Freefly Systems Camera Launch | Wednesday, October 7th @ 10 am

[NorBro]

I'm not sure it makes a ton of sense for food/beverage given the low sensitivity and DR. At the shutter speed and apertures you need (the latter for adequate macro DOF), the cost of lighting will swamp the cost of camera. Sure, maybe it makes sense for an up-and-comer.

But for sports/action in daylight or bright stadiums, the compact and portable form factor makes sense and the lighting burden is handled.

Well, more than half of their reel is food and beverage so...yeah, it makes sense.

It's a primary use of cameras like these. And sports and nature. (Credentials for any pro sports are extremely tight right now.)

Not much else besides random specialized uses (machine processes, creative flames/water/breaking stuff, etc).

[davedv]

If anyone is interested in the technical details of the development and engineering that goes in to a camera like this, there is a huge amount of information in a series of blog posts from Shane Colton over the course of the camera's development:
http://scolton.blogspot.com/p/video.html

The posts go into all kinds of details about sensor readout, debayering, wavelet compression, HDMI output, memory and storage interfaces, and more here:
http://scolton.blogspot.com/search/label/WAVE

[combatentropy]

Thanks. So is the sensor the CMV12000? If so, it sounds great except its native ISO is 250 and its dynamic range is 60 dB (10 stops).

In 2010, CMOSIS announced the sensor.
In 2015, AMS bought CMOSIS.

[morgan_moore]

Very cool. looks like they went with the shorter back and wider non symmetrical body design, vs what RED did with the Komodo. Should be a more gimbal friendly camera design.

Looks too wide for my gimbal (movi pro) - I guess it fits!

S

[rob norton]

Surely freefly will look to add in-house robot/software to pair with the camera?

Ironically, the wave is a camera least likely to take advantage of their own gimbal.

Except freefly would be ahead of the curve as far as software development so maybe the gimbal tech can be a sideways move into robot programming?

[ahalpert]

Well, more than half of their reel is food and beverage so...yeah, it makes sense.

It's a primary use of cameras like these. And sports and nature. (Credentials for any pro sports are extremely tight right now.)

Not much else besides random specialized uses (machine processes, creative flames/water/breaking stuff, etc).

And the XT3 was marketed with a big-budget short shot by Matt Libatique...

Obviously, you can shoot food and beverage with it. I just think that the low sensitivity makes it more challenging considering the light levels required.

And a lot of food/beverage lighting is pretty complicated with numerous instruments. So, a low sensitivity, low DR camera is going to cost a ton to light to 1/2000 shutter f/8. And if you can afford to light that, you could afford a $50k camera instead of a $10k.

Which is all why I feel like it's mpre naturally suited as a product for sports/wildlife where the light is already there and the small size will be more appreciated.

[morgan_moore]

HOw sensitive is the fantom?

When I shot with that I had 600w of LED within 40cm of the subject.

I think at 1500FPS world the tech does not allow you to be a chooser - you take the ISO and DR you can get

[Run&Gun]

Just for reference, the Phantom Flex 4K is rated at ISO 250.

[ahalpert]

HOw sensitive is the fantom?

When I shot with that I had 600w of LED within 40cm of the subject.

I think at 1500FPS world the tech does not allow you to be a chooser - you take the ISO and DR you can get

You're right the flex 4k is slow too -
ISO Color: 250T (EI Range 250-1250)
ISO Mono: 2000T (EI Range 2000-10,000)

I just wonder if anyone in the space will be interested in a cheap camera when the lighting costs put you in a higher budget tier. But options are options. And if its fundamentally better in some way then no one will scoff at the savings

[Run&Gun]

You're right the flex 4k is slow too -
ISO Color: 250T (EI Range 250-1250)
ISO Mono: 2000T (EI Range 2000-10,000)

I just wonder if anyone in the space will be interested in a cheap camera when the lighting costs put you in a higher budget tier. But options are options. And if its fundamentally better in some way then no one will scoff at the savings

You can look at it as ‘savings are savings’. If someone was wanting to get into that field, buying a $10K camera instead of a $100K+ camera would let you put a lot more towards your lighting package(last I checked, you’re still over six figures just to get in the door with a flex 4K). $90K can buy you a lot of heat.

Also, if you are just doing small/smallish tabletop style work, you can get a lot of power for a reasonable amount of money now, with some of the really punchy LED sources that are out there, like some of the Apurture’ s.