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MillimeterProduction and Post at NAB 2008
May 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By D. W. Leitner and Dan Ochiva
This year's show saw many advances in digital cinema and color-management technologies.
Aaton Penelope
Photo: D. W. Leitner
Dalsa, which started the whole 4K ball rolling at NAB 2003, finally downsized, introducing the long-anticipated production version of its streamlined Evolution 4K camera (svelte alongside the behemoth Origin 4K) with a new onboard Flash-memory Flashmag system for recording 20 minutes of uncompressed or 40 minutes of losslessly compressed 4K RAW (similar to Vision Research's CineMag).
Also introduced were Dalsa's new line of 4K anamorphic lenses, brainchild of Dalsa President Rob Hummel. They include 10 fast primes (many of them T 1.4) from 18mm to 180mm, two T 2.8 zooms (35mm-80mm and 70mm-210mm), and three lightweight T 2.0 zooms. Notably, their anamorphic squeeze is only a mild 1.2X instead of the conventional 2X squeeze, due to the fact that Dalsa's unique frame-transfer CCD possesses a 2:1 aspect ratio to begin with.
Arri upgraded its Arriflex D-20 to a new D-21 model, adding 2K RAW output and talking up the ease of use of conventional anamorphic lenses with the D-21. (Arri's 35mm-sized CMOS sensor possesses a conventional 4:3 aspect ratio.)
Sony finally tossed its hat into the PL-mount, single-sensor ring (unless you already count Panavision's Genesis, which contains a Sony CCD and signal processing). December's rumors of a single-sensor version of last year's F23 materialized at Band Pro's booth, where the impressive new F35 sat perched on a dolly.
With a newly developed CCD the size of Super 35mm and a commensurate $250,000 price tag (lens not included), the F35 sets several new highwater marks in 4:4:4 RGB cameras. Sony says it achieves better dynamic range and signal-to-noise than the F23 (itself no piker), plus 1fps-50fps variable speed in 4:4:4 (compared to F23's 1-30fps). You get every pixel you pay for: This is full-on 1920×1080 RGB — no Bayer-interpolated missing R and B pixels in this baby.
High end leaked into the low end at NAB this year too. How else to explain the introduction of Sony's PMW-EX3 mere months after the arrival of the PMW-EX1? Like the EX1, the EX3 is a 1/2in. 3CMOS that both captures true progressive 1920×1080 and records it (35Mbps MPEG-2 to SxS cards). Novel to the EX3 are interchangeable lenses (a maverick new lens mount, wide as a PL), a weird oversized viewfinder based on the EX1's LCD, a slightly longer body to permit bracing against the shoulder, a multipin connector for remote CCU control, and a clever dial on the operator's side to adjust frame rates from 1fps-60fps in 720p or 1fps-30fps in 1080p.
Also new was Sony's PDW-700, its first 2/3in. 3CCD XDCAM HD optical disc camcorder for 1080i/p and 720p at both 60/50 rates. 4:2:2 color subsampling, high-quality 50Mbps MPEG-2, dual-layer 50GB discs — but no 24p, which hobbles this otherwise exciting newcomer.
Panasonic launched its first solid-state P2 Varicams, the AJ-HPX3700 and AJ-HPX2700. With new 2.2-megapixel 2/3in. CCDs, the 3700 elevates Varicam to full 1920×1080 HD acquisition and provides both uncompressed 4:4:4 RGB dual-link output and full-HD recording of 4:2:2 1920×1080 in Panasonic's AVC-Intra 100Mbps lossless compression. (No more tape-based DVCPRO HD subsampled to 1280×1080.) The 3700 also records to AVC-Intra 50 (1440×1080, 4:2:0) and DVCPRO HD (1280×1080, 4:2:2). The 2700, with three 1-megapixel 2/3in. CCDs (like the original Varicam), records to the same three compression formats.
Of course, film remains a moving target too. Although Kodak was absent this year, film still sets the bar for digital cinema cameras. If Kodak had attended, surely the company would have touted its new Vision3 500T 5219 35mm negative, which has met with wide acclaim for its two additional stops of visible detail in highlights and grain so tight you can pull clean detail out of muddy shadows. In other words, perfect for Super 16 and 2-perf 35mm.
So perhaps it was providential that the long-awaited 2-perf/3-perf 35mm Aaton Penelope debuted at this NAB. Penelope is an instant-magazine, sync-sound camera (23dB) that, at 24fps/2-perf, offers 9 minutes of continuous operation from a 400ft. roll. Not only does operating in 2-perf cut film costs in half, but it enables finishing in full 2.40 widescreen in DI without the costs and sacrifices of anamorphic lenses.
Penelope has other tricks up its slender sleeves. In a break with the past, the super-bright viewfinder is made by Munich's P+S Technik. A USB flash drive alongside the twin batteries captures not only mag number, frame rate, timecode start-stop, and JPEG stills, but organizes the results into PDF “image reports” for later printout. The gate is attached by magnets, incredibly easy to lift out and clean.
Come to think of it, what isn't a moving target at NAB?
(For further detailed coverage of NAB, see my NAB blogs at blog.digitalcontentproducer.com/nab and my wrap-up article in Digital Content Producer at digitalcontentproducer.com/cameras/revfeat/nab_wrapup.)
