Interesting new Cinema Camera Concepts

[sanveer]

While a lot of very capable camera companies  apart from the Major Players are now entering the affordable cinema camera market, it's always nice to have more players, more choice of cameras and more options for sensors, codecs etc.

This one seems interesting, but right now the codecs are very heavy for a budget cinema camera with no compressed RAW option. Also, these will release some time next year, so the wait could be long (new entrants have delays, more often I guess).

Hopefully they will have some great sensor options (in addition to the ones they already have) and superb codecs, by the time these hit the market. Ah yes, and great prices.

 

 

 

https://www.newsshooter.com/2019/06/19/octopus-camera-open-platform-with-swappable-sensors/

 

 

[Mokara]

So, basically a Ximea sensor module and an Intel NUC bolted into a plastic case with a couple of cables? Presumably with some software they wrote to run the thing?

[KnightsFan]

20 minutes ago, Mokara said:

So, basically a Ximea sensor module and an Intel NUC bolted into a plastic case with a couple of cables? Presumably with some software they wrote to run the thing?

Seems like it. I'll watch this with interest, more as a concept than something I would buy since it may be rather expensive. We've seen a couple attempts like this in recent years. The Axiom project is the prominent one, featuring a modular concept and a global shutter. The Craft camera (which was never more than a couple 3D renders for marketing), also championing modular design and a global shutter. The Fran, which was a Windows computer with a global shutter sensor.

The nice thing about a camera like this is that, with a powerful enough computer, there are really no limits to what can be done. I've mentioned it before, but with a setup like this you could for example use a Zoom F4 as a USB audio interface and record synced, multitrack audio directly in the video files. With a sufficiently open API you would have a lot of control over how files are recorded. They seem to be using ffmpeg, and basically said that only the hardware speed limits the codecs and formats that you use. Depending on how open their software is, you could potentially do a lot of file management assistant editor'-type jobs on set as you shoot as well.

I really hope they expose the software as a proper OS that you can use as a normal desktop computer if you wanted to. My pipe dream here is for an all-in-one pre-to-post computer. Write a script, storyboard, shoot, and edit all on the same device, with software that keeps it organized from start to finish. How awesome would it be to be able to have a PIP or overlay between the live view from the camera, and the storyboards? Hit record, and the camera knows which shots you're doing based on the storyboard, records video and "external" audio directly into the same file. At the end of the day you plug it into an eGPU and you can edit with almost the full power of a decent consumer PC. I can think of so many ways to streamline my productions if there were an ergonomic way to attach a WIndows or Linux PC on my camera on set.

[Mokara]

Presumably if you are handy with fabrication you could make your own camera with something like this:

https://www.ximea.com/en/pci-express-camera/pci-express-camera-cmv12000-cmv20000

That could be an idea for someone, lol. Just have the ximea sensor module attached to a lens mount, and have it hooked up to a laptop or desktop computer to do everything else. The only other thing you would need then would be a software app to run it.

[KnightsFan]

@Mokara That's certainly something I would do if I had excess money. It would be a fun project. With a NUC you might even be able to power it off the new 24V B mount battery standard that Arri is making.

[DBounce]

22 hours ago, Mokara said:

So, basically a Ximea sensor module and an Intel NUC bolted into a plastic case with a couple of cables? Presumably with some software they wrote to run the thing?

The case is CNC Milled Aluminium in a gloss white finish... not plastic.

[Mokara]

1 hour ago, KnightsFan said:

@Mokara That's certainly something I would do if I had excess money. It would be a fun project. With a NUC you might even be able to power it off the new 24V B mount battery standard that Arri is making.

You wouldn't need a NUC. Those imaging units are meant for remote cameras, all you would really need is the cable from the sensor module and run that to a computer. Other than the software to control it, the only other thing you would need is the lens mount itself.

 

57 minutes ago, DBounce said:

The case is CNC Milled Aluminium in a gloss white finish... not plastic.

The material used for the case is irrelevant. Anything that was rigid enough would do. 

[KnightsFan]

@Mokara you would need something like a nuc if you want it to have manageable ergonomics, ie tripod or handheld use without tethering cables.

[Mokara]

With fibre optics they claim the computer can be up to 300m away. All you would need is a cable running to your computer.

[KnightsFan]

Distance doesn't matter. A camera needs to be able to operate as a unified, battery powered unit without power or signal cables required, at least for my uses.

[DBounce]

34 minutes ago, Mokara said:

You wouldn't need a NUC. Those imaging units are meant for remote cameras, all you would really need is the cable from the sensor module and run that to a computer. Other than the software to control it, the only other thing you would need is the lens mount itself.

 

The material used for the case is irrelevant. Anything that was rigid enough would do. 

Not really, generally it’s quicker/easier to 3D print. The fact that they choose to use Aluminum which is then painted shows they are perhaps better funded, more serious about the project or perhaps further along in the project. Important aspects in relation to the likelihood that the project will be successfully completed and a real product will become available.

We have all seen lots of great ideas for new cameras go belly up before any actual product became available.

[Mokara]

6 minutes ago, DBounce said:

Not really, generally it’s quicker/easier to 3D print. The fact that they choose to use Aluminum which is then painted shows they are perhaps better funded, more serious about the project or perhaps further along in the project. Important aspects in relation to the likelihood that the project will be successfully completed and a real product will become available.

We have all seen lots of great ideas for new cameras go belly up before any actual product became available.

You can buy most of the bits readily, the biggest time sink from  development point of view would be the software, depending on how you implemented it. Even with the camera acting as a simple data collector I would guess that some sort of calibration would still be needed so that you knew what that data accurately represented.

[KnightsFan]

@DBounce You're right, they do seem a little more professional than some of the other similar concepts we've seen. A 3D printed body would have been bad advertising, even if it's a perfectly legitimate way to make prototypes.

[tupp]

Evidently, the Octopus prototype with the Ximea m4/3 module has been up and running for awhile:

Hopefully, the Octopus folks can get this camera into production.

[majoraxis]

I like the motion of the the Sony IMX253's Global shutter... I hope others will use this sensor in the future as well.  Here's examples of the mono version.  I imagine this is what 16mm film would look like if it was low noise without film grain.  I like the look and think it would be prefect to shoot an indy horror film on.... this sensor series has a lot of potential and film grain can of course be adding in post, low noise and global shutter can not. Good job Sony - nice sensor!