Where do cameras go from here?

[roxics]

Assuming the natural progression to 4K+ resolution and raw as we're already seeing and will be seeing more of in the next 5 years. What will future camera technology hold? What can possibly be added to future cameras to make them better or appealing?

 

[Rainer]

Gosh Durn. Looks like they've gone about as fur as they kin go.

 

[Josh Bass]

Josh bass votes for one switchable between large and small sensors. Or at least their associated dof characteristics

 

[simonpwood]

I reckon they're going to try and convince us we really need 3D....again.

 

[Alpha Beta Omega]

Yeah, the will try to trick the next generation of consumers to buy into 3D. And it will happen with the next generation and the next generation and the next...

 

[ilauzirika]

holography. virtual 3d environments that immerse you in the movie, literally....who knows.... I don't feel any urge for new stuff. we are pretty much served, from my point of view. Why not let the market sit for a few years. All this new cameras every month is driving me a bit crazy.

 

[Gillvane]

I'd like to see the return of the video camera at the prosumer level with a cinema look.

We started with SD video cameras and an DoF adapter so we could put on an interchangeable lens and get some depth of field. Next was a jump to HD, and then DSLRs so you didn't need a DoF adapter (thank god).

What's missing with the DSLR is pretty much everything you liked in the old SD video cameras. EVF, XLR connections, shoulder mount so you don't need an expensive rig, built in ND filters, etc. I'd like to see those features with a big sensor in an affordable package.

It makes the camera more expensive, but if you shoot narrative you need all that stuff anyway and it's much easier if it's all in one package rather than a franken rig.

I'd say the BMC or Canon 5d mark III with ND filters, EVF, and xlr inputs would be just fine.

 

[Matt Gottshalk]

I reckon they're going to try and convince us we really need 3D....again.

And it will fail.

Again.

 

[roxics]

You guys are probably right about 3D. I agree that 3D will probably come back. Not that it went away yet. But I'm curious if we can get some single lens 3D cameras that work in a similar fashion to post-3D, done by separating out elements. Maybe the camera uses some kind of sonar or infrared to send out an undetectable signal that bounces back with distance information for every object in view. From there the camera builds 3D models for each object and wraps the coresponding image elements around those objects. Then the camera uses those image elements to imagine a 5-10 degree turn on those objects horizontally and vertically.

In my opinion the problem with 3D is that it's not really 3D, it's flat images that have distance separation. When you move your head side to side or up and down a little bit you don't see a slight shift in the angle the way you do with objects in real life. By turning everything on screen into a 3D object wrapped in a skin of the original image you can then tell the computer to start filling in the missing information on the sides. Either by the computer imagining based on the information it already has or in conjunction with information and imageery coming from other cameras off on each side.

Then you've got to find a way to project that movie holographically or using some kind of augmented reality glasses that can detect your movement and deliver the new information based on your angle.

Aside from 3D I would also guess more wireless capabilities.

Cameras that levitate would be awesome. No need for a steadicam or a drone. So long as they can account and compensate for wind. But that may be way off in the future.

 

[jamedia.uk]

Well Laser disks came and went away then returned as CD's -> Dvd-> Blue ray but by the time they get 3D as easily manageable as 16:9 HD I think holographic will be just arriving and 3D will die as it takes off.

I can see 16K 3D cameras built into " iGlasses" the Apple version of the google glasses and everyone who has a farcebook twiiter you-tube account will put their whole lives on line as it happens and everyone will live though everyone else's lives.

Proper films will no longer be commissioned as they are just "not real" (read cost money and we can get the other s*%t for free) yust look at the amount of "reality TV" that is on TV now at the expense of decent stuff. Sadly hollywood seems to be chasing the diving to the bottom on anything they can dumb down to please the masses.....

Better may my next coffee a decaf ( whiling away a Friday afternoon in Costa on their free wifi)

 

[TheDingo]

I think professional full wireless control of your camera is the next big step that is starting to happen...

Imagine having a live HD feed from your camera to something like an iPad, and this iPad has full control over any aspect of your camera. And multiple iPads could be assigned to the same camera: One for the director, one for the focus puller, etc...

Also, camera control sequences could be recorded or pre-programmed, so that you could repeat any set of identical sequences as often as you like. These sequences could be stored in case you have to reshoot down the road.

 

[jamedia.uk]

Looking at the into to the main evening news on the BBC they have 6 fully automatic cameras on motorised mounts in the studio and not a cameraman on the floor. So it has already happened if it can be controlled from the gallery there is not reason why it can't be controlled from a tablet or smart phone......

 

[Barry_Green]

Josh bass votes for one switchable between large and small sensors. Or at least their associated dof characteristics

We already have seen that, with the GH2's ETC mode.

 

[Barry_Green]

What's missing with the DSLR is pretty much everything you liked in the old SD video cameras. EVF, XLR connections, shoulder mount so you don't need an expensive rig, built in ND filters, etc. I'd like to see those features with a big sensor in an affordable package.

It makes the camera more expensive, but if you shoot narrative you need all that stuff anyway and it's much easier if it's all in one package rather than a franken rig.

Basically the exact design philosophy behind the AF100, excepting shoulder mount... so again, we've seen that explored.

 

[Barry_Green]

And it will fail.

Again.

Unquestionably.

But there will come a day, someday, when it triumphs. I think that's fairly inevitable. It just has to actually SOLVE the problems. Once 3D advocates acknowledge and accept the problems and work on eliminating them (mainly, eyestrain, headaches, and inconvenience), then there's no real reason why not to move forward with 3D. I think if we could go 100 years into the future and look backwards, we'd probably think those people who shunned color and clung to black & white were a bit silly, and those who shunned sound and clung to silent movies were being silly, and -- once the technology is perfected and actually WORKS, they'll think those of us who shunned 3-D were being silly too.

The difference is that color introduced no detriment, no hassle, no inconvenience to the user -- it was just everything they'd always had, and more. And sound was the same way -- it didn't require the audience to don headsets and wear ear buds, it was just -- walk into the theater, and experience the same thing you've always experienced, but now better.

Someday they'll figure out how to do 3-D that way. And when they do, it will be adopted widely, simply because there's no reason not to. But until they figure that out, it will fail every time they try to introduce it. Just like it has every time they've tried to introduce it so far.

 

[Barry_Green]

Imagine having a live HD feed from your camera to something like an iPad, and this iPad has full control over any aspect of your camera.

You can experience this now, already, sort of, with the GoPro Hero3. They have an iPad/iPhone app that streams the video over wi-fi so you can remotely monitor, and you can start/stop recording, even power the camera down to save battery, and control all the menus on the camera, right from the app. Now, granted, it's not a live HD feed, it's a very delayed tiny proxy preview, but the point is -- they already know how to do this, so now they'll just refine it better and better.

 

[Barry_Green]

Looking at the into to the main evening news on the BBC they have 6 fully automatic cameras on motorised mounts in the studio and not a cameraman on the floor. So it has already happened if it can be controlled from the gallery there is not reason why it can't be controlled from a tablet or smart phone......

Yes, and they also have transponders and motorized pan/tilt heads so that the camera can track the subject without even needing a camera operator. That's already existing technology...

 

[jghenderson]

There are a few things I can think of:

HDR. If they find a way to implement this without loss of quality, it will be a game changer as far as lighting is concerned.

Focus becoming something you do in post. What I mean by this is a camera that will shoot essentially everything in focus, and you add the depth of field you desire in post. Focus pulling would become a thing of the past.

Full wireless (this should happen in the next 5-10 years)

 

[Gillvane]

Basically the exact design philosophy behind the AF100, excepting shoulder mount... so again, we've seen that explored.

I guess you're right. I'm leaning towards something like the Canon c100. These days I'im starting to care more about the features that make shooting easy than that extra bit of IQ or DR with Raw.

 

[Noel Evans]

I think professional full wireless control of your camera is the next big step that is starting to happen...

Even allows focus on Canon EF lenses. This system has a lag on vision though you wouldnt want to be using this for focus anyway - its a proxy image, but all settings can adjusted.