Approaching ISO 1600
Exciting things are happening in digital film cameras, as both RED and Arri are rolling out new sensors rated at ISO 800, with relatively noise free boosting to at least ISO 1600 (looking forward to see this in full resolution in a cinema). This is more than one and a half stop higher than the currently most light sensitive film stock, and looks to be a golden number in terms of what you can actually “see”.
Yes we’re talking unlit night scenes again. The first RED ONEs are having their sensors swapped at this moment, and the first Mysterium X sensor will reach Norway and Eirik Tyrihjel this month. Footage from the Mysterium X has already surfaced on the internet, and shows:
1) Leonardo DiCaprio lighting a cigarette and himself with only a matchstick (direct download)
2) some people walking around the city at night, filming the scenery and each other (direct download)
3) people in industrial settings, cars in the dark and longboarders (direct download)
Seems like ISO 1600 with a wide open prime lens is what’s needed to look around a city at night, like countless HDSLR shooters have been showing us for the past year or so. What might be more interesting with such a high sensitivity is how you can control depth of field, especially when shooting miniatures or high-speed work (not to mention miniatures in high-speed). Also, it’s interesting to note that HDSLR started this race, and now the big players are following their lead, as digital acquisition builds a real competitive advantage over film.
Arri are still building their next generation cameras with the new ALEV III sensor, but they should also be released during 2010. Footage has yet to show up online, but needless to say, it should be a potent match to the Mysterium X. It will find it’s way into three different cameras with different features and pricing. They are not planning to upgrade the D21, but an Arri representative at Gothenburg International Film Festival last week claimed that it would still be top notch in their lineup for at least 2-3 years. Then again, productions that can afford the D21, can usually afford a few lighting units as well.
Is this a sign of things to come? Digital for sensitivity, film for quality? Or will digital catch up in latitude and color depth as well? At the very least, the DoP will have more freedom to focus on the creative process as limitations get fewer.
RSS Feed
Great news, and an interesting development in cinema. I believe you are on to something about people maybe opting for digital for the sensitivity, but one would have to think that in the end really the limiting part of it would be pulling the focus correctly in near pitch blackness. Having said that, Lance Acord does talk about some Kodak stocks that he exposed at 2500 when doing Lost in Translation in an American Cinematographer Podcast. Mind you, they must have compensated somewhat for that in post though.
Great news that Cronenweth is doing the facebook movie! That family have done some amazing work.
I have to disagree about the focus pulling, before digital they pulled focus in pitch darkness all the time. And most professional focus pullers still do, as you can’t really be spot on if you’re using a monitor.
Also, both Canon and RED are doing interesting stuff with autofocus on video. Looking forward to see what the new touchscreen monitor from RED can do in terms of autofocus. Face recognition is also starting to get good, but for drama you need more precise control.
I’m wondering if Kodak will respond in some form to this ISO-race, but I think in the long run, digital has a higher potential for sensitivity anyway. You can do amazing things with film though, if you know what you’re doing. Maybe that’s the keyword for digital, you don’t have to know
(I am of course kidding, but there is some truth to it).
Yes, I do realize that I was talking a little out of turn, seeing as I have no experience myself. It would be interesting, though, if canon developed a dedicated video body with a 35mm (vistavision) size chip and ef mount (adapts everything except canon fd lenses) and fixed the rolling shutter problem as well as having options to do 24, 25 fps and slow motion settings at the cost of all the stills-camera settings. I mean, it really shouldn’t be that much of a problem, except I guess they’d probably have a hard time finding a big enough market for it..
I’d have to add one more thing when it comes to focus pulling, as higher sensitivity could actually allow higher depth of field. Where you would previously have to max out your lenses to get your desired exposure, giving you very small depth and less optical performance, you could now crank up the sensitivity instead to use your lenses on an aperture closer to their sweet spot, and giving your focus puller a more comfortable depth to work with. (Of course this is also a creative decision, sometimes you want that as little depth as possible.)
I do think Canon have some internal issues to sort out, as their stills division is suddenly making better video cameras than their video division
But I do believe Canon could make some really exciting videocameras, VistaVision being one. The most obvious problem with VistaVision is that your current crop of high quality film optics with PL-mount won’t be able to cover the entire chip. You could of course continue to use Canon optics, but they are less than ideal for cinematography. I’d like a Canon camera with PL-mount, or option for it, and maybe a series of Canon lenses made for film with full VistaVision coverage for your full format chip 
I shot a commercial this weekend on the 5D, with Canon stills lenses, and am quite excited about the possibilities with the format. The current cameras aren’t quite there yet, the latitude is very limited, the resolution isn’t all that, and the rolling shutter issue is horrible. But the potential is huge, and I’m looking forward to the day when I can just buy a sensor with mount from Canon to stick onto the back of my lenses, with a small cable entering a computer or a portable recording unit
(Yeah, I know, P+S Technik already made this).
It´s a really exciting time in the field of cinematography! I´m glad to see filmmakers and companies pushing the limits of what can be done digitally – and the recent Canon VDSLRs are really making their mark, despite their flaws.
In my opinion, films like Zodiac and Benjamin Button are excellent proof that you can shoot just as beautiful movies digitally. The quality is now down to the filmmakers, whether they have film stock or digital sensors in their cameras.