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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 :)

New 6K Terra Camera: 6K for $5400?

This shows one of the reasons why I stopped using DSLRs as soon as mirrorless cameras became practical. YMMV. :-)

paul ross jones said:
Nikon-D4-vs-Canon-EOS-1D-Mark-IV-size-comparison.jpg
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Edit: Oh, and:

http://www.morocco-film-production.com/red-epic-vs-arri-alexa.php (see main photo)
 
Jacek Zakowicz said:
If they were worth anything RED would have bought them....
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LOL, heh heh:) :001_cool: to Assimilate's credit, back in 2007- 2008 when they were in bed with Red, they were a pretty hot company connected to many transfer and DI houses.
 
Nicholas Austin Skinner said:
The exterior design definitely seems highly derivative of RED designs. Kinefinity doesn't need to copy RED or ARRI or anyone else, yet they do. I live and work in China, which is of course a country infamous for flagrant IP violations. It's become less widespread since I first came here in 2006, although it's obviously still a cultural weakness.

When I say that Kinefinity doesn't need to do it this way, i.e., knocking off a RED DSMC design, I speak from experience with Kinefinity cameras. Our media company has the KineMAX 6K, which is built like a tank, has never had any errors at all, and produces some incredible images. What Nathan wrote about the KRW codec I think sort of misses the point for some users; I would find RED much more attractive with a less compressed codec, or even uncompressed DNG + ProRes Proxy (my ideal format). The Kinefinity cameras such as the KineMAX 6K and KineMini are not well known in the west, but I can tell you that I haven't known any users to have had many issues, if any, with their cameras. Kinefinity designs and makes excellent cameras, especially for the price. The whole RED knockoff thing is sort of a facepalm in my opinion anyway. It cheapens Kinefinity and makes them look less credible than they should be, considering the quality of their cameras.
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A box with a power module a knock off? It's like saying a Panasonic ENG Varicam 2/3 camera is a knock off of al Sony 2/3 ENG digibeta camera. There's only so much you can say about a box with a lens mount being an original design. Think of the smart phone platform or still cameras. They're all boxes with lens mounts. Nothing new here.
 
I have no problems with the aesthetic similarities to Red or Mini. We all know an old Varicam looks pretty much like a Digibeta which looks like a Thompson Vipercam etc. Or DSLR's all look the same. With modular camera design what else are you going to do? A box on a box with a lens mount. It's what's under the hood that counts. To say it'll alienate Redusers and is IP theft is a stretch. Red Users know they got a tried and true system and the IP theft notion is a bit dubious as Apple's claim to rounded corners.

What my concerns are:

- Customer Support
- Repair
- IQ
- Rolling Shutter
- Useability
- Build

There are a few things Kine is doing right. They've developed a focal reducer that's like a Metabones crossed with an Optitek EF Mount. This will be great for EF users wanting the extra stop and full frame.

What I hate about the Terra design is who was on crack when they decided to put the XLRs and D Taps facing the sky? This makes it vulnerable to dust, dirt, condensation and rain. Total bonehead notion. Hopefully it was just some vaporware whimsy and doesn't make it to production.

As far as being made in China, that doesn't bother me whatsoever. Chinese components were horrible a few years back but now they've completely stepped up their game. They're dominating drone and RF tech. I recently bought a Chinese HD wireless system that'll walk all over a Bolt for half the price. DJI's wireless FF packs in some serious tech. And I buy all my 15mm clamps, NATO rail, doo dads from Small Rig for 1/3 the price I used to and they're made and designed better. I have a cage for my A7s II that no US manufacturer comes close to.

It's a shame that the US is losing competitive ground in this field but considering the state of education here, what do we expect. Red is still in the vanguard of camera development but I guarantee within 2- 5 years there'll be a Chinese cine camera that'll be in the same breath as Arri or Red. Too early to tell who it'll be.
 
Luke Mason said:
This camera's ProRes authorisation hasn't appeared on Apples official list, maybe they are still at the final stage of obtaining authorisation from Apple.
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I don't think China needs anybody's approval, or authorisation. China only needs the Source Code. :lol:
 
Regarding the upward facing d taps :

my original Anton Bauer plate has an upward facing d tap, that's not a problem.

Kinefinity doesn't even make the battery plate - that's a movcam part.

as for the XLRs, easy to solve with a rubber flap, and BMD also made the same dumb move putting XLRs up. But a lot of people use right angle XLRs anyway, or have like those cool wireless radio mic XLRs...

I think this is a neat concept, and I applaud them for trying.

the old ones had a laggy ass UI.

This kicks the shit out of a "digital bolex" for sure, as far as weird also-ran cameras go. I would pick this weirdo cam over other weirdo cams I've seen.

kudos to these guys for trying to do something, I hope to try it out some day, but it's not going to replace my existing stable of camera choices at this time, or any time in the near future.

all the points about support are the best points made.
 
Ned Wilson said:
It's a shame that the US is losing competitive ground in this field but considering the state of education here, what do we expect. Red is still in the vanguard of camera development but I guarantee within 2- 5 years there'll be a Chinese cine camera that'll be in the same breath as Arri or Red. Too early to tell who it'll be.
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I don't think it is too early to tell who will be the #1 chinese cinema camera in a couple of years from now... it will be Kinefinity. As I follow these chinese makers fairly closely and I can't think of any close competition to them in china right now.

Other interesting camera manfucatures are doing something different, like Yuneec with their drone camera (a better choice than a DJI X5!), or the various action camera manufacturers (I'm building a 360 video rig, and I've decided from my research that a chinese action camera will give better quality and at a lower cost, than going with GoPro at this moment. Though that will probably change I hope when the GoPro 5 gets released, but then the chinese will quickly catch up....).
 
It remains to be seen how the new sensor stacks up against Dragon, which is the real question. The global shutter option certainly seems like a nice one to have if it works out.

However, if this camera delivers what they say, it seems like RED could learn a few things considering REDUSERs could hugely benefit from 4K/5K/6K ProRes options, optional EF mounts with focal reducers built in, 20W power consumption, 2lb camera body, etc.
 
Hey, guys, just saw the Kinefinity Terra at NAB today. It's really great looking and seems really great for the price! Obviously, I would opt for a Scarlet W or Raven but I'm looking to film our first big feature film project at Babs Do Productions during the summer (hopefully, casting and location scheduling permitting) so basically we're looking at cameras we can get now or before then. The 6K with rolling shutter ships in May and the 5K with both global and rolling shutter ships in June. Well, looking at the site, the 6K "One-Man Job" package looks like what we'd be good with since we're doing double system sound and it looks to have an in-camera mic already for sync (maybe). However, it says that it can use "BP-30" batteries as well as D-tap. So, I'm somewhat familiar with the pro battery game, I know V-lock and Anton Bauer, but what the heck are "BP-30" batteries? Are they Sony/Canon/Panasonic/etc.? I'm going to ask tomorrow but I just want to make sure in case anybody knew here.
 
Apparently, the rolling shutter is quite bad.
 
Okay, went to NAB for the last day today and asked about the batteries. The "BP-30" batteries are indeed the Sony BPU-30 batteries, so a very inexpensive battery solution. The model numbers must be different from China to the US I guess but that's good to know now.
 
Why such defensive reaction? If Kinefinity's product is so "never" accepted in the West...?! ;-)

The fact is... take a look on the differences from NAB, this week (that is, in 2016 yet...):

e06569b.png


And now take a look in the footage demos:



Somehow impressive for such 'exotic brand' ('garage brand' would result in a pun unintended), isn't it?


Cheers,

E :-)


PS: BTW, Terra 5K version is announced with global shutter, which Blackmagic has been unable to offer so far, despite and beyond the initial promises.
 
David Peterson said:
I don't think it is too early to tell who will be the #1 chinese cinema camera in a couple of years from now... it will be Kinefinity. As I follow these chinese makers fairly closely......
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DJI have bought into Hasselblad. Enough said!

Mike Brennan
 
While desperately waiting for my S-W (early Feb timestamp through local dealer) I am looking for an alternative.
Thus I just preordered the Terra 5K today which is supposed to ship anytime. So lets see which camera will step into my door first (still hold on my SW order, though).

Spec wise they are both similar. And the images from Kinemax 6K look filmic and organic to me (better than BM and Sony IMO).

However, what is intriguing the body weights 920gr only which is fantastic for drone work. With the same configuration this will give me approx 2 min more flight time than with Weapon (roughly 1kg lighter). Also Prores in 5K for fast turnover projects is great.

Price for a working configuration (drone):
- body with lens mount US 5K
- Wifi module 350
- Power cord (open to Lipo battery) 50
- and since you can use third party ssd, I have some Samsung Evo850 spare Ssd lying around - so no more costs for media

So we are talking about roughly 6K for a working kit.
As comparison, I put a US 18K for a decent workable SW kit.

And for a price of 6K, I really don't mind about upgradability. In 1-2 years the cam is already amortized. With how fast technology is evolving (Red as a good example), you just better buy a new camera.
 
I am intrigued.. or perhaps curious is the better word.. Is there any real world working feed back on this camera? There must be someone shooting on something by now?
 
I have been trying to find footage of the Terra 5K. Unfortunately nothing that I am aware of.

Nevertheless, I truely believe the image coming from this new sensor (Terra 5) is equally good or even better than their existing Kineraw cameras. Also based on how the company has evolved.
Check out this Kinefinity KineRaw cameras group. There are some very nice shots.
https://vimeo.com/groups/186916/page:1/sort:date

Not quite up to Alexa or Weapon, but for 6-8K for full production setup, you can't go wrong.
And it looks like Kinefinity has broaden their distribution network, especially in Europe with Germany, France, Belgium, Netherland, Poland, Finland, Estonia AND for you US folks Hollywood, CA.
 
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