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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Dragon thoughts

Interesting thoughts Tom. I'm curious to see how exactly compression ratios perform differently due to the lower noise floor. In theory, we should get a very noticeable increase in performance.

It's really nice to hear that the "red freckle flare" is missing in action. That's certainly been something that is a bit of a fingerprint. I wonder if there's some sort of new anti-reflection coating within the sensor box/IROLPF area.

Sounds like you'll be shooting in 6K for a while :)
 
In general, higher compression = more calculations, so 18:1 would take more processor power (both to create and to decode) than 3:1. But 3:1 produces far more data, and so you're limited by write speeds.

I've always felt that we were given the indication that lower compression is available at lower frame rates due to card write speeds. Especially since the 512GB cards have faster write speeds, and thus can take lower compression at higher frame rates on the Epic with MX. Same camera. Same sensor. Same processors. Different card being written to = lower compression ratio.

Also, I'm sure the sensor has a "Sweet spot" for noise ratio. However, if it really is better to the degree that consensus seems to indicate, then varying a few stops from that sweet spot may not make a visual difference. In the same way that ProRes 4444 holds data that ProRes 422 does not; the two are visually identical, but depending on the task, 4444 contains data that your computer can use and can allow you a little extra latitude and a few more options. So, maybe 320-3200 ISO is visually without-noise, but I'm sure varying from the "sweet spot" is going to reveal some noise computationally.

Still, it's gonna be awesome not to have to argue with people that they should really stick to 800 ISO or below. Especially on the extremely low budget stuff I get involved with where there aren't a lot of lights available.
 
Jim Hoffman said:
Any thoughts on battery drain compared to the MX? I've heard say that Dragon runs hotter which to me means more energy.
Waddyatink?
Click to expand...

Jarred said there is a small "heater" on the sensor to keep it at the optimal temp but I'm sure that takes less power than the fans do. Jarred also said Dragon uses about 10% less power than Epic MX.
 
From the armchair, here are some musings I had over the past few days:

- It would be very surprising if any production with a fair budget used Alexa after this year. I mean, you'd really be using it out of spite, wouldn't you? Even compared to the Epic MX it's a tie at worst. I mean, come on.

- Film is still more beautiful than digital IMHO. But let's say you wanted to shoot film. Why not shoot Dragon, then print your final cut to a camera negative, then scan that? You'd have the DR and cost advantages of digital, the beauty of film and the compromises of neither. Is this naive? Film really, really looks fucking good.

- I don't think the Dragon images look artificial. They look 'clear and gentle' to me. The wide DR is not the same as the exaggerated HDR wank that photographers think is so great. Man I've seen some truly awful HDR photographs for which people are high-fiving the photographer. Awful, awful stuff. HDR is supposed to preserve shadow and highlight detail - that's it!

Edit: Put this sensor in a Leica M or other mirrorless camera (taking away unnecessary functions such as high frame rates and lower resolutions) and people will be dumping their DSLRs on eBay like there's no tomorrow. That will be so much fun to watch. I admit freely that this is schadenfreude. Sue me.
 
Karim,

The Alexa has superior DR to the MX chip by a substantial amount. Although I own an Epic I have shot with both cameras and have viewed empirical tests of the DR of both cameras.The Dragon chip I suspect will put the Epic in front by on the DR front but I doubt very much Alexa will disappear from production. Both cameras are very fine machines. Dragon will certainly see more Epics on productions but don't think ARRI are sitting on their butts and we will see a new Alexa in the near future.
 
Alexa is a 2K camera. Dragon is a 4K camera. Massive difference. Dragon is film replacement. Alexa is not.
 
Heater on the sensor. That is indeed a clever little piece of human contrivence. Miniature self-controlling heater circuits using the natural heat from some semi-conductors was a similarly clever means of stabilising crystal circuits to prevent frequency drift in radio communications back in I think the 80s or maybe earlier. Applying the method to stabilising sensor chip temps. Clever indeed. (I like stuff I can pretend to be smart about.)
 
Tom Gleeson said:
I think it's a pretty safe bet the next Alexa will be 4K.
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If cell phones like Sony Experia will be shooting 4K, there is rather little space left for anything below. It sounds like the next generation chipsets will support 4K video, and once they are there 4K will penetrate into all kind of equipments.
 
6K monitor

6K monitor

Tom,

What monitor are you using to view your 6K footage? ... panel size, resolution, color space and gamma settings?

And any other useful information on 6K viewing environment.

Thanks.
 
Phil Holland said:
It's really nice to hear that the "red freckle flare" is missing in action. That's certainly been something that is a bit of a fingerprint. I wonder if there's some sort of new anti-reflection coating within the sensor box/IROLPF area.
Click to expand...

It's unfortunately still there..
It was part of our stress test and it appeared.... Not that it had ever really annoyed me in the first place, but it still appears with small apertures of F22 and higher when you point dead into the sun in high contrast scenes.
 
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Mark Toia said:
It's unfortunately still there..
It was part of our stress test and it appeared.... Not that it had ever really annoyed me in the first place, but it still appears with small apertures of F22 and higher when you point dead into the sun in high contrast scenes.
Click to expand...

At F22 you won't get very much resolution, nothing like 4k, HD if your lucky so I can't see it's a real world problem :D
 
How is the OLFP (conservative or agressive) ? What about IR contamination?
Did they develop a new port bushing to minimize internal reflection?

Thanks

Pat
 
Ah shit, I was not aware of this red dot persisting. I only spent a few minutes trying to replicate it. my bad.
 
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