Info from last nights CineAlta group meeting

  • Thread starter Thread starter G.P.
  • Start date Start date
Ok everyone the new updates:

In the photo you will see all the info on the zoom lenses.
get-attachment-7.jpg
The SR1 solid state recorder was there, as well as the elusive Sony Primes... The primes looked great and felt good, the outer barrels seemed to be made of metal, at least to the touch or should I say tap with nail, they felt like it, but I was told it was a special plastic. The focus pulled quite smooth, I heard somewhere that it felt like grinding... but there was no such case, it wasn't super smooth, but it was good enough.

Now for the insider info:

Ok I must make a disclaimer first. This is UNOFFICIAL information. BUT this comes directly from a Sony source, and I could honestly say, I'd be shocked if this person was wrong but you never know... Price of the Dual Link HD-SDI upgrade estimate around $1,000 USD. Now before you all go crazy let me fill you in on details of how I obtained this information. Who I got this info from was not someone in the marketing team, it was someone on the technical end. I wont say who it was, because this is all unofficial information, and could change and it wasn't this persons place to tell me either way. I asked and this person told me they couldn't tell me how much the upgrade was, so then I switched it up and asked: Ok how about I throw out a number and confirm if it would be above or below?, To which I started with saying: above or below 1,000. And this person replied "most likely above".

This person then went on to explain why, and it all makes sense. Is it a marketing thing? I sadly have to say, seems like it. Lets face it, if you want a 4:4:4 camera you could then reasonably realize why it would be in this range. This puts it in a pro market space, which is good for the product. As well as the fact is, it has 10bit 4:2:2 right out of the box, and for most work, even some film work, thats good enough.

Again this is unofficial word, but it comes from a reliable source within sony. This could very well change/just be wrong info, so don't take it too seriously until we get more leaked info (I hope I'm not causing a wikileaks attack on myself haha)

Moving forward:

More footage was shown from the camera that is not available anywhere online. We watched it projected on a sony 2k projector in a beautiful AMC movie theater. Now some people noticed a little bit of softer looking images/CA. This was NOT from the camera. Turns out the projector was in 3D mode, and was rigged in a 3D mode with another projector, AND they had polarizing filters over the lenses for the REALD 3D setup. So we were watching 2D images through a system that was only meant for 3D viewing. It still looked good, but just in case you may here someone who was there saying (some CA was seen or some stuff was a little soft) that was just not the case of the camera or lenses, it was the projector at that venue. I saw some of the same images at last weeks meeting and I can tell you, they weren't on the footage, it looked beautiful, and these were the same SR tapes so no worry.

Seeing the images blown up to a full movie screen was great, 2 times the size of the other screen I'd already seen it on. It just looked nice. The shocking thing is we were all watching 4:2:0 footage! AND everything slomo we had watched was in 720p blown up to 1080. If you didn't know, you'd think it was 1080p footage. I knew anything slomo was 720p so when I was watching it on that screen, I was blown away. It cut with the 1080p perfectly, and you'd never guess it was a 720p native footage.

We watched some short films shot by NYU students with the camera, as well as the full Stargate Studios film that you only see a little bit of online. The Stargate studios footage was all available light. I was more interested in lit footage than available, since I shoot everything I can with controlled light. But it did look nice.

I did not find out the weight of the SR1 recorder, they did have it there, and it was slightly larger than I thought it was going to be. Its actually a beefy unit. Although thinner, its with and depth are almost equal to the camera itself. I didn't take photos because the mob around the camera was so insane, and I just was too lazy to fight through to take photos of something I already saw 2 mins before.

I shot some video with my iPhone 4 and will post that up so you can see what the event was like.

I'm sure I'm forgetting things, so I'll post again once I remember.
 
Very interesting. Thanks for the report.

I'm a bit surprised that the second lens to be released will be the PL mount 11-16mm. Not that its not good, but that's somewhat of a specialty lens.

I'm also surprised that the manual F3 mount is the third to be released. There are many good manual lenses out there that will go on there with an adapter. By the time they release it most people that want a manual zoom will probably already be using one.

The juicy stuff is the fully controlled zooms, but 2012? Argh.
 
Thanks for the crucial info I needed Giuseppe. Couldn't make it due to a shoot running late. Servo zoom not until 2012, no OIS and it's a 3.5-6.3 to boot?, that seals the deal that this camera wont be the best of both worlds of my EX1 and 5D. I'm sure the image quality is stellar with the F3 but not 8 grand more then the AF100 I've already paid for. The option of a servo zoom was the selling point for me and their future offerings are not what I hoped for.
 
JDDalllas said:
What servo zoom will you be using on the AF100.
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None obviously. That was the major interest I had with the F3 over the AF100. Now that we know what and when Sony will be offering as far as servo's go, I no longer have a immediate interest in the F3 for 8 grand more then the AF. Instead of hoping to replace my EX and 5D with one camera that offers the feature's of both, I'll have to stick with the AF as a replacement for my 5D and use along side my EX for when I absolutely need servo.
 
Duke M. said:
I'm a bit surprised that the second lens to be released will be the PL mount 11-16mm. Not that its not good, but that's somewhat of a specialty lens.
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I would say that lens is more for a different market than it being a specialty lens. With the zoom rocker on the side, Sony obviously wants to capture some of the ENG market with this cam, whether it is really suited for it or not is a different question. Steadicam Operators will find the 11-16 lens extremely useful for stage performance and live work.

Really intrigued about the 17-50 even though it is with the proprietary mount. As a 2.8 lens that could be a really workhorse. Too bad it isn't going to be out until 2012.

Really interesting and useful information Giuseppe. Thanks!
 
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You never know they could bump up the release date. Servo is just a dead issue with me anyway. The rockers usually suck anyway compared with broadcast lenses, with so many PL and still lens that will be able to work on this camera, I'll just use my fingers to change focal length.
Even at its price and so so lenses it's still a cheap in professional camera terms. You have to spend close to 30 to 60 grand to get a RED or Arri. And this cam will look very very close to these high dollar cameras.
Same can be said about AF100.

 
Servo zoom not until 2012, no OIS and it's a 3.5-6.3 to boot?
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What were you expecting, a 2.8 constant aperture 15x zoom lens, perhaps something like this?
http://www.angenieux.com/file/datasheets/cinema/catalogue24290.pdf
{And if you can afford it why are you even looking at F3?}

It will be a magnificent achievement if they can produce an affordable 3.5-6.3 15x servo zoom lens for the S35 sensor, as i bet making such a lens is much harder than the camera itself.
 
I wasn't expecting anything. What I was hoping for was something around a 5 or 7x zoom, 2.8 constant and fingers really crossed for OIS. Oh yeah.. and mid 2011. Something in the focal range in 35mm still format of a 30-150mm. Would happily pay a few grand for it. Like I said, "was hoping".
 
Giuseppe Pugliese said:
The SR1 solid state recorder was there, as well as the elusive Sony Primes... The primes looked great and felt good, the outer barrels seemed to be made of metal, at least to the touch or should I say tap with nail, they felt like it, but I was told it was a special plastic. The focus pulled quite smooth, I heard somewhere that it felt like grinding... but there was no such case, it wasn't super smooth, but it was good enough.
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Thanks for the update.

Most modern lenses have plastic barrels. They are non-load-bearing components and by keeping it plastic they can reduce the weight of the lens very significantly. There is also a huge range of quality of plastics, and I'd wager they are using a higher quality plastic. Also plastics are better at absorbing shock if they are dropped or hit around, and are easier to insulate against the external environment.

Another reason is that painted metal exteriors tend to scratch and chip a lot easier, and a brushed metal finish is generally disliked for the chance of glare or reflection on the subject you are taking.

Same goes for the casing of this camera. Much like most dSLR cameras it is likely using a magnesium or titanium alloy frame with plastic enclosure.


Fotojorno said:
I wasn't expecting anything. What I was hoping for was something around a 5 or 7x zoom, 2.8 constant and fingers really crossed for OIS. Oh yeah.. and mid 2011. Something in the focal range in 35mm still format of a 30-150mm. Would happily pay a few grand for it. Like I said, "was hoping".
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A constant 2.8 aperature for a cinezoom is difficult because multiple floating elements need to be added to the lens to reduce breathing, something that dSLR zooms don't need to worry about. For dSLR lenses a 70-200mm f/2.8 is already fairly large, a cinema equivalent would be significantly larger. Add in O.I.S. and the necessary ancillary motors and electronics required for servo zoom and you have a heavy and unwieldy lens that is also incredibly expensive.

Personally I'm kinda surprised that Sony decided on a 15x zoom. I'm sure a lot of it is due to the short FFD of the F3 mount compared to the PL mount, but I'm still concerned with the size and heft that this lens will mean.
 
I'm thinking a Tokina 28-70mm constant f2.8, manual everything with a Nikon to F3 MTF adapter will cover many situations. Tokina was formed by Nikon engineers and that one was based on the Angenieux design.
 
Here is a little video of some footage I shot at the meeting... I shot it with my iPhone, so dont be cruel to the dp work haha. Also I didn't notice at the time, but there was a couple making out behind me while I was taping... so I apologize to that couple for making it world wide now! No real info being given in this video, just a pov of my experience there.

 
Giuseppe Pugliese said:
Here is a little video of some footage I shot at the meeting... I shot it with my iPhone, so dont be cruel to the dp work haha. Also I didn't notice at the time, but there was a couple making out behind me while I was taping... so I apologize to that couple for making it world wide now! No real info being given in this video, just a pov of my experience there.

Click to expand...

You see the two people playing tonsil hockey in the background of the first segment?! Hilarious! :)
 
haha I know, I totally didn't realize I was filming them until I was editing it, I literally can't watch it without laughing in the first part :-)
 
On a more useful note I will be taking down questions again from the users on here, for me to ask Sony when I meet with them again...

Questions I will be asking regarding the F3 kit:

Will the Sony PL lenses come with a case?
Will the Sony F3K kit come in one large box, or multiple boxes (which means more shipping)
Will the PL wide angle zoom they are making be available to all, or only those who can prove they own an F3?

Questions I've asked before, but they may have the answers to now:

How is the Cooke/i lens info being stored
How do you swap/load LUT's to the camera


Any other questions from you guys? I'll be sure this time to load them in my phone before I leave this way I can ask directly.
 
Also I have just launched:

www.GPCinematography.com

I will be updating the site with video and info from Sony regarding the F3. I'll try to get as much information as possible. Feel free to comment and ask any questions on there as well. I will meet again in NYC on the 4th.
 
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