The Perfect Filmmakers Camera ?

Regarding Panasonic's LT price drop, it's nothing new.

Every company besides ARRI - who actually could be considered to have raised their prices with the ALEXA LF - has been forced to drop their camera costs.

I bought a brand new $30K C500 in 2016 for $8K (B&H's last and final stock).

Even the almighty RED is selling you a better camera (Dragon-X, including a ready-to-shoot bundle for $20K) for less money than it did 5-6 years ago.
 
NorBro said:
Regarding Panasonic's LT price drop, it's nothing new.

Every company besides ARRI - who actually could be considered to have raised their prices with the ALEXA LF - has been forced to drop their camera costs...
Click to expand...
The top end traffic is controlled by the intersection of ARRI and Netflix but Netflix has a lot of other streamers aiming at it and budgets there don't trend upwards. Waiting for an icebreaker.
 
I’m really hoping we see an interchangeable FF
Cinema camera like this very shortly.

https://www.newsshooter.com/2019/09/21/is-a-new-canon-rf-mount-video-camera-on-the-way/

Size wise I wouldn’t mind if it was a bit larger than the Canon XC15.
It seems many manufacturers are getting close but omitting crucial items like built in ND’s, IBIS, dual pixel type AF, hand grip control, Live streaming to social media, XLR audio etc.... The C500 II is probably (on paper and IMHO) the best all round and feature rich cameras in the 15-20k market. But for me it’s still just a bit too big, also the budget for my next camera will be around 5-9k rigged, and with basic accessories.
It’s a really exciting time and the market seems to be moving faster than ever in an effort to compete with the huge advancement in smartphone and connected camera technology.
I like what I’m seeing from Sigma with the FP, the Red Komodo looks interesting and is a great size, but seems to be missing key features. The Blackmagic 6K is a great price but the form factor IMO is still not right and missing essential items such as articulating screen, poor battery life, IBIS, average AF etc... but it does have one of the best camera interfaces on the market. I think we are closer than ever to seeing a design similar to the one I posted very soon. Maybe 2020 will be the year !
P.S. any manufacturers out there looking for a tester send me a pm.
Happy Christmas and New Year to all !
 
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There should 100% never be a bad camera body. The main few shapes have been figured out already, and until the human body changes, or cameras stop being what cameras are today, there is no excuse for poor camera design.

The main designs are:

The tiny box - Gopro, Sigma FP, Komodo
The “SLR” - S1H, 5D, 1D, A7..... and all of those side grip ones.
The camcorder - HVX200 on the large side, down to the little handycams.
The modular - Red, Canon C500ii,
The half back - Fs7, Red Ranger
The Cat on a shoulder - Aaton, ENG 2/3” (ala og varicam)
The Hollywood - big old cameras that typically more at home on a support system.


Some of my least favourite popular camera designs:
Sony A7
Arri Alexa Mini
DVX100/HVX200
Fs7 (and the Varicam LT is maybe even worse, but is not as popular)

Even though i don’t personally like the C300, i get why some people like them. The stock Venice i am not a big fan of, but it has a few tricks, so i have to concede.

Some of my favourite designs:
- Canon 60D
- Canon 1D
- Panasonic AG-DVC30 and Sony PD10(model#?)
- Panasonic Varicam HDC27 and many similar ENG cameras. Some of the slightly light bodies like SDX900 were possibly nicer.


Two cameras i probably shouldn’t like, but end up liking:
- RED Ranger, surprisingly good feel. The unibody makes it easy to handhold, either in the crux of the arm against my hip or side, and with the right battery setup, sits on the shoulder. Easy controls for the AC. Not exactly a run n gunner, but is solidly a movie camera. The Red Ranger seems like an Fs7 at first, but the integrated full size battery plate changes things for shoulder mount. No add-ons, just a simple unibody.
- Canon C500ii, Canon took everything good about the C series and added some extra things that really turn it into a modular camera. Looks to be even better than Red’s modular DSMC system, despite having less options.


The only Camera i make exception, is a stripped down F35. Once it is minimally kitted, it is pretty easy to throw on the shoulder and shoot all day. But accessories can add up quick, and the F35 can get heavy eventually. The F35 is kind of a bad design, but its simplicity changes things.
 
Not sure if it's perfect but, peering into the future - an exoskeleton body frame with the weight of the whole setup nearing zero; the main camera body as a backpack; the camera head on a powered electric mounting controlled by the VR type glasses and/or joystick for a 3D motion.

Here's a bit on exoskeleton developments by Boeing.

https://www.live5news.com/2019/02/2...-run-boeing-make-workers-jobs-less-strenuous/

And here's one by Ford.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ford-lightens-the-load-for-workers-with-exoskeleton-vests/

Two piece cameras are, obviously, nothing new. Sony made one for Venice called Rialto, with a separate sensor block.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76s2QSmpxIk

The VR head sets are old news, as is motion control.
 
1) Take the Alexa Mini LF's body, sensor and viewfinder.
2) Integrate the battery plate onto the actual camera body
3) Give it 1-8 discrete stops of ND (a la Sony Venice)
4) Give it a 4-second boot time (a la C500ii)
5) Make it record Arriraw in Codex's new HDE High Density Encoding (which reduces file sizes by 40%) rather than having to do it on ingest
6) Give it a dual-base ISO (at 2500 ISO or 3200 ISO)
7) Give it the Alexa LF's higher full-frame framerates
8) Give it S35mm crops with the original Mini's high framerates

Done.
 
Everybody knows where I land on camera body preferences, but... And I’m almost ashamed to admit this, for some damn reason the Komodo actually has me intrigued and interested.
 
Grug said:
done
Click to expand...

Not really the Arri mini series are to wide to be good on the shoulder - compare to the ultra thin Amera and you instantly feel it.

But the Amera is too long for most gimbals.

touche no perfect camera (unless it does a transformer trick and reshapes)

S
 
morgan_moore said:
Not really the Arri mini series are to wide to be good on the shoulder - compare to the ultra thin Amera and you instantly feel it.

But the Amera is too long for most gimbals.

touche no perfect camera (unless it does a transformer trick and reshapes)

S
Click to expand...

I agree.

The Red Ranger is actually almost the perfect in between. Just have to slap on some big batteries to get it to balance on the shoulder. Which is easy with a prime. May be a more involved process with a 17-120.

But the Ranger is smaller than a rigged up Alexa Mini

...and just talking about the shape or form factor. The Reds have never exactly had a lot of controls on the operator side, and end up requiring a bunch of touch screen controls if solo operating. But as a shape, it meets a cool compromise. It’s like a sculpted F55, or what people are trying to make a Alexa Mini do with all the rigging they add on.

Will be awesome to pair with a Komodo.
 
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Grug said:
1) Take the Alexa Mini LF's body, sensor and viewfinder.
2) Integrate the battery plate onto the actual camera body
3) Give it 1-8 discrete stops of ND (a la Sony Venice)
4) Give it a 4-second boot time (a la C500ii)
5) Make it record Arriraw in Codex's new HDE High Density Encoding (which reduces file sizes by 40%) rather than having to do it on ingest
6) Give it a dual-base ISO (at 2500 ISO or 3200 ISO)
7) Give it the Alexa LF's higher full-frame framerates
8) Give it S35mm crops with the original Mini's high framerates

Done.
Click to expand...

It would be difficult to replace the Arri EVF2. I quite immediately liked it. The Optics felt right on the eye. But at $7K, i can understand ypfwyg.
 
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Given the new and affordable CFastExpress standard, I think it would make sense to include this rather than the older CFast cards in my wishlist.
With the imminent release of the Sony A7SIII and Canon R II (just a year after the initial release), it would point to a collapse in the camera market,
and a fight to the death among camera manufacturers to ensure their system survives. With second-hand equipment prices on the floor I wouldn’t be surprised
if one of the big camera companies goes all out in 2020 in an attempt to corner the FF market and sales, who knows we may even see one of the big
players withdrawing or stepping back from certain market segments next year. Things are definitely heating up. I think 2020 could be a very interesting year (JMO)
 
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I just received an email from a colleague saying the concept camera design and specs I posted two years ago are definitely possible now. He heard a rumour that a major
electronics company is set to shake up the market this year at NAB with a new connected Digital Cinema and Stills Camera, he had no firm details just that their camera
is set to be priced under 10k and will have a similar form factor, size, and specs to my concept. Great I said, I hope it’s true, just make sure they send me one when it ships. :thumbsup:
 
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