800 sensitivity of the shutter down to about ISO 80/100, all mechanically/optically, and without affecting the shutter angle itself. A render of this design, courtesy of Aaton, is pictured to the right. This method also circumvents the loss of dynamic range that occurs with the attenuation employed by DSLRs at sub-base ISOs.

The Sensor The sensor itself is another, well, marvel, really. A number of things make the Delta’s imager special, not the least of which is its Dalsa origins (anybody?) and the fact that it’s a CCD — an acronym we haven’t heard attached to new cinema camera descriptions for far too long in my opinion. The way things have been going for a while now seems to dictate that CMOS sensors are less expensive and, in terms of bang-for-buck, more potentially light-sensitive than would be their CCD counterparts. To be honest, I really never thought I’d have a chance to say this — but we now have a 3K+ Super35 sized ISO 800 CCD at the head of a motion picture camera.

The reason Aaton chose a CCD over CMOS has to do with another thing we don’t usually talk about — photosite fill-factor. As John Brawley explains in a great post on the camera, CCDs have a greater pixel-fill potential than CMOS sensors do, because less of a CCD’s surface area must be dedicated to transfer circuity rather than light-capturing elements. This means the Penelope Delta will possess smaller “gaps” in the image it gathers, as its sensor has a 90% fill-factor versus the 75% commonly found in CMOSs. This will help to eliminate aliasing potential, for one, as well as produce a more all-around “full” image (visual explanation of sensor fill-factor from Dalsa in Links below).

Something even more space-age about the Delta’s sensor, though, is an option which allows the sensor to actually move in place. This capability oscillates the imager by a half-pixel offset each frame, randomizing the noise structure of the image. Fixed noise structure is a difficult problem to bypass in the digital world, but it seems as though Aaton has done so to a point never before achieved. Moreover, Aaton claims that the resolution created by this sensor movement actually increases the effective spatial resolution of the imagery over time. Though any given single frame will resolve whatever a debayered 3.5K image equates to, in motion the consecutive frames combine to virtually resolve an estimated 7K before debayering. That’s right — the Penelope Delta’s sensor can resolve 7K RAW through a method of time-travel (not really but you can understand what I mean).

The Results After all of this mind-bending innovation, what do the images created by the camera actually look like? Film and Digital Times got a chance to check out some test clips shot by Caroline Champetier, AFC, and had this to say about the footage:

Racing from IBC hall 11 to Marquise technologies in hall 7, we looked at the dailies. Filmic and gorgeous. An available-light scene in a cafe held noiseless detail in deep dark shadows under the chair (below, left) while highlights in the silver espresso machine did not burn out (right). Apologies to Caroline–my graded jpeg below doesn’t do full justice to the original DNG file.

Here’s the graded jpeg in question (courtesy Jon Fauer, FDT):

You may access the CinemaDNG clip this still is from and others from the links below.

As mentioned earlier, when this camera comes out — and there doesn’t seem to be any definitive release dates thus far, though John Brawley estimates that five working prototypes will ship in December — it’s not going to sell for pocket-change. Mr. Brawley’s post says the target price will be around 90,000 Euros, which is about $120,000. That’s more than a little outside the realm of short-term ownership for me, but I’ll be pleased if I have the opportunity to work with the Penelope Delta on a rental basis before I turn 71 years old.

Are you guys as excited about the technologies at work here as I am? Do you think the Penelope Delta will be able to cut a sizeable share out of the RAW digital cinema market once it comes out?

Links:

• Aaton’s Penelope Delta homepage — plus Aaton’s leaflet download (PDF)
• Test Clip CinemaDNG downloads courtesy Marquise Technology
• Film and Digital Times recent article and original article

[Dalsa's Image Sensor Architecture for Digital Cinema (PDF) via John Brawley]

RED EPIC and SCARLET Get Simultaneous HDMI/HD-SDI in Stable Firmware Release
Joe Marine10.18.12 @ 5:48PM Tags : firmware, red, redepic, redscarlet


If you were one of the lucky few who got in on the recent RED SCARLET deal (or you already owned one), RED has just announced a new stable firmware update that allows the HDMI and the HD-SDI to output a signal simultaneously on both the EPIC and the SCARLET. This had previously been impossible without the use of a splitter of some kind, but it’s clear that the EPICand SCARLET are powerful enough to not only record internally, but also send out two debayered signals at the same time. Check out the rest of the major additions in this update below.

These are some of the significant additions in this release — version 3.3.14:

• Added Pro IO Support (Video, Audio, Timecode, Sync, Genlock, GPIO and PWR)
• Added Pro IO Power Control
• Added Pro IO and Camera Audio Output Mix Control
• Added Audio Playback
• Added HD-SDI and HDMI Audio
• Added Pro IO HD-SDI audio on PREVIEW and PLAYBACK
• Added Overlay Menu on left/right side of touch screen (Soft Keys)
• Added Frame Guide Menus
• Added Lookaround support
• Added higher frame rates 312,325,330,336,350,360,375,384,390
• Added simultaneous HDMI and HD-SDI outputs
• Added Nikon Mount support
• Added Monochrome Epic support
• Added 512GB and 48GB SSD Support

Many of these had already existed in a Beta release, but this is the first stable update to contain these additions. The EPIC and SCARLET are not run and gun cameras by any means, but if you’re in a solo shooting situation, it’s likely you’ve got audio going into the camera, so having the ability to hear that audio on playback is important. We’re still waiting on those lower-priced REDMAGs which are 48GB, but support has been added in the this firmware ahead of release.

I know some of you were trying to avoid buying the 5″ RED Touch LCD, but then it was mentioned that the Touch LCD was required after performing a firmware upgrade. Searching through the REDUser forum, I came across the answer, and it seems RED has made it possible to use a third party monitor even after a firmware upgrade:

The only issue with using a 3rd party monitor as a primary monitor is switching the menus to it after a firmware update. At first we had to ask for a force HDMI preset for each new firmware but now red has created a download package with everything you could need. It’s found in the support section of red.com in the downloads portion and it’s called DSMC resources. Inside will be a series of folders one should be preset files, inside of that will be a selection between firmwares select your, then select the preset you want 720 or 1080, hdsdi or hdmi. Now all you have to do is place the file in a folder named force_preset in the root of your ssd, boot the camera it will run the force preset and then the screen should turn on.

You can find the firmware upgrade from RED using the link below.

Link: RED Firmware Upgrade — Downloads

GoPro has announced three camera models, full details here] We knew it was coming sooner or later, but I don’t think many suspected that the new camera from GoPro would be quite this powerful. Industry pros and others were invited to a GoPro event in the Bay area tonight where the brand new 4K capable HERO3 Black Edition camera was introduced. Sony and JVC have been trying to get in on the action with their own POV cams, but when it comes down to specs, this new pocket cam from GoPro might be in a whole other league — and it’s even going to be compatible with the new Protune firmware upgrade that was just released. Click through for everything we know so far about the camera.



Here are the specs so far (thanks to Stu Maschwitz for the info):

• 4K: 15fps
• 2.7K: 30/25/24 fps
• 1440p: 48/30/25/24 fps
• 1080p: 60/50/48/30/25/24 fps
• 960p: 100/48
• 720p: 120/100/60/50 fps
• WVGA: 240fps
• Built-in WiFi
• Availability: November
• Price: $400