So anyway, 4K

[Timothy Auld]

And that’s what most of the big guys are doing, protecting for future syndication. Until Mega HD comes along (two years?) As I’ve always said, we are working our way back to film resolution.

Tim

[Jim Giberti]

For smaller shops like mine, I just don’t think it’s a smart time to make a major investment in 4K. I’m not talking about a camera like a GH4 – it’s a no brainer because it’s a write off on a project. I’m talking about my next big camera. Canon is going to do something different, Sony definitely as well. BM is always an adventure, and as rudimentary as their systems are, I’m in the middle of a production using them w/ all MFT glass and it’s some of the best footage I’ve shot.

Aside from a GH4 for when I need it, I’m going to wait to see how things shake out in the coming months. I’ll bet there will be a pretty different range of interesting options and I’ve really grown fond of smaller cameras, ProRes and cards that I can off load and check on a Retina in the field.

[Tim Wilson]

[TImothy Auld] “we are working our way back to film resolution.”

We’re pretty much there.

• The Canon C500 sensor is the same size as 3-perf Super 35.
• Alexa is dang near there (27.8mm vs 28.5mm for film).
• RED is there, and even bigger in 5K and 6K.
• BMD isn’t far off today (24.2mm), but let’s reconvene tomorrow. 🙂

Frame size ≠ resolution, but the latitude of these isn’t so far off film (these are all 12-ish stops or more), and of course lenses can be identical. It’s just the quality of the sensor to consider, and obviously a lot of previously hardcore film guys are coming around on the look and feel of some of these cameras.

If you want to have some real fun with the numbers at their most basic, our friends at Abel Cine have put together a dynamic field of view comparison page. Flip between cameras and lens lengths, and compare what’s being captured. Very, very informative visually, plus a lot of fun numbers too, including the sensor sizes I quoted above, and a nice visual overlay of sensor size comparison.

They’re not comparing picture quality or latitude of course — it’s strictly field of view, but no kidding, I think you’ll really get a kick out this.

[Priyam Biswas]

Your post really gave me some confidence. I am new to the Red Epic 5K – FCP X workflow and going to start the edit of a feature film from tomorrow on a machine which doesn’t have a RED Rocket card. My final output will be for Theatres, TV and DVD. Expecting some helpful insight from the forum and wish the absence of the Red Rocket card doesn’t create a big problem for edit.