Looking ahead at camera technology

[Karim D. Ghantous]

Inspired by Rand's recent post about DSLRs going away, I thought I'd put down some thoughts about where cameras are going from here.

You'd have to be in denial to believe that DSLRs were never going to be supplanted (especially for video!). But the replacement of DSLRs was an easy one to make. Let's try and dig deeper into the future this time.

It's clear that phones are getting better as cameras. But, nobody talks about the hidden costs or limitations. So I'm not going to say much on that, except, have fun with your inferior phone cameras.

I can see a form of sensor which has no frame rate. Instead, each photosite is constantly sending a low frequency signal to the CPU. It's like audio - each microphone is sending its own signal to the recording device. So imagine a 4K sensor with 12M photosites, each sending their own signal to the processor. No more frame rates - while recording, anyway.

Red is working on global shutters for VV and beyond. I suspect they are also working on a 645 sensor as well.

But let's be real: a 645 sensor, with current technology, is going to be insanely expensive. Although a large version of the V-Raptor sensor that gives 12K of real resolution is mighty tempting, I'm not sure if it will be used for anything except for IMAX. And even there, 8K is sufficient. Apart from more resolution, I'm not sure that a 645 sensor makes any sense for cinema. I'd say it would be a huge drawback.

I can envision a camera system with a smallish sensor - say, Four Thirds - with an almost non-existent flange focal distance (what do we need a FFD for, anyway??). All lenses will be rear telecentric. There will be a camera body that's the size of a credit card, but perhaps 1cm thick. That will be the novelty that sells the rest of the system. There will also be a tubular version with no screen that will be used for cinema.

At least one manufacturer will use Blackmagic's Bayer filter array.

Someone will release an integrated cinema camera, similar to the Red Scarlet 3K, but smaller.

Light field tech will eventually make its way into working products, as long as the artefacts can be eliminated. We may very well see a new generation of Foveon sensors, too.

Thanks to demand for global shutters, one manufacturer is going to produce a camera with a modern CCD. This will be the CCD's last hurrah, probably. I truly cannot fathom why the CCD has been kicked to the curb. It still has life in it, does it not? It would be ironic if the CCD were "rediscovered".

 

[Luka Sanader]

As much as VV and eventual 645 would be a treads they are not practical for smaller productions and i amuse that in next period we will see a return towards "S35" format as a gold standard. For me Komodo is a huge jump forward. Regardless of inferior paper spec, Resolution and DR this sensor looks cinematic and much more pleasing then Helium, Gemini and Dragon. Hopefully we will see this more S35 sensors with 4K resolution but better frame rates and simply put nicer and more pleasing image. As much as its cool to have VV 12k monster with killer auto focus and all cutting edge tec it would be also cool to see simple cinema camera S35 4K in Komodo form factor but with more DR, more FPS and lower price point.

 

[Phil Holland]

I'm all for big sensors, but there are pretty extreme costs in a lot of directions for going that large. It will happen eventually however. I already produce very high resolution work and go to great lengths to achieve those goals. Any simplification on that front would be welcome really. But we're also in a time frame when V-Raptor launched and some filmmakers very much wanted things like 8K 120 and others responded even here "who even wants that". Showing likely more how diverse and crazy the range of people's wants, needs, and expectations regarding tools they are after. *crying it's not 8K 240 btw over here. Kidding. But that would be rad as well for sure.

At the moment you'll be seeing a lot of divergence as more 8K and some 8K cameras are released. Delivery, post flexibility, and IQ is helping push the adoption of tools needed to delivery 4K and 8K content right now.

We haven't even scratched the surface of "weird sensor designs" yet IMO. CCD isn't dead, still used in some applications, but CMOS based and "other" sensor tech has far more potential in too many directions. Power and heat are two major considerations as well as DR really.

We're at a moment where we have 8K options that extend from sub-$5K through well over $70K and the most powerful one sits in the middle of that range. Tech is moving screaming fast right now, probably too fast for most of the industry to really keep up with, but for some this is a very exciting time.

MFT isn't dead, those options I believe get announced and released this year. Don't know if BMD is even going to use that pixel design again for their next camera. If I was a guessing man, I'd say no. Next one will be far more traditional IMO. The bigger reason to use a CFA like that is if you are tapping into very, very small pixels.

The "integrated camera" similar to Scarlet 3K, but smaller is RED Komodo. It does more than Scarlet 3K ever was going to do and has better IQ and I'd say extremely reasonably priced, but that's my take I guess.

 

[Shane Williams]

An idea I had:

3 x 2/3" camera with each sensor at a different gain (50, 800, and 12800 ISO) so you can have high native ISO without clipping highlights.

 

[Patrick Tresch]

I would love to see a camera that I can shoot in the palm of the hand, like a PD-150 (S16mm frame) with a great zoom (equivalent of 20-200 in VV) at T2 shooting 4k (H265) at 100p without aliasing and sensitive like an A7s. EVF and LCD. With manual & automatic focus.

;-)

PS: and put on it a pream from Sonosax (like the M2D2) in Ta5.

 

[Karim D. Ghantous]

An idea I had:

3 x 2/3" camera with each sensor at a different gain (50, 800, and 12800 ISO) so you can have high native ISO without clipping highlights.

I have no doubt that this idea has crossed the mind of many an engineer. I'm all for it. It's like 3-chip cameras but for DR, not colour. OTOH, Foveon tech makes that redundant.

I keep hearing about Panasonic's organic sensor but nothing ever comes of it.

 

[Phil Holland]

I keep hearing about Panasonic's organic sensor but nothing ever comes of it.

They sold the factory (2019) and division as well as exited the digital cinema market since that was demonstrated/announced.

GH through SH series aren't dead though. Far from it. I suspect looking at that lineup they might re-enter with a certain style of camera as it wouldn't be too difficult. At the moment Panasonic mostly sources their sensors from Sony.

Sigma is indeed working on a new Foveon design. With the right modern approach, that could be pretty interesting considering where things are. Far from it existing yet, but they own it and are focused on making Foveon part of the future.

The market is absolutely wild right now with pretty phenomenal sensors as well as camera technologies across a huge price range, but there's a couple directions to go that will "change things" potentially.

I don't want to be so bold to say that this is potentially the golden age of digital cinema this decade, but we've already got a taste of a strong shot of something strong. The reason I can't really lock in golden age is due to how this all works and next decade or two (2030-2040) will reveal new major leaps that are pretty hard to peer into at the moment.

For those keeping track or don't remember. 2000s were the "digital will never replace film" years, which there was temporal and technological valid points for sure. 2010s were pretty much where digital became the major medium of the motion picture industry and not too many people question how good or far things have come. Now it's time to see how much magic juice you can stuff into a box of all sizes and costs it seems. Meanwhile film is a very valid creative choice for a motion picture production, but boy is it a consideration on many levels now. It's actually seeing a large resurgence on the still side of things despite certain stocks being discontinued and prices being raised.

Motion picture entertainment industry, need, demand, and everything related to it has exploded during these past two decades. Internet and higher speed internet availability has played a huge role in this obviously, particularly during the 2010s. I highlight this because what was hard in 2010-2015 isn't even a flinch of the eye in 2022. And honestly what was hard in 2016-2019 is barely a hurdle for many.

I'm excited where things are going technology-wise as a professional image maker who still loves what he does. Lots of other industry (as a whole) related stuff that I'm not super crazy about however. That's a topic for another thread.