The Digital Bolex just got False Color

[Mattias Burling]

The D16 was already feature jammed compared to the BMPCC, etc. And today it got some more tools in the box.

Full list of features:
Display color gamuts
Display gammas
Accurate display color tuning
False color exposure view mode
Improvements to image encoding
Improvements to ISO accuracy

http://www.digitalbolex.com/firmware-1-5-elf-released/

And in case someone forgot what the camera can do.

 

[Jonesy Jones]

Man. That is gorgeous. 

[BrorSvensson]

One of the nicest looking digital image i've seen

[Andrew Reid]

That film is damned talented, a great find, pressing all the right emotional buttons with just images and sound alone, no words, just really nice audio/visual poetry. Loved it.

The Digital Bolex also has one of the most 'emotional' images in the same sense... incredible colour, dynamic range and a sensor size perfectly matched to pre-1980's Super 16mm vintage lenses.

I just wish the D16 cost $999 and was available in great quantity... but that in a way is not the point of it. It is a camera that has a habit of getting into a disproportionately high number of talented hands, which means they're building a really special community around it.

Also, it's one of the few cameras you can shoot jerky handheld footage with and it still looks great, for whatever reason - the CCD and global shutter having a hand in that magic motion candace of course.

[tomastancredi]

59 minutes ago, Mattias Burling said:

 

Full list of features:
Display color gamuts
Display gammas
Accurate display color tuning
False color exposure view mode
Improvements to image encoding
Improvements to ISO accuracy

http://www.digitalbolex.com/firmware-1-5-elf-released/

 

Anyone know if it is possible to use external recorder on it? 

It says on the firmware update news link : "This version may be compatible with HDMI recorders, however further testing is necessary." 

Can't find info to know whether it was already possible to proper record it externally, or if maybe now it could be. I would buy it if I could sometimes shoot on proress externally.

[Nikkor]

That short certainly looks like film, but like for real not some shitty lut look (ok the highlights don't match, but it's digital so that's unavoidable).

[Mattias Burling]

26 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

Also, it's one of the few cameras you can shoot jerky handheld footage with and it still looks great, for whatever reason - the CCD and global shutter having a hand in that magic motion candace of course.

Now that's what the Magic Lantern team should do. Hack the APS-H M8 or the FF M9 CCD cameras and give them video with Leica/Kodak/DB Mojo I would pay anything

I'm very pleased with the colors straight from my M8s sensor.

I know it won't happen and is probably impossible, but still....

[Andrew Reid]

Damn I miss those high end CCD sensors... magic.

F35, M8, Kodak (Digital Bolex) was probably the shortest lived golden era of digital there ever was!

[cpc]

Looks like a great update. The introduction of Bolex Gamut and Bolex Log should make it easier for the Bolex to be considered a serious tool. 

[BrorSvensson]

9 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

Damn I miss those high end CCD sensors... magic.

F35, M8, Kodak (Digital Bolex) was probably the shortest lived golden era of digital there ever was!

would be awesome to see Bmpcc with an CCD sensor like the one in the D16, it sounds like something that isn't impossible.

[Kurtisso]

2 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

I just wish the D16 cost $999 and was available in great quantity... but that in a way is not the point of it. It is a camera that has a habit of getting into a disproportionately high number of talented hands, which means they're building a really special community around it.

Exactly Andrew! As an outsider looking in (who routinely is scouting ebay for someone to let go of their D16 for cheap), I can't help but feel like there is something really special going on with that entire eco-system. A camera maker that is still releasing free firmware updates and paid upgrades for the hardware (2TB mod) compared to other companies that don't give a crap and routinely screw over their user-base is so incredibly refreshing. I believe that the recent additions of colour gamuts and gammas etc... were the result of DB bringing in a D16 user that was also a colourist into the shop. How freaking cool is that.

2 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Damn I miss those high end CCD sensors... magic.

F35, M8, Kodak (Digital Bolex) was probably the shortest lived golden era of digital there ever was!

I hope that era isn't over! Beautiful colour and natural motion affect an audience's emotions more than resolution and high frame rates ever will. Maybe QuantumFilm will pick up where CCD leaves off. 

[jax_rox]

6 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

I just wish the D16 cost $999 and was available in great quantity... but that in a way is not the point of it. It is a camera that has a habit of getting into a disproportionately high number of talented hands, which means they're building a really special community around it.

Also, it's one of the few cameras you can shoot jerky handheld footage with and it still looks great, for whatever reason - the CCD and global shutter having a hand in that magic motion candace of course.

The D16's inherent problem is that it is a niche product priced in such a way that it's not really practical for most people who are looking for an A-cam at that price level. For the cost of it with a PL mount, you can get a Blackmagic, FS5, secondhand FS7, FS700, F3, even an A7s with Shogun. All of which offer different looks, but tend to be more versatile and practical than a D16.

The image is beautiful, and I love S16. But I think the entire reason that it has a 'habit of getting into a disproportionately high number of talented hands' is the simple fact that you're looking at a S16 digital camera which is quirky as hell, and priced way too high to be much more than a 'for the love of it' kind of camera. So those who have the kind of money to blow on something like it are not the same people that are buying a BMPCC which has the same sensor size.

5 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Damn I miss those high end CCD sensors... magic.

F35, M8, Kodak (Digital Bolex) was probably the shortest lived golden era of digital there ever was!

They are great sensors. However, even the F35 exhibits some pretty awful smear under the right circumstances - and I'm not talking about very specific circumstances, I'm talking about even street lights can cause a CCD to smear. And it's pretty ugly.

It's funny to look at these sensors with a love... I think they're great but at the same time I remember watching movies that were shot with the Panavision Genesis at the time, or partly shot with them, and not particularly liking it - at least in comparison to film. I remember watching Get Smart and immediately picking the Genesis shots, and really disliking them.

It's funny how perspectives change...

--

On a different note - why the hell aren't all camera manufacturers including false colour into their cameras? I hate zebras, and always have. Yet everyone seems to think that's the only exposure tool people want (in addition to Histogram, which I also find pretty useless). I've used the Shogun on cameras that don't really need it just to be able to use the False Colour and Waveform (I use my meter, but also make sure I always check false colour and/or waveform on digital).

[Mattias Burling]

4 hours ago, Kurtisso said:

I hope that era isn't over! Beautiful colour and natural motion affect an audience's emotions more than resolution and high frame rates ever will. Maybe QuantumFilm will pick up where CCD leaves off. 

Leica is still keeping it real with the M-E that's still on sale with a FF CCD. But it's a big chance its their last.

[BenEricson]

That digital bolex footage sure is nice. One could argue that a lot of cameras would look good in those settings, a 5D raw would also look pretty damn good.

I can't believe more people don't shoot with the digital bolex. A pro colorist could do some serious magic with that camera.

[hmcindie]

That short film looks great! But if someone had that camera and shot a wideshot of a landscape, people would be calling it 'mushy' and 'not enough resolution'.

[Django]

Beautiful footage out of this cam (Kodak CCD for the win) and it's great to see such good on-going support/development but there is one gripe I had with the DB16 when I tried it was it's LCD, one of the poorest in terms of resolution/IQ, short of useless for any type of serious feedback. So I'm a bit surprised by the new inclusions although I assume they're mainly for external monitoring (which feels a little lame on this type of camera for some reason)?

[cpc]

6 minutes ago, Django said:

Beautiful footage out of this cam (Kodak CCD for the win) and it's great to see such good on-going support/development but there is one gripe I had with the DB16 when I tried it was it's LCD, one of the poorest in terms of resolution/IQ, short of useless for any type of serious feedback. So I'm a bit surprised by the new inclusions although I assume they're mainly for external monitoring (which feels a little lame on this type of camera for some reason)?

Funny that you say that. I think this camera only makes sense with an EVF, so these new monitoring related additions should make perfect sense.

 

[Django]

^ right.. but if you add a zacuto (or atomos) you already got false color etc.. so i don't really get the point of having it on-board if not for the benefit of use on the internal (crappy) display?

[Mattias Burling]

1 hour ago, Django said:

Beautiful footage out of this cam (Kodak CCD for the win) and it's great to see such good on-going support/development but there is one gripe I had with the DB16 when I tried it was it's LCD, one of the poorest in terms of resolution/IQ, short of useless for any type of serious feedback. So I'm a bit surprised by the new inclusions although I assume they're mainly for external monitoring (which feels a little lame on this type of camera for some reason)?

I see the display as awesome. It actually shows a poor image, but still, an image. In an emergency its usable. The Red camera have no display. Not even a bad one.

S16 film cameras, which its supposed to replace don't have displays either.

Think of it as an onboard mic. Not ment for everything, but most would go apeshit if the gh5 came without a built in mic.

I had the Alphatron evf for the d16 but still used the on board display lots of times.

14 minutes ago, Django said:

^ right.. but if you add a zacuto (or atomos) you already got false color etc.. so i don't really get the point of having it on-board if not for the benefit of use on the internal (crappy) display?

You can buy a cheaper evf. The D16 supports older evfs that doesn't work on Blackmagic.

[cpc]

47 minutes ago, Django said:

^ right.. but if you add a zacuto (or atomos) you already got false color etc.. so i don't really get the point of having it on-board if not for the benefit of use on the internal (crappy) display?

False color probably targets the built-in display, but the new gammas should be handy for monitors and EVFs. The Bolex Log in particular should play well with monitors with LUT support. I don't know if it is possible with this camera but simultaneously having false color on the built-in and one of the gammas on the hdmi out sounds cool.