A large sensor version of this, would please lovers of big cameras.
Over at Canon Rumours it looks like a Canon fan has been reading the AF100 spec sheet to produce the first rumour, and dreamt up the second one altogether. ‘Yamato’ does have a nice feel to it – 20 stops of dynamic range with no clipped highlights, beautiful shades of snow out in the Japanese field test. Great but how plausible?
Not very.
First of all, simultaneous 2k and 4k output over HD-SDI should get alarm bells ringing. Why would anyone want 2 uncompressed feeds at great cost to the onboard CPU at different resolutions? I just can’t work out a need for that.
Second and possibly even more strange – no ND filter on a $20k video camera? The author of the rumours seems to mistakenly equate the presence of high dynamic range to the lack of any need for an ND filter. The ND filter’s function is to adjust exposure without increasing shutter speed or stopping down the lens. What has this got to do with HDR?
The rumoured lower end $6-8K AF100 competitor has 3 ND filters onboard, apparently. Because it has lower dynamic range, or because they copied it from the AF100 spec sheet??
The rumour also says latitude is in the 14-20 stop range on the high end Yamato. 35mm film is 15 stops. Real-time HDR in software is technically feasible but since current CMOS sensors stop around the 12 mark, reaching 20 would need some seriously snazzy processing in realtime at 24p or 60p. I don’t think that portable semiconductors are quite at that level yet even in the lab.
Here are the rumoured cameras in full:
1. Based upon the APS-C chip size (new sensorchip design) this new cam comes in a body which roughly looks like the XLH1 series. EF lens mount. Problems with moire are solved. Video looks much better than 7d vids, about 12 stops of dynamic range, clean pictures up to ISO 3200. 3 ND filters on board. 1920x1080p up to 60fps over HD-SDI out. 2K and 4K output possible, but not in the beginning, will be sold as additional hardwareupgrade. Codec: 4:2:2 50 MBit MPEG-2 Full HD . CF-Card slot and optional SD-Proxy. Pricerange $6-8K. Release scheduled for june/july 2011.
2. Maybe most interesting to know, a revolutionary new 3-chip design (fullframe chips, new sensorchip design) is being tested. Absolutely stunning image quality in both laboratory and field tests (snowy + green nature); crisp sharp + most neutral colors with many distinguishable snow-whites, no clipped highlights even without ND’s (no build in ND). Up to about 20 stops of dynamic range possible (14-20 switchable + shiftable and special highlights preserving function). 2K and 4K raw output. over dual HD-SDI. Chrystal clear images up to about ISO 6000. This cam (intern codename, non official: “Yamato”) will sell for $20+K. Body design not finished yet, but will offer modular options.
Furthermore, ISO 6000 is a strange number even on a video camera. Maybe they mean ISO 6400?
Absolutely nothing makes sense. I can’t see Canon holding back 4K as an upgrade in the same camera body. That’s like releasing the original 2003 Digital Rebel with an upgrade to 22MP tucked away in the firmware to be enabled in 2010.
However on the AF100 competitor, although giving it the lowest rating of CR1, Canon Rumours guy says “All plausible specs to me based on the fact that the sensor they showed at the Canon EXPO was an aps-c sensor doing 4k video.”
If CR guy needs anyone to separate unbelievable bull from believable bull, may I be the first to offer!
I hope Canon have some good stuff tucked up their sleeve for video. By the rumoured release dates in 2011 Canon would have had 3 years to work on it. The 5D Mark II is really getting old now. We’ve had firmware updates and a few cheaper offerings based around a inferior APS-C sensor, and the expensive 1D Mark IV had a very nice sensor indeed but the same old video processing from the years old DIGIC 4. 2 years since it’s release the 5D Mark II is still standing up very nicely.
