A "cheap" Sony 4K Camera and other news

The Cheap Sony 4K
SonyAlphaRumors has a picture of an upcoming cheap 4K camera from Sony that may sell for less than $5,000. Cheap, of course, is relative.

This isn't really news; the idea of a camera like this was previewed back at NAB, as Cinescopophilia points out. I'm quite sure that Sony will come out with a 4K camera that looks like this; the question was never 'if,' only 'when' and 'how much?'

But before you get too excited, note that this camera is basically the same body as the HXR-NX5U and HVR-Z5U. These cameras have a FIXED lens, and 1/3" sensors. This is not the 4K replacement for the NEX-FS100. It could still be a nice camera for documentary work, though the image better be worth the extra $$ compared to the price of the HXR-NX5U.


Other News


When a Camera Manufacturer Hates Me… | ProVideoCoalition
Art Adams responds to being called out by Jim Jannard in his final post to Reduser:
I have a lot of respect for RED. They changed the world in a lot of good ways, the most important of which is that they've kicked their competition in the ass to lower costs and make higher quality cameras. That's huge. Unfortunately RED has also made it acceptable to ship cameras that aren't complete yet and empower our clients to take important equipment decisions out of the hands of the very people they hired to make those decisions.


Why Make Video Look Like Film? An Inside Look… | DV Info
An interview with one of the creators of FilmConvert
it’s hard to say what the film look is. It’s not the exact colours that are important, but moreover film has what I call a more “organic” feel: the highlights roll off nicely, the shadows roll under nicely, there’s a strange twist in the middle of the colour response, and a curious lack of real deep blues. When running through a projector, the fact that the photosites move around from frame to frame (grain!) adds to the effect, which your brain puts together and screams “film!”


TESTING OUT A PRODUCTION BLACKMAGIC POCKET CINEMA CAMERA | Dan Chung | NewsShooter
Yesterday I was lucky enough to receive one of the first production Blackmagic Pocket Cinema cameras to arrive in China. I’ve been quite excited about this little camera ever since it was announced at NAB earlier in the year. Anticipating its arrival I have built a small kit of lenses and accessories that should turn it into a workable camera system. Central to this are fast lenses that allow for reasonably shallow depth of field with its small sensor.


Black Betty: the First Cinema Camera That Can Shoot, Edit, & Post Footage Completely Internally | NoFilmSchool
Building cameras seems to have become a hobby for everyone:
Black Betty is much more than a camera. It’s a complete cinema solution utilizing an Apple Mac Mini computer with a Silicon Imaging SI-2K Mini for the imager. It also happens to be the first single unit camera in existence capable of shooting, editing, and posting footage online, without the need for any other hardware.


Rewriting How-To | Just Effing Entertain Me
This ability to identify your story as having a beginning, a middle and an end will serve you very well when you have to ask yourself what the reader will “get” from your story. Again, this is a prerequisite of screenwriting and no joke.


Editing Room Confidential: The New Roles TV and Film Editors Must Play Now | Adam Epstein | Tribeca Film
The first in what is promised to be a series of columns by 'SNL' editor Adam Epstein:
 "I am an editor," is now assumed to be the start of a list rather than a declarative statement. "I am an editor…who is also a sound designer. And a compositor. And I can make motion graphics. And know how to troubleshoot computer systems. And follow the trends in software, hardware and storage technology.


Know Your Market! | Digital Bolex
The folks working on the Digital Bolex camera write about film distribution:
There are many reasons why distribution companies pick up certain films. It may not always make sense to you, or you may not understand why your film is not getting the attention that a similar project appears to be getting. The most obvious reason why companies buy a film is that it fits the audience of their brand that they’ve spent years cultivating. Documentary distributors buy documentaries because they distribute documentaries.


The Missing 5 Pages: A History of Fine Line | Ira Deutchman
Distribution from the other side:
Those of you who have watched my Keynote at the Art House Convergence may not have have realized that in the interest of time, I ended up cutting out five pages of the planned speech–an entire decade of my experience founding and running Fine Line Features. There is some interesting information in here about the politics of theatrical exhibition, and how that relates to the success of Sony Classics. 



All you wanted to know about the BMCC & BMPCC from Joao LCD. on Vimeo.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sony GV-D200 review

Image
Sony GV-D200 I've been using a Sony GV-D200 deck to transfer old Video8 and Hi8 tapes. Some of these tapes are over twenty years old, and no longer having a Hi8 camcorder that worked I was concerned that if I didn't do something about transferring them to a more modern format soon, I might never be able to. While Sony no longer make camcorders that use these tapes - that I know of - Sony does still sell the GV-D200 deck (or Video Walkman, as it's sometimes labelled.) They also offer the GV-D800, which is almost identical but adds a small LCD screen for about $120 more. I didn't think I'd need a screen since I was using this to capture to the computer, but you will need an external monitor when you first set it up. Physically, the device is small. At 5 7/8" wide, 5 3/8" deep and 2" high, it's the smallest video deck I've encountered. I used to have a Video8 deck that I thought was small; and it was twice as deep and twice as high. The t
Read more

Response: Which iPhone to Get?

Image
In response to my iPhone musings, I got the following reader email which actually sums up a lot of my second and third thoughts too: You might have a point about the fancier camera, but otherwise I would buy the smaller model. Its screen is about the same size as that of my Nexus 4, and I don't feel at all like it limits me with a too-small screen. But I do sometimes stretch to get my thumb the reach to the other corner of the screen. It is plenty big for a phone. A phone is a pocket thing. (Well, in my case it lives an ancient REI soft sunglasses case that I have on my belt.) Ubiquitous, handy, convenient, almost always with me. Small is crucial for all of that. Certainly a large screen is cool, but you need a place to put it: don't break a fundamental feature of a pocket phone by getting too big. That is what your small tablet is for. I have my phone with me almost always. I have my Nexus 7 tablet with me nearly as much. The bigger screen is great, yet it fits in some
Read more

Should you buy the Sony NEX-FS100 Kit Lens?

Image
The Sony NEX-FS100 is available in two configurations: B & H : NEX-FS100U Camcorder only $4,999 B & H : NEX-FS100U (with 18-200mm lens) $5,599 But what does that extra $600 get you? It get's you this: Sony 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Zoom Lens for NEX Camera This lens is also available separately for $799.99, so at $200 off you'd think everyone would be jumping on it. But not so fast... In his article about switching from the Canon 5D Mark II to the Sony NEX-FS100 , Paul Antico  at Need Creative says of the kit lens: 7) Its 18-200 F3.6-6.3 kit lens absolutely sucks and should be avoided (thankfully, you can order it without one) [ 1 ] But is it that bad? At B & H 's site, 43 reviews give it an average of 4.6 out of 5 stars. That's not a bad rating, though many of these people are using it for stills, and the most common complaint noted is how large and heavy it is. Of course this feeling of size would be exacerbated when you put it on a tiny camera
Read more