Camera of the Future

snowleopard

snowleopard

Well-known member
I got to dreaming today, and here's a wish list of a camera for the future. I wasn't sure where to post this, but this area seemed most befitting. Here's what I want:

1. Camera to weigh under 5lbs, with battery and cards.
2. Built in lens is fine, but I want focus/zoom end stops, not a spinner. 20x please, starting fairly wide.
3. OIS like the new Canons, or better.
4. Solid State capture/memory only via cheap cards, with at least 16gb built into the camera. Great compression scheme, so I can stuff a lot of footage on here.
5. 1/2" or 2/3" chips. CMOS, if it handled light better than the Sony V1u's.
6. Waveform monitor built into it showing IRE, in addition to histograms.
7. HD that's at least 4:2:2. I-Frame codec.
8. A codec that I can drag and drop right into FCP/Vegas/Avid and start cutting.
9. 1080p is fine. 99.8% of my stuff will be seen on a TV, computer, or 1080p projector.
10. Overcranking to 240fps (or at least 120fps) at full HD (not dumbed down like the V1u).
11. Out of the box good looking picture like the HVX or Sony V1u, but ability to tweak like the Canons.
12. Black and white viewfinder, with a 3.5" pop-out screen of about 600x300 pixels.
13. Ability to shoot 2.35:1 at least anamorphic.
14. Low light ability close to that of an HVX900.
15. Ability to have a lot able to update via firmware.
16. Great focus assist and peaking at the same time.
17. At least 12 stops of latitude.
18. A price under $5,000.

I say by 2010 we should get there. The overcranking at 1080p HD probably the biggest hurdle. Followed by low light issues, large chips, and the waveform monitor. We're actually pretty close to have all this technology now, it's just a matter of making it cheap enough, and packaging it.
 
- Uncompressed 4k HDV
- Changeable lenses (build-in is fine, but interchangeable provides for more flexibility me thinks)
- 1TB storage with a very fast (fibre?) link to the editing deck (no more storage probs - 16GB is nothing if we are talking uncompressed, and who would want anything else?!)
- 1/2" CCD and good low-light capability (no gain, oh please no)
- Completely modular, so I can change any component to suit
my shooting needs (i.e. lenses, recorder, VF)

A price of under 15k would be nice, w/o lens obviously... and a credit line so I can buy it =D

@jade8472: Who knows, but 2010 is only two months and two years
away! The RED is definitely a step in the direction things are going. Although I still think Super 16 gives the nicest picture on a budget. HDV still has a long way to go... .

Just my 2p(ennies) worth ;-)
 
Axel - Isn't RED close to what you're describing, no?

I don't need 4k. My stuff won't be going to film, won't be shown on 4k projectors, and I'm not doing heavy green screen or intense CGI work where you might see it.

Fibre isn't necessary to me. I'd just want the ability to plug my 64gb cards into my computer, or device hooked up to a eSATA port and copy them over fairly quickly.
 
@snowleopard: Yeah, the RED is close. I think that your perfect camera depends very much on what you need it to do. For me SD is still the right choice for everyday stuff. A 4k HDV would be a future proof dream (albeit unachievable for now).

I think for anything more than a docu or TV I'd shoot on S16. Maybe it's just me but good'ol film still gives the best "feel" ;-)

BTW. What do you want your camera to do for you today? (pardon the marketeese)
 
Yeah, that's a good point. In a sense, I'd like to have enough $ to just own a plethora of cameras, film and video, and shoot what and when I want!
 
As far as you saying that you do not need 4k I think this will become a mute issue. Many people think that 1080p60 and 1080p120 is the holy grail of high definition but the fact remains that if a camera is going to support these insane resolutions it might as well support 4k at lower frame rates for very little extra cost even if this 4K shooting mode is never used . Also 4k not only scales very nicely to 2k and 1080p but actually improves the picture quality of 2k and 1080p. As far as your $5000 price point you will probably have to wait for a Red pocket camera although Sony has recently developed a consumer 3k chip that is capable of 60 frames per second at full resolution and 300 frames at standard definition.
 
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