Video producers
in this day and age know that it’s very important to be up-to-date on the
newest technology; not necessarily in order for them to upgrade and change, but
to know where the future of the industry is heading. While there are those who
still love shooting 35mm film, they still need to know what the digital
industry is up to, even if just to compete. So, here’s a list of the new things
happening in the field of digital video hardware and software:
1. Panavision announces Primo V
lenses.
This is a very big deal, because Panavision has been one of the last bastions of celluloid film-making in a post digital world. Their various sets of both spherical and anamorphic lenses have been used on many of the greatest films of all time, and the Primo line of lenses has even won an Academy Award for technical excellence. Now Panavision is making their first series of glass designed exclusively for high-resolution digital cinema. Here’s an excerpt from Panavision’s press release:
“The Primo V lenses are designed to bring the look and feel of Panavision Primos to digital cinematography, using the lens elements from existing Primo lenses, long an industry standard for top cinematographers. Primo V lenses take advantage of specific design adaptations to work in harmony with digital cameras, maximizing image quality while delivering Primo quality and character.” [1]
The Primo V
lenses are compatible with any digital camera equipped with PL or Panavision 35
mount systems. No street date is set yet.
2. Blackmagic adds CinemaDNG RAW recording.
The new Blackmagic Camera 1.5 software update adds CinemaDNG RAW file recording so customers can now capture super wide dynamic range in a single file. Wide dynamic range RAW image recording allows users to attain the brightest highlights and the darkest shadows simultaneously, capturing more of the scene than is possible with a regular video camera. High quality lossless CinemaDNG files are fully compatible with DaVinci Resolve 10 for seamless color grading and editing workflows. Lossless CinemaDNG RAW files are an open standard; however, not all video applications can open them, although those that can are increasing all the time. CinemaDNG is an Adobe brainchild and has seen the best results with their products.
"Adding CinemaDNG RAW recording to the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is incredible," said Grant Petty, CEO, Blackmagic Design. "It's amazing that we are now able to record the highest quality RAW images on such small SD cards! We think customers are really going to enjoy the extended creative flexibility that color grading wide dynamic range RAW files will bring to their productions!"[2]
Even though this
version of CinemaDNG is compressed, the compression is very minimal, and will
affect picture quality because the format is lossless, meaning the compression
doesn’t affect the picture quality. The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera can be
found in any high-end camera retailer and goes for less than $1,000. If you
already own the camera, then go to the Blackmagic support page and download the
newest firmware update.
3. J.J. Abrams decides to shoot
“Star Wars VII” on 35mm film.
This is an important fact only because George Lucas spearheaded the digital camera movement, along with James Cameron, and designed one of the first digital cinema cameras to shoot “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones”. This not only created quite a stir among classic filmmakers, but also looked really, really bad at the time. He shot it using the HDW-F900, developed by Sony and Panavision, a digital camera using an HD digital 24-frame system. He continued to use digital cameras for Episode III as well. So what does it mean that J.J. Abrams is shooting on 35mm film this time? Firstly, you can get used to a lot more of the lens flares for which he is so famous. Secondly, that means the 3D will be a post-conversion, which is what happened with “Star Trek: Into Darkness”. The film was visually appealing but the 3D certainly fell short.
The good news is “Star
Wars” fans are going to get the picture quality and film emulsion they loved
about the original trilogy, meaning IV, V, and VI. It really speaks to Abrams’
roots as a “Star Wars” fan as a child; he’s trying to recapture the feeling of
the old movies, which is admirable. Maybe his next step should be to use all
models for his SFX rather than digital, but that might be reaching a bit far…
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