AJA Cion - summer is weeks away

The camera was provided for field testing and was still a pre-production model with many features still not finalized, so I can't give a review. I will say, however, that ProRes4444 is quite nice, and I was pleased with what I saw, once I understood what the camera needed from me. Very much like taking the Red out for a first date while it was still in its infancy.

Don't know when I'll get footage into my hands, but I'll share if I can!
 
Nice to see it all gussied up and out for a walk! What did the camera need from you and for what? Skin tone, highlights? What I saw a month or so ago looked pretty darn good.
 
As I see it aja cion might be a strong contender...it has choosen a s sweet spot to position itself in the camera market however I see a couple of issues that needs to be addressed:

- sensor size....why aps-c...why crop it and offer the pl-mount at the same time - just doesn't make sense!
- lack of internal nd's....why? you are adressing a market that needs these suckers inside of the camera...without those it becomes too big...there is a good reason why arri amira has included those in camera
- lack of high frame rates internal recording...gettting high frames above 60 fps only on external recorders...why...at least having internal higher speed frames internal in hd would be very welcome
- and obviously the 12 stops of DR - that should be checked through test footage and is yet to be seen....

comparing it to my current option fs700 + odyssey 7q doesn't simply give me enough reasons to make the switch although I have been loving aja products for years now and I beleive it will be a great first product from this great company...I am afraid that only the successor of the aja cion will be the real deal...like someone said before...it is their first newborn camera....hopefully they will find time, space and money to grow...
 
cckid said:
- sensor size....why aps-c...why crop it and offer the pl-mount at the same time - just doesn't make sense!

.
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What do you mean by crop? It's approximately super 35mm (APS-C)... which is what PL is designed for exactly, in fact a sensor larger than that wouldn't work at all with PL lenses.
 
cckid said:
approximately is not the same...View attachment 87705
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You are right but APS-C and Super 35 are pretty close. APS-C has a 1.098 crop factor compared to Super 35 so a 50mm lens on APS-C will be 55mm. A 20mm would be 22. These are not big differences. I don't think the slight extra crop is going to change the way a lot of people shoot.
 
The displays at NAB showed a very poor image coming from the Cion with nasty highlight clipping (much like an HVX) and terrible shadow detail. The URSA display (with all its issues) looked far better. I remember a blackmagic update from Grant Petty mentioning how difficult it was to match the sensor with the other Blackmagic cameras. Perhaps AJA has been dealing with similar color science issues. Hopefully they get it corrected.
 
Wow.. that's interesting. I saw some footage at Able Cine a couple of weeks after the show. I thought the shadows looked really good, clean with lots of detail and little noise I also thought the highlights looked good but I didn't see it stressed on skin, which to me is the important test. Where it blew out on chrome, it bloomed nicely to white.

I hope they get the image right. What I saw looked good to me. I wouldn't consider the Ursa in any case. I think they really whiffed on the form factor with the 10" monitor. I don't need or want that. I use either an EVF or the TVLogic 5.6 for an onboard. In my wheel house right now, it's either this, Scarlet, or maybe FS700/7Q. I admit that I don't have experience with BMCC 4K but what footage I've seen looked pretty good.

I have high hopes for this camera. The CION has the feature set I really want.
 
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The Labor Day weekend was nice, with the family and the bbcue and the hanging around. Labor day weekend marks the end of summer around here which means the kids are back to school, leaves begin to fall and Cions appear at AbelCine and B&H... or not.

Either the collective wisdom of this forum has evolved past pining for cameras yet unreleased (probably) or we have developed a jaundiced eye toward camera release proclamations (definitely), or the CION does not excite the hunger for the next best thing or worse... I alone have not evolved. I still long for the next thing... I have not learned.

I am alone. :(
 
hscully said:
The Labor Day weekend was nice, with the family and the bbcue and the hanging around. Labor day weekend marks the end of summer around here which means the kids are back to school, leaves begin to fall and Cions appear at AbelCine and B&H... or not.

Either the collective wisdom of this forum has evolved past pining for cameras yet unreleased (probably) or we have developed a jaundiced eye toward camera release proclamations (definitely), or the CION does not excite the hunger for the next best thing or worse... I alone have not evolved. I still long for the next thing... I have not learned.

I am alone. :(
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Haha, I think many here will be interested, but I guess AJA has a whole different strategy then BMD. AJA has always been like Avid for me, snobby high-end and hard to access, and BMD was, well, Apple - exciting and readily available ;)
Let´s hope that AJA just plays the save game and comes out at IBC, showing a functioning ready-for-delivery product. That alone could win a lot of people over to their camp...
And IBC is kind of late-summer right?:cheesy:
 
Either the collective wisdom of this forum has evolved past pining for cameras yet unreleased (probably) or we have developed a jaundiced eye toward camera release proclamations (definitely)
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AJA said summer. Technically they have until the autumnal equinox on the 22nd. I'm sure we were all taking summer to mean, around July. I think even AJA was thinking that.

In general, I prefer things to come on time, but if there must be a delay, I would prefer it be acknowledged. Has AJA said anything, or will they let summer silently pass cionlessly?

or the CION does not excite the hunger for the next best thing or worse... I alone have not evolved. I still long for the next thing... I have not learned.
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I'm not into shoulder cams anymore. I would like something like a Canon XA-10 but with interchangeable lens.

Oh, and global shutter. Since the Cion will have global shutter, I keep tabs on it, just to see how good the image and price can be while keeping global shutter.
 
I remember, from the myriad NAB videos, that they meant summer to be before IBC. I just want to talk about the camera with people who are interested in it. I am. I hope that the images are good, highlight handling, etc. It's the right price for me and I really like that shoulder cam form.
 
Good thing it hasn't too. Looks like Sony finally has an FS700 successor offering similar specs. Whether it'll be pro-res and or just XAVC is anybodys guess. As is the question of whether it's a global shutter but my hope is that they have heard the endless complaints about that and just put it in.

I'm also hoping for SonyRaw, SLog3 and high frame rates. I'd like to see Sony strike a home run with what BMD, AJA and Canon have been trying for. A sub $10K,interchangeable lens, true 4K, high frame rate, log gamma solution.
 
That's interesting. I'd need to know when and how much. Super fast frame rates to internal media has always been the FS700 calling card. XAVC is fine. I like IQ with the current FS700 with the 7Q, at least what I've seen. Sony RAW and SLog3 are great additions. I wouldn't count on a global shutter since they don't even have that on the F5 but you never know.

I don't know what will work for doing AJA Raw on camera, what recorder, etc. It's hard to imagine that a company that primarily makes recorders will open it up to Odessey and other competitors. I would need to be able to record on camera, so right now it's an unanswered question with the CION. If the answer is a Codex then that's not good for me, at least not to buy. I think their strategy purports that with ProRes 444 you don't need raw. I'm hoping they are right. It makes sense if you see all the films and shows shot on Alexa that don't do raw but ProRes to SxS cards. With that, I still have film clients that will want RAW and LUTS and all that. For me, and my projects, I could care less. I would like a log option also.

It's great to see a new FS700 on the way. I'm still pulling for the CION at this point. Right now, for me it's either a CION or a used Scarlet X. I'm waiting on seeing the grade from the Scarlet on a film I DP'd on it that is now in post. It did a great job with the highlights, I have to admit. I much prefer the CION features, ergos, connectivity, and workflow to Scarlet but they get a lot of play around here.
 
This:

Not sure if AJA gets it, when people want to see "ungraded footage". This is like putting the C100 in "Eos Standard" mode.
Release is still referred to as "very soon"...
IBS may surprise this year, this will be one hot autumn I guess;)
 
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This camera has a crop factor of 1.8. The sensor is a bit smaller than Super 35. It's closer to Four Thirds. The normal lens is 28mm. The same goes for the Blackmagic 4K.

This has been a public service announcement for those looking at primes.
 
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