New Ikegami to challenge the AF100?

J

JCummings

Well-known member
Hope it has a real viewfinder...

From Ikegami:

Ikegami also addresses HD cinema production with the introduction of the new Four-Thirds GFCAM™. Based on the workflow-efficient tapeless GFCAM™ HD Flash camcorder, the new camera is equipped with a 4/3-inch optical format Aptina 4K CMOS sensor for high resolution digital filmmaking. Providing excellent MTF both horizontally and vertically with over-sampling and 24p/25p/30p native recording, the camera uses lower-cost 64/128 GB Flash media that employs MLC (Multi Level Cell) technology with 10,000 times rewrite capacity. The new Four-Thirds GFCAM™ is designed to accept large format PL-Mount lenses for film-style high-aperture, shallow depth-of-focus cinematography.
 
Okay.

Another high-end MFT camera is always good news, especially for people who have made a decision to go for MFT - more lenses, more competition. Great.

Above that, a 4k camera hardly will be a competition to the AG-AF as it will most probably play in a completely different price range - more ALEXA or RED style.

I really welcome every new "sensor in a box = camera" in the MFT-Family because it will stabilse the system even more and allows us to invest in the more long-lived equipment surrounding the camera ..... and then throw the camera away or sell it, when a better alternative comes around.

So, if true, good news but hardly a challenge.
 
Probably very expensive...and look something like this (this is the 2/3rd inch GFcam):
cine-1b.jpg
 
hunter richards said:
Probably very expensive...
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Depends how you define expensive.

A large-sensor shoulder mounted camera with a real VF thats comes in at half the price of an Alexa could be considered a good value for a lot of freelancers...especially ones like me that have been on the fence about the AF/F3 cameras. Also, if it indeed is an ENG-style body, it could save you thousands in accessories like mounting, power, HQ recording and VF add-ons.

I used Ikegami cameras for years and they were top notch back in the day. This camera will only be interesting to me if it's not an AF/F3 knock-off.
 
Agreed. Ikegami made the best tube cameras, lost their way when Betacam one-piece cameras came out, as well as CCD, but they had the best circuit design, tank like construction, and the worst marketing ever--even worse than JVC.
 
Dino said:
lost their way when Betacam one-piece cameras came out,.
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Not so much lost their way, as de-railed. Sony would not license them to make a one piece digibeta camcorder, so once Beta SP died as an aacquisition format, that was it for Ikegami camcorders. They quickly had out their editcam, but Digibeta still had a long way to run
 
Yes, Sony had them over a barrel, although ultimately allowed licensing, hence the V55, too expensive, too late. They were ahead of their time with the Avid Editcam models, a product that people weren't ready for in a tape centric world. They didn't make their own CCD's, so were at the mercy of other vendors. I had HL-79D's and E's, tried the HL-95, but it had issues, so went to the Sony BVP-30, then BVW-400, D600's. Hope they can get some traction again. A corporate client of mine just redid their studio with Ikegami HD cameras.
 
Haha! Maybe I should bid on it!! Make a great prop. Spent a lot of hours of my life registering those cameras--the E had "left linearity" controls! 1% of this forum would know what that meant.....
 
Dino said:
Haha! Maybe I should bid on it!! Make a great prop. Spent a lot of hours of my life registering those cameras--the E had "left linearity" controls! 1% of this forum would know what that meant.....
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Heh, I use to do the same thing! I use to hire a freelancers that owned those cameras and they use to have fights over geting their cameras to look the best.
 
I loved my Ikes back in the day -- you had to, because for every hour out in the field shooting beautiful pictures, you could spend two in the shop lovingly tweaking them up. It was definitely a valuable education in video technology, circa early '80s, but I do appreciate that these days I can generally just pick up a camera and shoot, without worrying about the settings of the 2.63 bazillion trimpots that were inside the HL79s. (Not to mention the mechanical registration adjustments as well.)

I'm sure they're still producing state of the art gear, but I doubt I'll ever be able to afford one again.

- Greg
 
Not so long ago I regularly used Ike's V79W (?), their equivalent (dare I say superior) to the DVCPro50 SDX900, for a magazine show- possibly the prettiest SD images I ever made...
 
Dino said:
Haha! Maybe I should bid on it!! Make a great prop. Spent a lot of hours of my life registering those cameras--the E had "left linearity" controls! 1% of this forum would know what that meant.....
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I'll bite... What did the the left linearity control do and what does that mean? (I am curious, I have spent very little time with analog video cameras, having only used one as an operator in our schools studio a few time... My experience is pretty much only film and digital.)
 
The 79? Too fancy-shmancy.
Back in the day, I used the Ike 730. Brght orange body, tethered to a 3/4" deck. And I wonder why my knees hurt after all these years.

Yeah, Ikegami all but vanished for EFP and ENG work. I was surprised to see a line of Ikes on B&H's website.
 
I remember picking up a brand new 79E from the dealer. It cost just on $89,000 and that same year I bought a house for $48,000 ......

Truly excellent camera for it's time and made better pictures than any of the opposition ..... pity we plugged it into a VPR 20 .... unreliable piece of excrement...
 
@RussG But, the Ampex VPR20 WAS portable--it had a handle!

@Oliver Rush Not exciting, but left linearity allowed one to register just the left edge of frame without affecting linearity everywhere else. Usually registration was a compromise, but the 79E allowed precision never seen in a hand held camera. By the way, the HL stood for "Handy Looky"!
 
Dino said:
Haha! Maybe I should bid on it!! Make a great prop.
Click to expand...

I used an old Ikegami tube camera as a prop once in school (circa '97). We were shooting with BetaCam and needed a camera for one of the actors playing the role of camera man. We could not get enough BetaCams and used the Ikegami. After 6 hours of shooting the actor/video student had to stop and go to see a Doctor because his back was majorly tweaked.
 
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