InBroadcast
Developments in acquiring ultra motion, low light action and high resolution.
Super slo motion shots are among the most prized in sports for the ability to show technique, incident and emotion in hyper-detail. Perhaps the biggest recent development is Infinite from Belgium's I-MOVIX. Referred to by CEO Laurent Renard, as “a brand-new radically innovative solution,” Infinite is based on the Phantom Flex4K camera and I-MOVIX X10 platform. It is capable of recording over an hour of continuous loop recording in HD in conjunction with a server, where it only requires a single channel, saving cost and space in the mobile truck and it can even record onboard for use without a server. The system's ability to provide 'trigger-less coverage' means a dedicated operator is not required, which simplifies the camera workflow.
The firm's X10 UHD RF system, launched last year, enables live and replay operation with standard RF equipment now including the Clip-On 4 or L1700 wireless cameraback solutions from Vislink.
I-Movix has also added IP-based remote production capabilities to its range. The upgrade allows production teams to add I-Movix cameras, in different locations, to a network and then manage and control them from a central media centre.
Germany's Antelope Camera Systems has updated its Colibri Deflicker, a tool engineered to eliminate interference between the flickering produced by most artificial lights and the high-speed frame-rate of the camera. The unit takes a HD-SDI signal and outputs a flicker-free feed in real-time without visible artifacts. Also new is Cobra Link – a multi-channel fibre-optic transmission system. Designed for high-speed camera systems, this unit outputs two 3G HD-SDI video signals, and operates over distances of up to 3Km.
The Phantom Flex 4K is known as a top of the range ultra motion imager but makers Vision Research are to bring out a mid-range version. Anticipated in the IBC2016 timeframe, the Phantom VEO is capable of capturing up to 1500 fps at 2.5K resolution recording to standard CFast 2.0 cards.
Low-light
The main markets for ultra-high-sensitivity cameras reside in surveillance, airbourne reconnaissance, astronomy or niches like cave exploration but broadcasters can also find uses for them. Last year Canon launched the ME-20F-SH, a $30000 HD camera with a staggering ISO in excess of 4 million which has been used to capture the nocturnal behaviour of Tarsier monkeys for a Sky 1 documentary. Now the model has a baby brother ME200S-SH camera which uses the same sensor as Canon's C100 for Super35 sizing. It records to an external device via SDi or HDMI (unlike the ME-20 which has no onboard recording) and can be configured a number of different ways from either studio or on-the-go use. It doesn’t have the ultra-high ISO of the ME20, but still offers a max 204,800 sensitivity, two NDs and an IR cut filter and only costs $4999.
Sony’s new UMC-S3C is an interchangeable-lens Super 35mm camera which weighs 400g, boasts an ISO range up to 409,600 and a 4K resolution, which may make it preferable over the competition. It will also record to onboard memory cards which makes it more practical for run and gun style.
Cineflex also has a high-sensitivity camera aimed more at ENG and broadcast markets. The V14-HS features a 3CMOS sensor that “assures high contrast color imagery in dark, misty and foggy conditions.” It also includes a software package called Smart Payload Technology which consists of features like unlimited signal bandwidth and video tagged with geographic metadata like street names enabling augmented views in real-time or post production.
4K for VR
If people are going to have screens strapped to their faces it pays to make the video as high resolution as possible, not least to offset the information lost in stitching the multiple feeds together.
NakedEYE from Indiecam is a 4K back-to-back lensed global shutter camera for 360 video. Indiecam says nakedEYE provides “unique POV-style VR shots from moving objects, vehicles, athletes and remote locations”. The square high speed sensors have a resolution of 2K x 2K each and are synchronized to record CinemaDNG RAW-files. The whole unit, including the lenses which are made by Japanese firm Entaniya, measures just 3.09 inches diameter and weighs 13.4 ounces.
At the end of last year Z Cam launched a small micro four-thirds 4K UHD camera, the E1 Camera. Funded by Kickstarter campaign and marketed by the company as a Go Pro-like action cam, it has received reviews for its application as a micro-cinematic camera. Rather than shooting on a drone or VR rig it may be best used as a b-roll camera for tight places or for pre-visualization. Its notable characteristics include a CMOS sensor, rolling shutter and interchangeable lens system with support for autofocus lenses from Olympus, Panasonic, Lumix, Leica and Sigma. It's available from US retailer Adorama.com priced $699.
As is its tradition Blackmagic Design didn't stint on announcements a NAB, making 14 of them the pick of which was a 4K Duplicator (priced $1995) works by for recording UHD files to 25 SD cards simultaneously in realtime. The idea is that content creators, such as concert promoters, might sell UHD versions of the live performance right after it's finished.
The new 7-inch URSA Studio Viewfinder turns a Blackmagic URSA Mini into a professional studio camera. A software update to the camera adds features such as talkback, tally, camera control and lens control from BMD's ATEM live production switchers. At NAB Blackmagic also showed off a VR rig from 360 Designs that uses its Micro Cameras. A Mini Eye rig holding ten cameras is priced $55,000.
Action cams
Small HD POV cams include the Codex Action Cam, an imager capable of shooting 12-bit RAW at up to 60fps to a Codex Camera Control Recorder housed in the same small body; IO Industries' Flare Camera Series and the Cerberus from LMP Lux Media Plan. This is a modular system combining three 2/3” sensors using the identical processing hardware and making the camera heads interchangeable.
IO Industries also has a 4K mini-cam, the 4KSDI which sites a Super 35mm global shutter CMOS sensor with 12 stops of dynamic range in its aluminum chassis. It uses four standard 3G/HD-SDI outputs for the signal and permits interchangeable lens mounts including Arri PL, Nikon F and Canon EF, allowing a range of familiar lenses to be used. For stereo 3D or panoramic configurations, or live-to-air broadcasts, an HD sync reference is included for multi-camera synchronization.
8K for VFX
A production ecosystem for 8K is being pursued full steam ahead by mainly Japanese manufacturers in order to showcase Japan Inc ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. Hitachi and Ikegami have new 8K systems cameras and Canon is working on one too. It won't be due until 2018 though. A protoype at NAB was housed in a C300 M11 and was shown recording to four Convergent Design Odyssey7Qs in four 4K quadrants and displayed on Canon's prototype 55-inch reference monitor.
“8K is much more challenging than the move from SD to HD and the industry is still facing the challenge of going to 4K,” warned Canon's professional video products manager, Tim Smith.
Canon will have an eye on the cine film market where the overhead of information gathered from high-resolution sensors are a bonus for VFX-intensive productions and emerging forms of volumetric imaging.
RED has beaten Canon to it. The Weapon sports an 8K (8192 x 4320) sensor and is already in use on Marvel Studios' Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 with a Codex assisted workflow. The camera can capture 8K resolution at up to 75 frames per second (fps) although with multiple cameras, the amount of REDcode RAW data generated on this vfx blockbuster topped 100 TB in just a month's shooting.
Chinese company Kinefinity has new 5K and 6K Terra cameras which resemble REDcameras in design. They both record as ProRes 422 or in KineRAW, which can be transcoded into CinemaDNG and ProRres by the company’s own software.
The Terra 5K has dual shutter modes: a rolling shutter for a wide latitude, low noise, and fast frame rates up to 15 f-stops and a global shutter up to 13 stops. It can shoot 5K up to 60 fps, and costs $5K body only. The Terra version uses a 6K CMOS sensor with rolling shutter with up to 14 f-stops latitude (at 25fps). It costs $6000 and both are available via European distributor MJIT Berlin.
The future is light-field
A camera being launched by Silicon Valley tech developer Lytro later this year is able to record video through a microlens array comprising millions of lenslets onto a 755 RAW megapixel sensor up to 300 fps. The technique, known as light-field, captures the depth, direction and intensity of light rays in a scene as data to enable greater flexibility in altering the image in post.
“Currently, key creative decisions such as the frame rate are ‘baked in’ at the time of capture,” explains Jon Karafin, head of light-field video, product management, Lytro. “Light-field means you can computationally change the shutter time, frame rate and aperture after the event. For the film and TV community, that means they can get shots that previously weren’t possible. Computers, storage and bandwidth have finally caught up to a point that makes light-field practical, with the level of quality for demanding production."
While cinematographers may baulk at the idea, the Lytro Cinema Camera can simulate existing lenses, for example by applying an anamorphic lens to scenes in post. The first version is built like a tank so can only be used in studio and it's being offered for rent, inclusive of technicians and server from $125K.
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