Tag Archives: Cameras

Leica’s new M Monochrom (246)

Leica’s new M Monochrom (Typ 246) was introduced in May. We spoke with Jesko von Oeynhausen, the Leica M Monochrom Product Manager. “The sensor for the Leica M (Typ 240 and 246) was designed and constructed specifically for photography with Leica M-Lenses. Thanks to the use of only one cover glass instead of three, the number of air-to-glass surfaces is reduced from six to only two. This means that less light is absorbed, fewer reflections occur, and more light can reach the sensor. On top of this, the cover glass used for the sensor in M-Cameras is also multi-coated to reduce reflections…” read more…

Tags: , , ,

Cameras Smaller, Trucks Bigger

Cameras may be getting smaller, but look at the size of these campers, support trucks and craft service village on the streets of New York yesterday.  

Tags: , ,

NAB 2014 Camera Reports

Here is a whirlwind review of NAB 2014 cameras in pictures and brief text. Click on an individual thumbnail to enlarge and navigate as a slideshow. Sony’s annual press conference on the Sunday before opening day was all about 4K, and not just in the usual places. A new Sony α7s camera was unveiled: with a 24×36 mm full frame sensor, E-mount and… read more…

Tags: , ,

If Joe Dunton Buys Kodak

What if Joe Dunton were to purchase Kodak? I have often quipped that Joe Dunton never saw a camera company he didn’t want to own. (Among his collections are Moy and Mitchell Camera Company.) Joe Dunton, MBE, BSC had a mischievous smile when I saw him at the BSC Show on Saturday.  Headlines taken out of context quickly become rumors… read more…

Tags:

Case Closed

I met Cocoon’s Maik Finzel and Patrick Biesinger at IBC. Cocoon makes terrific custom foam interiors for camera and equipment cases. For example, their products have coddled Compact Prime and Master Prime lenses by ZEISS, Cooke S4  sets, and the new Leica Summilux-C primes. Cocoon is based in Jena, which happens to be where Carl Zeiss set up shop in 1846. These… read more…

Tags: , ,

Weisscam T-1

Stefan Weiss showed his Weisscam T-1 prototype at the Band Pro Booth in IBC. It has a 2/3″ sensor, 600 ISO, 11 stops of exposure latitude, 12-bit RAW, and 10-bit HD output. Speeds are planned from normal to 350 fps. Additional models, including 35mm sensor, are planned. Stefan is a working cinematographer who also invents cameras (like the Weisscam HS-1… read more…

Tags:

Mako’s Marvelous Mini Cams

We’ve all seen how digital still cameras that also shoot HD video, such as the Panasonic GH2 or Canon 5D MkII, have made a big impact on projects, large, small and “we’ll pay for lunch.” But there is another group of cameras that are much smaller and have been popping up in all types of surprising places. These are the… read more…

Tags:

Focus After the Fact

The New York Times reports on Lytro “Shoot Now, Focus Later.” The Lytro camera coming later this year uses a micro lens array to capture images without having to set focus. You can change focus interactively while viewing. Further reading, forwarded by Howard Preston: http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/lfcamera/ and the technical paper: http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/lfcamera/lfcamera-150dpi.pdf.  

Tags:

GoPro

GoPro makes the famous HD HERO line of wearable and mountable cameras and accessories. The camera’s about the size an ice cube. It comes with a rugged waterproof plastic shell. At NAB 2011, they introduced a tiny on-board monitor and a 3D version. As GoPro says, “these cameras make it easy for people to record and share their lives’ most… read more…

Tags:

Cooke Evening

More than 65 guests attended the annual Cooke Evening on April 13, 2011 to mingle and discuss the state of the motion picture industry. They converged on Del Frisco’s Steak House, where the wine and beverages flowed smoother than workflow, the steaks were Jurassic in size, and the conversation was better than most seminars. The evening quickly became a moveable feast… read more…

Tags: ,

Oli at NAB 2011

Sony’s theme was “Believe Beyond HD.” The Digital Cinema Society’s seminar was titled, “3D, 4K and beyond.” We saw plenoptic lenses selectively adjusting focus within a scene. We saw the GoPro 3D camera on a model helicopter. NAB 2011 was well beyond HD. Attendance was up, along with activity on the show floor.  It could be a reflection of a… read more…

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FDTimes NAB Edition Contents

FDTimes April 2011 double issue 41-42 hits the halls of NAB on opening day: at 9 am on Monday April 11, 2011. Pick up your complimentary copy of Film and Digital Times from the publication bins in the Central Hall Main Lobby and South Hall Upper Lobby, at our booth C9550, and at the booths of our sponsors, including Sony, Fujinon,… read more…

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Game Changer

The melodrama was maximum on some websites that picked up my earlier post about Sony’s new >4K camera. I called it a Game Changer. They cranked up the noise, and talked about “gauntlets” being thrown, “stakes” being driven, “lines” drawn somewhere–maybe the sand. Someone said they saw a Palindramatic metaphor about targets, but I suspect it as an unconfirmed sighting. All… read more…

Tags:

Retrofit Syndrome

There never was a motion picture camera in the history of the world that remained untouched or unscathed by cinematographers and rental houses. Retrofit syndrome is rampant. Analog and digital. Every cinematographer has a different shooting style and way of thinking. Every camera assistant and operator has a different way of working. Some of the new digital cameras provide democratizing platforms… read more…

Tags:

EasyFocus

EasyFocus is our first new sponsor of 2011. Fritz Gabriel Bauer (left), Renaissance filmmaker, cinematographer, director, producer, designer of the Moviecam and Arricam, keeps on inventing amazing things. He designed the Moviecam because he wanted a lighter, quieter camera. Now, he’s turned his attention to keeping things in focus. His latest creation is the Moviecam EasyFocus. EasyFocus combines a precision… read more…

Tags: , ,

How to Train your Designers

The NXCAM concept block shown recently by Sony got me thinking. If I were the designer, what would I do? Where are cameras headed, how will they be used, are we learning anything from the designs of the past? Sony’s NXCAM 35 prototype suggests that sensors could be semi-permanently attached to the lens instead of the camera. When you change… read more…

Tags: , ,

Nikon D7000

This is the Nikon that HDSLR users have been waiting for, and the HDSLR that Nikon users are grabbing. Three significant specs stand out: 1080p, 4.78µm pixels, and 25,600 ISO. Need we say more? Yes. The new Nikon D7000 is possibly the most advanced digital Nikon currently available…if you can find one. Stores have been swamped with orders. It has… read more…

Tags: ,

Alexa in Uruguay

Musitelli Film & Digital celebrated the arrival of their first ALEXA on December 8. Roasted sausages Uruguayan style, chilled beers, and sodas were served to nearly 200 guests and staff. The following morning, a technical workshop was conducted for DPs, Directors, DITs and Camera Assistants. Jeffrey Reyes, ARRI Tech Sales Representative, flew in from his Miami office to assist in the training… read more…

Tags: , , ,

Hotel Scribe at 150.

The Hotel Scribe in Paris celebrates its 150th anniversary today. In this hotel, 115 years ago, the Lumiere Brothers organized the first projected cinema screening. In the Cafe Lumiere, history was celebrated with festive flutes of LED-illuminated cocktails and champagne. Three varieties of smoked salmon and pates were served. History was illuminated, toasted and tasted.

Tags:

First Lumiere Screening

115 years ago–December 28, 1895–the first motion picture screening took place in Paris. Auguste and Pierre Lumiere set up their Cinematographe projector (it also worked as a camera and printer) at the Hotel Scribe in the Salon Indien. At the time, it was a billiard room of the Grand Cafe at the corner of Rue Scribe and Boulevard des Capucines. Today,… read more…

Tags: