Grass Valley Infinity Impressions

[kgb]

I was wandering through the Grass Valley booth when I spotted a shoulder-mounted camera that I didn't recognize. I was told that it was the Infinity, an unreleased ENG camera for another couple of months. He said it was going to be about $20,000 though I just read another site state it'd be $25,000.

A couple of specs:

720p/1080i with 2/3" CCDs

(2) compact flash slots with one RevPro slot

He had a 35GB RevPro card and the price was ridiculously low. Like a couple hundred, which would put it at a fraction of the cost of P2.

Just thought I'd share.

[Rextilleon]

I was wandering through the Grass Valley booth when I spotted a shoulder-mounted camera that I didn't recognize. I was told that it was the Infinity, an unreleased ENG camera for another couple of months. He said it was going to be about $20,000 though I just read another site state it'd be $25,000.

A couple of specs:

720p/1080i with 2/3" CCDs

(2) compact flash slots with one RevPro slot

He had a 35GB RevPro card and the price was ridiculously low. Like a couple hundred, which would put it at a fraction of the cost of P2.

Just thought I'd share.

They have been touting that camera for a couple of years. It never seems to make it out into the world.

[harddrive]

They have been touting that camera for a couple of years.
Not true - the CONCEPT was only announced at IBC 2005 - barely 18 months ago - and the first prototype at NAB last year, with deliveries expected later in 2006. The original plan was for an upgrade to follow Q2 2007, and about 6 months ago they announced that the earlier version would not now ship - they'd go with the second version from day one, albeit later than planned.

Hence it is indeed delayed from early estimates, though not as much as you imply, but will be a far better camera than initially promised. Three full 1920x1080 CMOS sensors, wavelet JPEG2000 recording, and a choice of either Compact Flash or RevPro media are three of the most tempting features.